Comfort Food

Saturday night was all about comfort food for dinner. Bob's tummy was a little upset, so I pulled out the "feel good" menu.

First off I made mashed yukon gold potatoes. With real butter and heavy cream, thank you very much! We are mashed potato snobs in this house. We go for the real thing. Heck, if you're gonna do it, do it right!

For the chicken and noodles I used both dark & white meat from a rotisserie chicken, cutting it into pretty good sized chunks (technical term). Brought chicken broth to a boil, added Reames frozen noodles (yum-I just love those things!) and simmered for 20 minutes. Salt & pepper to taste and if needed, thicken the broth with a little beurre manié (butter and flour mixed together in equal parts and used to thicken liquids). This always works better for me than doing just the flour trick to thicken something...I always end up with lumps that way!

We definitely needed something green, although a dinner of 99.9% carbohydrates suits me just fine! But since I was making this for Bob, I figured I better get my act together and balance dinner with some vegetable. So I opted for one of my favorites (hey! it can't always be about him all the time), and I opened a can of green beans. I then thinly sliced a shallot and cut a hunk off of my treasured roll of pancetta (remember the one from Restaurant Depot? Oh yeah, that one!) and chopped it into a small dice. I sautéed the shallots and pancetta in a smidge of butter and added the drained green beans. No need for salt, as the pancetta has plenty.

I plated the mashed potatoes and topped them with the chicken and noodles. Next the green beans went on and there you have a plate worthy of any "down home" appetite!

Oh, and he felt ever so much better after dinner!