Comfort Foods and Indulgences

One of the things that has stuck with me most from my trip to England some years ago was the unique names used for many traditional British dishes. There is bubble and squeak, which is potatoes and cabbage cooked together. Toad in the hole is a dish of sausages baked in a batter. Spotted dick is a bread pudding with raisins, drowned in custard. And one of my favorites is bangers and mash, sausages with mashed potatoes. All these dishes are commonly served in pubs all around England.

Traditionally, bangers and mash uses pork sausage or long coiled Cumberland sausage, slathered in a rich onion gravy. It's a classic homey meal that never fails to satisfy a hearty appetite. Nowadays, for the sake of reinvention, there are some gourmet incarnations. Other types of sausages can be used and the gravy can vary. Sometimes, it's served with fried onions. My first time tasting the dish was at a restaurant in Brighton that served a Frenchified version with a red wine sauce and a topping of fried leeks. It was probably one of the best versions of the dish I had during my time studying abroad.

I am damned if I do and I am damned if I don’t!  The husband does complain at times about the “fresh baked” treats that adorn our kitchen counter(no one else seems to complain…).  And when I do take a break from endless hours in the kitchen, and there is nothing under the glass dome, he sighs, makes a comment, and pouts.

This past Friday night was one of those occassions.  We had just finished a lovely Friday night dinner of roasted salmon with homemade teriyaki sauce, baked brown rice, and sauteed zucchini.  No dessert.  I did, however, have frozen cookie doughs in the freezer, but that wouldn’t do.  Although it wasn’t what he wanted, the kids talked him in to a Pinkberry run.  I was perfectly happy with my mini yogurt with fresh berries, but I knew that baking was going to be part of the weekend agenda.

It is the time of year when the spring fiddlehead foragers return to our store to sell us chanterelle mushrooms packed into rounded over Tupperware containers. It is an exceptional year for chanterelle mushrooms because it has rained a lot in Maine this summer and that make them grow large, luscious and most abundant.

We eat mushrooms regularly at our house usually sautéed in a combination of butter and olive oil with a touch of minced garlic at the end but once in a while I make “the dish”. The ultimate chanterelle preparation is combining the mushrooms with lobster meat, cream and cognac. I know what you are thinking; how rich… Yes, but spoon a small portion on a beautiful plate and eat slowly as you ponder how anything could taste this wonderful..

I use 1 pound of chanterelle mushrooms and I pick out the largest ones. Wipe them clean, trim the bottom of the stem off and I like to pull the mushrooms apart by hand keeping the pieces fairly large. The reason I prefer the mushroom pulled into large pieces is because it’s the star of the dish. You’ll see.

A few days ago, it was a rare day in SoCal…it rained. Being the proud homebody that I am, I adore a rainy day. The heat is on at a comfortable temp, a warm cup of tea sits comfortably on my desk (all day), and my ugg slippers are the shoe of choice.

Eli woke up that morning with a “bit” of the sniffles (I knew he was faking, but we are all entitled a day off now and again). The one condition; he was to stay out of my hair. I had some work to catch up on for a few clients and I was really looking forward to a day to cross some stuff off of my to-do list.

At 10:30 a.m. Eli started asking what was for lunch. I ignored him as much as I could, but then I realized that it is rare that I have a lunch partner. Lunch was going to be a joint effort, something that we could do together. With some turkey sausage in the fridge, washed leeks, a brick of feta, and some left over challah, I knew exactly what I was going to make; the ultimate comfort food – a Savory Bread Pudding.