[alestar]

I love food...I enjoy shopping for it, preparing it and eating it.

To me, food isn't just fuel for the body, its something to look forward to and enjoy!

Everyone has their favourite "comfort foods" that you get cravings for...lets hear about them.

Here are my top 5:

1. The B.E.L.T. - the ultimate breakfast sandwich, bacon, egg, lettuce, tomato and cheese with some mayo in a toasted bagel. A little sea salt, fresh cracked pepper and oregano on the tomato...I could eat this every morning! (had one this morning, in fact). The best are in the late summer when the tomatoes are freshly picked from the garden.

2. Dirty Mac - a big pot of macaroni, to which I add cubed up cheese (whatever is in the fridge, but sharp cheddar is the default), a drizzle of olive oil, diced up tomatoes, green onions, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and Maggi (a liquid seasoning). If we have leftover ham, I'll cube it up and throw it in. When I have the patience, I'll dump it in a greased baking dish and sprinkle bread crumbs on the top and bake it until the top gets a bit crispy.

3. Beef and Barley Soup - whenever we do a rib roast (which isn't very often, only when they go on special...) I make this soup the next day. I make the stock with the rib bones and usually add a couple of beef soup bones from the butcher. It has onions, carrots, garlic, celery, parsnips along with the spices, beef and the barley (added at the very end, I use the quick cooking pearl barley). Finish it off with some parmigiano reggiano...man, I'm drooling just thinking about it!

4. Spinach Lasagne - whenever I make my spaghetti sauce, I make a huge batch so that I can make this lasagne dish. Its layered, from bottom to top: sauce, noodles, fresh spinach, ricotta cheese, noodles, sauce, sliced tomatoes, crumbled feta cheese, fresh basil leaves, noodles, sauce, sliced pepperoni, shredded cheese (a mix of mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano, fontina and provalone), green pepper rings. Tastes even better the next day!

5. Mom's Pirogis - even though my mom doesn't cook that much anymore, she'll surprise me with these every few months. The potato and cheese filled dumplings are served with a "sauce" that consists of onions fried with salt pork and butter. Add some sour cream and chives and I'm in heaven! Probably the most un-healthy meal, we affectionately refer to these as "lard cookies". I always eat too many, they are just so damn good!

So what you got?

[Macros]

Bacon butty.

[Slow Ben]

My favorite is the one i usually fix on Sunday mornings. I'll fix scrambled eggs, hash browns, chopped up sausage, bacon, green peppers and onions.

Put the hash browns on your plate then the sausage, bacon, peppers and onions on top of those. Then cover it with the scrambled eggs and cheese.

Pretty much a breakfast burrito, but all mixed up on your plate.

[masan's saddle]

alestar you know how to eat !

That Beef and Barley soup sounds immense, I will def give it a go as I enjoy making soups/ stews from left over roasts.

Lately i've been making a nice dish of boned chicken thighs, marinated in the juice and zest of an orange, one tablespoon of olive oil, one teaspoon of curry powder, one teaspoon of ground ginger, 3 chopped chili's (medium size) and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Chuck it all in a bowl with the chicken thighs and leave overnight in the fridge. Take the chicken bits out and roast them with some veggies, well nice.

In terms of easy comfort food though gotta go with Mac and the bacon butty ! Fresh crusty bread, slabs of butter and smoked back bacon, occasionally with a fried egg. I believe i'm going to go and make one right now !

[D'rek]

Craving-wise, my biggest is shrimp. And once I start on 'em, I don't stop 'til there's only 2 left with which to repopulate the entire species.

But shrimp usually takes a while to prepare (or, if not, a while to thaw), so I can't say it's a comfort food. Comfort food for me means I can just grab it out of the fridge/freezer/cupboard/coffin and eat it straight or have it ready in no-time with minimal preparation, even if it's not actually intended to be eaten that way. Thus, the classic ice cream is always a great comfort food for me 'cause I'm girly like that, but also microwave meatballs. Takes like 2 minutes to heat 'em up and then I dip 'em in pasta sauce or put 'em in a wrap with cheese and veggies. Yum.

[Slow Ben]

If its that kind of comfort food, its donuts.
I could eat donuts everyday for breakfast for the rest of my life and i would die a happy man.

[alestar]

 Slow Ben, on Apr 26 2009, 07:11 PM, said:

My favorite is the one i usually fix on Sunday mornings. I'll fix scrambled eggs, hash browns, chopped up sausage, bacon, green peppers and onions.

Put the hash browns on your plate then the sausage, bacon, peppers and onions on top of those. Then cover it with the scrambled eggs and cheese.

Pretty much a breakfast burrito, but all mixed up on your plate.

Sounds good...I do something similar in an oven-proof skillet but I put shredded cheese on top and then toss it in the oven for 10 minutes or so.

Man, I'm starving now...

[Slum]

Pulled-pork, macaroni salad, and root beer! Is there anything better?

[D'rek]

 Slumgullion Spitteler, on Apr 26 2009, 04:38 PM, said:

Pulled-pork, macaroni salad, and root beer! Is there anything better?

Damn, you're right, pulled pork is freaking amazing.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Best comfort food is beans and cheese on toast, with plenty of worcester sauce on it.

Also, the pies my gf makes are unbelieavable, especially the steak and ale ones. And a roast of any variety is always a winner.

Comfort food's gotta be hot, it's gotta be filling, and a bit stodgy, I reckons.

This post has been edited by Thelomen Toblerone: 27 April 2009 - 03:34 PM

[Slow Ben]

Beans and Cheese...on toast?! I'm trying to wrap my head around this one.

Lol. You Brits.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Has to be tried to be appreciated me lad, give it a shot!

Toast the bread, cook the beans and spoon on top of the toast, then melt cheese over it, with a glug of worcester sauce. Sounds weird, but it's heaven.

[Slow Ben]

For some reason when you explain it, instead of me just thinking of beans on toast, it sounds pretty damn good.

Now i'll HAVE to try it. Any special kind of beans?

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Baked beans always, I should have specified, sorry. Heinz is always best for beans!

[Slum]

Beans and toast? Lulz..

[masan's saddle]

 D'rek, on Apr 27 2009, 02:20 AM, said:

 Slumgullion Spitteler, on Apr 26 2009, 04:38 PM, said:

Pulled-pork, macaroni salad, and root beer! Is there anything better?

Damn, you're right, pulled pork is freaking amazing.

You guys are confusing me, isn't Root beer something you get after you've pulled your pork ?

[Sixty]

Shit, this is a tough one. I personally don't know anything about cooking, and I'm not too picky about food in general. As long as its generally sweet/salty based I'm set. The extent of my cravings for food are "whatever's in the fridge", I'm afraid. =/

[Urb]

Use a teflon frying pan and a rubber spatula (you should never use anything else with a teflon frying pan)

Olive oil
4 eggs
Canned kidney beans
Canned chopped up tomatoes
Canned mushrooms champinon(sp?)
Jalapeños
4 slices of ham

- First, scramble one egg and 3 egg-whites (remove the yellow part) in olive oil
- Then frie up half a can of kidney beans in olive oil with three tablespoons of canned, chopped tomatoes
- Rinse the pan, throw in some more olive oil, the mushrooms, the ham, three more spoons of tomatoes, and frie it up

The plate is constructed as such:
- Eggs on one half, sprinkled with jalapeños
- Beans on the other half
- Mushrooms and ham on top

Goes down nice with some beer

[Mezla PigDog]

Mr PigDogs spaghetti and meatballs.

My own macaroni cheese (infuse the milk with onion, whole peppercorns, cloves and a bay leaf for at least 30mins before you make the cheese sauce. It tastes a bit like Christmas bread sauce and then add loads of really good cheese).

Anything with a jacket potato.

The list could be endless since I am a serious comfort eater.

[Slum]

I like my mac and cheese fresh from the box!