Baked Beans
This time of year means pretty much one thing: Tucking into hearty, stick-to-your-ribs kind of food. And when I was asked to contribute a favourite comfort-food recipe, I have to say it was not an easy task to select only one! Cheesy fondue, French onion soup, my mom’s corned beef and cabbage, and my mother-in-law’s Irish stew came immediately to mind. I love eating this kind of food, and I love cooking this kind of food. The resurgence of the slow cooker in home kitchens speaks to the magnitude of this trend of unhurried cooking. Slow cooking is comforting.
A U.K. comfort-food favourite is baked beans – on any given day, you may find someone eating them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I remember once bringing in baked beans for lunch at the office, and receiving a few odd looks (in my mind, I was being so British!). After talking to a few people, I found out that baked beans are often eaten when one has imbibed a few too many pints at the local pub the night before. Little did I know, but it all makes sense really, when you think about comfort food in its essence – you know, the idea that food makes you feel better.
I know how easy it is to just open a tin of baked beans when the craving hits, but if you find yourself with a bit of advance notice, I guarantee this recipe is worth the time and satisfaction. Don’t ask me why, but I even find the overnight soaking of the beans pleasing. If you really are in a pinch, you could adapt this recipe using canned white beans, but my recommendation is to start from scratch and reap the slow-food benefits.
Andrea Stewart
It’s not surprising that three of Andrea Stewart’s favourite foods are bread, butter and champagne, since her approach to all things culinary has always been pure and simple. This experienced, creative and enterprising chef and editor approaches cooking and eating with a solid appreciation for fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. Andrea’s journey with food began while living in France, working as an au pair for Grace Jones. While feeding the young offspring of the famous singer, she was tempted on a daily basis by the busy, colourful French food markets. Later on, she spent a summer at Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise Ritz-Escoffier and fell in love all over again with everything France had to offer. Upon returning to Canada, she was accepted at the acclaimed Stratford Chefs School and after completing her first year she headed to New York to further sharpen her skills, working alongside some of the finest (including Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto) and catering Martha Stewart’s executive meetings. Andrea returned to Toronto in 1996, and further immersed herself in her career, working at some of the city’s top food fixtures, including Mildred Pierce and Ace Bakery. She eventually took a side-step out of the kitchen and into the halls of magazine publishing, landing a position as Food Editor of Wish Magazine in 2004. While inspiring busy Canadian wonder-women to cook from scratch, she published her first cookbook, Wish, Market to Table. From street food to fine dining to unfamiliar grocery stores, food still motivates Andrea at every turn. She recently sold everything but a prized collection of cookbooks and moved to the U.K., where her culinary library spans the two floors of her London flat. She won’t rest until she has cooked from every one of them!