The Same Old Thing

Tonight we had yet another variation on the 'chicken and bean casserole thingy'. This time I used flageolet beans, added some sliced potatoes and stirred in some crème fraîche before serving for a creamy sauce; something I hadn't tried with this before.


I keep fiddling with dishes along these lines, but none of them have yet reached stellar heights of other family favourites like Savoury Mince Crumble, Sausage Plait or Kedgeree.

I think we all get a few comfortable dishes that we return to again and again, the 'same old thing', but meals which everyone is always pleased to see. I like this; I certainly don't hark for the rigid ideal of "roast-on-Sunday. pie-on-Monday", with Friday being "pork chop night", but I do like to put a much-loved dinner on the table, rather like welcoming back an old friend. So many of these dishes have their own little stories attached, like the fact that Savoury Mince Crumble was the first dinner I ever cooked for my parents and brother (you know, the night when you're grown-up enough to be alllowed the run of the kitchen?), or that Sausage Plait was a school-dinner favourite of mine at age eight. So many memories, and so much of our personal and family histories seem to revolve around food and mealtimes.


What are your family's favourite dishes? What are their stories? I'd love to hear from you...