Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Doughnuts were a Sunday tradition in my house. Everyone sitting around the kitchen table, sipping coffee, reading various sections of the paper, (I usually opted for Parade Magazine) and reaching for a doughnut. Sometimes my sister would arrive with a variety box of Dunkin Donuts, other times it would be store bought Freihofer’s mixed dozen – plain, powdered, and cinnamon sugar (my favorite).

This recipe from ‘The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook’ delivers a near perfect old fashioned country doughnut – crunchy on the outside, moist nutmeg spiced cake on the inside. I rolled mine in cinnamon sugar, but they’re great plain, with powdered sugar, or even a chocolate glaze. Make them when you’ve got plenty of friends and family around to enjoy them while they’re warm – they do not store well.

Cheddar is one of the most popular cheeses in the world and one of my favorites. It originally came from Somerset, in England but is now produced in many  parts of the English speaking world and beyond. But only 14 makers are licensed to use the EU Protected Designation of Origin “West Country Farmhouse Cheddar” which indicates it's still made in the traditional way.

The process for making cheddar is similar to other cow's milk cheeses, with the addition of a unique process that has taken on the name "cheddaring." Slabs of curd are stretched, then piled on top of each other to help drain the whey. This helps to harden the cheese and develop acidity and flavor. Farmhouse cheddars are traditionally wrapped in cloth and then aged. Good English cheddar should be buttery and nutty in flavor and should have a soft crumbly texture. Cheddar improves with age, developing those crunchy crystals of calcium lactate you find in other aged cheese, like Parmigiano Reggiano.

I recently got a chance to try some Westminster cheddar, and am happy to report that it is very widely available in supermarkets. Westminster aged cheddar cheese is made on England’s oldest cheddar making farm in North Somerset only 15 miles from the village of Cheddar. The Barber family has been making cheddar since 1833 and is reputedly to be the oldest cheddar making family in the world.

I love Fettuccine Alfredo, but during the summer months it's a little heavy. It doesn't mean I still don't crave it. 

I have made "Lighter" Fettuccine Alfredo and a quick "weeknight" version of Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. Both are fabulous but I still wanted something lighter, something more summery with a kiss of sunshine. After racking my brain, I decided charred corn, basil an eensy bit of cream (1/4 cup) and some lemon juice would make a perfect summer alfredo sauce. Okay, honestly I didn't even know if it was going to work.

But it did! It's not heavy and almost seems "sauceless" but at the same time it's creamy. I know that's hard to imagine but you'll get it once you taste it. Let's just call it an anomaly. 

I am currently into shrimp, mostly in tacos, but they seem to be appearing in my other dishes too. I couldn't resist topping this very summery pasta with some blackened shrimp.

Let me set the stage, a bite of the shrimp, with its cajun flavors, the sweet corn and bright lemon taste in the pasta...it's heaven and summa' all in one bite. You will make this again and again.

The first article I ever wrote for One for the Table was about how I came to love IHOP as a child, abandoned it as I got older, and rediscovered it much later. I’m still bereft that they took my beloved corn meal pancakes off the menu a few years ago, but when I got an email recently about their All-You-Can-Eat-Pancakes promotion from January 2nd to February 9th, I headed over to that iconic blue roof in Encino.

I did not intend to eat all I could, nor even the 10 pancakes required to compete in the Player Standings. Thankfully, that means that I will not be eligible to win free pancakes for a year. So rather than ordering the buttermilk pancakes required for having my plate refilled again and again, I decided to try two meals I’d never had before. (I ate less than half of each…honest.) First, I ordered the strawberry-banana pancakes, which were spoiled by the goopy, faux strawberry-flavor glaze. Then I got a Belgian waffle, which was perfect - crispy, light and delicious.

If the 39 days of the All-You-Can-Eat-Pancakes season aren’t enough to keep you satisfied, this year IHOP has upped the ante by introducing the first IHOP Pancake Bowl, in which the top 10 high-scorers in the Player Standings from each participating region will compete locally during Super Bowl weekend to see who can eat the most pancakes. He who wins (could a “she” possibly win?) will get a $500 IHOP gift card.