Can I have your 'signature' recipe please?

Question

No matter how simple, but that your friends love you to cook? Be it main, dessert, cake.... whatever!!!

Answer 1

Chicken satay

Crispy Duck - lots of preparation/standing time - but worth it!!

Mango and Blueberry Layered Pavlova


(sorry that's 3 signatures!!!)

Answer 2

Stir Fry

Three chicken breasts cut in bite size.
Bok choy
Onion
Lots of Garlic
Cabbage
Bean Sprouts
Water Chestnuts
Green or red peppers
Bamboo Shoots
Broccoli
Mushrooms
Carrots-slivered
Sugar snap peas
Zucchini
Kale
Green Tomatoes
Julienne or slice into bite size and cook till crisp but very hot.

Add cayenne pepper, more garlic powder, and the broth from a couple packages of ramen noodles that you are cooking to go under the stir fry.

Add lots of soy sauce just before serving. Really good. Don't forget to put the ramen noodles under the stir fry.

I like to set out the rice noodles to sprinkle on top individually, too. They are crispy.

You can use any vegetables you have from the list.
You can use chicken or steak or ground beef or shrimp.
It will all be good.

Answer 3

Cheat’s Lasagne

This is lovely and very easy to do as the main ingredient is Marks and Spencer’s extra meaty Bolognese ! I serve it with a bowl of french fries (but then im uncouth)


Ingredients
1 lb 5 oz (600 g) ready-made cheese sauce
whole nutmeg
1 x 425 g tin Marks & Spencer extra meaty Bolognese
2 tablespoons red wine
2 heaped tablespoons tomato purée
1 x 125 g tub buffalo mozzarella
1 x 15 g pack fresh basil
1 x 250 g pack (16 sheets) fresh lasagne
2 tablespoons ready-grated Parmesan, to finish
2 tablespoons ready-grated Parmesan, to finish
salt and freshly milled black pepper

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).

First of all, tip the tubs of cheese sauce into a bowl and season with salt and pepper and grate in about a quarter of a whole nutmeg. Then, in another bowl, mix the contents of the tin of Bolognese with the wine and tomato purée. After that, drain the mozzarella and cut it into smallish cubes. Strip the basil leaves off the stalks and roughly chop the leaves.

Now spread about a quarter of the Bolognese mixture over the base of a 7in x 91/2in (18cm x 24cm) roasting tin or dish, which you have well buttered. Then arrange a single layer of the fresh lasagne sheets over the top. Cover this with approximately a quarter of the sauce, quarter of the cubes of mozzarella and a sprinkling of fresh basil. Repeat this process, finishing off with a layer of cheese sauce and a few mozzarella cubes.

Cover the top with a good sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese – and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and top is lightly golden.

Answer 4

Chinese Fried Rice( for 1 person)

2 cups cooked rice (yesterday's one is the best)
5 medium prawns (deshelled)
1 egg
1/2 cup frozen mix veges (carrots, peas and corn)
2 garlic - chopped
spring onion - chopped
1/4 cup cooking oil - NO olive oil
Light soy sauce - use salt if not available

Heat up wok. Pour oil. Make sure oil very hot (when you see smoke starting to build up). Break the egg into wok, then quickly stir the egg clockwise, until they are nicely scrambled. Let cook for a while, until you see them bubbling. Throw in prawns, mix veges and garlic. Stir well until prawns are half cooked then add rice and soy sauce / salt. Stir well for another 5 minutes and just before turn off heat, throw in spring onion. Enjoy with sliced chilli or alone.

Answer 5

Fifi, I keep plenty of home made tomato sauce in the freezer, it can then be adapted to suit any food you like, i.e. meatloaf, seafood, pasta etc It is very easy and quick to make.

place lots of chopped onions, celery, crushed garlic, lots of fresh basil [torn] in olive oil and cook till onions are clear, change to a thick base saucepan and place mixture in it, and add a couple of tins of crushed italian [roma] tomatoes - if you have fresh all the better, I go to the fruit stall and ask for cooking tomatoes [you do not need to peel or deseed them, just chop up small]. Add oregano or if you don't have it then a very good shake of mixed herbs. Taste before adding salt & pepper

simmer on low heat for at least 1.2 hour and let cool. If it needs thickening just use "Arrowroot" this does not change the color of the dish like flour does. mix it with a little water and add to the warm dish, keep stirring whilst the dish heats again to cook the arrowroot - careful not to let it catch on the bottom of the saucepan.

let cool and freeze in small containers in the freezer.

good cooking

Answer 6

Chicken with roast vegetables.
Ingredients,
Chicken fillets,
Baby carrots,
Celery,
Red onion,
Sweet Peppers,
Mushrooms,
Cherry tomatoes,
or a combination of favourite veg.
Extra Virgin Olive oil,
Garlic,
Ginger,
Mild Curry powder,
Salt,Pepper,
Runny Honey,
White wine.

Boil the baby carrots for 5 minutes, chop all the veg into bite size pieces( except tomatoes) and lay in a roasting tin. throw in some whole garlic cloves-i use about 6- add a decent glass of white wine a good glug of extra virgin olive oil an inch long piece of ginger chopped,about 4 tablespoons of runny honey, a good tablespoon of mild curry powder and salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken fillets and stir everything around to get coated. Cook in a medium oven for about 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. When cooked put chicken and veg on to warm plates reserving the cooking juices in tin, put tin onto heat and add a few knobs of butter and stir to dissolve, pour sauce over chicken and veg and serve with fresh crusty bread and a glass of cold white wine.
sorry the quantities are a bit vague, you can experiment with this and find your favourite version. Bon Appetit!
Amounts depend on number of people eating, adjust as necessary

Answer 7

Jamaican vegetable soup, taught to me by an ex-roommate from Kingston. It's not /my/ recipe per se, but it's one of my main standbys for when I want to cook something that's easy but a little bit different and interesting.

Foodstuffs:

* 1 sweet onion, chopped.
* 1 globe (American/purple) eggplant, salted to remove bitterness (esp. if 'female') and chopped. Peel can be left on or removed, depending on taste.
* 2 cups spinach, loosely torn.
* 1 cup okra, coarsely chopped.
* Two small potatoes (or one large), diced. Again, peel can be left on or removed, depending on taste.

Spices:

* 2 tbsp garlic (pref. minced, but if you have garlic powder, that's OK.)
* 2 tbsp ginger
* 1 tbsp salt
* 1 tbsp sugar (pref. brown for character.)
* 1/2 tbsp nutmeg
* Pinch cayenne pepper.



DIRECTIONS:

1. Set a pot of water on medium heat.
2. Stir in onion, garlic, ginger, sugar.
3. Cook until onion is tender.
4. Season with salt and nutmeg.
5. Mix in potatoes, eggplant, and okra.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Simmer 15 minutes (or 'til potatoes are done), stirring fairly often.
8. Stir in spinach and cayenne pepper, cook for 2-3 minutes longer, just enough to wilt the spinach.
9. (Optional, depending on your tastes) Blend until smooth, or eat with all the ingredients unmixed. Tastes good either way. Makes four servings.

Condiments you can add after cooking: Allspice, garam masala (king of spice mixes! but inauthentic, alas), cheese atop the soup, croutons, more cayenne pepper, more ginger, cinnamon.

Refrigerates/freezes well.

It tastes like expensive food but can be easily made on a student budget (I know from current experience.) It also isn't that much effort once you've salted the eggplant, and even that's not that tough. I have not tried using meat as I am (mostly) vegetarian, but I'll bet that chicken would be good in it, too, since it's Jamaican. Your kids may hate the vegetables in here but, take it from someone who's only 25, this definitely doesn't taste like scary vegetables.

Answer 8

CINNAMON ICE CREAM

Ingredients
3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
6 egg yolks
2 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method
Combine cream and milk in a large sauce pan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla beans; add beans. Bring just to simmer. Whisk sugar and yolks in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in hot cream mixture. Return mixture to same saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 6 min. [Do not boil]. Strain into large bowl. Whisk in ground cinnamon. Chill until cold, about 3 hours.

Transfer custard to ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer ice cream to a covered container and freeze until firm.

Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep frozen

Answer 9

actually there are 2 that are always welcome:
grilled chicken wings with garlic and cilantro,
6 wings
2 clives garlic
handful of cilantro
one lime juice
salt and pepper
you fry slightly crushed garlic, then u add the cilantro leaves (cut) and teh llime juice, bring to a boil.
after grilling the chicken wings, drizzle the sauce on the wings.

second recipe is coconut shrimp, actually got it from bettycrocker website... takes some work but is worth it, adn is well served with a pina colada sauce (pina colada, lime juice, salt and pepper)

Answer 10

It's a Japanese-style pork cutlet called tonkatsu. You take boneless pork chops, roll them in flour, dip them in beaten egg, then cover them with a Japanese breadcrumb called panko. Deep fry in hot oil until they're golden and serve with shredded cabbage and Japanese rice. There is a sauce called Bulldog sauce (fruit and vegetable sauce) for the pork cutlet and cabbage, or you can just use soy sauce. It's best with the Bulldog sauce, though. My Japanese mom even compliments me on my tonkatsu prowess, although she also says it's the only thing I know how to make. I'll take what I can get from that woman!