# what is your "Signature Dish" ??



## wooleybooger

Brisket is probably my best dish but I don't have the patience to tend a fire for hours. Smoke it for 6 hrs, shove in oven @ 200 for 6/8 hrs. Fork tender.


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## BigJim

Smoked ribs, I got it down pat on them. Boston butt BBQ also, pretty good but I was taught by a really good smoker.


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## Two Knots

I don’t have a signature dish, but if I could create one it would be Beef Wellington...
I had it once cooked by a relative of my niece’s at a party...It was the best I ever had
and since have tried it at several restaurants, and even tried marking it myself, but it never measured up.









Beef Wellington - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## Two Knots

wooleybooger said:


> Brisket is probably my best dish but I don't have the patience to tend a fire for hours. Smoke it for 6 hrs, shove in oven @ 200 for 6/8 hrs. Fork tender.
> 
> View attachment 652869


That looks beyond delicious...how come you’ve never invited me for dinner!?!


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## wooleybooger

Two Knots said:


> That looks beyond delicious...how come you’ve never invited me for dinner!?!


Well, uh, hmm, no excuses. That was cooked several years ago and brisket has gotten very expensive now. I posted that on WWZ a long time ago to give you an idea. I can remember paying $0.49/lb for the stuff is $3.49/lb where we shop. Did I say very expensive? I'm paying $3.99 for ground beef. Where's the face palm thingy when you need it? Told wife after I posted this that I'm hungry for brisket and may go ahead and drop the nearly $60 for a whole brisket. Lots of sammiches there.


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## mark sr

Since I don't cook my signature dish would likely be Wendy's or Little Caesars 
But my wife is a good cook! Everyone that eats her chicken and dumplings brags on it. I'm also partial to several other meals that she cooks on a regular basis.


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## John Smith_inFL

I thought about giving brisket one last try - until I looked at it at walmart the other day
and one big chunk was *$82.69 *. . . . . I'll stick to frying bloney.


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## wooleybooger

John Smith_inFL said:


> I thought about giving brisket one last try - until I looked at it at walmart the other day
> and one big chunk was *$82.69 *. . . . . I'll stick to frying bloney.


OH OUCH.


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## Bud9051

I'm not a fancy cook, more of quick and eat. But one dish I like for myself and has never had leftovers is the "winter carnival casserole". Uses Karo syrup so they show it often. But it is quick, filling and gives me a heat and serve for leftovers.

My son gave me a smoker, still in its box, and I have 3 small packages of corned beef to try smoking. I'll post when I'm ready to give it a try.
Bud


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## pwcopy

Garlic Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken. Usually the main course at my Boat & BBQ summer potlucks.


> Buy chicken weight appropriate to the size of your crew (I do breasts and thighs)
> Potluck morning: Marinade — generous amounts of smashed garlic, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, fresh rosemary and olive oil
> Potluck afternoon: Go out on the pontoon for 2-3 hours. Swim, snack, brewskis, music.
> 5pm or so: Come back to the house. Preheat grills to 450F (I use two bcuz I make a lot for leftovers, take homes, etc.)
> Grill chicken: Turning frequently and basting with marinade. When instant read temp reads 175, it's done.
> Chow down with sides brought by guests: Sweet corn, potato salad, coleslaw, dessert
> Guests rave about the chicken


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## J. V.

I cook so many different dishes I cannot pick one. But my wife really likes veal scallopini. She likes all the pasta dishes and the outdoor cooking. I did ribs yesterday with pasta salad, baked beans and homemade (Bridgeford Parker house Rolls). LOL. They are frozen but they are great. I let them rise and bake. Makes great garlic rolls too.

Today I am cutting up the rare small chicken. Yep I found one at Costco (2 pack) that was just at 3.5 lbs. The other one was 4.1 lbs. I'm going to dry brine them and BBQ them on Saturday.


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## wooleybooger

J. V. said:


> I cook so many different dishes I cannot pick one. But my wife really likes veal scallopini. She likes all the pasta dishes and the outdoor cooking. I did ribs yesterday with pasta salad, baked beans and homemade (Bridgeford Parker house Rolls). LOL. They are frozen but they are great. I let them rise and bake. Makes great garlic rolls too.
> 
> Today I am cutting up the rare small chicken. Yep I found one at Costco (2 pack) that was just at 3.5 lbs. The other one was 4.1 lbs. I'm going to dry brine them and BBQ them on Saturday.


I cook for wife and myself everyday mostly, left over some days. Often something I've dreamed up during the day using whatever is on hand. Wife likes everything she says. Of course my fav is brisket but that hasn't happened in years. Currently on the list of things to cook is Chicken dry cured with Tender Quick. Tomorrow starting a homemade bologna, I posted a thread on that I think.


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## Stylingilen

John Smith_inFL said:


> this is not a "HOW TO DO IT" thread - just an inquiry.
> 
> if you don't have a Signature Dish, and if you could create one and be consistent with it, what would it be ?
> 
> many of us are good at many things - but, what is the "one" dish that you are good at ? (or want to be).
> 
> for me, I want to be able to produce Smoked Brisket like the pros. so far, after ruining several, I just can't get it done.


Baked beans are my thing. It's great because they really go with any main dish.


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## J. V.

wooleybooger said:


> I cook for wife and myself everyday mostly, left over some days. Often something I've dreamed up during the day using whatever is on hand. Wife likes everything she says. Of course my fav is brisket but that hasn't happened in years. Currently on the list of things to cook is Chicken dry cured with Tender Quick. Tomorrow starting a homemade bologna, I posted a thread on that I think.


Sounds a lot like the drill around here. I think up the meals, prepare the meals and I help clean up.
If I waited on my wife to come up with a suggestion for dinner, I would have wasted away many years ago.
She has had very little to do with cooking around here since we met. And I am responsible for that.
She had to cook last year when I had the back problems and resulting 3rd surgery. I lost 19 pounds.
Now I'm back cooking and have gained every pound I lost and more.

Oh...she is a big help to me in the kitchen too. I did not want to leave that out.


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## wooleybooger

J. V. said:


> Sounds a lot like the drill around here. I think up the meals, prepare the meals and I help clean up.
> If I waited on my wife to come up with a suggestion for dinner, I would have wasted away many years ago.
> She has had very little to do with cooking around here since we met. And I am responsible for that.
> She had to cook last year when I had the back problems and resulting 3rd surgery. I lost 19 pounds.
> Now I'm back cooking and have gained every pound I lost and more.
> 
> Oh...she is a big help to me in the kitchen too. I did not want to leave that out.


Unfortunately I do it all everyday including house cleaning. Wife has a muscular disease that will eventually leave her unable to do anything. Having homemade bologna sandwiches tonight.


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## J. V.

wooleybooger said:


> Unfortunately I do it all everyday including house cleaning. Wife has a muscular disease that will eventually leave her unable to do anything. Having homemade bologna sandwiches tonight.


Sorry to hear that brother. I cannot imagine having my wife in this condition. So my good thoughts are with you.
Nothing wrong with bologna sandwiches as long as the bologna is fried to death!
We have been getting some good tomatoes now so there will be plenty dinner sandwiches in our future.
Your wife is fortunate to have you. To do what many consider womens work to this very day.


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## Bob Sanders

John Smith_inFL said:


> for me, I want to be able to produce Smoked Brisket like the pros. so far, after ruining several, I just can't get it done.


I've done smoked brisket a few times now. Getting better, but I still haven't perfected it.


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## Bob Sanders

Two Knots said:


> I don’t have a signature dish, but if I could create one it would be Beef Wellington...
> I had it once cooked by a relative of my niece’s at a party...It was the best I ever had
> and since have tried it at several restaurants, and even tried marking it myself, but it never measured up.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beef Wellington - Wikipedia
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> en.wikipedia.org


The first time I tried to do a beef Wellington was also the last time. What a pain in the azz! I can't quite describe what it looked like but I can tell you what it DIDN'T look like.....
Beef Wellington! I'm not sure I could ever do a better job at failing.

I think I will leave that to the restaurants.


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## raylo32

What is my signature dish? What day is it?? ;-)


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## turbo4

John Smith_inFL said:


> I thought about giving brisket one last try - until I looked at it at walmart the other day
> and one big chunk was *$82.69 *. . . . . I'll stick to frying bloney.


Friend of mine gave me a big frozen brisket, price tag on it was $99. I cut it in half and smoked then baked it. I swear it shrank to a third of the original size and what was left was half fat. Was tasty but not worth that kind of cost or the time.


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## Fix'n it

grilled ham & cheese. but finding good ham is tough these days.


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## turbo4

Fix'n it said:


> grilled ham & cheese. but finding good ham is tough these days.


It sure is. Forget the cheap stuff cooked ham, no taste and feels like rubber. Good sliced ham lunchmeat is expensive, at least $7.50LB and up. As far as cheese, i stay away from anything that says cheese product on the package or is individually wrapped .Its usually a poor imitation. Try it on rye bread.


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## Fix'n it

i try samples at the deli , most of the time i just walk away, as i don't want to bother them with trying all of them.
i HATE smoked, so that leaves out many of them.

i get the walmart Great Value deluxe american, its a sliced block. it works well enough for me, i am a humble dude.


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## ktownskier

I have a few signature dishes. 

A dish I call Chicken Diane. It is a variant of Steak Diane but nothing like it. It uses diced shallots, onions, mushrooms, white wine, coarse grain Dijon mustard, sour cream, whole cream, and served over Asparagus. Got to have something healthy, you know...

Chicken wild rice hot dish. Diced up chicken, a can of cream of chicken soup, a can of cream of mushroom soup. a cup of wild and white rice. chicken broth. 

Steaks. For some reason, I can cook steaks to a medium rare with ease.


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## mark sr

ktownskier said:


> Steaks. For some reason, I can cook steaks to a medium rare with ease.


Wish my wife could, no matter how hard she tries she always over cooks them. When we want a good steak we usually go to a restaurant.


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## Fix'n it

mark sr said:


> Wish my wife could, no matter how hard she tries she always over cooks them.
> 
> When we want a good steak we usually go to a restaurant.



my wife does the same, she gets hung up on cook time. 100's of times i told her "when it looks almost done, take it off". it never did sink in. 


i cook it


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## wooleybooger

Testing for doneness is easy, learned in a restaurant kitchen years ago. Just poke it with your finger.








All You Need Are Your Hands to Check the Doneness of Meat —No Thermometer Required


No meat thermometer? No problem. It’s easy to check the doneness of meat without a meat thermometer with this handy finger test method. All you need are your hands!




www.simplyrecipes.com




.


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## YaterSpoon

Hmm, one dish...

A pasta/broccoli dish we now call broccoli surprise, which is a combo of steamed broccoli, penne rigate (or similar size other), garlic, a good tasty EVOO, salt, and tomato chunks folded in at the end. The trick is getting the salt/EVOO balance right, so you can't be shy about tasting and adjusting before you serve it.

But I'm pretty good with meats, too.

Edit: if you're interested in the above dish, here are some guidelines to make it work.

Steam your broccoli and 5-6 cloves of fresh crushed garlic and salt, with 1/2 inch of water in a covered saucepan for about 5 min. Test with fork for doneness that you like. Drain, salt, oil again. Then add this to your cooked pasta (should be about 30:70, broc to pasta, at least, but 50:50 is fine.) Fold it, taste it. You'll probably want to salt and oil it again...and again. Fold and taste again, etc. When you finally like it, add the tomatos, and fold them in. Serve and enjoy. (It may not be so healthy, but it's tasty! And EVOO isn't so bad for us, anyhow.


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## Rodochan

Shrimp with a jalapeño cream sauce or pork tenderloin piccata.


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## ktownskier

mark sr said:


> Wish my wife could, no matter how hard she tries she always over cooks them. When we want a good steak we usually go to a restaurant.


I too love going out to be served. And it is usually at a steakhouse. Lately it has been Longhorn as they have a Porterhouse on the menu and that, IMHO, is the perfect steak. Even better than a Ribeye. 

But for cooking a steak, turn it only when it releases from the grate. And that, depending on the fire, should be about a minute and a half to two minutes for the half turn. Depending on the thickness of the meat and type of meat, cook it 3-4 minutes a side. If it starts to get too dark, move it too a colder part of the grill. On my gas grill, I turn off one of the burners, on my charcoal grill, I have the coals heavier on one side. 

@wooleybooger's finger poking method is another great way to test a steaks doneness. An instant read thermometer is the best way though. Take the steak off the grill with the tongs, poke the thin needle of the thermometer in the center of the steak and read the temp. Anything over 135 is for the dogs....Err I mean, those who like shoe leather, err, I mean, like it more cooked. 

I am just getting into sous vide, and that seems to be the way to go if you have time.


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## turbo4

Hard to get a good steak in most restaurants. The worst one i ever had was in a Longhorn. I knew we were in trouble when we were the only customers. Texas road house gets it right most of the time. Good thing i like it rare to Med rare .Well done is usually army boot eating. I do my Tendeloins in a red hot cast iron pan.Smokes up the whole kitchen but not for long.


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## mark sr

turbo4 said:


> Well done is usually army boot eating


I usually refer to well done steak as beef jerky.


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## wooleybooger

ktownskier said:


> I too love going out to be served. And it is usually at a steakhouse. Lately it has been Longhorn as they have a Porterhouse on the menu and that, IMHO, is the perfect steak. Even better than a Ribeye.
> 
> But for cooking a steak, turn it only when it releases from the grate. And that, depending on the fire, should be about a minute and a half to two minutes for the half turn. Depending on the thickness of the meat and type of meat, cook it 3-4 minutes a side. If it starts to get too dark, move it too a colder part of the grill. On my gas grill, I turn off one of the burners, on my charcoal grill, I have the coals heavier on one side.
> 
> @wooleybooger's finger poking method is another great way to test a steaks doneness. An instant read thermometer is the best way though. Take the steak off the grill with the tongs, poke the thin needle of the thermometer in the center of the steak and read the temp. Anything over 135 is for the dogs....Err I mean, those who like shoe leather, err, I mean, like it more cooked.
> 
> I am just getting into sous vide, and that seems to be the way to go if you have time.


Well to each his own. I have and instant read but prefer the poke it method. Hasn't done me wrong yet. Instant read has.


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## J. V.

mark sr said:


> Wish my wife could, no matter how hard she tries she always over cooks them. When we want a good steak we usually go to a restaurant.


I have no problem cooking my steak as its rare to medium rare. My wife likes hers well done and thats the hard part. To purposely ruin a good steak is very very hard for me to do.


turbo4 said:


> Hard to get a good steak in most restaurants. The worst one i ever had was in a Longhorn. I knew we were in trouble when we were the only customers. Texas road house gets it right most of the time. Good thing i like it rare to Med rare .Well done is usually army boot eating. I do my Tendeloins in a red hot cast iron pan.Smokes up the whole kitchen but not for long.


I do a pretty good job on steaks. Its prime rib I/we go out for. Hard to cook it at home as my wife likes hers well done.
TRH had very good prime rib but it has a hint of smokiness. I don't want any smoke flavor on a beautiful slice of prime rib (ribeye).


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## turbo4

J. V. said:


> TRH had very good prime rib but it has a hint of smokiness. I don't want any smoke flavor on a beautiful slice of prime rib (ribeye).


And i prefer my Ribeye cold smoked and barely cooked at all. We go out for Prime rib too. One of the few cuts you can cook to medium well(for the wife) and still chew.


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## ktownskier

turbo4 said:


> Hard to get a good steak in most restaurants. The worst one i ever had was in a Longhorn. I knew we were in trouble when we were the only customers. Texas road house gets it right most of the time. Good thing i like it rare to Med rare .Well done is usually army boot eating. I do my Tendeloins in a red hot cast iron pan.Smokes up the whole kitchen but not for long.


The worst steaks my wife and I ever had were at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House in Denver, CO. It is a white linen table cloth type of restaurant. They offered 45 day dry aged steak and we wanted to give it a try. We were seated and the server came and she introduced herself, gave us menu's explained the specials and took our cocktail order. Another server brought us water and bread. Our cocktails came and we placed our dinner order. My cocktails was one of their specialties and it wasn't that good. I flagged down our waitress and asked for a different one. She took the old one back without any problem and I ordered an ice cold Knob Creek Manhattan served up (like a martini). This is when things started to go downhill. 

She brought my cocktail back but stood there for a couple of minutes talking with a co-worker. The cocktail wasn't on a tray, she was holding it. Not by the stem but by the bow;. In other words, the heat of her hand was warming the cocktail. When she finally set the cocktail down, and I took a sip, it was mixed wonderfully. but it wasn't cold. 

We had some apps and salads and they were great. Then our steaks came. After a VERY LONG WAIT. And, there was a problem. We had originally ordered a strip steak and a rib eye but we changed it to two Strip Steaks. What came out was a strip steak and a rib eye. Whoops. Also the steaks looked like they were burnt. When I cut into them they had no color to them. The runner who brought out the steaks grabbed the waitress who came over and she immediately noticed the problem. She left the Ribeye and had them cook another Strip Steak. 

When we tasted the strip steak it was dry, chewy and well, terrible. I have had 28 day dry aged steaks at restaurants and at home and they were juicy and tasted wonderful. I know they would be less juicy but they should have been more tender. 

The waitress did let the manager know about the mix-up and he did come over. He did take the steaks off the bill. I also told him about the Cocktail fiasco, about us asking for bread and water repeatedly, about the long wait for the steaks and a couple of other things. He listened to us and apologized for the poor service. 

We got the check and the steaks were off the menu as well as the original cocktail. The bill came to over $300 without the steaks though. We did have a couple glasses of wine with dinner, a couple of cocktails, ok maybe 3 cocktails each, after all it was a LONG wait... Apps, sides with dinner. And it was an upscale restaurant with prices to match. Also, it was just after the first mask mandate being lifted so it was fun to be out and in a restaurant being served. We did tip the server well even though service was terrible. 

The next night is when we went to Longhorn. This particular Longhorn has always been busy. It is across the street from a regional mall and gets a lot of traffic. There are a lot of chain restaurants around as well so it is not the only choice. We had never been there before but I checked out the menu online and I saw that they had a porterhouse so I thought we would give it a try. 

We went in and there wasn't a wait to get in. We were seated and our server came by and explained the specials and gave us a minute to look at the menu. I noticed that one of their signature cocktails was a Knob Creek Old Fashioned which my wife and I love. The server came back and we ordered the cocktail, and explained that we wanted to wash out the bad experience we had last night out of our mouths. She apologized for the bad experience we had, even though it wasn't her restaurant and promised to take great care of us. Which she did. We placed our dinner order and things got better. The service was impressive without being overwhelming. The steaks were perfect. The porterhouse is seasoned with a spicier seasoning than their other steaks and I really liked it. 

We ordered desert and coffee and asked for the check. I also asked a different server to have the manager come over. We talked with the manager and explained our last nights debacle and how wonderful tonight's service was. How great the food was, who our server took a personal interest in making sure we were taken care of. My wife and I have been in the customer service realm most of our adult lives and recognize the importance of giving positive feedback as well as negative. Everyone can *****, when was the last time you called over a manager to compliment a server?

When the bill came, I paid it and I also handed our server a $100 bill. I wanted her to know that she made our night special and we appreciated the way she took care of us.


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## turbo4

ktownskier said:


> When the bill came, I paid it and I also handed our server a $100 bill. I wanted her to know that she made our night special and we appreciated the way she took care of us.


Every place has a different cook,some know how to cook steak, and some dont. If the place is usually packed ,thats a good sign. Our longhorn was empty except for us,a bad sign,.


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