Comfort Foods and Indulgences

bolognese-sauceTortellini has been a part of our family’s Christmas day repast since our kids were … well, since they were kids. We used to make tortellini in brodo, a Northern Italian Christmas tradition. I would make a chicken, beef-bone and vegetable broth on Christmas Eve and then on the day we’d all pitch in to make sheets of fresh pasta and a meaty, cheesy, herby filling out of which we’d fashion hundreds of little belly-button-shaped beauties to float in the rich steaming broth. At the table we’d grate Parmigiano over the top and count our holiday blessings.

One year instead of broth I served the tortellini in a bolognese sauce and it was such a hit we haven’t been back to broth since. I use Marcella Hazan’s classic recipe for the meat sauce and I follow it to the letter because it’s quite perfect. Well, in truth, I add a bit more onion than she calls for. I’m a whore for onions. I tripled the recipe this year because I knew once I tasted it I would want to have more in the fridge for later. This is where the trouble started.

There’s something supremely satisfying about Marcella’s bolognese. Bubbling a cup or two of milk through the meat before adding the tomatoes creams up the sauce and sweetens it. And the five-hour simmer patiently breaks down the components and gives them time to take advantage of each other. It’s a meat sauce to dream about and this year’s version was no exception. The kids and I scarfed down our beefily-sauced tortellini while Jill tucked into her lentils with vegan gusto. Ah, chacon à son goût.

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cookie.s.yard .choc.chip .sm Levi woke up a few mornings ago and the first thing he said to me was, “I really want you to make chocolate chip cookies”. I asked him what kind, what did he want in them, did he want them cakey or chewy? He looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. And then he looked at me and said, “just a plain and simple chocolate chip cookie – and mom, fill up the cookie jar with them!”.

I think he is tired of the hoopla surrounding my baking endeavors. He wants the basic. And after thinking about it for a bit, I understand how we all crave just the basics from time to time. I enjoy(and miss) a lazy Sunday morning, under the covers with a good book, I am happy on the couch, sharing an episode of Friday Night Lights with Eli (our obsession), a walk with the family to the neigborhood bagel shop, or simply building a puzzle with Levi, a.k.a “the puzzle king”.

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winter.jpgThis evening I heard a news reporter on television say Minnesotans are embracing the cold temperatures. Are you kidding me?

I’m a Minnesotan. Tuesday morning the thermometer here showed 35 degrees below zero. It doesn’t warm up much during the day. And tonight it’s expected to be 25 below. Do I embrace this? No. I deal with it.

When the temperature drops to way, way below zero I can hunker down in my home office and work in my flannel jammies with a big pot of hot dark coffee at my side. All seems quite normal until midday. My body begins to react to the frigid temps. The cravings begin. My brain sends a signal. It’s time to start eating if I want to stay warm. I want sugar. I want carbs. I need fat. And they're all so easy to get. A kitchen full of food is just steps away.

Like a mad woman, I dug through the freezer until I found a box of Thin Mints left from last year’s stash of Girl Scout cookies. I ripped open the two foil packages inside the box and before I knew it, I’d eaten all of those crispy little fat- and sugar-laden rounds.

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buffalo-hot-dogs-noble-pig-2Football season gets my mouth watering for Buffalo sauce. It's kind of a given isn't it? I mean, there is just something about the tang and the heat that keeps me looking forward to game day. Football = Buffalo sauce...it just does.

One of my favorite places to enjoy Buffalo sauce is on pizza...pepperoni pizza to be exact. I love it. I often put too much and my mouth and lips burn like heck...but so what, this sauce is one of my faves.

So I thought about what I wanted to use as my vehicle for Buffalo sauce for this year's football festivities, hot dogs came to mind. But, just pouring Buffalo sauce on top wasn't going to be enough. Therefore, I also made a Buffalo mayo to drizzle on top. And this is how Buffalo Hot Dogs were born. You can thank me later.

So, let's recap...the hot dogs received a double dose of Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce...one straight shot and the other made into a Buffalo mayo and were finished off with celery and blue cheese. To. Die. For. I cannot lie.

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squashrisotto.jpgWhen we first moved to Southern California, we thought we were in pretty good shape; turns out that “pretty good shape” is a relative phrase. Even the guy bagging our groceries knows his body fat percentage. In fact, the popular gym chain, 24 Hour Fitness (yes, they are open 24 hours a day), originated here. That pretty much says it all.

After a killer leg workout at the gym this past Sunday, we wanted to treat ourselves to a mega-carb meal. Since I had a butternut squash saved and had just purchased some fresh rosemary, I decided to make butternut squash risotto.

I prefer fresh rosemary to dried because its soft needles are much more redolent and its flavor is brighter. In this butternut squash risotto, it heightens the flavor of the squash and balances the pungent blue cheese.

I know some people don’t make risotto because it takes too long and the continuous stirring is tedious. Well, I’ll let you in on a secret: I’ve been making risotto for years, and I don’t stir it continuously.

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