Do you have a “signature” dish?

[Jade Emperor]

Can be anything - something you created or something that your family or guests always want when you cook.
Think of it as something you would cook for a special occasion or for a potluck.
My two would go like this:
For something that is already a traditional dish, it would be my boeuf en daube. Always gets rave reviews from guests and partner.
For something that I have worked very hard on, now to the point where it is really my own identifiable version, it would be my fried rice which has a lot of ingredients that really define my style.
Please share yours

 

[dragnlaw]

Spicy Won Ton Soup (home made wonton's) Same recipe can be made spicy or not. ye
Won Ton's with Brown Butter and Sage.
Everyone loves those wonton's!

I used to make fried rice in the Polynesian style (no soy sauce) but I could never quite catch all the flavours. I originally had it from a student of mine who was Polynesian and often brought me some.
Just now I've started to go on to the soya version - I usually use shrimp or chicken. It is jam packed with goodies and although l shouldn't really call it fried rice any more, the name (for me) has stuck.

 

[Marlingardener]

For guests or special occasions, the stuffed pork loin is something everyone likes. For a pot luck, Swedish meatballs in my slow cooker. After they are done, I set the cooker on "warm" and take it to the pot luck site and plug it in. Never had so much as one meatball left!

 

[GotGarlic]

Spicy Won Ton Soup (home made wonton's) Same recipe can be made spicy or not. ye
Won Ton's with Brown Butter and Sage.
Everyone loves those wonton's!

I used to make fried rice in the Polynesian style (no soy sauce) but I could never quite catch all the flavours. I originally had it from a student of mine who was Polynesian and often brought me some.
Just now I've started to go on to the soya version - I usually use shrimp or chicken. It is jam packed with goodies and although l shouldn't really call it fried rice any more, the name (for me) has stuck.

Were you a teacher?

 

[GotGarlic]

For guests or special occasions, the stuffed pork loin is something everyone likes. For a pot luck, Swedish meatballs in my slow cooker. After they are done, I set the cooker on "warm" and take it to the pot luck site and plug it in. Never had so much as one meatball left!

People love meatballs at a party as much as they do deviled eggs

 

[GotGarlic]

I think my signature dish is my lasagna. I've adjusted and perfected it over the years. My posole verde is pretty good, too.

For potlucks, I try to make something different each time, but I am known for my burger buns and Sweet Potato-Caramelized Onion Bread, from Vivian Howard, forner owner of Chef and the Farmer in North Carolina (it closed during the pandemic, but she's working on a new concept). My neighbor across the street has a barbecue and chili party every fall and she asks me to make the buns and bread for the party.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I have so many it's ridiculous. I have at least one for every ethnic cuisine I prepare, from Italian (mulignan a la Sicilian)to Mexican (huevos rancheros espiciale) to German (wiener schnitzel holstein) to Irish (shepherd's pie), etc. At last count I had 435 exclusive recipes in my archives, created and tested by me.

 

[Kathleen]

I don't have a specialty dish. In our family, women are either good all-around cooks, but have no specialties. Or they are outstanding at some sort of specialty but average all around cooks. I am the first, but my sister is an exceptional baker.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I don't have a specialty dish. In our family, women are either good all-around cooks, but have no specialties. Or they are outstanding at some sort of specialty but average all around cooks. I am the first, but my sister is an exceptional baker.

That pretty much sums it up for me.

I’m a good all around salt & pepper country cook.

I enjoy making the old fashioned Sunday dinners that I grew up with.

 

[GotGarlic]

I have so many it's ridiculous. I have at least one for every ethnic cuisine I prepare, from Italian (mulignan a la Sicilian)to Mexican (huevos rancheros espiciale) to German (wiener schnitzel holstein) to Irish (shepherd's pie), etc. At last count I had 435 exclusive recipes in my archives, created and tested by me.

A signature dish isn't every dish you ever created. It's the one you're known for.

 

[Linda0818]

My homemade chicken pot pie. Everything from scratch, including the crust. Total comfort food. I've been making it since my 20's. I don't even use the recipe anymore. I just wing it. And it tastes fabulous every time.

 

[Jade Emperor]

That pretty much sums it up for me.

I’m a good all around salt & pepper country cook.

I enjoy making the old fashioned Sunday dinners that I grew up with.

There is that too. I consider myself a good all-purpose utility cook, having an extensive background in restaurant kitchens. You have to have basic skills in just about everything tucked into your toolbox.
Since retiring from the kitchens, I find my passion is still there, but perhaps more towards refining a fairly large roster of dishes that I feel define my cooking style.
Not having to make three hundred omelettes at breakfast every day, or pumping out 1000 canapés for events really refreshes how you approach your craft. Don’t get me wrong, the discipline and commitment to catering for the masses teaches you a lot of valuable skills which you can take anywhere, but for me now, the joy of cooking comes from being able to refine and research my selected recipes.

 

[taxlady]

My husband says I'm a salad wizard. I do like my own salads and I have friends who look forward to my salads. For a long time, I used to have a Winter Solstice dinner party every year and the stars of that meal were my pork roulades, one with apricots and prunes and the other stuffed with something savoury. The other stars of that supper were the green goddess salad dressing that my husband makes (also know as the garlic dressing of doom ) and my raspberry trifle.

 

[Linda0818]

My husband says I'm a salad wizard. I do like my own salads and I have friends who look forward to my salads. For a long time, I used to have a Winter Solstice dinner party every year and the stars of that meal were my pork roulades, one with apricots and prunes and the other stuffed with something savoury. The other stars of that supper were the green goddess salad dressing that my husband makes (also know as the garlic dressing of doom ) and my raspberry trifle.

Sounds amazing.

I love pork roulade. Haven't had it in a long while. The last one I had, at a get-together with friends years ago, was stuffed with ground sage sausage, onions and caramelized apples. It was so dang delicious. The savory sausage and the sweet/tart flavor of the apples was an incredible combination.

 

[pepperhead212]

Way back, when I used to have a lot of friends and family I would get together with, sometimes I'd be doing all the cooking, but usually sharing the chores with friends. One dish Mom would ask for every birthday was a dish from the book From Julia Child's Kitchen - A Pork Ragout, which was cubes of pork shoulder rubbed with a dry marinade of salt, pepper, garlic, and fresh rosemary and sage (original recipe just had thyme, but left the possibility for ), pounded to a paste, and rubbed all over the meat, and I always let it marinate the maximum 3 dqys. It also had fresh tomatoes, but was also good with canned, and had mushrooms and white wine in it. And , of course, butter!! This also paired with a mix of half and half potatoes and rutabagas, mashed, and I always baked some bread to go with it. Paired veggies and desserts varied, but these were the ones I would be asked for every time.

When getting together for Chinese dinners with some friends, that Szechwan eggplant dish and the 1,2,3,4,5 spareribs were things I was always asked to cook. Earlier on, I would make a non-hot dish, and a hot one, since several people didn't like the heat, but eventually, they all started liking the heat.

And something else that I am almost always expected to have, for some leftover sandwich makings, is the various sour rye breads I bake.

And for holiday dinners, I had a cauliflower au gratin I made one time, and my uncle, who hated cauliflower from childhood, loved this, and insisted it couldn't be cauliflower, and made up some name for it! And I always brought one batch of brownies, and various pumpkin pies, one way back in the 90s (maybe 80s?), a Cognac Pumpkin pie, from a cover recipe from a Gourmet Magazine. Later one from a bon apétit magazine - a true butterscotch pumpkin pie. These things aren't really my "signature" recipes, just things I was always expected to cook for those dinners.

In the summer there are a couple of what you might call signature dishes, such as that gazpacho, and the raw tomato pasta sauce, that varies greatly, but always has some fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and basil. Things people are always checking out my fridge for in the summer , to see if I have any.

 

[dragnlaw]

Almost forgot, one dish I was always requested to bring was Raspberry Crepes. Great for making ahead. Had to double and triple the recipe many times.

Also like others - most were/are not my signature dishes, but things like mussels, sea scallops and shrimp were often requested. Even the lowly snail! (aka Escargot).

 

[Kathleen]

My husband says I'm a salad wizard. I do like my own salads and I have friends who look forward to my salads. For a long time, I used to have a Winter Solstice dinner party every year and the stars of that meal were my pork roulades, one with apricots and prunes and the other stuffed with something savoury. The other stars of that supper were the green goddess salad dressing that my husband makes (also know as the garlic dressing of doom ) and my raspberry trifle.

"Salad Wizard" should totally be your title here. Love it! I also absolutely love Green Goddess dressing, but never have found a TNT recipe....(yeah, that is a hint to post it.)

 

[taxlady]

"Salad Wizard" should totally be your title here. Love it! I also absolutely love Green Goddess dressing, but never have found a TNT recipe....(yeah, that is a hint to post it.)

Here you go: Green Goddess Dressing AKA Garlic Dressing of Doom

 

[Badjak]

I suppose, for me, that would be SE Asian dishes, esp Indonesian & Thai.
But also anything on the charcoal grill...

 

[Kathleen]

Here you go: Green Goddess Dressing AKA Garlic Dressing of Doom

I should have checked your cmt. Thanks!