YOUR dish, and when you give way

[Jade Emperor]

Sure, this has been done before, but 2024 updates.
This time, let’s make it a little harder.
What is YOUR signature dish?
And who/what/where/why’s dish do you give way to? What dish is just simply better done by someone else?
I will start to show you my hand.
I make a mean beef cheek daube. It’s my signature. It’s always paired with a very creamy mashed potato, which I am good at, but my husband is better at getting the right consistency.
So we cook the meal together, which warms my heart.
What say you?

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

My signature dish is spaghetti sauce. My Sicilian grandmother brought the recipe with her from the old country, she taught it to my mother, my mother taught it to me, and I have only shared it with my daughter-in-law. Keeping it in the family. It is so secrect that, if I told you, I would have to kill myself!

 

[Jade Emperor]

Well
@Sir_Loin_of_Beef I am dying, so you can surely share it with me, I won’t be around to spread the news

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

If you're dying, ask my mother and grandmother when you get there.

 

[Jade Emperor]

It’s just HP sauce, right?

 

[Badjak]

I give way to anyone making a good omelette. I am just terrible at those.
Signature dish: not really sure but basically anything Indonesian & Thai, esp sambal

 

[rodentraiser]

I'm the only one who likes it, so I'm the only one who makes it. But I like my shrimp and RIce-a-Roni fried rice recipe, with toasted almonds, fresh celery, and crispy noodles. So that's my signature dish.

As for any dish that's done better, in my opinion that would be any hamburger from any fast food place. I've tried and tried, and I still can't make my hamburgers taste like a quarter pounder.

Edit to add: I'm like Badjak. Everybody makes a better omelette than I do.

 

[Aunt Bea]

My signature dish is spaghetti sauce. My Sicilian grandmother brought the recipe with her from the old country, she taught it to my mother, my mother taught it to me, and I have only shared it with my daughter-in-law. Keeping it in the family. It is so secrect that, if I told you, I would have to kill myself!

Maybe we should ask your daughter-in-law.

I’ve never had a problem sharing my recipes or humble cooking techniques.

The majority of people will never use them and the few that do will all get different results.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I give way to anyone making a good omelette. I am just terrible at those.

The secret to making a good omelette is learn to make a frocia, which is Sicilian for fritatta. No folding, spindling or mutlitating required. And please take note: The basic recipe for a fritatta is eggs, meat, vegetables, and cheese, that's it. Diced potatoes is traditional, but not mandatory. If there is milk in the recipe, it's not a fritatta, it's a souffle. If there is flour in the recipe, it's not a fritatta, it's a quiche.

 

[Aunt Bea]

The secret to making a good omelette is learn to make a frocia, which is Sicilian for fritatta. No folding, spindling or mutlitating required. And please take note: The basic recipe for a fritatta is eggs, meat, vegetables, and cheese, that's it. Diced potatoes is traditional, but not mandatory. If there is milk in the recipe, it's not a fritatta, it's a souffle. If there is flour in the recipe, it's not a fritatta, it's a quiche.

If it is scrambled and looks like the dog’s dinner we call it Jumbot.

 

[dragnlaw]

If it's scrambled, fluffed, beaten, shaken and looks like egg - I call it breakfast.

 

[pictonguy]

Eggs benedict. I've been asked whenever the opportunity comes up to make them. I make my own crumpets or I'll make Yorkshire puddings and fill them. that seems to make a difference, and i also like to use duck eggs.

Angela my SO makes a better meat loaf and I've been making meat loaf all my life and she just dabbles in it once in a while.

 

[Kathleen]

I don't feel that I really have a signature dish. However, if I were pressed hard to name one, it would be "soup beans" which is a pinto bean dish that I make with salt pork. The recipe came down generations in my family and I'm the only person who makes it anymore. I do get asked to make it, and I am willing to give the recipe out. To go with it, I recommend collard greens, which no one makes better than me although I will admit there are some out there that are as good.

 

[caseydog]

I think the OP is asking if we have a signature dish that someone we know makes better than ours. Right off hand, I can't think of an example in my cooking. I make a great chicken and sausage gumbo, and I don't know anyone who makes one better than mine. I have no doubt there are cooks who do it better, I just don't happen to know them.

I also make a great meatloaf, but I cook mine on the smoker, and I don't know anyone else that does that.

I do know people who have signature dishes that I don't even try to compete with -- but they are not my signature dishes.

CD

 

[taxlady]

I don't really have a signature dish, unless it's maybe trifle. There are a few dishes that I regularly pull out when we have company or are celebrating, but I figure there's probably people out there who can do them better.

I do remember an episode that seems relevant to this discussion. I brought my chocolate cake to a party. It's a coarse, moist, very chocolatey cake and it's really delicious. A friend brought brownies. Okay, this friend is a professional chef, so it wouldn't have annoyed me that their brownies were better than my chocolate cake. But, my friend had developed that brownie recipe. It was both gluten free and vegan and it was still fabulous. I would never have thought to compare them if they hadn't been at the same party. There was no question, those brownies were better.

 

[GotGarlic]

The secret to making a good omelette is learn to make a frocia, which is Sicilian for fritatta. No folding, spindling or mutlitating required. And please take note: The basic recipe for a fritatta is eggs, meat, vegetables, and cheese, that's it. Diced potatoes is traditional, but not mandatory. If there is milk in the recipe, it's not a fritatta, it's a souffle. If there is flour in the recipe, it's not a fritatta, it's a quiche.

Flour in a quiche? I've never heard of that before.

 

[pictonguy]

Flour in a quiche? I've never heard of that before.

Maybe he's referring to the crust, not sure though.

 

[Jusa]

My homemade baked mac n cheese dish is the best I've ever tasted (and everyone else who eats it agrees). It's not a heart healthy dish at all, LOL, so I don't make it often. Heavy cream (no flour roux), half n half, several different kinds of cheese, with grilled chicken breast strips for the bottom layer and Panko, grated Parm or Reggiano and bacon for the topping (I add that the last 10 minutes of baking). It's very rich so I usually serve it with salad on the side.

I have some chef friends in Florida who make a myriad of outstanding dishes I will never even attempt so as not to embarrass myself. Besides, if I am visiting, I usually just go to their restaurants to eat it--if it's a "special" I might get lucky enough that they can make it for me if I let them know in advance I am coming.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Flour in a quiche? I've never heard of that before.

The culprit was Ina Garten. BTW, a fritatta is not baked in the oven. It is cooked on top of the stove, preferably in a cast iron skillet, and then placed under the broiler to cook the top and melt the cheese. I'm Sicilian, trust me.