The best comfort food recipes to make on cold winter nights Wine News

I had to rethink the word “comfort” slightly, however. Maybe that’s because I grew up in a time when creamy buttery mash was the very definition of comfort. If you’re from Northern Ireland like me, you know the Field, a dish of mashed potatoes with milk – in which chopped spring onions have been cooked – and copious amounts of butter.

It is eaten on its own, there aren’t any healthy greens alongside it, and it’s a dish my kids just don’t understand. It’s the same, unfortunately, for the gratin dauphinois. They don’t get any cream.

They lament, “Oh mama, so much cream,” as I dig a serving spoon into her tender layers. They don’t even have potatoes. While I’m cracking my potato in the oven, they’re going to bake Bulgarian wheat and slice roast peppers. I guess they were raised with Mediterranean vegetables and olive oil even though we live in England.

Pies are one of the few old-fashioned cozy foods I can avoid, the only dish, other than lasagna, in which they think a flour-thickened sauce is acceptable. Otherwise, for them, comfort comes in baked pasta and rice dishes and even sloppy bowls of polenta. You wouldn’t think their mother was Irish; one could conclude, just from what they eat, that they were brought up by an Italian who had spent a long time in the Middle East.

They love the assertive flavors, the warmth of chili and cayenne pepper, the salty feta cheese, the earthy, moist smell of cumin, and the legumes – lentils and chickpeas – that Mediterranean cuisine has made popular. I have grown to love polenta too. It provides medium weight coverage that other stronger flavors can play on. Baked rice dishes have been on the go since I discovered that 200g of rice and 650ml of broth cook to perfection in 40 minutes in a 30cm saucepan.

My idea of ​​cozy cuisine is developing and the dishes I share here prove it. I’m not giving up on the creamy gratins, however.

Three comforting recipes for winter meals

A shoemaker is often sweet, but it’s a versatile dish that also pairs well with savory ingredients.