Four Virginia chefs share their comfort food bests.
Arroz Caldo from Chef Mike Ledesma.
Photos by Fred & Elliot Photography
The crisp, clear, and often bitterly cold nights of winter may have us craving a blazing fire and woolly blanket, but they also beckon us to cook foods that warm from within—foods that evoke an emotional connection, oftentimes to something uniquely profound and personal. Comfort food.
The act of stirring a pot of gently simmering tomato and garlic sauce can invoke a memory, honor a culture, even tell a story. The pop and crack of an egg hitting the edge of a mixing bowl might lead to a memory of a mother or grandmother or daughter doing the same as she made her famous double-layer coconut cake, her breakfast chilaquiles or passed-down-for-generations Southern fried chicken. One bite of homemade macaroni and cheese, straight from the oven, fresh and bubbly, can cause a person to flat-out swoon, slipping into a state of pure, unadulterated sharp cheddar-y bliss.
We all have our own special comfort foods, those dishes we crave when we’re feeling celebratory or the foods that soothe when life seems overwhelming. This is the stuff that nourishes our souls and minds. Here, meet four noted Virginia chefs who share recipes for their take on the foods that bring joy and warmth during winter’s doldrums.
JAMIE LEEDS
Owner of Hank’s Pasta Bar in Alexandria, Hank’s Oyster Bar (with four locations throughout Washington, D.C., and Virginia) and Hank’s Cocktail Bar in D.C., chef Jamie Leeds’ restaurants arguably lean towards soul-satisfying food while eschewing the white tablecloth-style dining that can be common in the D.C. metro area. At Hank’s Oyster Bar, which Leeds describes as “urban beach food,” sustainably sourced seafood, such as lobster deviled eggs, pan-seared sea scallops with three-beans cassoulet, and possibly the best lobster roll on a proper buttery bun around, appears on the menu, as does her take on the old-school diner-style meat and three with what she calls Hank’s “meat and two.” Hank’s Pasta Bar, while reflective of the Hank’s brand, detours into the world of warm, rustic Italian with a focus on, you guessed it, pasta, made in-house. Some classics are on the menu such as spaghetti and meatballs, but Leeds also focuses on lesser-known homemade pasta shapes such as casarecce (a loosely rolled pasta) and maflade (a ribbon-like pasta) in addition to non-pasta dishes such as burrata with fresh persimmons.
Bucatini Carbonara
15 egg yolks 1 quart heavy cream 16 ounces bucatini pasta 1 ounce extra virgin olive oil 8 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced 8 ounces white wine fresh parsley, chopped
Whisk eggs and heavy cream to blend evenly. Set aside until ready to use. Cook pasta al dente in a large pot of boiling water. While the pasta is cooking, preheat a sauté pan to medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add prosciutto to the pan and cook until it starts to brown. Add white wine to the pan to deglaze. Keep this mixture warm until pasta is cooked.
Drain the pasta and add to pan, gently mixing the ingredients into the pasta. Add egg mixture and stir vigorously into pasta and prosciutto, making a sauce. Be careful not to overcook egg mixture. When the pasta mixture becomes a creamy sauce remove it from heat and garnish with chopped parsley.
Serves 4
TRAVIS MILTON
One of several founding members of the Appalachian Food Summit, a grassroots movement of chefs, writers, academicians and social historians who work to study and preserve the region’s foodways and culture, Travis Milton is poised to change the way we view this diverse region as a whole. He is set to open his first of three restaurants, Milton’s, at the Western Front Hotel in Saint Paul, in early 2018. A meat and three-style restaurant serving traditional Appalachian food—think West Virginia-style pepperoni rolls and custard stand-style chili buns—Milton’s will honor Virginia’s eastern European immigrants to the region with dishes like Hungarian goulash. His other two restaurants Shovel and Pick and Simply Grand are slated to debut in late 2018 and early 2019, respectively, in the Sessions Hotel in Bristol and will also feature local ingredients unique to the mountains of Southwest Virginia and Milton’s hometown of Castlewood.
Baked Candy Roaster Squash with Apples And Meringue
1 medium-sized Candy Roaster squash (or 3 medium-sized butternut squash), peeled, de-seeded and cut into ¾-inch dice 2 cups fresh chestnuts, roasted, peeled and chopped 1 ¾ cups sorghum syrup 1 ½ cups apple butter ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced 1 ½ teaspoons fresh lime juice 4 ounces soft goat cheese 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Pour mixture into a 14-inch cast iron skillet. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and then increase oven temperature to broil.
For the meringue: 3 large egg whites ¾ cup sugar ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar 1 teaspoon cornstarch ¼ teaspoon lemon juice 1 ½ teaspoons crushed pink peppercorns 2 ounces fresh mint leaves
In a medium-sized bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Then, beat in sugar and salt until you have reached medium peaks. Beat in confectioners’ sugar and corn starch. Continue beating until you’ve achieved stiff peaks. Beat in lemon juice and pink peppercorns. Transfer meringue to a piping bag. Dot the top of the casserole with piped meringue and return to the oven for 4-6 minutes to brown the meringue slightly. Garnish with mint leaves.
Serves 8-10
MIKE LEDESMA
The son of Filipino immigrants, Mike Ledesma was raised in Brooklyn and Baltimore and fed a diet of home cooking, including stick-to-your-ribs tripe and oxtail stew, fried lumpia (Filipino spring rolls made with ground pork) and caldereta, a long-simmered beef stew made with vinegar and liver spread. As a result, these distinctive dishes, along with others hailing from the Philippines, have clearly shaped Ledesma’s approach to cooking. In 2018, he will open Perch, a 148-seat restaurant located in the Scott’s Addition neighborhood of Richmond.
Described as Pacific Rim with Southern influences (including West Virginia where Ledesma was chef at The Greenbrier resort, and Richmond where he launched menus at Patina, Max’s on Broad and The Hard Shell), the menu, he says, “will reflect the seasons and the supply of local agriculture and aqua culture,” in addition to highlighting the fresh, comforting foods of his heritage.
Arroz Caldo
2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 large yellow or white onion, diced 8 ounces fresh ginger, sliced thinly 6 cloves garlic, chopped 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces 4 quarts unseasoned, low sodium chicken stock 1 cup uncooked long grain rice 4-6 tablespoons fish sauce salt pepper 6 cloves garlic, sliced boiled eggs, sliced 3 bunches scallions, sliced thin 1 lemon, cut into wedges
Preheat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large stockpot on medium-high. Add onion, ginger and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the chicken and lightly brown. Add stock, and additional water if necessary, to cover. Bring to a boil. Then, cover the pot and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is tender. Carefully remove chicken from the pot and remove the bones and skin. Reserve chicken skin and set aside. Discard bones and return chicken meat to pot. Add rice to the pot and season with fish sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer soup for 12 minutes, or until the rice is tender. While the rice is cooking, shallow fry the garlic slices in vegetable oil and drain on paper towels. Then, fry the chicken skin in the same oil until crispy and golden brown. Remove skin and drain on paper towels. Once the rice is cooked, add more fish sauce or salt if needed. Serve soup with fried garlic, crispy chicken skin, boiled egg, scallions and a lemon wedge to garnish.
Serves 8-10
LEEN KIM
The Omni Homestead, Hot Springs
Pastry chef Leen Kim of the Omni Homestead Resort is that chef many envy for daring to take a chance and do what she truly loves. Formerly a banker in Los Angeles, Kim taught herself to bake cupcakes in her home kitchen. Eventually, she served as an expert in chocolates, bon bons, lollipops and other sweets at the SLS Hotel Beverly Hills and was later appointed assistant pastry chef at the Jean Phillippe Patisserie at the Aria Resort & Casino and the Bellagio in Las Vegas, which ultimately led her to the kitchens of the Omni Homestead in Hot Springs. Kim describes her style of cooking as “reimagining classic dessert dishes with a modern twist.” For her, a vintage dessert like cherries jubilee, which is traditionally made with cherries and liqueur and flambéed tableside might instead incorporate three different types of cherries that vary in sweetness and tartness along with an array of carefully selected spices.
Red Velvet Cheesecake
6 cups cream cheese, room temperature ¼ cup Mascarpone cheese 1 ½ cups sugar 8 large eggs 1 ¼ cups sour cream 2 cups heavy cream 2 tablespoons vanilla extract 1 tablespoon lemon juice 3 tablespoons cool water 5 teaspoons gelatin powder 1 cup heavy cream 5 teaspoons sugar
Preheat oven to 245 degrees. Mix cream cheese until smooth. Add mascarpone and sugar and blend well. Gradually add eggs one at a time. Once the eggs are mixed in, add sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice. When the batter is fully incorporated, pour into a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Place cake pan on top of a baking tray and place inside the oven. Pour hot water onto baking tray about halfway up the cake pan and bake for 60 minutes. Remove cheesecake from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature. Once cool, place inside refrigerator and let rest overnight. On the following day, remove chilled cheesecake from refrigerator and set aside. In a small bowl, mix together water and gelatin powder and set aside. Take one quarter of the pre-baked cheesecake and melt it using a double boiler. Once the cheesecake is warm, add gelatin mixture and whisk well. Incorporate the mixture back into the rest of the cheesecake. In a separate bowl, combine heavy cream with sugar and whip until smooth, just shy of stiff peaks. Incorporate whipped cream into the cheesecake and mix well.
For the red velvet cake: 2 ½ cups cake flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder 2 ½ cups unsalted butter 2 ½ cups granulated sugar ¼ cup corn syrup 10 large eggs ½ cup heavy cream 5 teaspoons red food coloring
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil an 18-by-13-inch sheet pan. In a large bowl, sift together cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder. Set aside. Using a mixer, mix the butter until smooth. Once butter is creamy, slowly add in the sugar. Add corn syrup and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time to incorporate. Then, add heavy cream and mix well. When the mixture is incorporated, mix in the dry ingredients until batter is smooth. Add food coloring. Pour cake batter into the pan and bake for 25 minutes. Rotate pan halfway through cooking to ensure cake is baked evenly. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut the cake into two circles to fit two 6-inch round cake pans. To assemble, pour the finished cheesecake base on top of the red velvet sponge cake and allow to set inside refrigerator for approximately four hours. Serve with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.
Makes 2 6-inch round cakes
This article originally appeared in our February 2018 issue.
