Comfort Food

[drummagick]

What is your favorite comfort food. What do you make yourself when you need a gustatory hug?

I have just made myself a grilled cheese sammich for breakfast. Grilled cheese is a popular comfort food in this house. But....except for dad's sammich because he will eat no yellow cheese but cheddar, it HAS to be made with Velveeta.



I remember my very first grilled cheese. My favorite aunt used to babysit me when both parents were working. I must have been 5 or 6, and she made me my first grilled cheese one day. She cut slices off a block of Velveeta and put them on white bread, spread it with butter and grilled it perfectly. It was a revelation and I swear I can still taste that sandwich. My mother never in her life made me a grilled cheese, and I didn't have any at home until I was a preteen and started making my own shopping list to ask my dad to bring home from the store where he worked so I could cook for myself.

[flourbug]

My daughter and I were just discussing how different our favorite comfort foods are. Both of us reach back into our childhood to dishes Mama made.

I make myself Campbell's Mushroom soup with crumbled toast, or buttered elbow macaroni with a can of diced tomatoes and a few slices of American cheese, or Campbell's vegetable soup with bread and butter.

My daughter whips up home made ladyfingers and thick creamy hot chocolate, or Julia Child's Beef Burgundy, or New England Clam Chowder.

I get to eat a lot sooner. lol

[Ought Six]

Homemade mac & cheese.

[drummagick]

Oh! You just reminded me of something else my aunt would make for me. Just simple, buttered noodles. But they were SO GOOD!!

I think it was the butter. The other day I was remembering a friend i had in grade school, her mother would make us toast now and then and it was so AMAZING! We only ever used margarine in my house, I don't think I got butter too often. But whatever butter my friend's mother and my aunt were buying in the early-mid 1960s was wonderful!

I have never tasted butter like what I tasted in my childhood.

---------- Post added at 10:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Ought Six

Homemade mac & cheese.

For some reason, whenever I have made mac and cheese, it didn't come out so good. Except for the one time I made it just to get rid of some odds and ends of cheese in the fridge, and it was amazing! I had end pieces of 4 or 5 different cheeses, and I didn't really pay attention to what I was doing, I just threw it together. Wonderful stuff!

[Twoolf]

The trick to homemade is to make a white sauce and melt the cheese into that.. Very creamy.

[flourbug]

White sauce but do NOT add cheddar... add American or Velveeta. It melts much nicer. Cheddar clumps.

[Twoolf]

I usually use colby, Mozzarella, fresh grated Parm and baby swiss.

[jane333]

Refried beans with cheddar cheese (put the whole platter of food in the oven to melt it), and guacamole. My dad taught us to pick up beans with tortillas ripped into bite-size pieces. Heavenly.

[drummagick]

Originally Posted by jane333

Refried beans with cheddar cheese (put the whole platter of food in the oven to melt it), and guacamole. My dad taught us to pick up beans with tortillas ripped into bite-size pieces. Heavenly.

Occasionally one of the housekeepers at work will bring in a pot of refried beans for breakfast. Usually she picks up freshly made warm rolls (bolillos?) at a store up the street and we dig out the middle and spoon in beans and grated cheese. Once she didn't have rolls so we made bean sammiches with wheat bread from the kitchen and it was WONDERFUL. She makes the best beans I've ever had. I asked her how she makes them. Cook pintos, drain, put a LOT of Mazola corn oil in a skillet and heat, put in beans and mash until as smooth or chunky as you want them. Little bit of salt. I couldn't believe that was the whole recipe! There's a Japanese word for savory flavor in food, umami, her beans have it. lol

[D. Gale]

Grilled cheese and cream of tomato soup.

Chicken tetrazzini.

Baked ziti.

Plain old peanut butter and jam (but it has to be crunchy peanut butter and jam, not jelly).

Ham and cheese omelet.

Cinnamon toast.

Blueberry pancakes.

Okay, now I'm totally not interested in the tacos I'm making for dinner tonight...

[drummagick]

I made cinnamon toast for the first time in a couple years, and I had it once a day for the last three days.

Guess I really needed some comfort.

[Mama Alanna]

Oatmeal-raisin cookies. Chicken and homemade egg noodles, poured over a pile of mashed potatoes (carbs? what is this 'carbs' you speak of?) Cornbread and beans.

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by flourbug

White sauce but do NOT add cheddar... add American or Velveeta. It melts much nicer. Cheddar clumps.

Oh, hell no! Tillamook aged extra-sharp cheddar grated and blended into the white sauce is the only way to go. It melts right into the sauce. The extra shredded cheese on top forms that crust that is the very best part.

[Feather]

Best re-fried beans I've had, a neighbor used to make. She cooked the pinto beans and when they were done she put just a little bit of oil in the bottom of a frying pan. Mash the beans a bit, then start adding baby chihuahua cheese and mashing it all together, leaving the beans chunky.

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by Feather

Best re-fried beans I've had, a neighbor used to make. She cooked the pinto beans and when they were done she put just a little bit of oil in the bottom of a frying pan. Mash the beans a bit, then start adding baby chihuahua cheese and mashing it all together, leaving the beans chunky.

They make cheese out of baby chihuahuas?

[Sysiphus]

Biscuits and gravy. Fries and gravy.

[Feather]

Originally Posted by Ought Six

They make cheese out of baby chihuahuas?

Cute puppy. It's named after the Mexican state and to me tastes a bit like mozerella but creamier. The name though is like Swiss cheese, just naming it after where it was developed.

When my youngest first heard the name he wanted to know how they milked the baby Chihuahuas.

[flourbug]

Tillamook aged extra-sharp cheddar

They tell me a Trader Joe's is opening in Sarasota soon... that's only 75 miles away. *sigh*

[drummagick]

Originally Posted by flourbug

They tell me a Trader Joe's is opening in Sarasota soon... that's only 75 miles away. *sigh*

You don't have Tillamook in your regular grocery stores?

[flourbug]

Nope. I'm caught between redneck barbecue supplies and ethnic markets.

[D. Gale]

Tillamook's site says the West Tampa Publix has it:

http://www.tillamook.com/wheretobuy/index.html

[flourbug]

Hrm... Searching for Extra White Sharp Cheddar has no results within 140 miles... but other varieties are sold down in Tampa and up in Gainesville. I wouldn't risk shipping it this time of year but I wonder if my local Publix can order it for me.

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by Feather

Cute puppy. It's named after the Mexican state and to me tastes a bit like mozerella but creamier. The name though is like Swiss cheese, just naming it after where it was developed.

Yeah, that was actually pretty obvious. There are regional specialty cheeses all over Mexico, just like everywhere else.
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When my youngest first heard the name he wanted to know how they milked the baby Chihuahuas.

---------- Post added at 02:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:54 PM ----------

Originally Posted by flourbug

Hrm... Searching for Extra White Sharp Cheddar has no results within 140 miles... but other varieties are sold down in Tampa and up in Gainesville. I wouldn't risk shipping it this time of year but I wonder if my local Publix can order it for me.

The super-aged white cheddar is not the one to use for mac & cheese (but it is really good stuff to just eat). The less-aged orange-colored extra sharp one is what you want (Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese). It gives the dish a really nice flavor. Just grated it and mix it in well with the white sauce, and it will melt right into it. You only need mix in about a half cup. Put lots on top, though.

[Feather]

Mom always wanted what she called rat trap cheese. Mild cheddar to everyone else.