We All Have Them, What's Yours?

Cinnamon Scented Pear Clafouti

Comfort foods. Ask anyone and they will most likely be able to tell you without thinking too long, about a food and maybe a story surrounding a favorite comforting meal. Perhaps it's the macaroni and cheese served in a favorite grandmother's kitchen, the aroma of mom's chocolate chip cookies when walking into the house after a hard day in third grade, or a certain holiday dish that the holiday would not be complete without, we all have foods that make us feel better.

The area of the brain responsible for storing pleasurable memories also remembers the source that brought that pleasure. So when one needs chocolate cake or ice cream or mashed potatoes and gravy in order to feel better, thank your memory. As I age, I frequently don't remember things like where my purse is, or if I closed the garage door, but I always remember when I have a cold, that I want a grilled cheese sandwich on white bread, dipped in hot Campbell's tomato soup made with milk not water, with a little butter floating on the top. Much more pleasurable than the drudgery of remembering to close the garage door, and I'm sure the soup helps cure the cold.

So many days and weeks of our lives are spent stressed by the need to be someplace, or be the right person for the job, or be a parent, or boss or spouse. We need to feel nurtured occasionally, and for just a few minutes return to a day, or place, or age, courtesy our own memory, where we're grounded in who we are rather than what we need to be. A few minutes of feeling cared for, where all is right with the world. If an occasional plate of spaghetti and meatballs out of a can, or a bowl of jamoca almond fudge ice cream can do that? I say... more power to it.

Minestrone soup is one of my comfort foods. It needs to have red kidney beans and be topped with grated Parmesan cheese. Since I personally don't require big reasons to want something good to eat, here are my... Top ten reasons from last week, why I need to have a pot of minestrone soup this week.

10. Being tailgated while driving, in an effort to make me drive faster. Note to tailgaters, if you appear impatient and are on my bumper and I'm within my rights to do so... I will... guaranteed... slow down and enjoy the beautiful view of the mountains. :-)
9. Realizing that I really do look as old as I appear in the rear view mirror.
8. Getting to the grocery store located ten miles out of my way, after a long day of work, to purchase their weekly advertised special, to be told at the empty shelf, "Um, yeah, the buyers screwed up and it won't be in until tomorrow."
7. Mad Men on AMC is over for the season and I have to spend my Sunday nights without Don Draper.
6. I was hoping it would go away, but it's not quickly enough....the phrase..."I know, right?"
5. The cost to watch my own TV.
4. Losing my favorite black boots that it's finally cold enough to wear.
3. Forgetting to mail Halloween cards to my sisters, and having to remember I have them for next year.
2. Walking into a business Expo with a woman friend and being greeted by a man old enough to know better by, "Hi guys!"
And the number ONE reason I need minestrone soup this week is...
1. Political ads...all of them.

It's time for a dessert recipe so today I'm sharing one using fresh pears, that is also great with cherries or plums or apricots. Pears are everywhere in the stores right now and Clafouti is a rustic French dessert made by fruit baked in a simple custard. This is one my new favorite comfort foods. I happen to know from first-hand experience that left-overs are also good for breakfast.

I call this cinnamon "scented" because I use just a small amount of the spice so as not to interfere with the flavor created when the pears bake in the custard. That alone is delicious, but the cinnamon adds just a touch of fall aroma and flavor.

Cinnamon Scented Pear Clafouti

4 large eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole or 2% milk
1/4 cup melted butter at room temperature not hot.
1 tsp vanilla extract or just a half tsp. of almond extract
1 tsp lemon zest
3 large pears, peeled, cored and sliced vertically
powdered sugar for the top

Preheat over to 325 degrees. This bakes well in a deep dish pie pan because a regular pie pan isn't large enough to hold the custard, or a 9 inch square glass cake pan because it has higher sides. Either should be well greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Beat eggs, sugar, salt and cinnamon in large bowl. With wire whisk, whisk in flour until combined, not lumpy.Stir in milk, melted butter, vanilla and lemon zest.
Place pears in bottom of pan and pour egg mixture over. Bake until set in center, about 55 minutes. It will puff up and be slightly firm in the center when it's done, and then fall again when removed from the oven. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve by spooning into individual bowls while warm or at room temperature. Serve with a little whipped cream if you like. Refrigerate left-overs.

Happy Oktoberfest!

October...what a great month. The weather cools down, trees change into colorful works of art, pots of yellow and red mums decorate porches, and comfort foods start to creep back into kitchens everywhere. Winter squash, baked and braised meats and vegetables, and soups heat up the kitchen and warm our chilly bodies. And Oktoberfest signals the beginning of the fall season, my personal favorite.

I've participated in my share of Oktoberfests over the years, usually with bratwurst in one hand and beer in the other, yodeling along with an OOM-pah band. I've always been curious why most of it was celebrated in September. Why not call it Septemberfest, or "drink-beer-in-leather-shorts fest"? A quick trip to my favorite dictionary, the Internet, taught me that the celebration begins mid-September and is called Oktoberfest because it ends on the first Sunday in October, which appropriately enough, is today.

I also learned that the festival began in September of 1810 in Munich, Germany. It seems that the Crown Prince of Bavaria, King Ludwig I, married Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, and a few days after their nuptials they invited the entire city of Munich to celebrate on the lawn outside the city gates. The party was a huge hit and lasted sixteen days, finally coming to an end in early October. Truly a party of epic proportions. I would  love to have been a mouse in the house, listening to Therese's conversation with the wedding planner... echoing down the halls of the stone-walled castle.

"Guten tag, Queen Therese here. King Ludwig and I have been married five days, and I'd like to invite Munich to our wedding reception.
...ya, Munich the city... all of it...
...no, it will be outdoors on the lawn, I realize there isn't a church basement large enough...
...ya, BYOB, but I would like to serve beer...a lot of beer...and wurst, a wagon-load of the best wurst...
...there isn't enough beer for everyone in Munich? Well, can't we bring in kegs from Switzerland? they love everyone...
...music? ya of course, Ludwig and I want an OOM-pah band playing...and the first dance should be the Chicken Dance. Ya, das is correct, the Chicken Dance...it goes, "I don't wanna be a chicken, I don't wanna be a duck, I don't wanna be a chicken, so I shake my butt."
...Ya!, das heiny, shake das heiny!
...Ya? well, I don't care if you don't think it's appropriate for a wedding, I'm the queen!
...Hello?....Hello?
...Ludwig!"

Meanwhile, back in 2010, one of my favorite fall dinners is to combine pork chops, apples, onions and herbs and today I decided to try the flavors with ground pork rather than pork chops. Winner!
I love braised red cabbage, and for the first time, I wrote down the ingredients to share with you, since I alter it every time I cook it.  The cabbage can be cooking while you assemble and cook the meatballs.

Braised Red Cabbage
2 T. olive oil
One small head red cabbage, shredded. Easy to do in the food processor.
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth or no-sugar added apple juice plus more to add as it cooks.
1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt
ground black pepper to taste
2 T. red wine vinegar or 1 T. balsamic and 1 T. red wine vinegar for a more mellow flavor.
1 T. brown sugar

Heat olive oil in large pot and add onion and cabbage. Cook for a few minutes to soften vegetables and add rest of ingredients. Cover and turn heat to medium-low. Braise for about 40 minutes until cabbage is soft. Check pan about every 10 minutes and add 1/4 cup broth or apple juice if it gets too dry, don't let it burn.

Pork and Apple Meatballs with Dijon and Beer Sauce

2 lbs. ground very lean pork - if you have a pork loin roast, trim the fat off, cut in chunks and pulse in the food processor to grind the meat..it's the leanest ground pork.
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 large Granny Smith or other cooking apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped or grated, about 1 cup.
1 T. olive oil

2 slices wheat bread, crusts removed and cubed
4  T. no-sugar-added apple juice

1 egg
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp. Chinese Five Spice Powder- it's worth it to use this if you can, but you can substitute a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of cinnamon and a tiny pinch of cloves if you don't have Five Spice. Visit Savory Spice Shops in Denver or order at http://www.savoryspiceshop.com/ for the best spice and herb blends.)

In large saute pan, heat the olive oil and add onions and apples. Cook about 2 minutes or until soft. Remove from heat and set aside to let cool a few minutes. While cooling, in small bowl, cover bread with apple juice and let set to absorb the juice. When absorbed, mush it up along with egg.
In large bowl, mix ground pork, seasonings and bread and egg mixture. Mix it up with clean hands until well blended and form into balls the size of a golf ball. If you're not a golfer, the size of a large walnut.

In large saute pan, heat 2 T. olive oil and add half of the meatballs to the pan. Leave room between them so they cook properly. Cook about 10 minutes on each side until browned, turning every 10 minutes for 30 minutes. When brown on each side, remove from pan and place on baking sheet, cover with foil, in 250 degree oven while you cook the other half. Cook second half of meatballs and add to baking sheet in oven while you prepare the sauce. Makes about 24 meatballs.

You can stop here if you want. The meatballs are delicious on their own and are a low-fat dinner combined with braised cabbage, but if you want to continue with the sauce, here is the recipe.

Apple Dijon Beer Sauce
To meatball pan, add 1 T. butter and 1 finely chopped shallot. Cook for about 1 minute until shallot is softened. Add 1-1/2 cups apple juice and 3/4 cup beer and bring to boil. Add 1-1/2 T. Dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste , bring to boil and let sauce reduce for 3-4 minutes. Add 1 T.butter and remove from heat. This is enough sauce for 1/2 the meatballs.

See the beer in the photo? I'm going to drink it now. Happy Oktoberfest!