What's your best recipe / best meal?

[CarolAnn]

What's the best meal you've ever prepared - or what would you plan if you wanted to make the best meal you've ever prepared?

[rockymtngirl]

That's a tough one - I guess it depends who I am cooking for.
I'm kind of a comfort food person so my top/best loved are broccoli cheese soup; chicken fried steak with country gravy.
I would love to make buffalo tenderloin steaks with a red wine sauce though for something special, served with garlic mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus :D

[kerryms]

Chicken n dumplings,boiled cabbage,blackeyed peas,corn on the cob and cornbread Or Pork Loin baked with Apples,onions and garlic,brussel sprouts,honeyed carrots and rice.
Desserts Strawberry Shortcake. Black Forrest Cobbler.

I like to cook so we tend to eat all kinds of dishes.

[walls0stone]

I'll look at this one from the other side....
When somthing great happens in my life, if I land a big contract or have an extra wonderful, better than Christmas kind of day...I call my wife and tell her to whip up tradional Brown beans and Corn bread....

I'm say'n it's not the food that is so good, but reason I have that dish. ;D

[Katrina-Sisu]

For Christian holidays I make the same foods.

My Mom's candied ham (if you want the recipe just ask, it's really good). I usually eat Karalian pies as a side along with cheesey broccoli and mashed taters.

For every other holiday I make cheesey broccoli, mashed taters, and hotdogs.

:D We eat simple around here I guess lol!

Kat

[reyecat]

those meals all sound wonderful! Inspiring.

I have a few family favourites....

Basteeya (Moroccan chicken Pie) -it's very rich and super tasty.... you could serve it with a fresh salad to off-set the richness

Fallafel with a whole ton of fresh veggies and feta and Tzadziki and Hummus.... mmmmmm. oh, on pita.

Zuppa Toscana (Tuscan soup) with garlic croutons and a salad.

Loaded Sauted Pizza.... has lots of stuff on it... sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms all sauted before you put it on the pizza.... a couple different cheeses.... maybe spiced havarti and aged cheddar, or asiago and mozzerella....

empanadas ~ very high prep food! but so good. basically a spiced meat and veggie and rice filling in a pastry crust.... serve with fresh yogurt, salsa and guac.

Sushi ~ that would depend on the occasion and who is coming to dinner.... I don't make it with raw fish, I make it with smoked salmon and veggies. but still some people don't like it. i've had the raw fish and fish eggs version at a restaurant and it was very good but I don't dare make it at home.

Then there's all the curries.... don't even get me started, Shrimp Thai Curry, Tuna Curry, salmon curry bake...mmmmmmm

[quietH2O]

Let me roll up my sleeves and begin (knuckes cracking) .....


I LOVE TO COOK - and so does the love of my life. (We need a bigger kitchen!!) ;D

We raise our own lamb and - fortunately - we love it.

Syrah Braised Leg of Lamb (happy to share the recipe if you want it Even if you don't like lamb, I doubt you'd even know it was lamb you're eating. - tender, juicy, incredible taste) is one of my favorite fancy dinners. Serve with a good Syrah.

BBQ or baked salmon with a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Start with crab cakes appetizer with a Pinot Gris. (I've got a great recipe for these, too!) We went crabbing yesterday so we're having the crab cakes tonight with fried flounder.

Everyone in our home loves Gyros (with lamb, of course).

Chicken Polenta is often requested from my kitchen.

My world famous Pasta - I get rave reviews for this one. It's made with lamb sausage (the secret ingredient) with a WA state Cab Sav or an Old World burgundy or Bordeaux.

We typically have blackened Chicken Ceasar salad once a week - quick, easy and yummy - feels like a special meal. with an oaky, buttery Chardonnay.

Black and Blue salad at least once a month - slivered grilled beef on a bed of lettuce with crumbled blue cheese and blue cheese dressing. Again, easy, fast, yummy...

Traditional family favorite - Cornish Pasties. (meat pie, wrapped in a pastry so you can pick it up and eat like a burger.) With a big glass of milk, unless you like English ales!

Favorite desserts - raspberry creme brulee; or chocolate mouse. with a late harvest Riesling.

I serve many meals with roasted veggies - I put everything "veggie" in this, potatoes (red, yukon gold, sweet - whatever - with the jackets) parsnips, squash (zukes, butter, acorn - whatever is available), green beans, brussels sprouts, bell pepper (preferably red, yellow or orange for color) definitely sliced fennel (aka anise), slivered fresh ginger, a dozen or more whole peeled garlic cloves ... use whatever veggies sound good to you... coat everything with olive oil in a single layer on a cookie sheet with 1" sides; sprinkle generously with herbs de provence and salt and pepper; bake for 45 mins +/- at 450 stirring every 15 minutes. Sometimes I spray with balsamic vinegar toward the end of baking and add fresh basil leaves and fresh tomatoes when available in the last 15 minutes to heat through. The balsamic carmelizes into a sweet coating on the veggies.

I think God was so good to give us taste buds!!!!!!! Cooking and, especially, eating is such a joy!

We love wine pairing, too - if you haven't noticed.

This is a great thread!

OOOOOOOO I almost forgot my favorite salad - I had it in France and make it regularly ever since... Chevre Chaud (hot goat cheese) Salad.

Q

[kerryms]

reyecat,
I recently had a chicken curry, cooked in yogert.It had a nice mild taste,which I really liked. I can't remember what it was called , Would you have a recipe you wouldn't mind sharing?
Thanks Kerry

[rockymtngirl]

Kerry - agree I could use a good curry recipe too. The only time I had it homemade was on a vacation trip to Lake Powell, several years ago, by a gal from South Africa - oh my gosh it was soooo good. I do remember that she used a curry paste, shredded chicken and served it with sides of bananas, peanuts, etc. Oh Yum!

[reyecat]

my chicken curry...

quick saute some chunks of chicken (about 1-2 cups chopped), or use canned/ pre cooked chicken shredded.
throw in some veggies, like, bell peppers, onions, basically whatever you have on hand will work, so it's a bit different every time. once those things are cooked throw in a tub of whole yogurt or sour cream (adjust yogurt to make as creamy or uncreamy as you like) and a Tbsp of curry powder, some salt maybe. ( my favourite curry powder is Madras curry from Epicure Selections but I'm working on developing my own mix now. ) heat through, do not boil. serve over rice. you could put it on noodles too. exchange the chicken for 2 cans of tuna or salmon, tastes good too. really a quick and easy standby meal.

Google "easy butter chicken" for some great easy recipes. I tried the one from recipezaar and it was delicious. you could cut the spices in half for a mild version.

Then if you want a Thai curry here's an easy one.

saute your meat (shrimp or chicken)
add your veggies (bell peppers, onions, whatever)
add a can chunked pineapple with juice
add a can of coconut milk
get a 1/4 cup of the liquid in a cup and whisk in a tsp - tbsp of Green Curry Paste.
throw it back in the pan.
heat through (it doesn't matter if it boils)

serve over rice or rice noodles.

[kerryms]

Thanks reyecat,

My mouth is watering already!! Kerry

[CarolAnn]

What a delight to read all these wonderful menus! I can see my cooking needs some excitement added! ;D

More, more! (And recipes, too!)

The reason I asked the question is that I only have one half-way decent menu for company - and they are TIRED of it! ;D

These are an inspiration!

[noelwright28]

I'd have to say Stuffed hamburger cabbage buns with coleslaw and baked beans.

http://www.recipezaar.com/50809
I make 4 large rolls instead of 8 and bake for the same amount of time. I love that you can freeze the leftovers!

for the coleslaw, I take the leftover shredded cabbage and add 1 cup mayo and 1/4 -1/2 cup sugar and add celery seed and shredded carrots to it. Refrigerate until cold.

[noelwright28]

i forgot to say I add about 2 Tablespoons vinegar to the coleslaw!