Your Signature Dish

["Skeet" McD]

certainly. I'll dig them out when i go home tonight

Already salivating! Thank you!
"Skeet"

 

[Missy Hellfire]

Those pictures are amazing, wow! I wish I could get food looking that good and I bet that it tastes fabulous as well!
:eusa_clap

This is more an assembly than a dish as such, but I do take great pride in putting on a good breakfast for guests that visit us; either a full English breakfast with tea or coffee, toast, cereal, fruit juice, bacon, sausages, eggs (fried or scrambled), tomatoes or beans and black pudding. Sometimes I do kedgeree and devilled kidneys or eggs benedict. No photos I'm afraid, but breakfast is definitely my favourite meal of the day and I love making it for people! As for how good I am at it, I'm not sure but I have yet to have any complaints

 

[olive bleu]

oh being able to cook a good breakfast definitely counts.I love breakfast food so much, i can ( and do) eat it for any meal. There's nothing like coming home on a snowy night to a steaming pot of tea, and a plate of fried eggs, bacon and toast

 

[ladybrettashley]

Oh, Missy Hellfire, i do miss beans being an integral part of breakfast, from my brief time in the UK! I eat/cook breakfast so seldom, though.

I can make a mean french toast on a lazy saturday, though. I wonder if my girlfriend would think i'd gone crazy if i added beans into the lazy morning breakfast plans .

 

[Lancealot]

black pudding.

Wished I could find that here. I was able to have some while in Germany and love it.

 

[olive bleu]

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]Already salivating! Thank you!
"Skeet"[/QUOTE]

As requested by Skeet, here is my version of "Tarte au Sucre". There are many versions, like there is for anything..some versions have maple syrup, nuts, and i've even seen one with oats in it. But I'm of the opinion that simple is good.


Ingredients:

1 cup (250 ml) brown sugar
3 tablespoons (45 ml) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream, light cream, or half milk and half cream
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract or pinch of ground nutmeg

method:
In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, flour, and cream. Place over medium heat and bring to boil stirring constantly, until thickened. Boil for 2 minutes; remove from heat and stir in vanilla or nutmeg. Let cool.

On a lightly floured board, roll out half of the pastry and fit into pie shell and trim edges. Pour filling into pie shell. Roll out remaining pastry to place over filling. Trim pastry, crimp edges, and cut steam vents. Bake in preheated 375º F (190º C) oven for 40-45 minutes or until top crust is golden.

*** The original recipe suggests usung a double crust( one on the bottom, one on the top). I prefer to just make it with a crust on the bottom and bake "open face".

 

[Big Man]

I enjoy cooking (and eating), but if pressed for a "signature dish" I guess it would be my pork BBQ. Now when I say BBQ, I mean BBQ big time.

For 25 years in a row (started in 1977), we had a 4th of July Pig Pickin' at my place. I started with a live hog around 250 lbs and, 24 hours later, had some of the best pork BBQ around. It was a lot of work, but immensely fun (and the PARTY that went on from the 3rd of July till the 4th was something not to be missed). But, alas, that kind of work (and that kind of PARTY) is for the young. It got too hard to stay up all night long cooking (and drinking), so we finally gave it up. But, it is safe to say that my Pig Pickin's still are the talk around these parts.

 

["Skeet" McD]

As requested by Skeet, here is my version of "Tarte au Sucre". There are many versions, like there is for anything..some versions have maple syrup, nuts, and i've even seen one with oats in it. But I'm of the opinion that simple is good.

Dear Olive,
Thanks so much....can't say I've stopped salivating: in fact, the situation is worse. I'm entirely of a mind with you: simple is better in matters such as these (as is perfection in proportions and technique!). Do you ever make it with sucre d'erable?

I'll give this a whirl when my father's health situation settles down...it's been crazy here recently. And I promise to show the results. In the meantime, one does still have to eat, and here's a picture of a frequent pizza I make around here: besides a commercial (and cheap, and good) sauce, drained diced tomatoes (in moderation); mozzarella; speck (the smoked prosciutto of the Dolomites and Southern Germany/Austria), and dried Greek oregano and fresh basil added after it comes out of the oven. It's good! How could it not be?
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100014/DSCF3741

And for good measure, the usual "house bread," slightly different this time: it's a pane pugliese with a good proportion of semolina in it...and a bit of vinegar! Usually I don't do anything to the crust and let it get VERY brown and crusty...but I had some egg wash left over from another project, so decided to give it a whirl. Besides being pretty, it makes for rather a different crust: much softer.
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100014/DSCF3760&bgcolor=black

Thank you again, Olive, for your generosity!
"Skeet"

 

[olive bleu]

[QUOTE Do you ever make it with sucre d'erable?
[/QUOTE]

I have not yet, but i have seen some recipes made with either maple sugar or maple syrup and i'm SURE they would be delicious, and i do plan on trying one. I am a HUGE fan of maple.

Your bread and pizza look wonderful! There is nothing like Homemade pizza ( and bread). Breadmaking is a wonderful skill to master( ie; the rewards are so worth it)

best wishes for a quick recovery for your father, Skeet. When he is feeling up to it, something comforting like Tarte au Sucre will be just the trick, i'm sure.


p.s. I will admit that making this tart with maple sugar IS the traditional Quebecois way. However, these days making it with brown sugar is common.

 

[Missy Hellfire]

Olive Bleu and Ladybrattaashley - I love breakfast too, which is possibly why I find such joy in making it for guests. As for beans, they weren't classed as "essential food" by the Ministry of Food in the UK during WW2 for nothing! I love 'em!

As fine as canned baked beans are though, looking at some of the wonders that you guys produce, I don't think that there is a place on this thread for the humble bean! :essen:

 

[olive bleu]

Miss Hellfire,,there is no dish that is disqualified from this thread. If you make it yourself, and you feel proud of the way it turns out, it counts.

And don't tell us East Coast folks that a good pot of baked beans is insignificant

 

[Wally_Hood]

Sort of a Signature Dish

My culinary contribution is cornbread made from scratch. I use my mother's handwritten receipe. I cannot abide with restaurant chain "cornbread" or boxed mixes (okay, I'm a cornbread snob) so the only time I eat it is when I cook it. Missus H. doesn't care for it, but the rest of the family enjoys.

Tastes best with a huge pot of beans (dried, checked for stray pebbles) slow cooked for a couple hours with either hamhocks or bacon. Ladle over the cornbread. Top with condiments of your choice.

 

["Skeet" McD]

My culinary contribution is cornbread made from scratch. I use my mother's handwritten receipe. I cannot abide with restaurant chain "cornbread" or boxed mixes (okay, I'm a cornbread snob) so the only time I eat it is when I cook it. Missus H. doesn't care for it, but the rest of the family enjoys.

Tastes best with a huge pot of beans (dried, checked for stray pebbles) slow cooked for a couple hours with either hamhocks or bacon. Ladle over the cornbread. Top with condiments of your choice.

Hmmmm....I love the concept of cornbread...but almost all I've tried--including my mother's, who was from Kentucky...was too sweet for my taste. I don't suppose YOUR mother's is any different? I'd sure LIKE to like cornbread....

"Skeet"

 

[Elaina]

I cook in general. When I have to go see my family, everyone else sits in the living room and I cook. It's not one thing, although my favorite thing I make is Chicken Florentine, a recipe graciously given to me by Al, owner of my favorite restaurant of all time in Midlothian, Tx.

 

[Wally_Hood]

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]Hmmmm....I love the concept of cornbread...but almost all I've tried--including my mother's, who was from Kentucky...was too sweet for my taste. I don't suppose YOUR mother's is any different? I'd sure LIKE to like cornbread....

"Skeet"[/QUOTE]

Skeet, my family, on both sides, is from Oklahoma and Arkansas, solid cornbread country. Kentucky should boast of noble cornbread as well.

I will try to dig out the receipe and post it; it was not too sweet for my taste, whereas the restaurant and packaged variety was, essentially to me, cake.

Keep checking in, we moved earlier this year and I can't find anything...

 

["Skeet" McD]

Skeet, my family, on both sides, is from Oklahoma and Arkansas, solid cornbread country. Kentucky should boast of noble cornbread as well.

I will try to dig out the receipe and post it; it was not too sweet for my taste, whereas the restaurant and packaged variety was, essentially to me, cake.

Keep checking in, we moved earlier this year and I can't find anything...

Dear Wally, I know JUST what you mean about having moved. And I'll keep checking in. Of course, at root, it's a matter of taste: I don't care much for sweet in my food (whereas I adore anything salty or sour); but, to my taste, yes: what I've had, including my mother's, was cake. Now, for SPECIAL occasions she'd make beaten biscuits. And I'm sure I don't have to tell you about those....

Thanks in advance,
"Skeet"

 

[Wally_Hood]

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD] Now, for SPECIAL occasions she'd make beaten biscuits. And I'm sure I don't have to tell you about those....

Thanks in advance,
"Skeet"[/QUOTE]

Ah, biscuits and gravy, the binding agent of my youth...

 

[rumblefish]

Signature for the summer for sure

It's hard to call it a "dish" when all your making is the cocktail sauce. The horseradish is from the backyard . The littleneck clams are from Stonybrook Harbor, about five minute past the backyard.

 

["Skeet" McD]

It's hard to call it a "dish" when all your making is the cocktail sauce. The horseradish is from the backyard . The littleneck clams are from Stonybrook Harbor, about five minute past the backyard.

And they said the garden of Eden was closed forever.... do you take lodgers?

"Skeet"

 

[Dr Doran]

I have never had a better Caesar Salad than the one I make. Nor a better Fettucine Alfredo. I don't even order them in restaurants anymore because I know they will be inferior to mine. If I am in an expensive restaurant, I'll look at them if other diners have ordered them.

Other things I make well are a marinara sauce for pasta. It is different each time, depending on the ingredients available and what is in season.

I'm well-known for my tacos, but they are embarassingly easy -- no real cooking, only assembling. Naturally, the salsa is freshly made by me.

I am good with medium-rare steaks which I cook with copious amounts of mushrooms and I serve that with mashed parsnips and a salad of balsamic vinagrette, red grapes, lettuce, toasted walnuts, and crumbled feta.

At parties I very often roast a whole chicken. This also I'll serve with mashed parsnips or sometimes mashed potatoes and the salad mentioned immediately above.

I make pizza a lot: I buy (for $1.25) a ball of dough from Trader Joes and prebake that on a pizza stone and then add toppings, whatever is available. That's why I like pizzas: you can put almost anything on them. At a party I'll typically make several very different ones, cut them up into small pieces, and walk around to serve them to guests.

Those are all my "signature dishes." There are other things I cook fairly frequently but I'm not well-known for cooking them yet. Miscellaneous Asian stir-fries are one. Salmon is another.