Tag Archives: comfort food

August 14 – One Year Blog Anniversary

14 Aug

Today is a very special day!  It marks one year since I began Sweet Southern Comfort!  This blog was originally started as a way for me to keep track of my favorite recipes and try out new ones for D, but it’s definitely evolved into something much more special to me.  I’ve learned so much from the other bloggers I follow on Word Press and have been inspired by each and every one of you!  So much so, that my stack of recipes to try/adapt/create has probably tripled in size from a year ago!  Here is a link to my very first post: Sunday Supper-Lemon Spaghetti.  This recipe remains one of my go-to comfort foods and I encourage you to try it out sometime.  It’s very easy!  While I may not always have been the most consistent blogger, I did manage to publish 48 posts during my first year of blogging!  Next year, I hope to become more consistent about blogging and bring you all more Southern-focused content.  Here’s a little blog-related re-cap for you:

Top Posts
1. Caramel Cake – My ultimate favorite dessert.  I haven’t tried to make this again since last February as it took me HOURS to make the caramel icing, and I’m still not sure I perfected it.  This might be one of those treats I will stick with having when I’m home with my family and we can buy it from Cindy Lou.
2. Christmas Treat: Peppermint White Chocolate Macarons – Another dessert that was a true labor of love.  I want to take a macaron pastry class at the ICE sometime this year so keep an eye out for future macaron recipes!
3. Fried Red Tomatoes? – My first attempt at frying and a big hit!  Hopefully this year, I can tackle fried chicken!
4. Sunday Supper: Low Sodium Chicken Tortilla Soup – My go-to weekday winter dinner.  Healthy and delicious!
5. Special Valentine’s Day Steak Dinner – Filet Mignon with Cognac Cream Sauce – Hands down the yummiest sauce for your filet.  Great for special occasions (or just any occasion)!  D and I learned how to make this on our first Valentine’s Day together and try to make it a couple of times every year since.

Least Popular Posts – They’re all still awesome so what are you waiting for, check one of these pages out! 🙂
1. Christmas Dinner: Christmas Crostini – This is a really cute, festive and easy appetizer to make at your next holiday get-together.  I would serve it with the Pear Bellinis (better known as Christmas in a Cup)!
2. Oregon Coast Fresh Vegetable Salad – The key to this recipe is having super fresh vegetables and dicing everything immediately before serving.  My pictures definitely did not do our meal at Anna’s by the Sea justice.
3. Sunday Supper: End of Winter Pasta with Cabbage, Speck and Grappa – I make this recipe once a year at the tail-end of winter.  That one meal leaves me with lunches/dinners for a few days and is rich and hearty enough that I’m more than satisfied not to make it again until the next year.

My Personal Favorite Posts – it was hard to pick just three, but here are my favorite recipes I’ve made over the past year
1. Christmas Dinner: Dad’s Cream of Chestnut Soup – This recipe always reminds me of family and the holidays.  It’s so unique and different.  And delicious!
2. Sunday Supper: Hearty & Healthy Borscht – Soups are easy weeknight meals and this one is low-sodium and it’s main ingredient is beets, which are really good for you!
3. Homemade Momofuku Milk Bar Crack Pie – It’s always flattering when people compliment your cooking/baking, but I was especially flattered when someone told me that this was better than the original!  The best part is the ingredients that go into this pie are quite cheap and it is incredibly easy to make.

Thank you for reading during the past year!  Looking forward to many more years to come!

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Outdoor Dining: Campari Citrus Popsicles

5 Aug

It feels like a million degrees in NYC right now.  The only way to beat the heat is to stay inside blasting my AC (which is already on it’s last legs) or toughing it out in the heat outside.  I’ve been opting for the latter recently and having a lot of ice water and popsicles/ice cream/etc. on hand has helped me survive.  The only thing I like more than an icy cold popsicle is an icy cold popsicle that also has my favorite apertif Campari in it!  I found this recipe at The Kitchn.  If you have any leftover from the mix, you can combine it with club soda and lots of ice and enjoy an afternoon cocktail while your popsicles are freezing.  Instant gratification never tasted so good!

Campari Citrus Popsicles 
Recipe found here

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 cups grapefruit juice
1/2 cup Campari

Directions
1. Mix water and sugar together in a small pan over low heat.  Bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves.  Now you have made “simple syrup”!
2. Allow the simple syrup to boil for 4 minutes then remove from heat and cool.
3. Combine the citrus juice and Campari and 1 cup of the cooled simple syrup (you might have a little extra, keep this in case you want to sweeten).  Adjust to taste.  The mixture will be VERY sweet – it will get less sweet in popsicle form.  If you want a LESS tart popsicles, add 1-2 more tbsp of simple syrup.  If you want LESS sweet popsicles, add 1-2 tbsp of PLAIN water to the mix.
4. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze at least 8 hours to overnight.  Enjoy your grapefruit-Campari-club soda cocktail while you are waiting. 🙂

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Homemade Momofuku Milk Bar Crack Pie

30 Jun

Homemade Momofuku Milk Bar Crack Pie

Earlier this summer, I made my first trip to Momofuku Milk Bar.  This place is RIDICULOUSLY good.  Naturally, I had to try (almost) everything on the menu in case I never made the 12 block trek again.  Here’s a review of everything we tried:

  • Cereal Milk – The cereal milk was ice cold milk with crushed cereal powder mixed in.  The texture was really strange to me and it was a little too sweet.
  • Cookies – We tried a compost cookie, a cornflake marshmallow cookie and a corn cookie.  The compost cookie was hands down the best; made with pretzels, chocolate chips, coffee grounds (it works!) and potato chips, the compost cookie contained literally everything but the kitchen sink!  one word or warning though: the cookies are served in plastic wrap which tends to make them a little greasy over the course of the day.
  • Dill Bagel Bomb – A bagel roll with dill cream cheese inside.  Probably would have tasted better eaten immediately instead of waiting until the next morning.  Pretty carb-heavy and not enough cream cheese.
  • Pistachio Croissant – YUM.  We heated this up for breakfast and it was delicious.  It was the perfect pistachio flavor and not too heavy, although I did have a bit of a sugar high heading into work that morning.
  • Birthday Cake Truffles – This was like eating a ball of cookie dough.  Super rich – we shared three truffles between six people and we were all satisfied.
  • Crack Pie – I read an article about “crack” foods in NY Mag last month which initially sparked my interest in checking out Momofuku Milk Bar.  If I could eat a slice of this pie every day, I would.  Each bite melts in your mouth and it the perfect combination of salty and sweet (much like the compost cookie).  It reminds me of chess pie, a Southern dessert from my childhood.  However, at $5.25 a slice and $44 a pie, adding a slice a day wasn’t exactly in my budget.  I did some searching and found a recipe from Bon Appetit for Crack Pie that I used to make my own “crack” pie.  I was a little shocked at just how much butter and sugar goes into this recipe (and not much else!), but was pleasantly surprised to discover the crust is made of oatmeal cookies.  We can consider this a “healthy” food then, right? 😉
Homemade Momofuku Milk Bar Crack Pie

Homemade Momofuku Milk Bar Crack Pie
Recipe from Bon Appetit
Serves 12+ (this cake is very rich; you can make slices 1/2 the size of what you would normally do for pies)

Ingredients
For the Oatmeal Cookie Crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
5 1/2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Filling
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
6 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Directions
For the Oatmeal Cookie Crust
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper; coat with nonstick spray.
2. Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl.
3. Using electric mixer (if you have one), beat mixture until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute.
4. Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan; press out evenly to edges of pan.
5. Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to rack and cool cookie completely.
6. Using hands, crumble oat cookie into large bowl; add 3 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together.
7. Transfer cookie crust mixture to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Using fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish. Place pie dish with crust on rimmed baking sheet.

For the Filling
1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.
2. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and whisk until blended. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
3. Pour filling into crust. Bake pie 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble).
4. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Continue to bake pie until filling is brown in spots and set around edges but center still moves slightly when pie dish is gently shaken, about 20-25 minutes longer.
5. Cool pie 2 hours in pie dish on rack. Chill uncovered overnight. Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.
6. Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut pie into wedges and serve cold.  (NOTE: Don’t add the powdered sugar until the pie is completely cool and right before serving.  I got excited and added mine pretty soon after taking the pie from the oven and it absorbed into the pie.  Whoops!)

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