Talk to Flora about your signature family dish and you could win a £200 John Lewis voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

The team at Flora have asked us to find out about Mumsnetters' signature family dishes.

Here's what Flora have to say:

“We all want everyday food that’s tasty, nutritious and simple to prepare but with busy lives, that’s not always easy. We’ve taken on the challenge to help, and have launched Gold from Flora – a blend of butter and Flora* with a rich, creamy taste, a natural winner at any time of the day. It’s great for spreading on toast, makes lunchtime sandwiches tasty, and vegetables taste better at dinner too. We'd love to hear about your signature dish and how you make it special.”

So what’s your signature dish? Maybe it’s the meal you can make in no time at all, with just a handful of simple, quality ingredients? Or perhaps it’s a dish that you've perfected over the years, that everyone is guaranteed to love? Maybe you can make impressive roast potatoes? Or know the secret to perfect, tasty vegetables?

Whatever your signature dish is, Flora would love to hear about it.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £200 John Lewis voucher.

Please note your comments may be included on Flora's social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

(*70% blended spread with 26% sunflower oil and 18% milk fat.)

Ooh these are all yum.

I love puttanesca, because all the ingredients are store cupboard (I always make sure that I have them in) but it still tastes so fresh, it takes about 10 minutes to make, and is suitable for pescatarians, of whom I know a few.

Cook a tin of anchovies, two cloves garlic and one red chilli, all finely chopped, in some butter and olive oil, until soft (the anchovies will disintegrate). Add two tins best quality chopped tomatoes, a few tablespoons of capers, and a few tablespoons each of black and green olives. Serve with spaghetti and parmesan and a green salad. It's so good!

Another favourite is my mum's chicken and tomato casserole, a childhood staple.

Dredge chicken thighs in seasoned flour and fry in oil until golden. In a casserole, cook a chopped onion in olive oil til soft. Add a couple of tins of tomatoes, a generous glass of red wine, throw the chicken pieces in, add a bayleaf and some seasoning, cover and cook for half an hour in the oven. Add a generous lot of mushrooms, whole button or sliced, and cook for another half an hour, until the chicken is done. Serve with white rice and frozen peas.

Or Nigel Slater's chicken baked in yoghurt and spices. You get a sort of fried chicken hit, but much healthier.

Baked chicken with yoghurt and spices

Spices and yoghurt is one of those combinations that works in so many ways; in a curry sauce, as a dressing for cooked poultry or, as here, in a marinade for chicken that is to be baked. I think this dish works best when the chicken skin is allowed to blacken a little on top. Some rice would be good here.

Serves 3

garlic - 3 large cloves
ginger - a large lump about 40g
cumin seeds - 2 tsp
cardamom - ½ tsp
hot chilli powder - 1 tsp
paprika - 2 tsp
ground turmeric - ½ tsp
200ml plain yoghurt
chicken pieces on the bone - 6
coriander leaves - a small handful

Set the oven at 180C/gas 4. Peel the garlic and chop it roughly. Peel the ginger and cut into thick slices then put into the food processor with the cumin seeds, cardamom, chilli and paprika, the turmeric, yoghurt, and a half-teaspoon of salt and a few generous grinds of black pepper.

Put the chicken in a bowl then tip the marinade over and leave for half an hour, if you have time. Tip into a roasting tin or baking dish and leave to bake for about 40-45 minutes till golden and slightly singed on top.

Check the chicken for doneness by piercing the flesh at its thickest part.

We all love rainbow rice chez tidy. As the name suggests it's a stir fry made with lots of coloured vegetables and chunks of cooked chicken or salmon which is stirred through cooked rice. A dash of soy sauce is the finishing touch. Voila!

ruby love the chicken nuggets, where did you get the recipe?

My frequently used recipes are:

slow cooker pasta sauce -

pack of frozen chargrilled vegetables
bit of veg stock
passata
herbs, salt and pepper

Shove all of the above into a slow cooker for around 6 hours on slow. Bobs our uncle, a good basic pasta sauce as easy as anything. If I have time I do cornflour and stock on the hob first to have a thickener to it

Homemade pizza

make a scone base by rubbing in 250g sr flour and 40g margarine then adding milk to get into a soft dough. Roll out and shape and add toppings. bake for about 20 mins on 180 C

Fishy pasta

Cook pasta then stir in some tinned tuna or salmon and some soft cheese and whatever vegetables you have (precook them and add them straight in so they're nice and hot). Green beans and broccoli work well. Add pesto too for extra flavour if you have any in the cupboard.

These seem to be my most common dinners. The pizza is fab if you double it up and then make mini pizzas and freeze alot, they can be microwaved up hot in no time from frozen.

Veggy fajitas around here :)

red, green, and yellow peppers, mushrooms, carrots sliced with a peeler, various squash sliced thinly with fajita seasoning*. Fry them up with loads of onion and garlic serves in a tortilla with sour cream homemade salsa and homemade guacamole and covered in cheese and coriander.

• onion powder, cumin,salt, chili pepper, onion powder

Spaghetti Bolognese, the secret is good quality mince, loads of red wine and simmer for a very long time so that all the flavours mix together and it has a lovely consistency. Quick to prepare and then leave on the oven or reheat the next day.

Vegetable lasagne, all the family will eat it and I can save some for the next day and freeze a portion for an easy baby meal for another day. Followed by..apple crumble and custard and now that I'm converted to Flora buttery the crumble topping is made with this!

Mine is chicken tagine. It's got no chilli so mild enough for my DDs but tasty enough for me too.

Brown some chicken thighs in a little oil. Remove from pan.
Add about a teaspoon each of cumin, coriander, cinnamon and paprika. Add chopped onion, garlic, butternut squash/carrots/red peppers (or any other veg you have).
Fry for about 5 mins.
Add the chicken thighs, a tin of tomatoes and some stock.
Simmer for about 30 mins.
Add a tin of chickpeas and some dried apricots.
Simmer for another 10 mins.
Serve with couscous.

It's a roast here - the potatoes are chopped in really smal, cubes so they are fluffy and crispy, a cauliflower cheese with nutmeg and creme fraiche, spring greens and a some lovely medium beef. Haven't yet mastered a decent Yorkshire sadly

Our signature dish is stuffed peppers because you can pop anything inside like rice chicken peas mushrooms mixed with mayo and lemon dressing lovely. Because they come in bright colours we either call them traffic lights or peekaboo surprise for this we cut the top off the pepper stuff and add a face with raisons using the top as a hat
Works every time to keep the kids interested in lunch or dinner

I wouldn't say it's a signature dish but it is the go-to dish which is ok on the night but even better made a day or two in advance and left to mature.

You start off by frying some skinless chicken thighs to get some colour on them, so a blend of spread/butter and oil is ideal. Use 8 chicken thighs to feed 4 people.

The dish is a chicken tagine, but of course, when you read on it's not a tagine because tagine is a pot for cooking in and this is just a quick chicken dish with a good sauce and added goodies.
By that I mean it's a good natured dish that you don't need to be precious about ingredients and quantities, just go by what you feel and it'll be fine.

You start by frying finely chopped onions, rosemary, fresh ginger and the chilli of your choice (deseeded) I use a red and fairly mild one.

Season and add stock to get the kind of consistency you like and a large tin of whole tomatoes in thick juice. Bring to the boil and then lower your heat to simmer, or put in a low oven to continue cooking through ( in my low oven approx 40mins)

If you fancy them add some chopped, dried apricots before serving and then chopped basil garnish plus rice or cous cous on the side.

No hard and fast rules, so nowhere to go wrong.

Probably my easiest, stand-by dish is salmon risotto. It's extremely tasty and looks and tastes like I've spent a lot longer on it.

In some olive oil, fry a finely chopped onion.
When it's just browning, add a large knob of butter (or Flora!)
Add one pack of Arborio risotto rice and stir in well.
After a couple of mins add a glass of good white wine (keep the rest of the bottle for drinking with the meal - a nice Chardonnay always goes well with this dish).
The wine should steam and evaporate after a couple of minutes but keep stirring!
Start slowly adding the stock (I use two stock cubes, organic chicken ones in just over a litre of hot water).
Stir and keep adding stock slowly for about 15 mins.
The start adding fresh salmon which has been cut into cubes.
Keep stirring for the last five minutes, it doesn't matter if the salmon starts to break up a bit. It is also poaching in the rice and stock whilst you are stirring, it doesn't take long at all to cook.
You should have used up all the stock by now and the rice should be soft but still with a bit of bite to it.
At this stage you can add peas or sometimes I use very thin asparagus which has been chopped into about three pieces each and very lightly steamed.
Then add another large knob of butter and stir in well.
Last of all add a large handful of grated Parmesan cheese and stir in well. Leave to stand with the lid on for 5 minutes and serve on warm plates with a bagged salad.

Twenty-five mins from start to finish and not much preparation really.

Has to be a simple but delicious butterbean and potato curry. It is tangy with yoghurt, lots of turmeric, sweet onions, and served with Patna or basmatic rice. Easy but filling and tasty.

My signature dish when in a hurry is turkey casserole. I cut up turkey steaks, brown them (you can brown them in Flora obviously), add a can of tomatoes, a chopped onion, l teasp dried basil, 1/2 teasp dried oregano, chopped clove of garlic, add a variety of sliced mushrooms 15 minutes from the end. Serve with rice and salad, or potatoes and a green vegetable. You can make lots of versions by e.g. using curry powder instead of the basil and oregano.

Ours is curry. Even my 2 and 4 year old say chicken curry is their favorite dinner! To be fair it's a korma but won't be long before I can start putting some extra chilli in

in our house its peri peri chicken... its just peri marinade and a touch of mayo slathered over chicken breasts. add a few spices and a tsp of crushed garlic ... leave to marinade.

cook under grill or oven.
we serve this with roasted veg, mash and yorkshire puds..yummy

Paella with rice, chicken, chorizo, prawns, onions, saffron, stock, some mussels if you fancy, parsley and some lemons to decorate. Looks the business and is filling xx

My easy signature dish is spicy salmon and noodles. Very easy to do as basically an assembly job cooked in tin foil parcels in the oven. Consists of wok ready noodles on the bottom, Pak Choi leaves, a piece of salmon and finely chopped fresh ginger and green chilli on the top. With a drizzle of soy sauce when it is cooked it is pretty healthy as well.

It's comfort food really rather than a dinner party signature dish.

A good cauliflower cheese. I use Flora for the cheese sauce, always keep the cauliflower whole, add some peas, breadcrumbs & seeds on the top, cooked so it's nicely golden. Scrummy!

Our signature dish is one that the grandparents invented many years ago when young impoverished newly-weds. It's called 'cheesy dish'. Basically layers of fried onions and bacon interspersed with cooked sliced potato and covered in a rich cheese sauce.

It's still going strong three generations down the line! Delicious on a cold winter's day!

This is our fave comfort food family meal.

Cheats meatball pasta bake:

Squeeze out the meat from sausages (Italian sausages are best, but any good quality sausage is fine) and shape in to small meatballs. Brown the meatballs in a big pan of hot olive oil.

Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 2 spring onions snipped into thin slices. Fry for a few mins.

Add 2 cans of chopped tomatoes, 1 can of water, a glug of white wine, a teaspoon of oregano and 2 bay leaves. Bring to a fast simmer and let it simmer away (no lid on) for 20-25 mins, giving it the odd stir to stop it sticking at the bottom. Check the meatballs are cooked through before you take it off the heat.

When its done, mix the meatball pasta sauce into cooked pasta, pour into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with grated cheese (mozarella, gruyere, cheddar, parmesan...whatever) and some fresh basil leaves. Pop into a hot oven or under a grill until the cheese bubbles.

My signature dish is meatballs 'n mash.

Pork and beef mince, mixed with chopped onion and dill, moulded into balls, fried until nicely browned.
Make gravy from the pan juices, a bit of flour and a splash of wine or sherry.
Served with fluffy mashed potatoes, and buttery, garlicky green beans.

Lamb tagine and cous cous

My kids like my pies, especially chicken pie, and my cakes.

But, sorry, Flora, they're always dairy-free!

My signature dish is probably also brownies, the suzywong recipe from here. I'd love to claim it is my baking, but it is a great recipe.

wrt a meal, probably Massalman Lamb curry. Straightforward, but tastes delicious, and very hard to mess it up.

Dh does most of the cooking in our house and his signature dish is oven baked chicken curry with home made naan. It's ds1's favourite meal ever to the extent that he's had it for his birthday dinner 2 years in a row.

I'm more a pudding and cake person and my fail safe options are rhubarb crumble made with brown sugar, oats and ginger in the topping, and Victoria sponge cake with homemade black currant jam. Simple but yummy!