Let the Comfort Cooking Begin

Labour Day parties, from what I hear, generally involve barbecues, and bathing suits, and hanging out by the pool, and chatting with other pretty and stylish people.

I've never actually experienced one of these.

This is because a) I'm not what you'd consider "socially normal" and because b) generally, in Massachusetts and/or Maine, Labour Day is spent rocking sweatpants and a flannel shirt and watching the rain come down outside. No joke, you guys, Boston lost power due to FLOODING on Monday. Hey, that's just how we roll up here. Welcome to Fall. We got here a few weeks ago.

Labour Day for me consisted of trying to come to terms with the MILLION% humidity, and also sanding, scraping, and painting my bedroom doors, walls, and ceiling. If you ever want to test whether you will like a colour scheme, dear reader, here's a top tip: splatter it all over your arms, shoulders, and face, and then see how you feel after 72 hours. If you still like it, you're good to go.

I am also, thanks to the aforementioned humidity, in the time-honoured, runner-approved "chafing" situation, and spent Sunday in my underwear, covered in Bag Balm and bandaids from my knees to my neck, only allowed to sit down after I spread a towel on the couch.

This might be why I've never been to a Labour Day party.

BUT cooking had to be done. And so without further ado, I give you the first two Comfort Foods of the fall. 

BUTTERMILK CORN MUFFINS

This was adapted from Ken Haedrich's delightful and incredibly useful Country Baking (Bantam, 1994). He was the one who gave me the Blue Cheese Cornmeal Biscuits from earlier this summer, and I will say this: Dude knows his baked goods. It's an unassuming little cookbook, I picked it up secondhand for $7 in Peterborough, NH. It's got a . . . shall we say . . .  quaint illustrated cover that looks like it would be more comfortable on a Mary Engelbreit calendar. But crack that sucker open and what you get is a slew of really tasty, really healthy, really easy breads, cakes, muffins, and pies. He's a dark horse, is our Ken.

Anyway, this is an alteration of his Cornmeal Molasses Crumb Muffins. I took out the spices, and switched honey for molasses, and didn't put the crumbs on top. I also used buttermilk for the very scientific reason that we didn't have any actual milk left in the fridge. Hence:

Paper cups! Paper cups!
Come on, we ALL love peeling the wrapper off.
To me, this is just THE PROMISE OF AWESOMENESS.

BUTTERMILK CORN MUFFINS

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk (or buttermilk) 
• 1/3 vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup honey

Combine the flours, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. In separate bowl, combine the beaten egg, milk, vegetable oil and honey. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until it's well combined. If your batter is a bit too thick add a little more milk and kept stirring. 

Either butter a muffin pan or line it with paper cups. In my opinion, paper cups are SO much easier, and they hold the possibility of pretty. Did you know they make Disney Princess ones? I went with them. (Not Disney Princess cups, just plain paper ones. I'm not crazy, you guys.) Divide the batter evenly between the cups, and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, until the tops are nice and brown. 

Let them sit for a few minutes, then lift them out onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Or, if you are in a Beetle House, let your mum test one smoking hot just off the pan before she goes to work because it's just easier to say yes sometimes, you guys.

BEETLE NOTES

As I mentioned above, the recipe intends these to be lightly spiced corn muffins (cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger) with a streusel-like topping of cornmeal and brown sugar. I fully intend to make them verbatim at some later date, but it was still August at this point, and I felt like they should be, you know, the last summer muffins or whatever, and therefore traditional and . . . corny. The crumb topping wasn't going to happen anyway, I feel like it would have made them way too sweet. And whilst I like the idea of molasses, since I was nixing the spices I thought honey would be a simpler, lighter sweetener here.

I've already addressed the buttermilk issue. Purely circumstantial. It was shopping day when I made these, but the morning of shopping day, when the fridge contains jam, mustard, maybe an egg, and some carrots. Milk was not to be had for love or money. So buttermilk it was. It definitely made them richer, and probably moister, and if that's your thing than great. I plan on using straight up milk next time. I like my corn muffins as the Pilgrims intended, aka dry and free of sin.

These heat up really well later on, incidentally, so it's possible to have WARM corn muffins for breakfast for as many mornings as you can stretch these puppies out.

Which, it turns out, is not that many mornings. But for a little while, split, stuck in the oven for about 5 minutes, and smothered in butter and strawberry rhubarb jam . . . let's just say the Pilgrims would probably have opened a Hooters down on Plymouth Plantation if they were munching on these for breakfast.

CAULIFLOWER AND MUSHROOM MAC AND CHEESE

Remember when I mentioned that someone doesn't think she likes mushrooms and that I was going to try and fix that?

Well.

CONSIDER THAT SH*T FIXED.

I know it's been written about a million times before, but Cauliflower is a) awesome and b) totally perfect for macaroni and cheese. It's white, which means aesthetically it doesn't create any problems, and it goes so well with hearty, warm, comfort dishes like this. So when you add MUSHROOMS WHICH ARE BROWN they actually enhance the whole colour palette. If you have time to look at it, that is. Because by the time you look down, it might be all gone. Just saying. 

MUSHROOM AND CAULIFLOWER MAC AND CHEESE 

ok not "mac" and cheese because I haven't cooked "mac" in about a decade. So I guess

MUSHROOM AND CAULIFLOWER WHOLE WHEAT PENNE AND CHEESE

which totally doesn't have the same ring, right? but still. moving on. 

INGREDIENTS

The mushrooms in question

• 1 head of cauliflower, floret-ed
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced thin (in this case, Crimini, but go nuts, people) 
• 1 lb whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 cup milk
• 4 tbs butter
• Cheese. Lots of cheese. Again, go nuts. This is YOUR mac and cheese party, my friend.
• Salt and pepper to taste

Put a pot of water on to boil. In a saucepan, melt 2 tbs of butter until bubbling and smoky, and throw in the mushrooms. Let them cook for a good long, browning and crisping time, about 10 minutes.

When the water boils add the pasta, stirring it frequently so it doesn't stick to the bottom. When it's JUST undercooked, dump it out into a colander and strain it completely. You're going to bake it in the oven so if you cook it completely by the time it's done it's going to be soggy and paste-like, and nobody wants that. 

Butter the bottom and sides of a big oven-proof pot, if you've got a French Oven, now would be a good time to break it out. Pour in the cooked pasta and add the cauliflower florets and the mushrooms out of the pan. Add the other 2 tbs of butter, salt and pepper generously, and stir to combine. 

In a saucepan, melt the cheese and the milk until bubbly. I had Emmental, Cheddar, Parmesan, and some good old fashioned Swiss. Pour the cheese and milk mixture over the pasta and vegetables and make sure everything is good and coated. Add a bit more salt and pepper, and sprinkle on some more cheese (in for a penny . . . )

Save your self-restraint for when it really matters. 

Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, then put the cover on and bake for about 10 minutes more. When the cauliflower is tender to a fork you're ready to go. If you need to keep it warm, turn the oven off and let it sit, nothing's going to happen.

Pretty hard to mess it up at this point.

BEETLE NOTES

Thanks to our recent Italian houseguest, we have a lot of what
I think is incredibly expensive Parmesan. Thanks, Marina. 

I've made a fair few mac and cheeses at this point. My jumping off point was a recipe from Martha about a year ago, and from there I've just extrapolated and pushed and poked and prodded and generally done my Hillbilly Beetle thing. This is a really, really, REALLY good dish to get rid of pantry supplies that have been kicking around. We all have at least ONE box of pasta at the back of our cupboards. And we all have various heels of various cheeses in our cheese drawers. Now's the time, dear reader, now's the time.

I would politely discourage you, at least if you are a first-timer, from using something crazy strong like Stilton. Just because it might overpower everything else. And whilst options such as Brie and Camembert are TOTALLY AMAZING, just remember to scoop out the creamy bit and leave the rest. Also from a technical standpoint, Mozzarella, whilst delicious, creates a whole slew of fork-to-mouth issues that you might want to avoid. I found this out the hard way, and I'm trying to save you a lot of discomfort. 

I'm a whole wheat pasta Beetle anyway, but when you're making something like this, you really need a carb that will stand up to both veggies AND cheese. Whole wheat won't wilt and disappear underneath the other tastes like white pasta will. It actually comes through and ends up complementing the rest. It also stands up to boiling and baking and won't come out of the oven as a tasteless gluey blob. 

This went down like the proverbial house on fire. And the mushroom situation? Let's just say it wasn't a problem. I'm looking forward to making LOTS OF THINGS THAT HAVE MUSHROOMS IN THEM in the near future. 

I've only mentioned this a few times. 

Soul of restraint, me.

The Williams-Sonoma Halloween catalogue came this morning. I feel that this, more than anything, says "Autumn is well and truly here." 

It'll be ok, you guys. Buy yourself some school supplies, pick up an apple at the farmer's market, and get excited. Fall is THE BEST.