MARIE'S MUSES

What is comfort food?  It's a term I have heard bandied about for several years now.  Wilkepedia describes it as thus:  "The term comfort food refers to any food or drink to which one habitually turns for temporary respite, security, or special reward."  To me,  comfort food is something that takes me back to a kinder, gentler time....something that takes me back to the bosom of my childhood home, the security of a loving family, a slower pace, and mom's apple pie.  It's soothing and comforting, creamy and buttery, or luciously sweet...and sometimes savoury, depending on my mood.  It's like the giant "Nooker" of adulthood.  (family term...meaning pacifier)  Simple pleasures....

As consumers, we've gone from coveting food from abroad to coveting food from the local farmer.  Today, in the culinary world, the phrase "locally grown" has as high a standing on menus as fancy ingredients like foie gras and truffles.  We want artisanal food, not corporate ingredients...We want meat that is organic and grass-fed, not stockyard raised and bio-engineered.  In some ways, we've come to a point where the quality of the ingredients is more important than any fussing done with them.  There is on the one hand...a desire to return to the satisfying, family-based meals of our past; and on the other hand the desire to eat healthy, family-farm-based ingredients.

We want to go back to a time when life was not so complicated...or, at least, when we look at it from the distance of time....it was one that seemed much simpler.  One of the few ways most of us can get there together...is through our food, and it can be as diverse as our culture enables it to be.  To someone from Japan...it could be dashi, tempura or soba noodles....an Italian might long for penne, panzanella salad and chicken cacciatore...an East Indian, Dal or curd rice.  For me,  it's more likely to be Meatloaf and Mashed potatoes or Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Whatever your culture or background one thing is for sure...comfort food is food that when eaten soothes the soul and makes what seems wrong with our own little worlds....suddenly alright...and that can't be bad.

Serves 6

This was one of our favourite meals when I was growing up, and when I was bringing up my own family. My kids still request it when I have the opportunity to cook for them. This goes great with mounds of freshly mashed potatoes made with lots of butter and hot milk.

1 ½ pounds beef rump steak, cut into serving size pieces

½ cup plain flour

Salt and pepper to taste

A knob of butter

1 fat clove garlic, crushed

2 large Spanish type onions, peeled and thinly sliced

4 cups canned chopped tomatoes, undrained

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Season the pieces of steak with salt and pepper and pound the flour into them with the side of a bread plate, pounding on both sides and pounding until no more flour can be absorbed. This step is what makes the meat meltingly tender.

Melt the butter in a large skillet and brown the pieces of steak on both sides, removing as done to a plate. Once all the steak is browned, sauté the onions in the drippings along with the garlic.

Return the steak to the skillet along with the tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce . Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered, for about an hour and a half to two hours, until the steak is tender and the sauce is slightly thickened.

*The above recipe is by no means rigid....add your own twist to it...perhaps a dash of balsamic vinegar, or a squirt of tomato catsup or brown sauce.  That's what makes comfort food comfort food...it is an indelible print of our souls...

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

• #2 Comment from bgilmore725 
  06/10/06 00:39 | Permalink

  Hi Marie, Bea here. I'm visiting your journal for the first time today after having read Kate's entry about the Roman coins. I saw your link and clicked on it and now I am so glad I did! So far I have read three of your entries, and they seem to focus on food so I'm wondering if you are a chef. Your recipes look delicious, and the photos are professional looking. My mother made swiss steaks for us when I was growing up. I don't think I have had them since I left home... never made it myself. My husband is a southern boy, and he'd rather have country style steak, which seems to resemble the swiss steak except country style is gravy based and swiss steak seems tomato based.  Do you take your own photos of the food? Maybe you are a photographer and a connoisseur of fine food. The muffin recipe is one I'll be trying. I love muffins with a cup of hot tea myself. You have a tasty journal. I'll be back! Bea
  
  http://journals.aol.com/bgilmore725/Wanderer/
• #1 Comment from susanebunn 
  02/10/06 09:41 | Permalink

  Oh those comfort foods!  I have such a love for my mother's Lemon Merangue Pie and her Chicken Stew with Dumplings.  My Swiss Steak was always made in a tomato based sauce, so you are very correct that there are twists to the recipe.  I haven't attempted this for some time now.  Thanks for jarring my memory!
  
  TTFN,
  
  Susie
  http://journals.aol.co.uk/susanebunn/ItAllStartsAfter50/