A time to be selfish
My comfort foods are now Jake’s comfort foods. After almost two years, he has earned full access to my coveted comfort food sources.
Early in my epic Match.com experience, I unwisely revealed two of my favorite comfort food sources, entirely too early, to new dates. Who I do not want to run into. Ever. At my favorite comfort food locations. Especially when I am having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
One in particular stared me down while I was eating a delectable limoncello-flavored cake, attempting to rush me with his beady little eyes, so I would make out with him. Luckily, he didn’t ask me to share the cake, nor did I offer. It was him or the cake and I chose the cake. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?
I’m ready to share. To gradually proclaim my favorite comfort foods from the rooftop of this blog.
A few of years ago, I worked at Broders’ Cucina Italiana and have enduring respect for this establishment. During this time, I seriously considered going to culinary school in which I looked at The Art Institutes International Minnesota and St. Paul Community School, experienced unethical, high pressure bullying by Le Cordon Bleu admissions, and interned at Spoonriver. This may be an interesting future blog post. Even after utilizing my staff discount, eating staff meals, and taking home leftovers, I still crave the same foods I came to love during my employment.
Cucumber, fennel, & orange salad, roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with goat cheese
To the left are small, sweet, roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with an herbed goat cheese. These peppers are sold by the pound in the deli case and are similar to Solera’s version. My usual deli case favorite is Broders’ Beet Salad, $12/lb, made with tender slices of beet, oranges, & red onion in a citrus vinaigrette. I did not see the beet salad this evening so I tried a salad made of shaved cucumber, fennel, and orange in an herbed vinaigrette. While refreshing, this salad had a strong herbal flavor and did not replace my craving for beet salad.
Emilia Salad, Large, $7.95
This salad is made of mixed greens, Parmesan shaves, silky and translucent slices of prosciutto, pine nuts, and onions. The sweet and tangy dressing is made with Broders’ balsamic vinegar which is relatively affordable and syrupy for it’s price point.
House-made Foccacia, $2.95 and Olivata Nero
We always order a loaf of focaccia, $2.95, to enjoy throughout the week. I believe Broders’ other types of bread are from New French Bakery but this focaccia is made in-house. Jake especially loves their black olive spread that can be bought by the pound. The garlicky Olivata Nero is intensely savory and full of umami, tasting faintly of anchovy.
Eggplant Special Pizza, 18 inches, $19
The Eggplant Special pizza is covered in mozzarella, red bell peppers, sweet caramelized onions, chewy strips of roasted eggplant, and swirls of goat cheese. You can buy this pizza by the slice if it is the pizza special of the day, but can order a whole pizza at any time. We always order a large, which never survives past 24 hours.
Jake and I usually share everything and keep no scores, but our love is not strong enough to bridge the serious transgression of taking more than half, exactly half of this pizza. In the past, eating this pizza was rather stress-inducing as I watched Jake’s slice count from the corner of my eye, trying to keep up. For the first time, we peacefully counted the number of pieces and evenly divided them, leading to more leisurely eating and less indigestion.
P.P.S. The limoncello cake may be a seasonal product.
broders.com
612-925-3113
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