Around the Table with The Burkes: On Comfort

“Comfort Food: The foods we eat to soothe our souls: homemade chicken soup, freshly baked bread with jam, an apple right off the tree, a bowl of hearty stew. ”

Photo by Norah Burke

I have held on to a fairly steadfast rule in my six years as a parent: we don’t travel for winter holidays. The rule came about in part because I was terrified about flying with one, two, and then three small children, and in part, because I wanted to establish our own holiday traditions as a new family. I made a somewhat last minute decision to throw my rule out the window this year, my dear grandmother is in hospice and seeing her seemed like an excellent reason to throw travel worries away and take on the challenge.

Needless to say, the week has been a whirlwind of pasta, fast food, and cold sandwiches – it’s not much of a meal plan. It did get me thinking, however, about comfort food. I’m not talking about the mindless stress eating we sometimes fall into or the occasional overindulgence, but about the foods we eat to soothe our souls: homemade chicken soup, freshly baked bread with jam, an apple right off the tree, a bowl of hearty stew.

Photo by Norah Burke

Most of my farmer’s market purchases last week went into the freezer and pantry, but I bought some fresh bread and incredible jam, and as I worked through the stress over travel and worried about my family I kept returning to a piece of toasted bread with jam (at least until my husband polished off the loaf). It was just what I needed to get through the planning and packing.

As for the travel, we survived our flight, and Newark airport, and the Garden State Parkway. I got to hold my grandma’s hand and talk and laugh with her for a while. Now we’ll bake cookies with my mom, and I’ll show my kids how we celebrate Christmas in my childhood home.

I’ll leave you with the recipe for my favorite cookie of all time, perfect for sharing with friends and family during the holiday season. Comfort and joy to you all, Beacon readers.

Great Pumpkin Cookies

• 2 cups Flour

• 1 cup Oatmeal

• 4 Tbsp Wheat Germ (optional)

• 1 cup Shredded Coconut

• 1 tsp Cinnamon

• Dash Salt

• 1 tsp Baking Soda

• 1 cup Butter

• 1 cup Brown Sugar

• 1 cup White Sugar

• 2 Eggs

• 1 tsp Vanilla

• 1 1/2 - 2 cups Pumpkin (I find a 16 ounce can of pumpkin is perfect)

• 1 cup Chocolate Chips (or Raisins if you're feeling healthy)

• 1 cup Chopped Nuts (if desired)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients and set them aside. In a large bowl mix butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and pumpkin, mix well. Add chocolate chips and combine. Bake 15-20 minutes (for a small cookie scoop. I use a medium scoop which usually takes 22-25 minutes). They should be just browned on the edges and cakey in the middle.

It's a very forgiving recipe. My mom often cuts the sugar by 3/4 or 1/2; I also substitute wheat flour occasionally.

Photo by Norah Burke

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From Sassafras to Filé: Make your own soup seasoning

Amy Peterson’s Matthews-famous (maybe world?) gumbo.

Despite the feeling that the temperatures will never drop below the 80s, fall is on the way. This means it’s your last chance to harvest sassafras leaves before they change color and start to drop.

The leaves on the sassafras tree vary in lobed shape.

Grab a pair of loppers and go find a sassafras tree, usually in the understory of wooded areas, perhaps near a dogwood or another low growing tree. They grow in colonies, so you’ll usually find several of the small trees together. Even if you don’t know it, you’re probably familiar with sassafras, it’s fairly common around Matthews. The leaves can be several different shapes on the same tree: three-lobed, left-hand mitten, right-hand mitten, and sometimes (when young) an oblong pointed leaf. Rarely you might even find a four-lobed leaf, but it’s pretty unusual.

Harvest a small branch of healthy green leaves and find a sheltered spot to hang it. The leaves need air flow around them so they stay green and don’t mildew as they dry. In about 2 days those green leaves will be crispy and ready to turn into filé powder, a magical green, earthy-flavored seasoning commonly use as a thickener in gumbo.

Once you have fully dry, crispy sassafras leaves just trim off the brown stem (don’t worry about the veins) and stuff your leaves in a food processor. Grind and grind until you have a fine powder. It’s that simple: filé is dried leaves pulverized into powder.

Cooking, though, is where the magic happens. As much as I love to cook a big batch of stew when it comes to gumbo you have to turn to a New Orleans native for a tried and true recipe. Enter Amy Peterson, my Louisiana go-to gal. Amy makes a gumbo that’ll make you want to marry her. Sorry, she’s happily taken (hi, Lyell).

Amy bases her gumbo on a recipe from Cooking Up a Storm, a compilation of recipes lost during Katrina. After the storm, the community shared their family recipes in The Times-Picayune of New Orleans as a way to help others rebuild.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo 

Makes about 8 servings

1 (4- to 5-pound) hen (stewing chicken), cut into serving pieces

Salt and cayenne

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup flour

2 cups chopped yellow onions

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

About 2-1/2 quarts chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried powdered or leaf thyme

1 pound andouille sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1/4 cup chopped green onions (white and green parts)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Season the hen generously with salt and cayenne, and set aside. 

In a large Dutch oven, make a roux by combining the oil and flour over medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook for about 30 minutes, or until the roux is dark brown. Add the onions, bell pepper and celery to the roux and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft.

Add the broth and stir to blend well. Add the chicken, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, 2 to 3 hours, or until chicken is fork-tender. Add the andouille and cook for another 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings and add the green onions and parsley. 

As a departure from the traditional rice base, Amy suggested potato salad. Trust me, the lady knows. When you serve up the gumbo, sprinkle 1/2 to 1 tsp. of filé powder on top of each serving.  Enjoy!