Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Comfort Food II

My favorite recipes are those that are delicious, just a little bit exotic, and very easy to prepare. While there are many recipes that require working all day in the kitchen with ingredients that you have to hire a detective to find, there are also many excellent recipes for gourmet quality foods that don’t require much at all in the way of personal sacrifice.

Earthy Delights can be very helpful in this way. If you need crème fraiche from time to time, a simple toll free call to Earthy Delights will get you some superb quality crème fraiche delivered right to your door. Have you ever tried Devon Cream? Also known as Devonshire Cream, it’s a wonderfully rich, light as a cloud way to enjoy scones still hot and fresh from the oven. You can’t really duplicate this culinary experience in your own kitchen, because Devon Cream requires some regionally indigenous ingredients. But you can duplicate it at your table, because Devon Cream is available through Earthy Delights. The scones, by the way, are a breeze to make, and you can use a free hand in creating them exactly the way you want. Add some Devon Cream and serve them hot with juice and coffee and you’ll bring the house down.

Fine cooking is often a combination of attention to details, and some innovation. At this time of year, hot vegetables and heaping servings of potatoes rule the roost. Come summer we’ll turn our attention to fresh fruits and tossed greens – but right now we want comfort food with all the trimmings. This afternoon we’ll be preparing a potato grain that’s rich with Gruyere cheese and Earthy Delights’ silky smooth crème fraiche. The table will be set with candles, there will be Mozart drifting through the dining room, and the air will be scented with the fragrance of dinner. After all, in a few short weeks we’ll be preparing for the annual Wild Harvest – wild ramps will be coming in, followed by fiddlehead ferns and the incomparable morel mushrooms. Until then, we’ll nibble our scones and savor the richness of comfort food.