Favorite Comfort Food

I would love to hear what you all like to eat that brings to mind your childhood and the great food your famlies served. Even recipes if you'd like to share.

For me; my Mom made really great twice baked potatoes (with green onions and extra sharp cheddar)to accompany my Dad's barbecued steaks, and her apricot pie was to die for. I think the best though, was a potluck casserole, called tallerini, made by my grandmother, that had wide egg noodles, tomatoes, creamed corn, hamburger, onions, chili powder, cheese, and black olives with the pits intact. Grandma insisted on the pits and loved going around warning everyone about the them! Her other baked specialty was macaroni and cheese. It was a real artery clogger. She made it in a turkey roasting pan and used about 2.5 pounds of mild cheddar and 2.5 of American, then poured in evaporated milk and butter! Grandpa would sop up the sauce with the stacks of fresh bread she kept next to his plate. You may turn up your nose, but believe me, you have to try it to appreciate it!

I would love to hear about your family's dishes and any dish that surrounds them.

Thanks,
Cherie

By Nando3 (Nando3) on Friday, September 13, 2002 - 12:45 am: Edit

MMMMMMMMMMM comfort food.

My favorite comfort food came from both my grandmothers in Chicago. My grandmother on my dads side made the best cabbage rolls ever. I dont think they are a traditional Mexican dish but they were my favorite. She would serve them with mexican rice, refried beans and of course tortillas. She made them every time I went over because she knew they were my favorite. On my moms side my grandmother was famous for her Sopes. In case anyone doesnt know sopes are little shallow dish like circles made from corn masa that are fried then filled with pork in a green chile sauce then topped with lettuce, chopped tomato and ranchero cheese, talk about good! I would eat about 10 of them in one sitting. She would make them almost every sunday and the whole family would be in her small kitchen and help. Even living here in LA I still cant find sopes as good as her's. Oh and I cant forget about her tamales, those were the best too. I cant wait to go back to Chicago for the holidays to enjoy these great dishes

By Snuffaluff (Snuffaluff) on Friday, September 13, 2002 - 10:21 am: Edit

My mom makes the best spaghetti I ever ate! (i'm from tx so excuse the lingo) I could post her recipe, but then I'd have to shootcha! lol Actually it's simple as most are, just paste, sauce, garlic, herbs, and redwine... anyways, that's what I always remember, and to this day love to eat. My step-grandma makes the best Pies. Oh how I long for her lemon icebox... mmm mm good!
My favorite comfort food for the winter is a good heapin bowl of chili w/ some crackers to go with. Just can't beat sittin around the fireplace warmin up w/ some chili.

By George (George) on Friday, September 13, 2002 - 10:35 am: Edit

Nando3- "Sopes. In case anyone doesnt know sopes"

These sound great. Do you have a recipe?

By Ladycake (Ladycake) on Friday, September 13, 2002 - 10:59 am: Edit

Nando3-

I live in a 'huge' city of about 50 people and right down the street is a little cafe that serves the best sopes this side of Frisco. My buddy up there comes here to get his, and he considers himself quite the aficionado! Then you have to consider that his favorite comfort food is tuna casserole .... enuf said!!! YUK!!!

I have another friend who is not a chef, but has had quite a career as an F&B and now owns his own place. His comfort food is dill pickle soup (did I mention that he's Polish?) He gave me the recipe but I haven't gotten up the cajones to try it yet. LOL

This is fun. Thanks for your contributions.

By Chefrev (Chefrev) on Friday, September 13, 2002 - 08:54 pm: Edit

My dad taught me a lot about good food. His specialty is chili. Now I'm talkin a Texas bowl of red. None of that namby pamby dressed up tomato sauce easterners call chili; with beans and (gasp) tomatoes. Just onions, meat, chili powder, cumin, and lots and lots of cayenne (OR habaneros, yum, feel the burn). Gimme that in a flame proof bowl, a hunk of buttered corn bread, and a cold dos XX (Mexican beer) and I'm a happy man.

By Chefmanny (Chefmanny) on Saturday, September 14, 2002 - 11:15 am: Edit

My Dad used to make this Northern Bean stew w/ ham hocks, potatoes, chorizo, chopped tomatopes, that was killer!!!! Beat chili out anyday, hot or cold (day)

By Thebaker (Thebaker) on Saturday, September 14, 2002 - 12:44 pm: Edit

Pasta, with meat sauce and sausage with a nice red wine....

my favorite food.

By Tamerkidd (Tamerkidd) on Saturday, September 14, 2002 - 02:21 pm: Edit

Pasta Fagoli !

I gift as though from the gods them self

( and of course red wine)

By Mbw (Mbw) on Sunday, September 15, 2002 - 11:51 am: Edit

I have 2 fathers, and three mothers. First the blood parents:

DAD - #1 Black eye peas, & smoked ham hocks. #2 Country ham (salty & kinda green YUM!), with "Red-Eye" gravy, biscuits, grits, eggs, and toast. #3 Fresh stream caught rainbow trout cooked in the bacon grease from breakfast. (Southern roots)

MOM - #1 Chicken & dumplings #2 Meatloaf #3 Lentils, and rice with corn quesadillas. (Midwest roots)

Step DAD - Cheese fondue with LOTS of wine. (Brooklyn)

Momma Two Steps – Baked stuffed avocados, with cheese, heavy cream cashews (not rich at all trust me). Lots of weird Balkan stuff too. (Northern California)

Step Mother – #1 Chocolate mousse. #2 French bread. #3 Some weird African dishes using pureed baitfish, okra (nothing is a s slimy), and LOTS of hot peppers. Her dinners all came with a pint of water (to start), and a pile of napkins for the running nose, watering eyes, and sweat the hot sauce produced. (African)

ME – #1 Waffles, pancakes, and or crepes. #2 Roasted chicken and garlic mashed. #3 Pasta ala whatever.

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Monday, September 16, 2002 - 01:16 am: Edit

so we're sitting around fixing rigs, and skinny dipp'in with these strippers we know, up in the hollywood hills over looking the city at night and some one seez i thought comfort food was American and i seez no, i don't think so, and this "chef" seez it was and i seez how can it be just American if people come from different countries and the idiot still thinks it is so i grabed him by his chicken neck and threw him out.
Mine...prime ribs bones with pommery mustard spread on them, bread crumbs sprinkled on them, reheated in the oven, served by topless waitress'es, pool side.
it was a fun night.
and when the cops showed up, they had fun too.

By Ladycake (Ladycake) on Monday, September 16, 2002 - 11:10 am: Edit

Tamerkidd,
Was your finished pasta fagoli just beans and pasta or did it have all kinds of vegetables in it? I've had it both ways and really preferred the kind with vegetable broth and just beans and pasta. Around here it seems to have lots of other stuff.

Cherie

By Snuffaluff (Snuffaluff) on Monday, September 16, 2002 - 12:04 pm: Edit

lol... Spike, you feelin ok?

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 02:33 am: Edit

snuff,
yea why?
don't i sound ok?
? ? ? ?

By Snuffaluff (Snuffaluff) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 10:34 am: Edit

just all that "seez" stuff, was just worrying aboutcha... I forget you live in Cali...lol

By Chefmanny (Chefmanny) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 12:26 pm: Edit

Spike, LA sounds like fun!!!, so who was choking the chicken with all those strippers around???

By Ladycake (Ladycake) on Monday, September 23, 2002 - 11:53 am: Edit

Tamerkidd,
Does your pasta fagioli have lots of vegetables and stuff or just the pasta, stock and beans?