Mrs. Cad is coming back after 2.5 months away on a project and after 10+ weeks of restaurants she wants nothing more than a homecooked meal. My first thought was chicken and mushroom ravioli in homemade pasta. I decided that that would be tomorrow as it’s not really “home cooking” aka “comfort” food. So instead I’m roasting up some chicken breast and I’m making chicken mac & cheese with the cheese being a cheese custard with butterkase, gruyere and sharp cheddar then topped with panko and baked.
So you have a request from a relative for a real “homecooked” meal. Whatcha making?
When my husband was on rotations in Libya, the first meal I made him was pork chops, mash potatoes and a salad, and apple pie. After six weeks of camp food this is what he wanted.
My go to home-cooked meal is grilled steak, baked red potatoes and a mixed greens salad.
I really can do a better job at this meal than almost any place you can buy steak and potatoes, even the really expensive places. Or so I have been told.
My wife would want sea scallops with a hot and sweet sauce topped with avocado relish. Or maybe chateaubriand. She’d probably like lobster mac and cheese and Portuguese kale soup to go with. She’d also be just as happy if I made lasagna.
Well, my wife is always asking for more of my beef ribs and gnocchi, so I guess I’d have to start there for an event like you’re describing.
My first choice would be mac and cheese, but she and I differ on what makes mac and cheese good. She wants overcooked noodles, fake cheese and enough sauce that you can mistake it for soup. But when I’m cooking it for myself, I don’t even need a side dish. Mac and cheese is a meal unto itself. (If I have a side dish, it’ll be fried or roast chicken or meatloaf, probably. And yes, those are side dishes when there’s mac and cheese in the equation.)
When my son came home for his first weekend after graduating from Great Lakes, I asked him what he wanted. He said porkchops, mushroom gravy, and mashed potatoes. But now that I think about it maybe that’s more under the category of “comfort food”.
Turkey soup, crescent rolls, green bean casserole. It’s my go to meal when people say they want something homemade and quick (I always have at lease two meals of turkey soup frozen). I can get this on the table in 35 minutes.
We do a shepard’s pie with real (ie not from a box) mashed potatoes and a spinach salad – this is much more of a comfort food meal then the home made meal, but it is what comes to mind first when *I *think home made meals.
Jeez TriPolar, what house did your wife grow up in where that is “home cooking”?
I was up in the PacNW and I guess I should have dropped by dracoi’s house. We’re heading out there again so expect the Cad clan to drop in for dinner the week after Christmas.
This is close for what I make my siblings when they visit - fried chicken, spinach greens with vinegar, biscuits, corn, and apple pie for dessert. Though at this time of year, they might go for my chili.
Mine is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies.
Within my family, a real homecooked meal is a spicy Baked Spaghetti (with a base of cream of mushroom soup, pepper jack and hot Italian sausage). As near as we can figure my Mom stole the recipe out of a magazine three decades ago and heavily modified it. Now it’s our family favorite.
