Comfort Foods and Indulgences

There are many ways to make garlic bread and I certainly make it different ways.  But this way is by far my favorite.  In Italy, to celebrate the first olive oil of the season, they make this simple fettunta - or "greased slice".   It's simply grilled bread, rubbed with a garlic clove, drizzled with the best olive oil you have, and then sprinkled with coarse sea salt.  You won't believe how great it is.  

There is a very unique taste you get if you use a raw garlic clove on a slice of fresh bread.  If you want, you can add a topping to make bruschetta, but this is my favorite way to make garlic bread to accompany dinner.  Many times I buy a whole grain or multi grain loaf to make this with and it's delicious.  

As always, with simple recipes with few ingredients you need to use the best ingredients you can - a good, fruity extra virgin olive oil and some outstanding sea salt. This grilled bread is a must to accompany dishes that have a nice broth or sauce to sop up, like a cioppino or a ragu sauce.

The first time I ate a Chocolate Lava Cake was at Roy’s on Maui in 1990.  Roy was somewhat of a celebrity chef in Hawaii. Back then there were only a few celebrity chefs; Wolfgang Puck, Jonathan Waxman, Michael McCarty, and Alice Waters to name a few.

The food at Roy’s was good, but it was the dessert, the chcolate molten lava cake,  that I kept going back for. I wrote to the restaurant and asked for the recipe.  They obliged!  

Over the years I have tweeked the recipe a little here and a little there. But it just wasn’t right.  It wasn’t perfectly right until I found this recipe in the New York Times.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner. Along with an extra special dinner that night for my 4 favorite valentines, I plan on  adding this dessert to the menu.

Everyone is always moving on to the next big thing. What is up with you people? That cupcake fad sure took off. I knew why, and I was on it so fast. I’m still on it in case anyone asks. Like someone will. In the same way that I always came home from a trip to London, Paris or even New York sporting a new fashion trend, I was carting back boxes of Magnolia cupcakes from the bakery’s West Village location as gifts for friends. Turning them all on to my addiction.

I’m not fickle. In fact I’m the opposite, loyal through and through. All y’all have moved on to pies or those fancy small French macaroons. I’m sticking by the cupcake. Oh, yes I am.

So, how come it took you so long to get into the biscuit craze? Can I toot my own horn here and tell you how long I’ve been a fan of the biscuit? Jumping in to answer before you say no. A long-ass time. My whole life, in fact. My southern grandmother, we called her Granny, made them for me. Pretty sure she dunked them in some bacon fat before they went into the oven. Those buttery, flakey biscuits came out perfect. Served piping hot, butter melting everywhere, dripping onto the plate for my first unforgettable bite. There is nothing quite like it. Until now.

If you had to pick just one dish that represents the category of comfort food better than any other, what would it be? My pick would be good old fashioned mac 'n cheese. Many people think of macaroni and cheese as a true American dish, but in fact its roots lie with the cheese-loving Swiss. Who better to have invented the dish?

What makes macaroni and cheese so popular everywhere is the fact that it's a basic dish to put together, using simple and satisfying ingredients. In this recipe it's cheese, pasta, and bacon—is there a combination any more comforting? This macaroni is hearty enough to get a mountain climber to the top of the Alps and back.

My recipe combines the classic Alpine cheeses of Raclette, Gruyère, and Fontina. Other good Swiss cheeses like Appenzeller or Emmentaler would work well too. The combination of cheeses is typical of a Swiss fondue. And it's the perfect blend for this mac and cheese. Thickly sliced bacon adds a great bite and salty flavor to the dish. And even if you don't reside in an Alpine ski chalet, enjoy this dish on a cold day. It's even better after a day of being out in the snow.