Quick and Easy Comfort Food

Comfort food is different for every person. For me, it usually involves roasted meat, mashed potatoes, and/or gravy. Boiled pot pie in all its Pennsylvania Dutch glory, Thanksgiving dinner, meatloaf with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and savory beef gravy, roast beef crusty brown on the outside and juicy on the inside with creamy mashed potatoes topped with herbed gravy made from the drippings, baked meat pies with flaky golden crusts that I split open to reveal a steaming concoction of rich gravy, chunks of roasted meats, and bright vegetables. Of course, a comfort food meal for me absolutely must include a baked dessert - no fruit salad need apply for a comfort food meal! Creamy brown pumpkin pies that ease across your tongue, apple crisp with crunchy sweet topping and tender sweet apples underneath, cobblers that melt in your mouth and make you swoon, even a fabulous chocolate cake, moist but full bodied, subtle in its underlying flavors like cinnamon but with rich chocolate seducing your tastebuds.

Obviously, today is a day that I'm feeling the need for some comfort food! I don't have the time for boiled pot pie or even baked meat pies and I'm out of baked meat pies in the freezer, darn it. No thawed turkeys, chickens, or beef roasts hanging out in my fridge, either. Things aren't looking good for me! Then inspiration hits: my crockpot and the venison pieces in my freezer can make beef/venison tips and gravy and the mashed potatoes in my freezer can be reheated to go with them. I still have green beans and wax beans in the fridge from my harvest the other day, and I think roasting them will be a great side dish. Now for dessert.... I came across a recipe for vegan raspberry mocha cake the other day, and that sounds made to order for decadent but easy dessert. In fact, the recipe even looks like I can freeze 1/2 the cake for eating later - cut into serving size pieces, flash freeze, bag or put into a freezer container, then get them out to thaw when I want. Convenience comfort food I've made myself using whole foods, no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners, no preservatives, a fraction of the price, and no worries about my food allergies. I love it!

Beef/Venison Tips
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp salt (I prefer kosher salt for its cleaner flavor)
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 c. beef broth/stock (I use 2 tsp beef base from Sam's Club + 2 cups boiling water, which costs pennies and tastes great)
Worcestershire sauce to taste, at least 1 tsp and up to 1 T
2 tsp tomato paste (can substitute in ketchup, but I prefer to use the less sweet, whole foods option of tomato paste)
2-3 lb cubed red meat - beef sirloin tips, beef stew meat, venison chucks, etc.
Optional: 1/2 c. chopped green onions and 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
Thickening paste: 3 T flour or cornstarch + 1/4 cup dry red wine, water, or broth (cool, not hot!)
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper and toss with the meat cubes to coat thoroughly. Place in a crockpot. If using green onions and mushrooms, add those.
Combine beef broth, worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste. Pour over everything in the crockpot, and stir well. Cover and cook on low setting for 7-12 hours. Crockpots vary, so check after 7 hours for doneness!
One hour before serving, turn to high setting. Make the thickening paste by stirring together the flour/cornstarch and the liquid until smooth, then stir into crockpot. If you add flour or cornstarch to a hot liquid, it will clump. Mixing it into a cool liquid first results in a thickener that doesn't clump.

Mashed potatoes from the freezer: make extra mashed potatoes, then portion the cool mashed potatoes into quart or gallon freezer bags (1 cup is a nice individual portion, and you can do 1 cup portions in sandwich bags and then put two sandwich bags in a quart bag or several into a gallon bag). I like to lay them on a cutting board and press flat, freeze, then I can stack them easily or stand them on end, plus they are only 1/2" thick or so which speeds up reheating. Reheating takes only minutes in the microwave.

Roasted Green Beans
Experience has made it possible for me to throw any roasted vegetable together. General rule of thumb: 1 lb vegetable (green beans, asparagus, radishes, onions, brussels sprouts, cauliflower) + 2-3 tsp olive oil + 1/2 tsp kosher salt or sea salt + 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Roast at a high temperature such as 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Times vary for each vegetable because of size and initial crispness. Green beans, wax beans, and asparagus take about 8 minutes, while brussels sprouts take closer to 45, cauliflower takes about 25. Vegetables can be placed into a gallon zipper bag with oil and seasonings poured in on top, bag closed, shaken, then poured into a shallow baking pan that can accommodate the vegetables in a single layer.

Vegan Raspberry Mocha Cake
3 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. cocoa
1/4 c. oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 T vinegar dissolved in 1/4 c. water
3/4 c. strong brewed coffee or espresso (I've added 1 tsp instant coffee to 3/4 c. regular coffee)
3/4 c. raspberry preserves (I'm using homemade red raspberry jam, but I don't see why seedless raspberry jelly couldn't be used for those who hate the seeds!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan or two round cake pans (guessing on this one since the recipe didn't give a pan size, just said "cake pans").
Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and cocoa in a large mixing bowl.
Slowly incorporate into the dry mix the oil and vanilla, then the vinegar in water, coffee, and raspberry preserves. When batter is well mixed, it will be smooth and creamy.
Pour into prepared cake pan(s) and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean with no cake/batter clinging to it.
Cool before frosting or sprinkling with powdered sugar.
Recipe from http://vegetarian.about.com.