What's your favourite (easy) comfort food recipe?

[Pinkjennybellrock]

I fancy coming over all Susy Homemaker tonight, and making something yummy for dh's tea. We are fans of stodgy, unhealthy comfort food mainly.

Does anyone have any quick and easy foolproof recipes, that can be thrown together with a 19mo trying to climb up your legs?

TIA

macaroni cheese.
cook macaroni (slightly undercooked).
make cheese sauce.
throw together
bake in oven (with breadcrumbs on top!)

totally unhealthy, but very lovely (luckily my 13mth ds has bought into my complete love of macaroni cheese!!)

And when you say 'make cheese sauce', how do I do that?

sausage and mash with peas in a bowl with lashings of gravy eaten infront of the tv.

Oh I love sausage and mash, it's the peeling of potatoes that bothers me. Dd doesn't like to let me out of her sight when we get home from work and nursery. Doesn't allow for much peeling action.

Cheese sauce - Do you have scales?

Weigh 1 oz butter. Melt in pan over medium/low heat. As soon as melted, take off heat and stir in 1 oz plain flour until evenly mixed together. Put back on medium/low heat and start to add about 3/4 a pt of milk, a good slosh at a time, mixing until well mixed together each time. when the milk is all in, grate in a good amount of cheese (e.g. 250g?) stir more, then let cook over a very low heat for a few minutes.

potato with garlic cream cheese

parboil spuds, peel and slice, put into oven proof dish, warm milk in pan and add cheese (somethign like boursin is best as it already has all the flavourings added so saves faffing if in a cant be arsed mood), pour over and cook in oven for 45 mins or so. Can added sauted onions if you fancy, garlic if not already in teh cheese , also cauliflower or broccoli or leeks etc etc.

Mash - wash and chop the potatoes with skins on - (put dd to making a 'potion' with a bowl and wooden spoon (best done naked with a shower curtain over the floor...)) and cook and mash normally. It isn't as nice as proper mash, but it does contain more vitamins, and has a certain rough rustic appeal. Add frozen peas just before serving to sweeten the slight tang of the potato skins.

melt 40g of butter
add 4 tablespoons of plain flour (mix in so it is like a roux sauce)
gradually whisk in 350ml milk (i.e. a bit at a time and keep mixing to get rid of any lumps)
when it starts to thicken, add in 130g of cheese and mix until it melts

sometimes i warm the milk up slightly in microwave for a minute, as the sauce seems to make even quicker then (although it can go lumpy that way).

only problem is if your 13mth old wants your attention during cheese sauce making!

sometimes i add a bit of cooked brocolli
or could put in tuna and pasta
delicious!

Great - thanks ladies.

Ahem

Buy your mash from Tesco, ready made. It's excellent. A little more expensive than making it but not break the bank stuff, and the hassle factor is completely removed. The Tesco Finest (or equivalent at any other supermarket) is excellent quality with just potatoes, milk/cream and salt/pepper.

Are you making onion gravy with your sausages and mash? That's our favourite.

Cheese sauce is a doddle with Delia's all in one white sauce (no faffing around melting butter, stirring in flour etc) and some grated cheese.