Comfort food

It's been the season for comfort foods -- not long past the holiday season when the sugar buzz wore off and the thermometer dropped to single digits (NOT a normal thing for here in the banana belt of New Mexico), I found myself cooking comfort foods.

Comfort foods are those that are usually high in carbohydrates, sometimes gooey and rich with sauces or gravies and undoubtedly end up on your hips and thighs -- but nothing soothes the soul of winter living like a good pot of chicken and noodles, sour cream enchiladas, ham and scalloped potatoes, or cheesy potato soup.

And don't forget dessert. I've rediscovered bread pudding. It's the pudding of childhood memories where Mom used up the drying homemade bread and abundance of extra milk and if the chickens were cooperating, the abundance of eggs.

I know that soon it will be time to think more about salads and fresh garden vegetables, but right now, by the crackle of the fire, I'll share a couple favorite recipes with you.

Cheese Potato Soup

2 cups diced potatoes
1 ½ cups chopped onion
1 cup fairly thin sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups water
½ stick butter
6 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cups milk
½ cup flour
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Combine potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, water, butter and bouillon. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered 30 minutes or until vegetables are done. Mix together milk and flour until smooth and gradually blend flour mixture into vegetable mixture.

Add cheese, mustard and pepper. Cook over moderate heat stirring until cheese melts. Heat just to serving temperature.

Soup freezes nicely. To serve, thaw completely in refrigerator. Heat to serving temp stirring occasionally. Makes 2 quarts or about 8 servings.

(I’ve done this in the crock pot adding the milk mixture and cheese at the last.)

Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

3 cups French bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup plus 2 T sugar, divided
2 tsp. cinnamon, divided
1 tsp.vanilla
1 quart half and half (if you use milk, add butter to melt in it)
6 eggs
In large bowl toss the bread with the butter, 1 T sugar, 1 t. cinnamon. Transfer to baking sheet and toast in 350 oven for 15-20 minutes til browned. Butter a 9x13 pyrex dish and sprinkle 1 T sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon over bottom. Put bread in.
In heavy saucepan bring half and half just to a boil, add vanilla.

In large bowl whisk eggs and remaining 1 cup sugar and add the half and half, whisking constantly. Pour over the bread. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon on top if you like cinnamon. Set baking dish in a larger pan and add enough hot water to the big pan to reach halfway up the side of baking dish. Bake 300 degree oven for one hour.

Caramel Sauce - this is the way the cookbook says and you can do it this way if you want to or you can just beat the cream cheese and add Smucker's caramel ice cream topping.

Cook book version: In dry, heavy saucepan cook 3/4 cup sugar over moderately high heat, stirring with a fork until it is melted and turns golden caramel. Add 1/2 cup cream carefully. Mixture will boil. Stir until well combined. Transfer to rack and cool to lukewarm. In bowl with mixer beat cream cheese til smooth, add 3/4 cup cream and beat until stiff. Add the caramel and beat til combined.

Sometimes I throw a cup of white chocolate chips in the pudding and they will melt in little puddles throughout the pudding while it bakes.