What were your parent's "signature" dishes (good or bad)?

[Michael_in_TX]

So my parents married in 1969 and I came along seven years later, to provide some historical context.

Neither my mom or my dad were great cooks.....but here we go..... My mom did most of the cooking while I was growing up, and I remember two dishes she cooked quite often.

First was pork chops cooked in the oven. These were always served with Stouffer's Mac and Cheese and the overly done chops (no one save chefs used thermometers in the 1980s) were doused with a liberal, copious, essentially illegal amount of A-1 sauce. As crazy as that is, I still occasionally will cook a pork chop this way just for the nostalgia.

The second dish was.....and I am almost loath to admit this.... steaks cooked in the oven, basted with Worcestershire sauce. They were always well-done and almost assuredly USDA Select. Growing up, that is was steak was to me. It wasn't until 1992, when I met the girl who would become my wife, that I ever 1) had a USDA Prime steak, and 2) had a steak cooked medium rare. I had no idea what had been missing.

My dad also had two dishes, or rather more a condiment and a dish. So growing up, fish sticks (as in Mrs. Paul's) were a staple in my house. My dad would serve them with ketchup mixed with Worcestershire sauce. To this day, I cannot eat fish sticks any other way.

His signature dish was this: a chili dog. Here's how he did it: standard hot dog bun, steamed hot dog (probably Oscar Meyer), which placed on top was a generous portion of Wolf Brand Chili (no beans, of course) and it was always Wolf Brand Chili. Then two slices of Kraft American Cheese. Into a microwave it went for a few seconds to slightly melt the cheese. Mmm... I can taste that just writing about it. He had one at least once a week.

What memories do yall have?

[texastweeter]

Deer chili or venison jerky for my dad, chicken spaghetti or chicken pot pie from my mom.

[RichardCullip]

My mom was a great cook. I fondly remember her pot roast, calf's liver with onions and lefse. She also loved baking pies - apple and strawberry-rhubarb where her (and my) favorites.

[jerrybell]

My mom was a great cook. I don't remember ever seeing my dad cook. My mom's signature dishes:

• Pork roast and sauerkraut - home fermented kraut of course
• Noodles and beans - made with ham hocks and handmade, handcut egg noodles
• Balina (this is the way I spell it but I think there are other variations) - very thin, crepe-like pancake I'd guess you'd call it. It's breakfast finger food.
• German sausage - the cooking method wasn't special, but the sausage was always homemade

Although my dad didn't cook he did make the kraut and butchered both the beef and pig that went into the sausage he made.

[ofelles]

My Step Dad did not cook
My Mothers fudge was to die for, But I guess she did not know that veggies came in any form other than canned. To this day if someone opens a can I almost vomit.

[klflowers]

Hold it, wait for it… chitterlings. Seriously. Hog intestines. My mom’s were the only ones I would eat. After cleaning and boiling them, she would cook them down in a CI skillet in some vinegar and red pepper flakes to tone down the porky flavor and tenderize them. She made them once a year around thanksgiving. When my sister moved to Atlanta, my mom would freeze and pack them in her suitcase and fly from Detroit to Atlanta with them in her luggage lol. My niece actually took some to her private, toney school one year and didn’t tell anyone what they were before they tasted them, and every year after that her classmates asked when she would have more. Unfortunately mom retired from making them a few years ago. I tried one year but cleaning them beat me down. I may try again if I can get her to write the recipe down for me. They were that good.

[Texas Larry]

I have tried but failed to like chitterlings. I have yet to find someone who can cook them like your mom. I tried once and the smell drove us out of the house🤣. I need to meet your mom!

[WayneT]

I’m in his ^ camp. Tried them as a kid when I went to visit my grandparents in Duplin County, NC, still one of the poorest counties in the state. I just couldn’t like them enough to keep eating after one. And at the time I didn’t even know from what they were made.

[FireMan]

Man, don’t give up. Shoot, if yer mom could do it, you don’t wuss out ya here.

[Mosca]

There were six of us, plus my Dad, so Mom made a lot of casseroles for 8. We ate a lot of spaghetti, Spanish rice, chop suey, chicken ala king, etc. Burgers were big. Country style spare ribs. Lots of chicken. Lots of soup.

My mom was an okay cook, but she had other things going on. It just wasn’t at the top of her list.

My dad didn’t cook AT ALL. He could butter toast, and pour cereal, that was about it. I doubt he ever made a sandwich.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Until very recently I WOULD NOT touch meatloaf. There was a family incident, I won't name the parent but their meatloaf made a few people sick. Wouldn't look at the stuff for decades.... I still won't eat traditional meatloaf, but 50/50 sausage/beef and smoked I'll make and eat now.

[Livermoron]

We were dirt poor, but I never really knew it. That extended to food. Dad was a Marine, and his signature dish was "Sh!t on a Shingle", which for our family was sausage gravy on white toast. I still crave it, and make it from time to time. Mom did noodles with melted butter and pepper that was out of this world. I now know that these are bottom level interpretations of fancier dishes (bechamel, anyone?)...but they invoked comfort and family to me. And at some level, isn't that what good food is really about?

(God knows what my daughters and sons in law are going to turn my signature tri-tip Central Cali meal into...)

[TripleB]

SOS is one of my wife's favorite meals. But not mine. I did not eat it in the Army and I'm not going to eat it at home. When she makes it...it's all hers.

[fzxdoc]

Gosh that brings back memories. Dad never cooked--much like Mosca 's Dad--I don't thing I ever saw him preparing an item of food except to make dried burgers or hot dogs on the kettle grill--and even them Mom brought the food to the grill and carried it back to the house when (over)done.
Mom made that sausage gravy with chipped beef on toast dish. We weren't allowed to say that "s word", but giggled about it behind the parents' backs whenever we heard our Marine Daddy say SOS unabbreviated.

K.

[Mosca]

fzxdoc my dad lived with us for almost 20 years after he divorced his third wife (aka The Witch). For breakfast he would pour Metamucil over Grape Nuts, with a piece of margarined toast. I don’t think he ever even boiled a hot dog. Or made instant coffee. This was a guy with a master’s in ChemE from Cornell. But so many things were just beyond his understanding. If he couldn’t reduce it to numbers, he didn’t get it.

[MBMorgan]

Let’s start with my dad’s repertoire: Nothing. Nada. Not even popcorn or boiled water.

My mother had a bit more range. She was a pretty good, if somewhat limited, southern cook in the 50’s, so of course fried chicken tops her list. After that, things get a bit hazy. There were the usual boiled sides, gravies, and biscuits. There were also a long list of 50’s era newfangled convenience foods. Some were pretty good (tv dinners and frozen chicken or beef pot pies come to mind). Most were horrid … corn beef hash, mashed rutabaga, canned Vienna sausages, and the crowning opposite of achievement: chili bricks (gag).

Somehow, I managed to survive. So far …

[theroc]

My mother was a fabulous cook. So many great dishes, but some that were especially memorable were risotto, pasta every Sunday night, ravioli for the holidays. In an American twist, we would have standing rib roasts on Sunday nights when it used to be one of the cheapest cuts available. Oh yes, her cannoli were legendary.

[Draznnl]

Dad could dial up a mean pizza from the neighborhood pizza joint.
Mom was a lousy cook. It’s no wonder, because her mother never let anyone into the kitchen when she was cooking until her later years. But my grandmother, who also lived with us, was a tremendous cook. Her pan fried kreplach (think Jewish wonton) we’re delicious beyond description. She also made a sheet pan apple pie that was scrumptious. Thin slices of Macintosh and Jonathan apples, cinnamon, and sugar in a yummy hand-made dough. I wish I had that recipe.

Kosher dill pickles! How could I have not mentioned them? My grandmother made the best pickles I have ever tasted,

[58limited]

Mom was a good cook. She was raised in New England so I grew up with things like roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and clam chowder that most Texans were unfamiliar with at the time. Her Thanksgiving meal as a whole was wonderful.

Dad manned the PK grill occasionally and did OK.

[CaptainMike]

There's a Pitmaster Club member who has an interesting Texas-style clam chowder recipe, maybe he'll chime in...

[58limited]

Are you talking about the member who uses beets or the member who uses a can of Cream of Possum

[Old Glory]

My Mom was an amazing cook. She cooked many things very well. My brother and I fought for her to make our favorite soups every holiday, his choice Onion Soup, mine escarole Soup with meatballs.

Her Spinach Lasagna was probably her most requested dish. It was so good.

My Dad rarely cooked but he made a great Steak Diane.

[Stuey1515]

Now isn't this a coincidence, only came back from my dear mothers place about an hour ago.
She sent me home packing a pile of her beloved tuna casserole, I was raised on this stuff.
Whenever I eat it I am suddenly 10 years old again, my niece's love it with a passion too now.
As many have said above, it was/is simple stuff but it is so much more than the sum of its parts.

I've heard said that good comfort food is like a big warm hug from your Gran, so very true.

Exhibit A below, waiting on a layer of cornflakes and a hot oven, for creamy cheesy goodness