What is your own personal "signature dish"?

[purplewiz]

My signature dish is......*sigh* brownies. Yes, they're from scratch, but they's almost as easy as from a mix, you basically throw them together, and that's always what people want me to make for them. So I do, but sometimes I want to scream and say "but I can make so many better things!" "Yes, but please make the brownies....." *sigh*.

My signature dinner in the summer is grilled steak with chive flower/thyme flower butter, grilled vegetables of some ilk (depending on what's good), tossed salad served less than an hour after it was picked, and some kind of homemade dressing, fruit shortcake for dessert.

In winter it's beef stew or a curry with peanut butter that is infinitely adaptable to what's available, what meat preferences the guests have (just made a vegetarian version for vegetarian house guests and it went over well).

These are simple choices, nowhere near the most complex things I make, but I know from experience that if I try to cook to impress a guest, I am not only inviting disaster into the kitchen, but opening the door and calling it in from the street. I know these dishes inside out and backwards, so I have a much great chance of serving something edible .

Marcia.

[FL Heat]

Smoked brisket; cole slaw (the boyfriend's mother's recipe); the boyfriend's homemade barbecue sauce; fresh salsa & tortilla chips (not fresh, I'm not that ambitious. . yet); roasted corn on the cob; all set out on a big table in the backyard. . . .and a huge plate of snickerdoodles for dessert.

BYOB!

D

[Juanito]

Well, my friends would probably tell you that it's my macaroni and gravy. That's not really what I want to be known for, but it is my default signature dish.

If I were picking the dish to serve, I think I would make steak a poivre, accompanied by red creamers, pan roasted in a cast iron skillet, and brandy glazed carrots.

There would be a nice green salad with a simple vinaigrette, and an assortment of cheese and fresh fruit for dessert.

[marie-louise]

... it would depend very much on the time of year and what was available in the markets (or in my garden). For example, were you to come to my house on a summer evening, dinner would most likely be some kind of animal flesh, expertly grilled, and an overflowing salad. And dessert would be some sort of tart.

In winter, it might be a braise or a roast, and had I the time, a deadly multilayered chocolate something something.

There is no simple answer.

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My answer is similar. What I would cook for you would depend on both the season and the current weather. With our gorgeous warm winter days, foggy summers, and October heat waves in the Bay Area-that could be just about anything. I might serve you a hot soup or something like chili on a foggy summer night. Then again, I might serve you grilled chicken or fish in January.

What I will never serve you are fruits or vegetables that are not in season locally; you should only expect to be served asparagus in the springtime, and you won't be eating melons or peaches at my house unless it is late summer. You'll also only eat crab or salmon when it is season.

Edited January 9, 2005 by marie-louise (log)

[Dani Mc]

ok, the winter dish I do most often is my variation on my MIL's very bavarian steak and pasta.

steak fillets served medium rare with a good crust, side of farfalle pasta, both covered in dijon mustard cream sauce made with pan drippings and a good covering of grated parmigiano reggiano. Salad depends on the season, but my favorite is arugula with heirloom tomatoes, basil, garlic and a basalmic vinaigrette.

I can make so many things that are more interesting than this, and I can even pair the salad course better than stated above, but this is the husband's favorite comfort food.

[babka]

First of all I would invite you for brunch.  In preparation I would make some fresh duck sausage which is excellent for breakfast or brunch.

when might we expect that invitation?

[soupsister]

Oaxacan Chocolate Brownies

Oaxacan Chocolate Cheesecake

Mayan Hot Chocolate

That's a three-course meal, right?

[winegeek]

Simple green salad mixed with EVO, red onion, and a blend of 10 year-old and 100 year-old balasamic vinegar drizzled on top; pan roasted rack of lamb with Escoffier 4175 (Pommes Anna for garnishing), and veal stock reduction; crème brûlée.

Wine: Penfolds Grange

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Wow, I like a host that serves Grange to their guests!!! How about if I cook for you and you bring the wine

[Gifted Gourmet]

Oaxacan Chocolate Brownies

Oaxacan Chocolate Cheesecake

Mayan Hot Chocolate

That's a three-course meal, right?

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I see nothing wrong in your assumption!

In my house, chocolate cake is considered a vegetable ...

[Larry 1749]

For the last 20 odd years we have been having Christmas Dinner at my in-laws. For about the last 10 I have been bringing Pears Poached in Red Wine as my contribution to the festivities. One year my wife thought that I should do something different and we almost had a riot. So I guess that this has become my signature dish at least for Christmas.

[ghostrider]

Spaghettini con aglio e olio, topped with freshly grated pecorino - and I do mean FRESHLY.

Somewhere early on in my experiments with this dish, I came to prefer spaghettini to spaghetti; the smaller pasta strands seemed to yield a better balance of flavor. I use linguini fini when I can't get my hands on spaghettini of decent quality.

I make this dish 2-3 times a week so there's really no contest here. I believe in garlic.

[hathor]

If "signature dish" = comfort food, then I guess its spaghetti bolognese.

If its most requested its steak au poivre.

And the most requested vegetable is a roasted cauliflower in white sauce. Go figure!

[Gifted Gourmet]

To me the concept, or the term, “Signature Dishes” means the dishes for which I am "known" or identified with .. what I am most proud of ...

[Mabelline]

I asked Dearest Marital Unit this, and he said anything animal protein. So I would have to extend an invitation for whatever I could grill,fry, braise, smoke, roast or barbeque. But beware that it might be game meats. My SO's brothers from the firehouse complain if he doesn't bring meat in about every week to 10 days and even send meat for me to cook. Although a dedicated carnivore, I really don't eat that much of a meat dish. So it has to be no waste of storage where meat's concerned.

Actually, my own favorite for myself would be stuffed artichokes.

[andiesenji]

Spaghettini con aglio e olio, topped with freshly grated pecorino - and I do mean FRESHLY.

Somewhere early on in my experiments with this dish, I came to prefer spaghettini to spaghetti; the smaller pasta strands seemed to yield a better balance of flavor.  I use linguini fini when I can't get my hands on spaghettini of decent quality.

I make this dish 2-3 times a week so there's really no contest here.  I believe in garlic. 

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I love this dish. I make angelhair pasta just for this and I have to have a certain type of garlic. The purple hard neck variety which is difficult to find sold commercially, unless you have a market gardener who grows it, so I began growing my own.

I agree with the pecorino, to me it has more "bite" than romano - however I have an aged Asiago which is nearly as good.

What brand of olive oil do you use?

[andiesenji]

First of all I would invite you for brunch.  In preparation I would make some fresh duck sausage which is excellent for breakfast or brunch.

when might we expect that invitation?

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When are you going to be at this end of the country?

[fou de Bassan]

It seems so 1950's, but my signature dish is Beef Wellington and homemade gelati for dessert.

For something less artery clogging I'd choose the duck breasts my husband always asks to have for his birthday. Then a massive cake made of chestnut purée and really good chocolate.

If you were to come in summer(advisable, it gets cold here in Winter) I'd get a Salmon, halve it, bone it, smother it with fresh herbs and borage flowers from the garden and grill it. We'd have a cold soup and fruit sorbet to go with.

[*Deborah*]

My signature main course is nice in summer: a Sea Bass (or Halibut, I feel really guilty buying Sea Bass now ) filet, a good inch thick, baked en papillote on a bed of Italian parsley, lemon grass, cilantro, ginger, and lime. Served with jasmine or basmati rice, and steamed or lightly sautéed baby bok choy and baby carrots sautéed in butter and fresh grated ginger.

For winter, maybe an Osso Buco with Risotto Milanese, or maybe my pork tenderloin with a sour dried cherry/Nebbiolo reduction, served with skins-on garlic mashed potatoes or the mashed potatoes with sautéed leeks...ye gods. I need to find those sour dried cherries again, my source dried up.

[chezcherie]

double-fennel mussels. (with fennel and pastis.)

[Mabelline]

I will gladly trade some pit cooked weanling porky for some of youall's seafoods?!!

[nr706]

Ciopinno - but with a light toomato water, lightly herbed, to let the flavors of whatever interesting shellfish and/or firm fleshed fish the market has. Kinda fun to include a crab or lobster claw reaching out of each soup bowl grabbing onto a thin bread stick straddling the bowl's edges.

[ghostrider]

Spaghettini con aglio e olio, topped with freshly grated pecorino - and I do mean FRESHLY.

Somewhere early on in my experiments with this dish, I came to prefer spaghettini to spaghetti; the smaller pasta strands seemed to yield a better balance of flavor.  I use linguini fini when I can't get my hands on spaghettini of decent quality.

I make this dish 2-3 times a week so there's really no contest here.  I believe in garlic.  

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I love this dish. I make angelhair pasta just for this and I have to have a certain type of garlic. The purple hard neck variety which is difficult to find sold commercially, unless you have a market gardener who grows it, so I began growing my own.

I agree with the pecorino, to me it has more "bite" than romano - however I have an aged Asiago which is nearly as good.

What brand of olive oil do you use?

←

Carapelli regular. I suppose I should try others. I save my Extra Virgin for salads.

I should try the Asiago for a change of pace. Parmesan never really clicked with me for this dish.

Mmmm, purple hard neck garlic. Haven't had that in a while. I'm just starting on my last head (white) from the last local Farmers' Market of the season back in Oct. It's getting a bit old but still works.

Do you add hot pepper, either fresh or dried? I switch back & forth depending on what I've got.

[Jaymes]

Prawns au Sherry....as served at Gaddi's in Hong Kong.

[dahlsk]

Two signature dishes that I like to make and that are associated with me by friends and family are a lovely pavlova with whipped cream and fruit and a carrot soup with lots of leeks and onions and thyme. That's a great meal for me right there!

dahlsk

[andiesenji]

Spaghettini con aglio e olio, topped with freshly grated pecorino - and I do mean FRESHLY.

Somewhere early on in my experiments with this dish, I came to prefer spaghettini to spaghetti; the smaller pasta strands seemed to yield a better balance of flavor.  I use linguini fini when I can't get my hands on spaghettini of decent quality.

I make this dish 2-3 times a week so there's really no contest here.  I believe in garlic.  

←

I love this dish. I make angelhair pasta just for this and I have to have a certain type of garlic. The purple hard neck variety which is difficult to find sold commercially, unless you have a market gardener who grows it, so I began growing my own.

I agree with the pecorino, to me it has more "bite" than romano - however I have an aged Asiago which is nearly as good.

What brand of olive oil do you use?

←

Carapelli regular. I suppose I should try others. I save my Extra Virgin for salads.

I should try the Asiago for a change of pace. Parmesan never really clicked with me for this dish.

Mmmm, purple hard neck garlic. Haven't had that in a while. I'm just starting on my last head (white) from the last local Farmers' Market of the season back in Oct. It's getting a bit old but still works.

Do you add hot pepper, either fresh or dried? I switch back & forth depending on what I've got.

←

I rarely add hot pepper to this dish.

I did swipe a hot yellow hungarian pepper through the oil on one occasion and it was okay, but just didn't have the flavor that I love.