This is a season of comfort and joy, right? I mean that’s what the TV and music keep telling me. Well, at least there’s comfort. It’s flannel pants, a log on the fire, blankets, and a TV show or movie that feels cozy and familiar. I’m lucky that for most of my professional life, the week between winter holidays has been a week off. I know that I’m privileged in that sense, but I’ve always valued that time to stop and rest. In past times, I enjoyed that it was a time to gather with friends and family, particularly those we only saw infrequently, who came home from abroad or traveled to visit.
This year, we’re being safe and having a quiet holiday with just our household. So, cozy and familiar is the theme of this week’s menu. It’s the opposite of fancy, but it’s still a celebration. It’s not a menu for a single meal. It’s a menu of items that bring me comfort and joy and that I hope will do the same for you.
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
This was hands down the rainy-day favorite in my house growing up. Grilled cheese (always American cheese) and tomato soup from a can. We’d sit, staring out into the grey day that meant we were stuck inside, dunking chunks of toasted bread laden with gooey processed cheese into hot soup. And for a moment, it was okay that it was raining, and we were all stuck inside.
It’s still a rainy-day favorite at our house, but the way I make it has changed a bit. I bake most of my own bread – not because I’m trying to be a fancy smarty pants or whatever – but because I find it to be an incredibly satisfying and kind of even a little meditative process. Plus, in the end, there’s good bread. I make the soup from scratch too, not so much because I have anything against the canned soup as because, well, I never thought to buy the canned soup and one day I thought “Hey, I can make that.” And now, I make it from scratch a lot. Always for lunch, almost always when it’s cold and grey, or rainy, or on a day when you just need that little bit of comfort to help you through your day.
Sandwich Bread
Makes 1 large loaf
400 g AP flour (plus more for bench flour)
200 g whole milk
25 g neutral oil (corn, canola, soy)
25 g granulated sugar
10 g kosher salt
7 g instant yeast
Slightly warm the milk (I microwave it on high for 45 seconds).
Add the milk, sugar, and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
Add the oil and flour, then the salt and knead for 5 minutes or until a smooth dough has formed.
Allow to rise, covered, in a warm place until doubled in size.
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Flatten and roll the dough to form into a loaf, and transfer to a greased loaf pan.
Allow to proof in a warm place until the dough has reached the top of the pan.
Score a long cut into the top of the dough and bake until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
Really Good Grilled Cheese
Makes 4 sandwiches.
8 slices White Sandwich Bread
2 cups shredded Cabot sharp white cheddar cheese
4 tbsp good mayonnaise such as Dukes (I know this sounds nuts, but trust me)
Sandwich ½ cup of shredded cheese between two slices of bread. Generously spread the outside of the slices with mayonnaise. The mayo serves in place of oil or butter.
Cook over medium heat until the bread is well browned and the cheese completely melted.
Cream of Tomato Soup
Serves 4
3 cups light chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp AP Flour
2 tsp kosher salt
1 clove garlic (opt)
If using the garlic, peel, trim, and mince or microplane it.
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a heavy bottomed soup pan over medium heat.
Add 2 tbsp flour and cook until well combined and any raw flour smell disappears.
If you’re using the garlic, add it now and cook for 1 minute.
Add stock and bring to a simmer.
Whisk in 4 tbsp tomato paste.
Cook 5 minutes.
Stir in cream.
Add salt and taste for seasoning.
I like to top this with a healthy dose of fresh ground pepper, but you do your thing, ok?
Loaded Nachos
Junk Food Fridays have become a small – albeit kind of dumb – tradition in our house. A snackable meal in front of a movie and a quiet end to a long week. We try to vary it from week to week, but when it comes to junk food, for me there are two clear options: Chicken Wings – nature’s perfect little meat on a stick; or a big tray of loaded nachos melting with gooey cheese and weighed down with all the delicious things. I’ve gone so far as to make my own chips in the past – and it’s ALMOST worth the time and effort. Homemade chips really are better. Are they enough better to justify the effort when you could just spread out the contents of a bag of chips, top them, and in just a few minutes have delicious nachos? Nope. The bagged chips are vastly superior in the MTTNS (Mean Time to Nacho Satisfaction) metric.
I’ve included recipes for red chili braised pork and homemade black beans. Both can be made in advance to help maintain a low MTTNS – again, an important factor when your butt has an urgent appointment with the couch. I haven’t included any amounts in the nacho recipe itself because another great thing about nachos – they’re infinitely customizable. Make ‘em how you want ‘em.
Tortilla Chips
Cheese (shredded)
White Onion (diced)
Tomato (diced)
Avocado (sliced or diced - or go the whole guac if ya want)
Cilantro (chopped)
Black Beans
Red Chili Braised Pork
Pickled Jalapeños (sliced)
Sour Cream
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Line a pan with foil.
Spread tortilla chips in an even layer.
Scatter with shredded cheese (I prefer a mixture of Mexican style cheeses and mozzarella for maximum flavor and stretchiness).
Top with diced white onion and pickled jalapeno slices.
Transfer to the oven and cook until the cheese is completely melted and bubbling.
Top with warmed black beans (below), warmed red chili braised pork (below), diced tomato, more onion, cilantro, and sour cream.
Enjoy. Even the bits you’ll get on your shirt.
Red Chili Braised Pork
Makes ~1 ½ cups cooked pork
1 lbs pork shoulder cut into 2-inch cubes
4 whole dried guajillo chilis
2 cups stock
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
Preheat your oven to 300°F.
Peel, trim, and slice the onion.
Tear the chilies into small pieces, discarding the stems.
Place an oven proof pan over medium flame and add the oil, onion, chili pieces and salt. Cook until the onion is translucent.
Add the stock, vinegar, sugar and garlic and bring to a simmer.
Transfer the contents of the pan to the container of a blender and process until a smooth puree has formed.
Wipe out the pan and brown the pork pieces over medium heat.
Pour the chili sauce over the pork, bring to a simmer, and transfer to the oven to braise.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is fall apart tender, up to 90 minutes.
Black Beans
Makes 2 cups cooked beans.
1 cup dry black beans
4 cups water
½ onion
½ tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
1 piece smokey bacon (opt)
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp baking soda
The night before, soak the beans in four cups of water with 1/4 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp kosher salt. Allow the beans to soak overnight.
Add the cumin, bay leaf, onion, and bacon (if using) to a pot with the beans and the soaking water.
Bring to a simmer and cook until the beans are tender, usually about 1 hour.
Pickled Jalapeños
8 Jalapeño peppers
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
2/3 cup water
Bring the water, salt, and vinegar to a boil.
Slice the peppers into rounds, discarding the tips and stem ends.
Pour the hot brine over the peppers.
Allow to cool, then refrigerate covered at least one full day before using.
Chicken and Dumplings
Dumpling is one of those words that has so many meanings. They can be exquisite tiny filled parcels of paper thin wrappers. They can be filled with fruit and prepared as desert. They can be entirely mislabeled and not be dumplings at all. If I was from an ill-defined part of Pennsylvania, this dish would be chicken and noodles. It would be called “chicken and dumplings,” but the “dumplings” … they’d be noodles. I’m not from Pennsylvania. These are dumplings. They’re lumps. Big lumps of simple dough made tender and flavorful by cooking in a hearty broth. It’s a simple, delicious, inexpensive, and intensely satisfying dish that we end up eating at least once a month – even when it’s probably unreasonably hot to be tucking into a bowl of steaming carbohydrate lump loaded soup/stew hybrid – because it’s just so damned satisfying.
Serves 4
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 medium carrot, cleaned, peeled, and sliced
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 qt chicken stock
2 cups plus 2 tbsp AP flour
1 cup water
1 tbsp cream (optional)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tsp kosher salt
Preheat a pan large enough to hold the chicken with plenty of extra space.
Season the chicken pieces on both sides with salt and pepper, and brown skin-side down over a medium flame until lightly browned and until 2 tbsp or more of the fat has rendered out.
Remove the chicken and set it aside.
Add 2 tbsp of AP flour to the rendered fat, stir well, and cook the fat and flour mixture for about 2 minutes, just until the flour is well incorporated into the fat, but before it starts to brown.
Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the fat and flour mixture, and cook, stirring frequently, just until the onion begins to soften.
Add the chicken stock, thyme, bay leaf, and black pepper.
Return the chicken to the pan, arranging it so that there are a few inches of space between each piece.
Bring the pan to a simmer, and cover.
Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the chicken is nearly falling off the bone.
While the chicken cooks, mix 2 cups of AP flour, 1 ½ cups of cold water, and 1 tsp kosher salt to form a thick, shaggy dough.
Set aside and allow to the dough rest at least 20 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked, taste the stock, and season with kosher salt to your preference. Add the cream (if using) and bring the broth back to a strong simmer.
Use two spoons to scoop the dough, dropping it into the simmering broth between the chicken pieces. Try to be consistent with the size of the dough pieces, as this will help them cook evenly.
Simmer the dumplings in the broth for at least 10 and up to 20 minutes. Depending on the size of the dumplings you have made – I usually shoot for 1-2-inch dumplings, you may need to adjust the time it takes to cook though.
Ladle the mixture into your favorite bowl, and enjoy.