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Inspiring Signature Dishes
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Did you ever notice that most of our wonderful memories relate to special dinners, desserts, breads, salads or stuffing? Recipes and stories just seem to go together, like twinkling lights creating a magical ambiance. Sometimes those recipes even belong to chefs and creatively evolve into our own private recipes like soup dumplings, sticky toffee pudding, or key lime pie. This is how it happens. One day in Grandma’s kitchen, a mini key lime pie turns into a key lime bar cookie and the kids think she is a real Top Chef. The story grows with the family and it becomes their own Signature recipe. Yes, recipes are magical in our life and even write their own stories.
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Regal Margherita Pizza
Inspired by Chef Raffaele Esposito Italy 1889 Signature Dish – Pizza Margherita
About the Recipe: The original recipe was never revealed. From all the historical information, we do know that it used crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves. Just one taste and you will know why this type of pizza is still popular today.
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Cauliflower’s Triple Play
Inspired by Chef Jeremy Fox United States 2007 – Signature Dish – Cauliflower in a Cast-Iron Pan
About His Recipe: Chef Jeremy Fox uses vadouvan butter, which is golden in color and has a nutty flavor of browned butter. He likes to impress people by using simple vegetables. His food helped to revolutionize vegetable cuisine in America by lifting it to a fine dining level of complexity and flavor in a relaxed setting.
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Beyond Breakfast Panna Cotta with Caramelized Corn Flakes
Inspired by Chef Christina Tosi – United States 2008 – Signature Dish – Cereal Milk Panna Cotta
About the Recipe: Do you remember that the best part of that cornflake breakfast was the last sip of the milk in the bottom of the bowl. Guess what? That very idea launched a successful business in New York. This recipe looks difficult, but it’s easy to make. We even liked topping it with sweet berries for a real nostalgia trip back to those good-old-days.
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Breakfast Flake Cakes
Use up those soggy cornflakes
About the Recipe: When I saw I had all those soggy cornflakes’ leftover, I decided to turn them into little breakfast cakes. The cornflake flavor creates a tasty little cake to enjoy with a cup or coffee or glass of milk. They turned out so delicious that I had to make more panna cotta just to get those soggy cornflakes. I guess they are right that “Necessity is the Mother of Invention. “
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Signature Dishes that Matter
Phaidon, a premier global publisher, just released Signature Dishes That Matter, a book that celebrates the recipes and stories from some of the world’s best-known chefs. It was curated by a panel of international experts and features the stories behind 200 restaurant creations from more than 180 chefs and 30 countries. It includes a recipe section, detailed index, and even a series of personal reflections. If you love history, traveling, interesting stories, dining fun facts, or foodie tidbits, you will enjoy this book.
We loved discovering new recipes and the back stories of our favorite foods, like Avocado Toast, Pizza, Kale Salad, Gelato, Baked Alaska, and the Club Sandwich. So, come along with us and enjoy the recipes that we were inspired to create.
For More Information See:
https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/food/articles/2019/september/05/all-you-need-to-know-about-signature-dishes-that-matter
https://www.gourmetmarketing.net/the-promotional-power-of-a-signature-dish/
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Boka Restaurant – Signature Dishes
At the end of October, we had a wonderful opportunity to attend a dining event at Boka restaurant in Chicago, where we were able to experience a dinner, featuring some iconic dishes that are featured in Signature Dishes That Matter from the world’s best-known chefs.
Specially Prepared Menu for the night of Oct.28th at Boca restaurant in Chicago.
Interior view of Boka restaurant before the restaurant was fully filled with customers for this event.
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We enjoyed restaurant dishes that defined the course of culinary history and were prepared by Chef Nina Compton, whose celebrated Curried Baby Goat with Sweet Potato Gnocchi recipe is included in the book. We sampled the delicious Baby Goat along with recipes like Buckwheat Sabayon, Smoked Sturgeon, Cow Heel Soup, Spanish Carabineros, and Rum Baba.
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Curried Pork Ragu with Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Inspired by Chef Nina Compton United States 2015 – Signature Dish – Curried Baby Goat with Sweet Potato Gnocchi
About Her Recipe: The recipe reveals Chef Nina’s culinary techniques and highlights her upbringing on the West Indies Island of Saint Lucia. The Indian spices flavor the goat curry, that is served with cashews, and in place of serving rice, she serves light sweet potato gnocchi. Her New Orleans restaurant, Compère Lapin, offers complex and exotic fusion cuisines with a Caribbean flair.
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Italian Shredded Kale Salad
Inspired by Joshua McFadden – United States 2007 Signature Dish – Kale Salad
About His Recipe: Did you ever wonder how kale became the poster dish of the health and wellness movement? It remains part of the farm-to-table culinary trend today. It’s always amazing that many times a turn of fate or accident changes the world. That is exactly what happened to Chef Joshua McFadden.
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Healthy Avocado Toast
Inspired by Bill Granger Australia 1993 – Signature Dish – Avocado Toast
About His Recipe: Avocado Toast, served in many restaurants, appears with eggs, meat, tomatoes, herbs, and many other ingredients. However, the original recipe is very simple with a seasoned lime dressing, avocado slices, toast, and coriander (cilantro) We added a touch of sweet berry jam for a delightful holiday dress-up for the creamy avocado. The best part is that it’s a healthy recipe that is so easy to prepare.
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Sweet Roasted Curried Carrots
Inspired by Chef David Kinch United States 2008 – Signature Dish – Into the Vegetable Garden
About His Recipe: Chef Kinch sees a dish with all its components, roots, shoots, flowers, fruits, leaves, and seeds. The vegetable plate is like experiencing a moment in nature. He prepares each ingredient using different techniques. His use of fresh farm ingredients impacted chefs, inviting them to work with local farms and ingredients.
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Mediterranean Eggplant with Za’atar Buttermilk Sauce
Inspired by Chef Yotan Ottolenghi and Chef Sami Tamimi 2002 United Kingdom – Signature Dish – Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce
About the Recipe: Chef Yotam Ottolenghi and Chef Sami Tamimi in 2002 highlighted ingredients like eggplant, Greek yogurt, Za‘atar spice, and pomegranate that were fresh and had bright herb flavors. This stimulated a global appetite for Eastern Mediterranean food. The recipe is easy to make and makes a visually attractive holiday vegetable dish.
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Asian Short Rib Roasted Tacos
Inspired by Chef Roy Choi United States 2008 -Signature Dish – Short Rib Taco
About His Recipe: Chef Roy Choi transformed the food culture by combining Korean barbecue and Mexican street food. He started the popular food truck trend and promoted his business Kogi BBQ using social media to increase his followers. Chef Roy Choi says that he represents “LA on a plate.”
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Smashed Caramel Cream Apple Pie
Inspired by Chef Massime Bottura Italy 2012 – Signature Dish – Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart
About the Recipe: How can you make a pie even better? When you see this pie, you just know something is different. It’s wavy with some crust edges up; other down. The filling is creamy with caramel pecan goodness peeking out from little cracks – just to tease you. There is almost no way to describe what a smash can do – it’s flavor blending at its best.
