comments
Your Take: Your Favorite Meal
Email
 Print
|
As I mentioned last week, my lovely wife and I have started cooking more because it’s fun, healthier, and easier on the wallet. We’ve documented some of our creations on Bargaineering, from pork and shrimp dumplings to pizza to to homemade apple pie. We’ve even gone super high class and cooked up a Provençal rack of lamb earlier this year.
How do we pick what we want to cook? It’s a mixture of what’s on sale that week at our local grocery store and the meals we absolutely love. We both loved dumplings so we thought it would be fun to make our own filling and “make” dumplings. My wife always had homemade apple pie on the first day of school and so I made her a pie when she started her new graduate program.
In the end, part of the fun is taking a recipe, adding your own touches and tailoring it to match your tastes. Each time you make it, you get closer and closer to the perfect dish. We’ve tried our hand at replicating dishes from our favorite restaurants, sometimes we get it right and sometimes we are very very off. Either way, it’s been a fun challenge. 
For today’s Your Take, I wanted to learn what your favorite meals or dishes were. We’ve shared some of ours and shown how easy many of them are to make, I was hoping you all could share your favorites. It doesn’t have to be fancy or anything like that, in fact I would prefer if it wasn’t so we could make it easily and often, but it has to be something you absolutely love. It can be a homemade dish or one you order from a restaurant – whatever is the first and favorite in your mind.
I look forward to reading what your favorite meal is!
(Photo: liberato)
{ 55 comments, please add your thoughts now! }
Related Posts
 By Jim |
 Stumble It! Bookmark reddit.comTags: Cooking Nov 13, 2009 | Read more in Your Take |
Like this article? Get all the latest articles sent to your email for free every day. Enter your email address and click "Subscribe." Your email will only be used for this daily subscription and you can unsubscribe anytime.
I’m a simple man. Ribeye steak with grilled shrimp. After that meal death is welcomed, it doesn’t get any better.
saladdin
That is one of my favorites as well. I like to add a side of mash potatoes to finish it off.
Don’t laugh at this …
Take a can of pillsbury biscuits. Flatten them on a cookie sheet.
Put tomato sauce on top of the biscuits. I prefer Contadina squeezable tomato sauce.
Top with shredded cheese. I usually do half of them with mozzarella and half with sharp cheddar.
Pop in the oven @ 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
As a Catholic who hates fish and is allergic to fish, this meal is a lifesaver during lent. But it’s good any time of the year
Not to mention the fact that it’s ridiculously cheap.
That sounds pretty good. I’ll have to try it.
Yum! Can you put veggies on that too, or do you serve them on the side?
What are these “veggies” of which you speak?
Veggies and communism should be on the same list.
saladdin
Make a rotisserie chicken (I usually do two at a time on the grill and have chicken dishes planned). Take some of the meat, cut into bite size pieces and put into casserole dish. Add bag of frozen veggies (whatever is your favorite). Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of flour and mix. Pour some chicken stock over all (about 1 store bought can). Put in oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Then open a can of Pillsbury crescent rolls and cover the mixture, pinching together the perforated seams, put back into oven for 10-15 minutes. Quick and easy, yummy chicken pot pie! Just made some a couple days ago. I usually do not have any leftovers of this dish because everyone loves it!
My girlfriend created an amazingly healthy chicken pot pie… I could eat this everyday.
We’ve started making home-made spaghetti and meatballs. I always thought that making meatballs would be harder than it is, and they’re very good. Its one of my new favorites.
A bowl of mum’s homemade pho always hits the spot.
My wife’s Mexican Casserole is great. Layered with cut corn tortillas, cheese, green chilis, ground beef with lots of cheese on top.
I think that my favorite meal is a juicy ribeye steak. I love the flavor of a ribeye.
My second favorite meal is slippery pot pie, a Pennsylvania Dutch dish that is like a stew.
Yummy
Noodles and spaghetti are my preferences
My soon-to-be-husband’s all-time favorite meal that I make is chicken caesar burritos. I stole the idea from California Tortilla.
Take leftover chicken (or if you’re feeling lazy, rotisserie chicken from the grocery store – sooo yummy) and roughly chop it up.
Cook a package of jasmine or other white rice as directed. When it’s done, add a whole lot of cilantro and plenty of lime juice.
Warm up a can of black beans on the stove and add cumin, cayenne, salt, black pepper and chili seasoning to taste. Make it a little spicier than you like since it will mellow with all the other ingredients.
Now make some burritos – warm up big burrito tortillas in the (toaster)oven (NOT the microwave), add rice, beans, chicken, chopped romaine (important) and pico de gallo (not that important). Then the key: drizzle or pour on caesar dressing. My favorite is Ken’s Light Caesar.
Then eat! These things are huge and he always has two. I get *begged* to make this. It sounds a little weird – Mexican & Caesar – but it’s really tasty.
I should add: you can buy pico read-made at the store (which we admittedly do most of the time because we’re just two) but if you’re making a lot, here’s all you need for pico:
tomatoes (get all the wet stuff out of them)
cilantro (a ton)
yellow onion (small pieces)
jalapenos (cut them up really small)
This stuff is delicious. Don’t skimp on the cilantro or jalapenos – that’s what really makes the pico.
I was a bit skeptical, but those sound like they’d be really good! I think we’ll try those out sometime!
How can you eat cilantro? That stuff tastes like soap.
What are you *talking* about? Cilantro is delicious! I guess we all have our preferences…
There’s a brief description on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cilantro about it.
I write a food blog, so my site is full of awesome meals… I actually have a page I dedicated to the ones I have posted so far that have really stuck out as my favorites:
http://www.boymeetsfood.com/favorites/
chicken marsala, hands down. but you have to make sure the sauce is think and brown and not watery like generic pizza places/italian restaurants make it.
best dish i make is a parmesan encrusted baked chicken parma rosa using 1/3 breadcrumbs 2/3 grated parmesan or romano and then instead of tomato sauce i use knor parma rosa sauce mix. oh so delightful
8 egg whites, 1 whole egg, mixed into an egg white omelet. Then 1.5 cups of old fashioned oats mixed with cinnamon.
Straggledorf
This is a inexpensive and very easy/quick takeoff on stroganoff that we often make for potlucks. It’s also the favorite for two of our boys. It absolutely disappears!
1 lb ground beef, crumble-cooked and drained
1 medium onion, chopped and sauteed with the ground beef
2 cans condensed Cream of Mushroom soup (don’t add milk)
1 pint sour cream (imitation works fine)
pepper, onion PWDR, garlic PWDR to your taste
1 can or 8oz fresh sliced mushrooms
Mix all, heat through, and serve on hot wide noodles. Serves 8-10
I eat a lot of stir fry. I love my veggies, and stir fry is flexible enough that I can use up whatever is in my fridge (so no waste!) I can make it ultra-cheap with lentils, but it works with just about any meat that’s on sale that week.
Whole wheat spaghetti with browned butter and shredded mizithra cheese. It takes 10 minutes start to finish and is wonderful. I usually nuke up some baby spinach greens for 30-35 seconds in the microwave to wilt them with a little sea salt and some kind of bread or toast. Mmmm..
My favorite meal is whatever I happen to be eating when sitting across from the love of my life, my wife of twenty six years, my childhood sweetheart of 46 years. It took me that long to convince her to marry me.
Irregardless of cultural and ethnic back ground, growing up in California allows for the heavy influence of Mexico on our palettes. I grew up in the SF Bay Area and so my favorite comfort foods are often times from Mexico. If I had topick just one dish, it would be the humble taco.
Tacos are the ultimate in portable, simple to make, delicious, unctuous, endlessly variable foods on the planet. Tacos are generally quick and easy to prepare and very difficult to mess up. Tacos are my favorite.
My favorite meal is mexican pozole. My mom taught me how to make it as a thick stew with hominy, flour-encrusted pork and lots of yummy vegetables. It’s a dream come true, my husband will do anything for it!
This is one of my favoties from a cook book but it’s delicious. I usually add just a little more broth to it. Here goes:
Linguine with cauliflower, garlic and bread crumbs:
Serves 4
8 tbs. olive oil
1 c. fresh bread crumbs
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 tbsps. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. dried red-pepper flakes
1 tsp. anchovy paste
1 lb. linguine
1 head cauliflower (about 2-1/2 pounds, cut into small florets)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. grated Parmesan , plus more for serving
1. In a large frying pan, heat 4 tbsps olive oil over moderate heat. Add bread crumbs and cook, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove. Wipe out the pan.
2. Heat the remaining 4 tbsps oil in the same pan over moderately low heat. Add the garlic, parsley and red-pepper flakes. Cook starring for 1 minute. Stir in the anchovy paste. Remove from heat.
3. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the linguine until almost done, about 8 minutes. Add the cauliflower and bring back to a boil. Cook until the cauliflower and pasta are just done, about 4 minutes longer. Drain, Toss with the garlic mixture, salt, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Top with additional Parmesan.
Variations:
- Substitue broccoli for cauliflower
- Add a handful each of raisins and pine nuts at the same time as the garlic, parsley and red-pepper flakes.
- Use four chopped anchovy fillets instead of the anchovy paste.
My favorite meal to make is Chicken Parmesean w/ pasta. The leftovers taste just as good the next day as well.
We call them Illini Steaks because we first bought them from a store near Champaign, IL that came them the name:
1. Buy a pork loin (on sale of course) and cut it into 1″ thick “steaks”
2. Wrap with thick bacon and pin in place with toothpicks.
3. Freeze the extras
4. Season with Lawrys Seasoning Salt & Tony Chachere’s Cajun Seasoning
5. Grill to Perfection!
Chicken Madeira (Cheesecake Factory copycat) is by far my favorite “not that hard but really impressive” dinner.
http://www.recipezaar.com/Copycat-Cheesecake-Factory-Chicken-Madeira-188770
I have also really gotten into this fajita recipe (chicken or beef)
http://www.recipezaar.com/Steak-Or-Chicken-Fajitas-63786
Mine is tai green curry chicken cooked in coconut milk! The mini pizzas also rock.
roast chicken and veg. Seriously. Buy a roaster, stick it in a pan (after removing the wrapped up innards), add potatoes, whole shrooms, brussels sprouts, onions, carrots, rutabegas, parsnips or any other root veg you like around the chicken. Drizzle olive oil on everything, salt and pepper over the top of everything and roast at 350 for 2 hours. YUM! And tons of leftovers.
My favorite is homemade chicken pot pie, really simple too!
- Store bought pie crust (comes in a package of two)
- Cream of Chicken Soup (condensed, Campbell’s Healthy 98% Fat Free is good!)
- Cream of Celery Soup (condensed, FF, low sodium, etc is good)
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots mix microwaved for 2 minutes to thaw, drained
- 1 cup frozen corn, microwaved for 2 minutes to thaw, drained
- 2 tsps. italian seasoning
- 2 cooked chicken breasts, (simply cooked or broiled works best if using leftovers,) cut into small 1-2cm pieces.
Put pot pie crust in pie pan, mix soups with vegetables, chicken and spices, cover with other pie crust. Cook for 45 minutes at 350F, if crust starts to get too brown, cover with Al. foil. Pie will be very hot when done, let sit a few minutes before eating!
My favorite thing to do is to take some of the extra crust (since the top of the pie won’t need the whole circle) and make some fun designs on the top
If you like HOT, try this out…
Very simple… A pound or two of fresh chicken (haven’t tried frozen, but it could still be good). A packet of McCormick Grill Mates Chipotle Pepper Marinade (http://www.mccormick.com/Products/GrillMates/Marinades/Grill-Mates-Chipotle-Pepper-Marinade.aspx). Marinade the chicken per the instructions on the packet for as few as 15 minutes. Then grill to perfection. Throw in some mashed or baked potatoes and some Green Giant Steamed Broccoli & Cheese (http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/brands/product_image.aspx?catID=25204&itemID=32812). Pick up some bacon and shredded cheese for the baked potatoes.
Don’t want to toot my own horn or anything, but I have had 2 for 2 dinner guests say it was the best chicken they have ever had.
Chicken soup with Gnocchi
-4 or 5 boneless chicken breasts.
-carrots
-1 white onion the size of a baseball
-garlic cloves
-olive oil
-curry powder (I like it hot)
-vegetable soup base (comes in a jar)
-frozen gnocchi
-salt to taste
chop up carrots and onions and garlic and sautee in olive oil till the onions are clear.
add a few cups of water and cook for a few minutes and then add the chicken. pour more water in the pot to cover everything. I like to use a pretty big pot and fill 3/4 full. This is not an exact science. Cook for a few hours on low-medium heat, add water if it starts to boil down. When you are ready to eat, add some of the vegetable base (to taste)
curry powder (to taste) and salt to the broth.
Cook the gnocchi (barley is nice if you prefer) and add to the soup. Dont throw the onions and carrots away, they are part of the soup. Dice up the chicken and add back to soup. If you feel like it you can chop up some baby spinach as a garnish or cilantro works too. This isn’t cheap soup, but it’s good and lasts a few days. The gnocchi really stick to your ribs! And its pretty healthy…
I love soup. Always have cartons of chicken or vegi broth around to whip up a batch. I find grilling your vegis and or chicken before making the soup gives it added flavor. Grilling your meat balls and then throwing them into the spaghetti is tastey. Like Martha, I like chicken pot pie but my favorite version is made in a tall pot. You make egg noodles and roll them out, cut into squares and drop into boiling broth. You can do chicken, ham, beef, pheasant, deer or smoke sausage. add potatoes too.Yummmmy!!!!
My girlfriend is our cook and I’d like to help more but I need some basic lessons.
She recently made some chicken tortillas that were superb. We’re in Japan so Mexican food is hard to come by and she even hand-made the tortillas. A little salsa, guac, and chips to go along make for the perfect meal!
I shouldn’t be thinking about food right now, but I want dumplingsssssssssss.
My favorite meals:d
- vegetable lasagna- just beans/chickpeas/peas with mushrooms, green leafy vegetables. tomatoes, peppers and a row of melted cheese
- omelette
- fruits salads/ yoghurt with fruits and honey
- and of course pizza!
I have many favorite meals, but the reason for my reply is the manner in which I like to cook. I love cooking with my pressure cooker. I’ve had it for about 5 years and my previous one longer than that!
Anything you cook in a pressure cooker comes out more tender and flavorful than if it was cooked through other means. It also uses a lot less energy to cook using a pressure cooker, which should appeal to the ‘Greenie’ in all of us.
S_S
A good peach cobler is always welcome in my mind.
Higher up the list is crawfish ettouffe.
The favorite I make is porkchop au roux! Mmmm food.
Making pancakes as I type
I’ve been making a lot of soups lately. This one is SO GOOD! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Sausage-Tortellini-Soup/Detail.aspx We also really like cooking short ribs in the crock pot. YUM!
Favorite regular food, or favorite special dish?
Rack of lamb is hard to beat: make a crust by whipping olive oil into a few Tbsp of good Dijon-style mustard with minced garlic and chopped rosemary. Spread this paste onto the lamb, top with freshly made bread crumbs and cook in a fast oven for 20 minutes or so. Serve rare with wild rice/brown rice pilaf, crisp asparagus, and fresh green salad.
This Thanksgiving we’re going to repeat last TG’s triumph: duck smoked in the backyard charcoal smoker. Awe-inspiring!
Give me a nice plate of mashed potatoes with the skins left in and I’m happy.
I absolutely love swedish meatballs, but haven’t had them for ages cause it takes like 6lbs of meat to make a batch following my mom’s recipe and living single I neither have the time or the use for that many meatballs, and my freezer is generally full of veggies rather than meat. I think I might just ask for a batch for christmas, when I head home from school.
Salmon baked at 450 with olive oil and dill sprinkled on top. tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, salt and pepper salad. fresh baguette from the local french bakery. yum.
It’s clear by the number of posts that people love to talk about food.
My favorite meal is chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, corn and biscuits. You must have a generous amount of country gravy over the steak and potatoes.
Yep, I’m from the Midwest!
I’m kind of traditional here–I like a stuffed roast chicken better than just about anything. It’s easy to make, looks like a holiday meal, makes the house smell great, and impresses company.
Oh, and whole chickens tend to be easy on the budget to boot. Not a bad combination!
As a Samurai, my favorite of course is eating the finest grade Bluefin Tuna Belly (Toro) sashimi! Accompany the sushi with the finest filtered sake, and I will die a happy man.
Sesame pork is the one dish where we all fight over who get the leftovers:
2 lbs pork tenderloin, sliced (about 1/2 inch thick)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Place sliced pork in a large bowl. Combine all remaining ingredients and pour over pork, making sure to coat completely. Transfer to a broiler and broil 4-6 mintues per side until juices run clear.
Pork tenderloin. Nice.
chicked biriyani and marinated chicken baken in oven..hmmmm