TOD:
I generally avoid comfort foods when we go out for dinner. If I can make them at home, I don't need to have them away from home.
Of course, I understand that there are those who don't cook at home, because they don't know how, and are reduced to getting their comfort foods elsewhere. I also realize that Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner is a perennial best seller. To which I can only say BLECH!!!
It was, in fact, having a comfort food at a restaurant that made me pursue making it at home. Der B and I were in Washington DC for some reason or other, and before starting on our long drive homewards stopped at a restaurant for dinner. It was fairly busy, in a popular sort of way, which should have been our tip-off.
What we both started our meals with was a cup each of French Onion Soup. It was not good. The chef, or the owners, had decided to put his/their own twist on the traditional recipe, and had added tarragon. Not right, not right at all.
I never order French Onion Soup any more when I'm at a restaurant. I can do it so much better, following Julia Child's recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She does not add tarragon. She does not add any herbs at all. The soup consists of good beef stock and onions that have been slowly caramelized right there in the pot. Top it off with some crispy toasts and good cheese, under the broiler, and perhaps a splash of sherry (here we do differ from Julia, because I don't like cognac), and a salad on the side, and that's a wonderful dinner. The leftovers can make a great braising liquid for pot roast, by the way, or you can reheat it and have a second bowl of soup a day or so later.
