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Published in 2014 by Voyageur Press, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.,
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA
© 2014 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.
All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review, no
part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the Publisher.
The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommen-
dations are made without any guarantee on the part of the author or Publisher, who also
disclaims any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details.
We recognize, further, that some words, model names, and designations mentioned herein are the property
of the trademark holder. We use them for identification purposes only. This is not an official publication.
Voyageur Press titles are also available at discounts in bulk quantity for industrial or
sales-promotional use. For details write to Special Sales Manager at Quarto Publishing
Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA.
To find out more about our books, visit us online at www.voyageurpress.com.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-4578-8
Digital edition: 978-1-62788-240-8
Softcover edition: 978-0-76034-578-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Comfort food cookbook / edited by Karen K. Will, Grit magazine.
pages cm
Recipes from the archives of Grit magazine.
ISBN 978-0-7603-4578-8 (softcover)
1. Cooking, American. 2. Comfort food. I. Will, Karen K., editor of compilation. II. Grit (Topeka, Kan.)
TX715.C3173 2014
641.5973--dc23
2013048352
Front cover photo: Pot Roast: Karen Will; Amish Acres Bean Soup: Nitr/Fotolia;
Rhubarb Streusel Pie: istockphoto.com/Innershadows
Back cover photos: Applesauce Doughnuts: Karen Will; Southern Fried Chicken: Monkey Business/
Fotolia; Old-Fashioned Green Beans: iStockphoto.com/HittProductions; Soft Pretzels: Karen Will
Editors: Karen K. Will, Elizabeth Noll
Design Manager: James Kegley
Cover: Gavin Duffy
Design: Carol Holtz
Layout: Kazuko Collins
Printed in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Comfort food
Cookbook
230 Recipes for Bringing Classic
Good Food to the Table
Edited by Karen K. Will, Magazine
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Contents chilis 38
Union Pacific Chili, White Turkey Chili,
Vegetable Chili
Preface 7 chowders 40
Creamy Summer Corn Chowder, Ham and
acknowledgments 7
Cheddar Chowder, New England Clam Chowder,
IntroductIon 8 Salmon Chowder
Potato soups 42
Baked Potato Soup, Slow Cooker
chaPter 1: Potato-Cheese Soup
Breakfasts 10 tomato soups 44
Cream of Tomato Soup, Tomato-Basil Cheddar
Biscuits and gravy 11
Soup, Frozen Tomato Soup
Basic Buttermilk Biscuits, Cloud Biscuits, Sour
stews 47
Cream Biscuits, Cinnamon Breakfast Biscuits,
Three Sisters Stew, Sweet and Smoky Slow Beef
Easy Sausage Gravy, Seasoned Sausage Gravy
Stew, Mushroom Beef Stew with Dumplings, Irish
cereals 16
Lamb Stew
Country Cereal, Baked Oatmeal
eggs and Potatoes 17
Egg in the Basket, Toad in the Hole, Farmers’ chaPter 3:
Market Omelet, Breakfast Bacon and Cheddar Breads, BIscuIts, muffIns,
Quiche, Blueberry-Stuffed French Toast, and more 52
Blueberry-Orange Sauce, Overnight Cheesy
Yeast Breads 53
Egg Casserole, Overnight Bacon Strata, Fried
Old-Fashioned White Sandwich Bread, Light
Potatoes Deluxe
Wheat Sandwich Bread, Best Oatmeal Bread,
flapjacks and waffles 24
Bread Machine Sunflower Wheat Bread, Light
Sourdough Hotcakes, Buckwheat Pancakes,
Wheat Sandwich Bread, No-Knead White or
Whole-Wheat Waffles, Johnnycakes, Homemade
Wheat Bread, German Dark Rye Bread
Faux Maple Syrup
rolls 59
sweets 28
Butterhorn Crescent Rolls, Quick and Easy Spoon
Applesauce Doughnuts, Cinnamon Rolls
Rolls, Featherbeds (Pan Rolls)
Quick Breads 61
chaPter 2: Cheddar Herb Biscuits, Sweet Potato Biscuits,
souPs and stews 30 Cornbread, Oatmeal Honey Scones, Raspberry-
Lemon Scones, Banana Bread, Zucchini Bread,
Bean and Vegetable soups 31
Breakfast Fruit Muffins, Kansas Wheat
Amish Acres Bean Soup, Deluxe Vegetable
Berry Muffins
Bean Soup, Broccoli and Cheddar Soup, Roasted
specialties 68
Butternut Squash Soup, Vegetable Soup, Surprise
Homemade Crispy Pizza Dough, Soft Pretzels,
Winter Vegetable Soup
Holiday Raisin Stollen
chicken and turkey soups 35
Diane’s Homemade Chicken Soup, Chicken
Noodle Soup, Hearty Chicken and Rice Soup,
Turkey Soup
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chaPter 4: chaPter 6:
salads and sandwIches 72 maIn dIshes 112
classic salads 73 Beef 113
Pasta Cobb Salad, Classic Egg Salad, Classic Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Potatoes, Roast Beef
Chicken Salad, Classic Tuna Salad, Jell-O- with Blackberry Ketchup, Yankee Pot Roast, Irish
Cranberry Salad Honey Pot Roast, Slow Cooker After-Work Beef
Potato salads 78 Pot Roast
Mama’s Potato Salad, Dutch Potato Salad, German chicken 118
Potato Salad, Garden Patch Potato Salad, Lulu’s Chicken and Dumplings, Henrietta’s Spicy
Sweet Potato Salad, Grilled Spring Asparagus and Fried Chicken, Southern Fried Chicken,
New Potato Salad Oven-Fried Honey Chicken, Southwestern
sandwiches 83 Oven-Fried Chicken
Old-Fashioned Ham Salad Spread, Baked Ham ham 123
and Cheese Focaccia Sandwich, Cheddary Ham Herbed Ham with Savory Gravy, Ham with
Grill, Cheesy Apple and Ham Sandwich, Baked Honey Crust
Fresh Tomato, Ham, and Swiss-Filled Rolls, Giant lamb 126
Baked Italian Club Sandwich, Ham Roll-Ups, Roast Herbed Leg of Lamb with New Potatoes
Hot Turkey Sandwich, Classic Club Sandwiches, meatloaf 128
Turkey on a Bun Horseradish Meatloaf, Meatloaf Supreme,
Bob’s Meatloaf
meat Pies 131
chaPter 5:
Shepherd’s Pie, Chicken Pot Pie, Autumn Chicken
casseroles 92
Pot Pie
classics 93 turkey 134
Tuna Casserole, Monterey Chicken and Rice, Perfect Roast Turkey, Stuffed Turkey Breast
Cheesy Stuffed Shells, Two-in-One Easy
Manicotti, Underground Ham Casserole
chaPter 7:
cheese and Vegetable casseroles 96
sIdes 136
Sour Cream Green Beans, Cassoulet,
Eggplant Cheese Bake, Garden Casserole, Beans and Vegetables 137
Cheesy Potatoes, Mashed Potato Casserole, Barbecued Baked Beans, Old-Fashioned Green
Broccoli Cheese Casserole Beans, Mamaw’s Baked Lima Beans, Dad’s
hamburger casseroles 103 Favorite Spiced Beets, Asparagus Supreme,
Hamburger Casserole with Drop Biscuits, Warm Red Cabbage Slaw, Baked Okra, Scalloped
Hamburger Cheese Bake, Cabbage Eggplant, Stuffed Zucchini
Hamburger Casserole Potatoes and sweet Potatoes 144
lasagnas 106 Mashed Rutabagas and Potatoes, Grandma’s
Riley’s Lasagna, Zucchini Lasagna, Mexican Mashed Potatoes, Horseradish-Garlic Mashed
Lasagna, Spinach Lasagna Potatoes, Twice-Baked Potatoes, Cheesy New
turkey casseroles 110 Potatoes with Bacon, Caramel Sweet Potatoes,
Wild Rice and Turkey Casserole, Turkey Tetrazzini Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
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macaroni and grits 150 Pies 188
Classic Macaroni and Cheese, Southwestern Grandma Wilson’s Apple Pie, Old-Fashioned
Mac and Cheese, Mom’s Mac and Cheese, Baked Sugar Cream Pie, Rhubarb Streusel Pie
Cheese Grits cobblers, crisps, kuchens, and more 191
dressing (stuffing) 154 Apple Crisp, Skillet Peach Cobbler, Plum Kuchen,
Mother-in-Law Dressing, Wild Mushroom Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, Pumpkin Custard,
Dressing, Waldorf Stuffing Homemade Whipped Cream
gravy 156 Puddings and Ice cream 195
Hamburger Gravy, Chicken Gravy Creamy Rice Pudding, Peach Ice Cream, Simple
Butter Pecan Ice Cream
other desserts 198
chaPter 8:
Plum Dumplings, Chocolate Soufflé, Strawberry
cookIes, Bars, and candIes 158
Shortcake with Herbs and Whipped Cream
cookies 159
Soft Sugar Cookies, Giant Chocolate Peanut
chaPter 10:
Butter Cookies, Frosted Rhubarb Cookies,
Jams, JellIes, and PreserVes 202
Snickerdoodles, Peanut Butter Cookies, Cream
Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Jams 203
Butterscotch Chip Cookies Low-Sugar Sweet Cherry Jam, Low-Sugar
Brownies and Bars 166 Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam, Raspberry Jam,
Rich and Chewy Chocolate Brownies, Peanut Fig Jam, Apricot Jam, Carrot Jam, Honey Peach
Butter Brownies, Chocolate Chip Blondies, London Jam, Peach Jam, Fresh Plum Jam, Seedless
Bars, Nut Brittle Cookie Bars, Frosted Peanut Blackberry Jam, Spiced Grape Jam, Easy Freezer
Butter Bars, Lemon Cookie Bars, Frosted Coffee Strawberry Jam
Bars, Frosted Pumpkin Bars, Peanut Butter Bars Jellies 214
candy 173 Elderberry Jelly, Low-Sugar Apple Cider Jelly,
Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles with Sea Salt, Mint and Rhubarb Jelly, Mint Jelly, Pepper Jelly
Pecan Pralines, Milk Chocolate Almond Clusters, Preserves 217
Buttery Brittle, Smoky Almond Chocolate Bark, Spiced Blackberry Preserves, Apricot Preserves,
Never-Fail Divinity, Butterscotch Fudge, Colonial Old-Fashioned Tomato Preserves
Peanut Butter Fudge, Rocky Road Fudge chutneys and Butters 219
Cranberry Chutney, Gooseberry Chutney Sauce,
Slow Cooker Apple Butter, Pumpkin Butter
chaPter 9:
desserts 182
Index 222
cakes 183
Original Pound Cake, Angel Food Cake,
Banana Sour Cream Cake, Grandma Dobbs’
Old-Fashioned Cake, Chocolate Layer Cake with
Mocha Cream Frosting
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Preface
Where I grew up, on the border between New hour or two, in the manner of that time, eating,
Mexico and what we called “Old Mexico,” food drinking, and enjoying each other’s company.
was an adventure. To say our traditional dishes
I tagged along for the tortillas. Eva Mendez had
were spicy is like saying a cholla cactus is prickly.
a way with tortillas. Eva’s tortillas were a revela-
The word is far too mild to describe the trauma.
tion, a monument, a tribute to everything that
As a kid growing up in this aggressive culinary alkaline water and white flour can become.
environment, I learned that my refuge was
A lot of families already were using canned
the tortilla. When I got a bite that was too hot,
shortening, but not Eva. Her tortillas were made
water was of no use. Capsaicin—the substance
with lard, and they were delicious. I didn’t want
that makes chiles hot—is a waxy compound,
butter on them. I didn’t want honey. The unleav-
which repels water and water-based liquids
ened white bread, warm from the skillet, was more
and makes them worthless for cooling one’s
tantalizing than any cookie, candy, or cake—and
tongue. A big gulp of milk helped a little.
the perfect medicine for a tender mouth that has
But the surest cure for a burning tongue was
recently come in contact with a chunk of jalapeno.
a warm, soft tortilla infused with lard.
For me it’s the essence of comfort food:
My grandparents’ best friends were Roman
Comforting in more ways than one.
and Eva Mendez. They lived about half a mile
from us, over one sand hill in our tiny village
Bryan Welch
of Anapra, New Mexico. We visited them once
Publisher of Grit magazine
a week or so, and usually sat around for an
Topeka, Kansas
Acknowledgments
Following the success of our first book, Lard: The Gould, current Grit web editor Kellsey Trimble,
Lost Art of Cooking with Your Grandmother’s and Capper’s Farmer web editor Sarah Sinning; to
Secret Ingredient, the Grit and Capper’s Farmer Grit and Capper’s Farmer managing editor Caleb
team was eager to keep the momentum going. Regan; and to our editorial assistant, Ilene Reid.
Comfort Food Cookbook was the result.
Thanks are also due to Andrew Perkins, who
This cookbook is a tribute to the thousands of readers managed the compilation and editing process, and
who’ve contributed recipes to our magazines. Without to Brandy Ernzen for her public relations work.
their creative passion and generosity over a span
We are grateful that Voyageur Press was willing to
of more than 130 years—up to and including this
take a chance on this project. Thanks for turning
year—this cookbook would not have been possible.
Comfort Food Cookbook into the gem it is.
Many thanks to our publisher, Bryan Welch; to our
And finally, thanks to you, dear reader. Without
editorial team, including senior associate editor
you, this book would have no meaning.
Traci Smith, associate editor Jean Teller, and genera-
tions of other food editors, and most especially
Hank Will
our lead project editor, Karen Will, for sifting
Editor-in-chief, Grit and Capper’s
through thousands of recipes; to our social media
Farmer magazines.
experts, including former Grit web editor Natalie
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Introduction
There was a time when comfort food didn’t But I don’t think the Wilder boys thought about
exist. I don’t mean to say that folks didn’t enjoy food the way we do today, in twenty-first-century
certain dishes or that certain dishes didn’t elicit categories. In modern times, some characterize
happy, warm feelings. I mean that once upon a comfort food as food that’s high in sugar—that
time food was food. Good food was really good, gives a sugar rush, if you will, eliciting a comfort-
and in many cases it was also comforting—both ing response and stoking our desire for it. Others
physically and psychologically. I’m quite sure say comfort foods are the high-carbohydrate
that the stacks and stacks of flapjacks Royal and dishes that we crave when things look a little
Almanzo Wilder consumed in Laura Ingalls gray outside and blue inside our own heads. Like
Wilder’s The Long Winter were indeed a form sweets, carbs offer a euphoric spike in blood sugar,
of comfort food. My goodness, those boys could often followed by a drowsy crash. Still others
pack them away. Good thing they could, because suggest that comfort food is food that’s high in fat
they needed all the energy they could get to calories—and guaranteed to make us feel warm
survive those many subzero days and nights. when it’s cold outside. Psychologists suggest
that comfort food is that which elicits a warm,
There is no doubt that Almanzo Wilder enjoyed positive memory. It needn’t be warm; it could
what we call comfort food while he was growing actually be something cold that you made with
up, too. In Farmer Boy, many of Almanzo’s daily your dad on a hot summer day, like ice cream.
childhood adventures are punctuated with fantas-
tic farm-table fare. Certain items, such as pies of Michael Moss explains in his 2013 book Salt Sugar
various types and roasted meat, so captivated Fat how the twenty-first-century human became
the hard-working and growing boy that he would addicted to food. The whole thing harks back to
sometimes daydream about them while working when our ancestors were hunters and gatherers.
all morning, anticipating the noontime dinner They really needed to consume mega calories and
bell. Obviously Almanzo needed the calories, pack on the pounds, just to get the work of living
but he also craved some foods because they accomplished and to survive lean times on their
comforted him psychologically. There was nothing bodies’ reserves. When our ancestors encountered
like coming in from evening chores to a supper certain high-value foods, the body’s message
sandwich topped off with Mom’s warm apple pie. was: consume all you can. We are still geneti-
cally predisposed to crave those types of foods.
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