What is your signature dish?

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by honeychile

LOL - I had an aunt who couldn't cook worth beans - potato salad was boiled potatoes with milk poured over them. She constantly got cook books for presents. Didn't help one bit.

But she made the best macaroons I've ever eaten - to this day!

This post made me smile. There is a world of difference between "cooking" and "baking". I have met many who are good at one or the other, but those who are good at both are rare. And there is no such thing as a true master of the pair.

My "signature" dish is rare beef tenderloin with one of a handful of sauces I haved practiced over the years- including sauce bearniase, creamed morels and sauce bordelaise.

But what I secretly lay claim to doing well is fried chicken tenders- soaked in eggs and buttermilk, breaded and then fried until they are nearly black and flake at the slightest touch with the chicken itself perfectly tender and just barely cooked through. I like them better a day later cold from the fridge.

I love leftovers really. The beef tenderloin makes a great dinner- but cold the next day it makes incredible sandwiches. Slice thick and put in a french baguette with homemade garlic and herb butter plus a sprinkling of fleur de sel. Refrigerate and then let warm to room temp before eating. Awesome.

Same with roast beef- better the next day when you chop it up and sautee with potatoes and onions and then slobber on the chili sauce for hash.

[nittanygirl]

Originally Posted by EE-BO

There is a world of difference between "cooking" and "baking". I have met many who are good at one or the other, but those who are good at both are rare. And there is no such thing as a true master of the pair.

My grandma is one of those rare people. All of her cookies and cakes and breads are all from scratch and delicious, but everything she cooks is as well.
If I had to say which she is, a cook or a baker, I'd say a cook now...growing up I would have said a baker.
She makes everything. Homemade spaghetti sauce, blackberry cobbler, zucchini bread, cookies of all sorts, delicious REAL Kentucky fried chicken, unbelievable cornbread, awesome fudge & various candies like hard tack. I think it's the era she grew up in. 13 brothers and sisters, being the oldest, she had to learn to do both things well.