Most people have at least one thing they can cook/prepare really well and might do for an honored guest (like myself).
If you were my guest I would give you a choice:
Moussaka or Lasagna.
I do both quite well - although moussaka is by far the biggest pain-in-the-ass to make as it takes forever. Lasagna is time consuming as well, but just a tad bit easier. Plus I make a killer garlic bread that would go well with the (easier-to-prepare) lasagna.
My SO can whip up a cheesecake, the likes of which you have never eaten, and he will be happy to do so if I make either of the above for dinner. He also makes a nice fruit torte - your choice of strawberries, peaches or pears on top.
So, what should I prepare?
More importantly, what are you making for me (us) when we stop by?!
The wife whips up a killer Eggplant Parmesan. Actually, she makes amazing anything.
For dessert I’ll offer up my deep-dish Southern Comfort Peach Pie with homemade peach ice cream. Then we’ll send you back to Vegas with a bag of ginger snaps that will make you cry.
I started a similar thread last summer that went nowhere. Maybe I should have phrased my OP differently. :smack:
But for me…hm. I have had a lot of luck lately with pies, it seems. I made a Greek honey-walnut pie (yes, it was kinda baklava) that made the consumers melt into puddles of happy on the floor…I need to make it again.
You don’t keep kosher, do you? Because I’m all about Southern comfort foods ('tho not Southern Comfort - waaay too sweet,) and hogs will be involved. According to my husband, (and my ex-husband for that matter,) the best meal I make is fried pork chops with mashed potatoes and cream gravy, plus whatever vegetables are in season, and cornbread so good you’ll wrestle your mama for the last piece. Pecan pie with whipped cream for dessert. And iced tea, of course.
If we’re having brunch instead, I’ll whip up some eggs Benedict and some nice homemade pastries - maybe cinnamon rolls and/or a cherry cheese danish. Coffee and Chatham Artillery punch to wet your whistle.
Either way, you’ll need an extra hour or two at the gym.
Hm, my sister asked me to make lasagna for her for her Christmas present this past year, so I guess that counts, though really, it’s pretty hard to screw up lasagna.
Alternately, I’m known for my sloppy joes (which are quite distinctive to me, after all these years), and I’m getting pretty good at beef stew and chili.
Oh, and there’s also dandelion salad, but I won’t call that “mine”: It’s my grandmother’s. And it’s too late in the year for that now, anyway.
For my vegan/vegetarian friends, I make a delicious lentil chipotle chili with cornbread
For pescetarians, I make a scratch shrimp alfredo
For land-meat eaters, either boneless pork shoulder roast or a roasted chicken, both with roasted root vegetables.
Now I’m hungry, I didn’t bring any of the chicken I made last night with me to work!
Tonight I have eggplant, zucchini, onions and red pepper in the oven roasting, potatoes on the boil and a pork tenderloin marinating in balsamic, fig and garlic, that I’ll pan sear and then finish in the oven. Enough for one more at the table if anyone is interested.
I don’t know what the hell moussaka is, so I guess I’ll try the lasagna.
At my place, you get steak and tater. Maybe a salad if you insist. Beer, sweet tea, or Pepsi Max to drink. Maybe brownies for dessert. The kind that I make from a boxed mix. I don’t do fancy frou-frou stuff. The wife probably would, but then I’d be going to the store up on the main road for a sammich. And it’s my house. I don’t like fancy frou-frou stuff. So you get what I like.
My husband will roast you a chicken that he raised himself out on the back forty. I’ll make you homemade pretzel rolls to soak up the juice, real mashed potatoes, and roasted green beans in brown butter sauce. We’ll finish you off with scratch red velvet cake, cobbler and ice cream, or the pie of your choice. You pick.