CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS T
he weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful, and since there’s no place to go, let it snow, let it snow…wait a minute! Let the sun shine! Guess that’s not quite as catchy. But we really could use a break. Last winter in the Driftless Region was no piece of cake. In fact, to my understanding, it was the coldest winter we have had for 35 years. BRR! Just how cold was it, really? So cold, the mice were beating on the steam pipes for more heat. No, that really didn’t happen, but it certainly was frigid. When weather like that moves in, people tend to hunker down. So while you are in the throes of hunkering, you might as well treat you and your loved ones the pleasures of comfort food. Come to think of it, anytime is a great time for home-cooked comforting meals. Growing up, one of my favorite comfort foods was Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup fortified with an equal amount of milk and store-bought white bread slathered with butter for dipping. I guess I’ve come a long way from that, baby, but boy it was enjoyable!
There is probably a different comfort food for everyone on the planet (…more than one!). Take Italy alone. How many variations of pasta have the Italian mamas been cooking up for generations? France has Coq Au Vin (braised chicken with mushrooms and onions). Go to Wales and find Cornish Pasties (little meat turnovers the miners used to carry for lunch at work) and Ireland has Guinness. Need I say more? Closer to home, Canadians have long been enamored by their poutine, a crazy dish originating in Quebec which is basically French fries smothered in gravy and covered with cheese curds. Who’d a thunk, EH? Back here in the States, a nationwide love affair is centered on our beloved mac and cheese. Although when one thinks about it, a blue box comes to mind. That’s all our kids would eat growing up. But actually mac, made from scratch, is a hundred notches above that. I included a recipe for mac and cheese in issue 35 issue of Inspire(d) (find it at iloveinspired. com). Mitch Omar, owner of Hell’s Kitchen in Minneapolis, grew up on it and it is to die for. Try it, you will like/love it.
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Winter 2014-15 / iloveinspired.com