Signature dish - what's yours?

It is quite yummy - better than your basic run of the mill baked beans. Of course you don't have to put that much sugar....you could half that. Or quarter it even...I actually have more beans than just the three cans...so I do it all to taste...so the recipe is pretty null and void that I started with. But the onions, bacon and worcestershire sauce are a must.

When my mother could still cook, her signature dish was worth going home for! (& trust me, there were plenty of valid reasons for not going home! )

Her steamed stuffed cabbage (with rice & mince) was to die for! Delicious.

The dish I'm known for to myself is kitchen soup, which has no recipe.

The ones I've gotten raves about from others I've posted recipes or threads on here on a2k before..
I'll try to dig them up, back in a bit.

Oh, osso soup! I can well imagine why it's famous!

Yes, a recipe (or a point in the direction of the thread) would be great!

My best dish is actually a baked good. Its my moms Ukrainian Nut Roll. Its a very rich shortbready like dough rolled around a very savory and sweet crushed walnut and pecafilling.

I also make very good scrapple(but most people not of this area HATE scrapple)

Oh! Ukrainian nut roll, farmer! Oh!

(I think I'd better have some breakfast! )

(I don't know whether to love or hate "scrapple", because I don't really know what it is.)

Bean Soup (slow cooker)

Warms you up on a cold New England day

Ingredients
1 16 oz. bag of dried beans, any kind
4 cups of water
16 oz. low fat, low salt chicken stock (organic is best)
1 16 oz. can of low salt tomatoes, diced or crushed. Do not drain!
Dash of pepper
Dash of garlic powder or 1 finely minced garlic clove
Dash of basil, dried or fresh (if fresh, tear or mince into small pieces)
1/4 brick of tofu, roughly cubed
1 tablespoon of chicken fat (optional -- if left out, remove 5 calories, .5 gram of fat and .5 mg of cholesterol)

For vegans, remove the chicken fat and substitute low fat, low salt vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Directions
Place ingredients into slow cooker the night before so that beans can soak. In the morning, set slow cooker for 4 hours on high.

Makes 6 14-ounce servings.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Calories 54.8
Total Fat 0.8 g
Saturated Fat 0.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.3 g
Cholesterol 0.5 mg
Sodium 176.5 mg
Potassium 217.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 9.6 g
Dietary Fiber 2.5 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 3.0 g
Vitamin A 5.1 % Rec. Dly. Value
Calcium 2.0 % RDV
Iron 4.6 % RDV
=================
Focaccia Bread

Bring these to your next potluck. Trust me.

Ingredients
1/2 cup warm (not hot) water
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup warm (not hot) skim milk
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 or 2 small garlic cloves, finely minced

Directions
In a bowl, place the water, then sprinkle the yeast and sugar on Stir and set aside for 10 minutes.

In an electric mixer with a dough hook (or in a bowl with a wooden spoon), mix the milk and oil with the yeast mixture. Add 2 cups of the flour and the salt, garlic and rosemary. Mix at low speed until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing after each addition, until all of the flour is incorporated. The dough will be sticky but should pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it doesn't pull away, add a touch more water.

Turn the machine to medium high and let the dough knead for minutes (or do this by hand).

Put the dough into a large mixing bowl. Cover with a clean towel and set in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size. (You can store the dough, covered, in a container and refrigerate overnight.)

Roll out the dough on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam. Make a thick rectangle about 10 inches long. Use your fingers to stretch the dough, working from the center out, to form the rectangle about 12 inches long and 8 inches across.

Set the oven at 450 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and the bread sounds hollow when tapped with your knuckles on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cut into 20 squares. Each piece is a serving.

Variations
This is a good basic bread recipe, after all, so you can do a lot with it.

Savory
Italian
Try adding a more or less even mix of basil and oregano instead of rosemary, 1 teaspoon of garlic and a can of crushed or diced low salt tomatoes. Do not add as much water (you can use the liquid from the can instead of the water to activate the yeast. Make sure to take the added salt into consideration.

Mexican
This variation is a lot more crumbly and is better eaten with a spoon. Instead of 3 1/2 cups of flour, go with 1 1/2 cups of flour and 2 cups of corn meal. Instead of rosemary and garlic, add a cup or 2 of cooked corn and a quarter cup (a few stalks' worth) of thinly sliced scallions. A few chopped tomatoes or tomatillos can also be added, but subtract some liquid if you do so as either one will give off liquid. Add a dash of cayenne or powdered chipotle pepper. Rough chop cilantro and add to the top before baking. Make sure to take the added calories into account.

Sweet
Chocolate
Instead of garlic and rosemary, add half of a large chocolate bar. I like bittersweet best. You can rough chop it with a knife. Add a cup of roughly chopped walnuts and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Instead of olive oil, use canola or another kind of lightly flavored oil. If you have walnut oil, drizzle a little on the top before baking. Be sure to only add a pinch of salt. As usual, take the added fat and calories into account.

Rainbow
It's red, yellow and blue, so it's a rainbow! Instead of garlic and rosemary, add a half cup each of yellow raisins, roughly chopped strawberries or raspberries, and blueberries. Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and only add a pinch of salt. Instead of olive oil, use canola or another kind of lightly flavored oil. Make it Patriotic by substituting white chocolate for yellow raisins. Adjust fat, calorie and carb contents accordingly.

Number of Servings: 20

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

Calories 98.7
Total Fat 2.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.5 g
Cholesterol 0.2 mg
Sodium 122.2 mg
Potassium 92.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 17.1 g
Dietary Fiber 2.8 g
Sugars 0.8 g
Protein 3.4 g
Vitamin A 0.6 % RDV
Calcium 2.0 % RDV
Iron 5.0 % RDV

A HUGE dinner of 2 servings of soup and 4 (!) of focaccia bread is around 500 calories and about 15 g of fat -- a lot less than most people have and that amount of food would stuff me after only half ....

How bout MEATANS? can we lose the tofu and add something like beef, chicken or veal?.


OOOOH KIELBASI (oh yeh) !

mmmmm scrapple

delicious in a weird weird way

I guess my "bring a plate" signature dish is my baked ricotta & spinach dish. It's not so much that it appears as a result of hot demand (though it actually is very nice!), it's because I haven't yet found a better one to produce for gatherings.: "Here she comes ... with the bloody baked ricotta ...... AGAIN!"

I'm still none the wiser.

Not to worry.

But weird delicious interests me!

This is tomorrow nights dinner jespah,,,that sounds great!

Thanks, jespah. That looks really good. And no less than 4 variations! Including chocolate! (I'm not quite certain about that one. Call me overly cautious. )

Thanks, mismi. I feel a little more comfortable with that!

I should've added -- make the chocolate version of the focaccia bread with canola oil instead of olive. Otherwise, oy. Skeery.

And f'man, feel free to add what you wish. Often we toss in a lot of vegs. This week I forgot the canned tomatoes and the tofu and instead threw in carrots, onion, mushrooms, peppers and fresh tomatoes. Few calories, a lot of bulk and no salt. The calories, etc. are probably similar to the original but it's probably more fiber and a smidge less fat. I've also put in leftover chicken instead of the tofu. I bet a mild fish could work, too.

Porchetta alla Perugina (from Romanoli's Table cookbook)
http://able2know.org/topic/8605-1
I'll just add that when I cook the liquid down and then add olive oil, I remove any remaining amount of liquid so I get a good crusty coat on the pork loin. (It can be added back later..)

Pasta Farfalle con Spinaci
http://able2know.org/topic/11069-1

Craig Claiborne's Spaghetti with Clams and Anchovies
http://able2know.org/topic/81749-1
I make it with just canned clams (given my low access to fresh clams), and it's still one of those dishes that blend perfectly into a meld.

Pasta: Lox and Basil, with Ginger and Lime - can be made with regular salmon filet
http://able2know.org/topic/10645-1
I think my ex made this one up, but it's a keeper for flavor blend

I'll end with one I've only made once, that was really really really good -
I'd like it to be a signature dish.
Marcella Hazan's Sfinciuni with tomatoes, onions, and anchovy stuffing
http://able2know.org/topic/111460-1#post-3082196

Thank you, osso!
I'll definitely be seriously checking those out!

Im gonna play with that recipe in the crock pot. Im with you on the fish too. Ill bet a hard SMMOKED fish would be good, and since its a hard smoke itlle stay together.

MSOLGA-Scrapple is piggy innards and snouts and everything but the oink, and its mixed with cornmeal pepper, spices and some other stuff that Im not allowed to divulge or else I lose my adopted Pa Dutch card. Scrapple needs to be fried very very slowly so it develops a very crispy crust that is somewhat thick. It is usually served with sunny side up eggs and tast . The scrapple is topped with many different toppings but my favorite is Blackstrap Mol;asses.

Oops, I just read the sfinciuni recipe and see it says "same as the last recipe". Just scroll up, I didn't want to type forever and ever.

You may be surprised to hear this, farmer, but I rather like the sound of it!
My mother used to use similar unmentionable (to most people) ingredients (plus a few others thrown in) to produce a sort of a brawn. (Meats in jelly, I guess you could call it.) It was definitely one of her signature offerings! Very good.