With the smell of wood smoke on the night air and the first misty chill of oncoming winter, my appetite turns to the more warming, comforting and hearty dishes that, like a wood fire, keep the brumal touch of the cold months at bay. Now is the time for comfort food to come into its own.
What is comfort food? Well, it is more than just a nice hot meal; lapsing into the prosaic for a moment, it is often regional and prepared in a traditional style with a nostalgic or sentimental appeal; it is that food which gives us a feeling of security in times of stress by reminding us of perhaps safer and happier times. I was interested to learn that immediately after 9/11, a survey in the USA reported a significant increase in the sales of foods like soups, mashed potatoes, puddings, pasta and cheese. I would not be surprised if something similar were to happen in Boston after the recent atrocity there.
Comfort food is really the most personal cuisine, ultimately defined by the eater rather than the dish. For one person it can be boiled eggs and toast soldiers and for another chocolate ice cream; Mum's fish pie or a rice pudding, a reminder of boarding school.
One of my own comfort foods is toad-in-the-hole. My grandmother, retired from years of service as a cook, used to make it every time we visited her, or so it seemed in my childhood memories; she served the old-fashioned meaty sausages in their cloud-like batter with creamy potatoes, carrots, cabbage and wonderful onion gravy that I have never managed to replicate.
A comfort food that Donna and I share is asparagus (tinned is fine at this time of year) laid on thick, buttered, wholemeal toast then covered in a good cheese sauce and browned under the grill; with a pot of orange pekoe tea and an old Chet Baker CD playing in the background, I am well comforted.
I can think of few higher culinary accolades than to be the cook responsible for someone's comfort dish; "Mum's meatloaf" or "that apple pudding Gran used to make", "Mrs Bailey's chicken soup" or "the lamb meatball recipe in Peter Gordon's book" ; whether it's published in a beautiful book, stored in a computer or scrawled on a treasured scrap of paper, if your dish has become a person's comfort food it's a bit like marking your place in history.
There have been a number of excellent cookbooks released in recent months in which cooks and chefs better known for their more complex restaurant dishes have returned to their home recipes and home-cooking is the source of so many comfort dishes. Books like these could give you ideas, stir memories of recipes half-forgotten and who knows, in a few generations the dish you cook could become a family tradition.
Here are a couple of recipes from our family repertoire:
Chicken in Cider Pie
(yes, that is meant to be a joke)
30g butter
600-700g skinned boned chicken thighs – cut into generous chunks
1½ tbsp plain flour
250ml dry cider
3 tsp dried tarragon – just as good as fresh in this pie and easier to obtain
2 tsp Dijon mustard
200ml sour cream
1 medium to large apple – peeled, cored and thinly sliced
50g small white button mushrooms cut in half – wipe, do not wash or peel
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 packet ready-made puff or flakey pastry
1 egg lightly beaten with a little water for glazing
Heat the oven to 180˚C.
In a plastic bag mix the flour and a generous grind of pepper and in this toss the chicken until evenly coated. Melt the butter in a large frypan over a moderate heat. Add the chicken and stir until coated in butter then pour in the cider and continue to stir until it bubbles and thickens. Add to this the mustard, tarragon and season with salt and pepper. Pour this into a casserole, cover and cook in the oven for about 50 minutes.
When cooked remove from the oven and stir in the sour cream, apple and mushrooms and allow to cool. It can be made to this point the day before and cool overnight if you wish.
When the mix has cooled, heat the oven to 200˚C. Roll the pastry to fit the pie dish (or individual pie dishes if used) and set aside to rest. Spoon the chicken mix into the pie dish, moisten the rim of the dish and cover with the pastry, decorating with the offcuts. Brush with the egg wash and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Serves a hungry 4.
This recipe was given to me with my cast iron lidded frypan which is ideal for cooking it in, as it can be used on top of the cooker and under the grill and saves me having to move it from pot to pot… although it would be well worth it.
The Squire's Supper
500g potatoes – waxy are good but Agria are wonderful if you are careful
1.5kg large onions – peeled and medium sliced
4 cloves of garlic – peeled and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
700g of really good pork sausagemeat
1 tsp chopped fresh sage
1tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Peel and slice the potatoes quite thickly and put in a bowl of cold water. Heat the oil in a pan over a low heat, add the onions and cook until they just begin to colour, stirring frequently. Then thoroughly dry the potato slices and mix them with the onions; season with salt, cover and allow them to cook until they start to render their juice. Meanwhile mix the chopped herbs with the sausagemeat and a seasoning of pepper and shape into 4cm balls. Bury the sausagemeat in the onion/potato mix and season generously with pepper; cover the pan and continue to cook gently, stirring now and then and taking care not to break the potato slices. When the potatoes are nearly done, remove the lid to allow the moisture to evaporate and continue until they are cooked. Turn into a gratin dish or leave it in the pan in which it has been cooking and place under a hot grill until it is golden and crusty.
It really needs nothing else but could be served with a salad and certainly a big red wine, cider or beer.
Serves 5-6.
I hope you enjoy creating and eating your comfort food and that you take your place, however minor in culinary history. As for me, I'm just so delighted to be in this mellow richness of what George Eliot called "Delicious autumn!" and to know that we have weeks of this season’s wonderful and opulent food yet to come.