FEEL-GOOD COMFORT FOOD
You may wonder, what is comfort food? Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone, and may be characterized by its high caloric nature, high carbohydrate level, or simple preparation.
After a stressful day working from home, often all you want is a huge bowl of tasty food that fills up your stomach and makes you feel relaxed. It doesn’t matter what you’re craving, whether it be macaroni & cheese, chicken pot pie, or that perfect BLT, nothing beats a simple savoury and hearty dish during these wintery evenings.
Luckily you don’t have to spend all day in the kitchen to create your favourite comfort food dishes for dinner. There are a lot of quick and easy variations of your favourite comfort food recipes that give all the flavour and warmth without the hours of work. So put on your best your apron, grab the ingredients and let’s get comfort food cooking.
Macaroni and Cheese
Cheesy goodness awaits in this crispy and delicious classic dish. The essential components consist of creamy sauce, chewy pasta and loads of cheese. Heat a frying pan and add in some oil and butter, and stir in some flour. Then use a whisk to stir and cook the sauce for 3 minutes. Slowly add in a bit of milk. Then use a cheese grater to grate two blocks of cheese into a dish and then add to the pan. For seasoning, toss in some paprika and nutmeg, and stir for an additional 3 minutes. Cook some macaroni pasta in a pot while your sauce is being made and then once al dente, combine with the cheese sauce. Transfer the macaroni and cheese into an oven dish and sprinkle some more cheese over the top. Place on grill in the oven for 8 minutes until the dish is crispy and brown.
* Sprinkle some bacon over the top for an extra crunchy meal and extra bit of protein.
Chicken Pot Pie
Creating the perfect pie crust is a technique that requires years of experience, but we promise you won’t taste the difference if you use a decent purchased dough. First you’ll need to roll out the dough and place it in a pie dish, leaving some dough overlapping the sides of the dish. Now for the filling – an easy version is to make use of chicken left overs and combine it with chopped carrots, potatoes and some peas. *Replace the chicken with other leftovers in your fridge, be it pulled pork or beef.
Preheat your oven at 180°C. Then place all the vegetables in a boiling pot and cook for 5-8 minutes, drain the water and set it aside. Melt a dollop of butter over a large frying pan and fry up some onions for 3 minutes. Sprinkle some flour, salt, pepper, thyme and some poultry seasoning over the onions and stir for one minute. Add your vegetables to the pan and simmer until thickened. Add in your chicken and peas and remove from the heat. Now add your filling to the pie dish and seal with the dough. Brush the top with some egg to give it a golden glow. Bake for 20 minutes, and then it’s ready to be sliced and served.
Cottage Pie
This age-old dish has been a firm winter favourite for centuries, and we have the ideal mouth-watering recipe for you. First you’ll need to boil some potatoes in a pot for 12 minutes, then drain the water, place them in a mixing bowl and use a good masher to mash the potatoes. Next up, combine sour cream, egg and cheese with the mash potatoes. While your potatoes are boiling, add some olive oil to a large frying pan and fry up your ground beef. Cook the meat for 4 minutes until brown. Add chopped carrots and onion to the frying pan and cook for an additional 5 minutes, then add butter and flour, while whisking in some beef stock and Worcestershire sauce. Spoon your meat and vegetables into a large casserole dish and spread your mashed potatoes over the top. Place in the oven for 8 minutes on grill until brown.
Here are some more comfort food recipes for you and your family to enjoy.
