Comfort Food

I think everyone has different ideas of what constitutes comfort food, but I think most revolve around a few common factors.  Warm, hearty, traditional.  It's finally gotten cold here in Houston, so I was looking for a meal that embodied my idea of comfort food.  On the menu last night:

Beer Braised Chicken
Blue Cheese and Bacon Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Brussel Sprouts

The beer braised chicken was a recipe that I took from Claire Robinson's show 5 Ingredient Fix.  Some people might find 5 ingredients lazy, but I appreciate it.  I think that there is cooking that definitely involves building flavors using lots of ingredients.  I also believe in showcasing the real flavor of food, and if you use 5 fresh, tasty ingredients, sometimes that is all you need.  Salt and pepper don't count, since they are things that most people generally have on hand.  I made a couple of modifications based on what ingredients I had on hand.

Beer Braised Chicken
3 Chicken Breasts (original recipe called for a whole chicken in pieces with skin and bones-- I didn't have that on hand)
5 slices centercut bacon (original recipe called for 3 slices of applewood smoked bacon, center cut is leaner, so I used a couple more slices)
1 shallot and 1/2 of an onion (original recipe called for fennel, again, I didn't have it)
1 bottle of dark beer
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400.

Slice bacon and crisp up in dutch oven.  Remove crispy pieces, and sear chicken on all sides.  Remove chicken and sweat onions and shallots until translucent. 

Add bottle of beer and scrape brown bits off the bottom of the dutch oven.  Add chicken back to the pan, cover, and place in the oven.  Flip chicken on the other side after 20 minutes, and cook for another 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven, place chicken on a plate and cover with foil.  Simmer beer sauce and add vinegar.  Keep simmering until sauce thickens and reduces. 

Spoon sauce and crumble bacon over chicken and serve. 

It was good.  I used a bottle of Kona Pipeline Porter beer, which has some Kona Coffee in it.  It was a throwback to our Hawaiian honeymoon, and I thought it gave nice flavor.

As for the sides, they were easy-peasy.  I had some little potatoes on hand, so I quickly sliced and boiled them, used my potato masher, and added a bit of salt, pepper, half and half, and a dab of FF sour cream to taste.  Then I crumbled a bit of gorgonzola.... and stole some of the bacon that I rendered for the chicken and threw it in as well.  As my husband put it, I really hit on a winner.  Smooth, creamy comfort. 

Finally, I have been loving a veggie that I used to hate.  Roasting vegetables is an amazing way to bring out a nutty flavor and make them something special.  Both my husband and I used to hate brussel sprouts, but after having them roasted at a dinner party, I've fallen in love.  400 degrees (happily, the same temp as the chicken-- important when you only have one oven!), wash and slice them, a little olive oil, salt, and pepper...

 Roast them till the edges start getting a bit brown.  And ta-da, dinner is ready!