Food Friday: Comfort Food

It’s funny— for me, growing up, my favorite comfort food was my mom’s tuna casserole. Oh yes, canned tunafish and cream of mushroom soup and frozen peas and egg noodles all baked together in a circa-1970s casserole dish. That was, for me, the quintessential comfort food. I haven’t had it in years and years, although my memories of it are alive and well and I remember it being so, so good.

But times have changed (oh how they have changed!) and what qualifies as comfort food is an indicator of that change. The bambinos’ current favorite comfort food is the dinner above— a gingery/sweet/sour stir-fried chicken, brown rice, and stir-fried green beans. This is so not tuna casserole.

After being away all summer we needed some comfort food this week. And this is currently my go-to comfort food meal for our family. It is absolutely delish. The best part about it is that all five of us love it equally — it is our comfort food right now. Here are the recipes:

GWYNY’S CHICKEN

(This is just what we call it; this recipe comes directly from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook, My Father’s Daughter. In her cookbook it is called “Best Stir-Fried Chicken.” I’ve posted before about this chicken— that post can be found here.)

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
2 tbsp cornstarch
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup peeled and minced garlic
1/4 cup peeled and minced ginger
1/2 cup minced green scallions (white & green parts)
Pinch red chili flakes (optional)
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Toss the chicken with cornstarch, a large pinch of salt and quite a bit of pepper. Heat oil in large, non-stick wok over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions and chile flakes (if using) and cook, stirring, for one minute. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Add the vinegar, sugar, and five or six grinds of black pepper. Boil on high for three minutes, or until the sugar has caramelized and the whole mixture is dark brown and sticky and lovely. Add the soy sauce, and cook for another 30 seconds. Serve immediately, sprinkled with cilantro. 

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BROWN RICE

I have a rice steamer that I absolutely love. I’ve posted about it here. It makes steaming up some ridiculously perfectly delicious rice so ridiculously easy to do!

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STIR-FRIED GREEN BEANS

I do these in the wok over high heat. Here’s how I make ‘em: Put about a tablespoon vegetable oil in a hot wok, add about 3-4 cloves of minced fresh garlic, and about 2 pounds of green beans. Sprinkle generously with sea salt. Stir fry until almost done (we like them very firm, almost crunchy). About 2 minutes before they are finished, add a handful of thinly sliced fresh red pepper (this is mainly just for color and texture, so it is unnecessary, but it really does add a lot). Serve immediately!

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