Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Most people would call them muffins, or maybe cupcakes. But, that sounds so ordinary. You know. Just the same old, same old. Not that I don't make muffins or cupcakes. But when I do, and when I put them on a plate with a sauce and a topping, they become babycakes. And suddenly, they become extraordinary.

This is exactly what happened when I mixed a second bowl full of Maple-Walnut Cake batter that I made for my All About Food newspaper column this week. I greased some glass custard cups, spooned some of the batter into them, filling them almost to the top. They took only about 20 to 25 minutes to bake. Once I took them from the oven, I allowed them to cool in the cups for about 10 minutes, then nudged them out with a table knife and transferred them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

The baked cakes have the texture of moist banana bread. Loads of toasted walnuts give them great crunch, not to mention the health benefits they offer. If you're not a pumpkin pie-lover, I could see this cake, sauce and maple cream topping showing up when it's time for dessert on Thanksgiving.

Me and Al, we go way back.  However, Al is...ahem...a bit fattening, making it something I don't indulge in all the time. The problem though, I love Alfredo sauce; the creaminess, the richness, it's just good comfort food.

So I did a little a searching for a lighter Alfredo sauce (don't laugh) and came across one developed by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich.  She is widely regarded as the first lady of Italian cuisine, an acclaimed chef and restaurateur. She of course has a fabulous fettuccine Alfredo recipe with all the heavy cream and egg yolks you could want.  However, she does explain how to make a lighter Alfredo sauce, one that can be indulged in more often.

The key to a great Alfredo is organization and timing and of course cooking the pasta properly.

Pasta needs lots of water, for 1/2 pound of pasta, as in this recipe, you need 3 quarts of water. And don't ever add oil to the water, it makes your sauce slip right off. For maximum flavor, add the pasta directly from the boiling water to the cooking sauce and simmer together for a few minutes. The pasta will absorb some of the sauce and will intensify in flavor.

Who doesn't love a hot dog? They're an iconic American food and are a fixture at backyard barbecues. German immigrants brought hot dogs to America and made them famous by selling from stands at ball parks. Ever since, Americans have had a love affair with the frankfurter, as they were called then, and franks as we call them now. Summer grilling wouldn't be complete without hot dogs. It's always easy to throw some dogs on the grill—you have a crowd-pleasing outdoor dinner in no time.

When it comes to hot dog condiments there are those who prefer ketchup and those who swear by mustard. As a kid I drowned my hot dogs in ketchup. But now as an adult I have the mature taste buds to appreciate tangy mustard (preferably spicy brown) and a little sauerkraut. The toppings debate won't be decided upon anytime soon, but I'm always up for a twist on tradition with a new kind of topping that's sure to pique everyone's interest.

I have a special fondness for pot pie. It's one of those all-in-one meals that always hits my comfort spot. And it's a welcome dish to eat on a cold and rainy day like the ones we're having this season. The origins of pot pies can be traced back to the English settlers who brought their love for pies to America. In the States I had never eaten a savory pie. It was always the frozen pies that scared me into believing that pies were no good. Not until my traveling in England did I finally eat my first savory pie. On first bite I fell in love with the flavorful meat and vegetable filling topped with flaky, buttery pastry.

While studying abroad in London, I came to know and appreciate the local cuisine. It was the discovery of a small eatery that really caught my attention and helped change my mind about pies. Every day on my way to class through an alley passage I couldn't help but notice a sign that read "Upstairs Pie Room" right next to an unassuming door. One day a group of us decided to find out what this room was all about. We discovered a homey little restaurant with a menu of traditional English savory pies. It was was one of the best things that could happen. That summer the Pie Room ended up becoming a regular haunt for all of us. The experience turned out to be one of my most memorable, one that I repeated many times until I had tried every pie on the menu.