Mom’s lasagna is the best. It’s the benchmark against which I compare any other lasagna.

She used to make a really great pizza too, but geez, it’s probably been decades since she made one

We’re not Italian, I guess I’m just nostalgic for the food of my youth

call me basic but literally just out of the box spaghetti with only butter and salt.
I don’t understand how my grandma does it but it just tastes better somehow

Pierogi for every holiday

Scottish Shortbread Cookies.

Small story - my grandmother on my mother’s side made these cookies that were absolutely my dad’s favorite. Unfortunately, he & my mom separated pretty early, but they stayed local so they could co-parent. So every Christmas, we could tell if dad had treated mom well that year because either there’d be a ton of his favorite cookies, or none at all.

Mama Mary’s Goulash

• Brown 1 lb. of 90/10 ground beef with just black pepper and 1 medium onion, chopped. Do not drain!
• Add 1 large can of chopped tomatoes with juice to the meat mixture, and bring up to a simmer.
• Prepare 1 lb. of wide egg noodles according to package directions, but undercook slightly.
• Drain noodles, return to pot and add meat mixture.
• Heat over medium, stirring occasionally, until noodles are done. (You can add salt to taste here, but tomatoes are usually salty enough.)

Serve in bowls.

A very basic meal that fed our family of eight while my dad was out of work for over a year.

Easy to add to and make fancier.

My parents do chicken or rabbit “Gaston-gérard” : some meat cooked in a skillet, pouring white wine in it and adding mustard, cream and cheese. There is paprika in the original recipe but we skip this part. Same as some people said, I can cook something close, but not the same way my parent do.

Simple dish but it’s amazing,

Chicken adobo

Get about two chicken breasts, bone-in preferred

Pop into a bag with some like 6 cloves of garlic 1 cups of soy sauce, and 3 tbsp of fresh black pepper

Marinade for like 3 hours

Then throw all of that into a pot and cook for about 45 minutes closed lid on the stove, mixing occasionally

Prepare white rice for base

Take off the lid and let it cook for about 15-20 more minutes on medium-low, until sauce is noticeably thicker. Place on a simmer until rice finishes, then go ahead and plate. Make sure to add some sauce to your bowl as per your preference

Enjoy!

Portuguese Bacalhau a Gomes de sa

My absolute favourite, and she knows it, so luckily she makes it every time I go home for a visit.

Basically this. We had it after church most sundays because of how easy it was to make. I miss her.

https://ninainthekitchen.com/2014/01/20/aggkaka-baked-pancake/