High 5: Baltimore comfort food

Lindsay's cornflake-crusted chicken breast at Birches Restaurant

Ingredients: Cornflake-crusted chicken breast served with rosemary sweet potatoes and wood-grilled asparagus

Damage: $15

Birches, with its inviting dining room sprinkled with fairy lights and wood accents, takes comfort food seriously. As such, the restaurant is currently running its sixth annual comfort food contest in which patrons submit entree ideas. One dish per week is chosen as the comfort food feature, and the contest runs until the end of March when the top-selling contributor is awarded dinner for two.

If Lindsay's cornflake-crusted chicken breast is any indication of the caliber of entries, Birches might want to consider adding them as a permanent part of the menu. The sweet potatoes are perfectly caramelized, the chicken tender with a crispy crust and the asparagus a perfect blend of crunchy and tender. This is chicken like Mama would make to cure a heartbreak, brighten a bad day or just to show how much she loves you.

Additionally, if a comfort food feature isn't enough to make you salivate, Birches also offers a weekly baked potato club on Wednesdays. Come pile huge 'taters up with traditional and eclectic ingredients (scrambled eggs, anyone?) and check off as many toppings on your list as you can (up to three per week). Once you've tried them all, you get a T-shirt and a free potato!