Your Mom's (or Dad's!) best meal

[Piccolina]

I miss my mom's cooking!

My mom is an awesome cook, she is so humble about it (for example she claims she “not creative” but that's not true, she made amazing dinners many a night with the most basic of “cheap” ingredients, and managed to give us full tummies). Picking one of my favourite of her meals is just as hard as being asked for a favourite movie. I adore her chicken pot pie, her stroganoff is the best I've ever had, and she makes the most to-die-for broccoli and cheddar soup and cinnamon buns.


My step-dad is great cook too, though he tends to stick near the barbecue where he rustles up mouth watering steaks and darns of salmon for special occasions. It's cool because he has a lot of the prairie farmer recipes from his late mother, and makes some really neat dishes. One that the whole family loves are deep-fried pieces of sweet dough (much like a funnel cake or carnival fritter) that for some odd reason (he doesn't know why) are called “rabbits”.

 

[Jikoni]

My dad made great omlettes on sundays. my kids would like to know why they were special, and I tell them that they were 'just special' that's all.My mum tried but the omlette was different. I can't even begin to try. Why spoil it all.

 

[mudbug]

Mom's sauerbrauten, bread pudding, eggnog, and red beans and rice spring to mind immediately, but I'm pretty much willing to eat anything -- including dog food -- if she fixed it.

Dad does not cook. He has passed on to his children his habit of eating and then talking about great meals he has eaten in the past and great meals he heard that someone else ate or what he will eat or would like to eat in the future. This is a beloved pastime in my family.

 

[jkath]

Jessica - I thought I'd google the recipe for the fried pieces of sweet dough, but when I typed in "fried rabbits", I just couldn't hit the search button - ack! lol

 

[texasgirl]

Cheesey Chicken Casserole:

boneless chicken (I prefer breast meat)
condensed cream of chicken soup (other cream of soups would work here too)
swiss cheese (I prefer the big eye)
Stuffing (your home made or favorite store bought)

When I use a 9 X 13 pan, I cover the bottom with cut up cooked chicken (broiled, bakes, pan fried, whatever), then layer the swiss cheese over the chicken. I love cheese, so I usually go for at least some overlap in the covering, if not a second layer. Then pour the cream of chicken (or your favorite) over the cheese covering completely. I use 2 cans for this size pan. Then the final layer is your prepared stuffing, either home made or store bought. Be sure to prepare it before hand, as it will not cook properly just baking it. Bake for 30 minutes or so at 350. You may want to put a catch pan underneath (which may increase cook time) as the cheese is likely to bubble.

The beauty of this recipe is it is extraordinarily easy to increase or decrease as needed. Since it is all layers, just make sure you have enough of whatever ingredient to cover a layer in the size pan you use!

I made this tonight, it was good!

 

[inthekitchen]

A little foreign, but this is my favorite.

Rouladen (Stuffed beef rolls with onions, dill pickles)
Spaetzle (a type of egg noodle) with mushroom gravy
Red Cabbage

Prepared in the right way, these dishes are simply amazing. Highly recommended.

 

[buckytom]

that's not just foreign, itk-2, but it's downright german...

i love rouladen, spaetzle (mmmm mushroom gravy), and red cabbage.
do you prefer hot or cold red cabbage?

also, do you have recipes for each? thanks in advance...

 

[kimbaby]

That would have to be my dads pot roast, it always smelled so good cooking... and my mom she makes the best pecan pie in the world.

 

[Jikoni]

A little foreign, but this is my favorite.

Rouladen (Stuffed beef rolls with onions, dill pickles)
Spaetzle (a type of egg noodle) with mushroom gravy
Red Cabbage

Prepared in the right way, these dishes are simply amazing. Highly recommended.

Is Rouladen covered in cabbage? I had this sort of thing in Germany after just loving the way it looked and it was yummy. I would love to try and prepare it.

 

[Dina]

I remember "Arroz con pollo" made by Mom when I was growing up. Mmmm and the smell of it as well. It's basically white rice and chicken fried/seared, respectively, in oil, added cumin, garlic, chicken boullion, bell peppers, onions and tomato puree (tomato sauce can be added for color). Totally a Mexican delicacy. On the other hand, Dad can make the most amazing BBQ. Grills the meat till medium rare then wraps it, together with onions, bell peppers and bbq sauce, in foil and lets it cook a bit longer to get the flavors going. Totally awsome cooking.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Just a note: Roulladen is indeed Doiche, though it is a technique, not a particular recipe. It consists of any meat rolled/jelly-rolled over a filling. I have made rouladen with a 1/4-inch beef slab jelly-rolled over a savory bread dressing, served with a deep brown gravy, chicken roulladen with cream-cheese and wallnuts, pork roulladen with spiced apples, etc.

My Mom's best dish, well, for me, that would have been fresh corn on the cob, served with baked sweet potatoes and any kind of meat, or maybe it was her chili, or was it the baked beans? Hmmm. Really, she was an excellent cook and made everything great (except for steaks. Hers were always exceptinally tough.)

My Dad, well I never ate anything he made that I didn't like. His boiled dinner was legendary. And he knew how to cook a steak. His stews, were great, his spaghetti was right on target, and he taught me some of my favorite meals (or at least I learned to re-create them). And he taught me how to make my first pancakes. Of course they were the boxed mix variety, usually Aunt Jemima brand. And he introduced me to many new foods over the years.

But his best meal, well that would have to be freshly caught and cleaned speckled and rainbow trout caught from the streams emptying into Lake Superior. In the summer, that was the best meal a person could eat. There was no need for anyuthing else, just a mess of pan-fried trout and ketchup, and a glass of milk to wash it down. Now there's a bit of cullinary heaven.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[jkath]

Really, she was an excellent cook and made everything great (except for steaks. Hers were always exceptinally tough.)