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i love it when my family in Singapore has our steam boat(better known as hot pot in Chinese households in America) dinners. Our deep electric skillet is put in the middle of the table with either boiling water or a light broth, and the table has a full spread of cut vegetables, seafood, sliced meats, noodles and other items like dumplings and tofu, all raw and cooked at the table in the pot. My mom was always generous with the food, getting the best ingredients (she would shop at different places - fresh vegetables from the wet market downstairs, thinly sliced beef from the Japanese supermarket downtown) and everyone had a different favorite ingredient. My favorite part was drinking the broth at the end, which was so flavorful from all the food that we cooked during our meal that would span several hours. Now that I live in America, it's still one of my favorite family style dinners that I convince my friends to partake in, especially during the colder months.

Bak Kut Teh - Which literally translates to meat bone tea. It's a soup served in Singapore and Malaysia that's made by boiling pork ribs for hours with garlic, and various Chinese herbs and spices. There are many variations, some are dark like soy sauce and some are clear. My favorite version is clear with lots of garlic and white pepper.

this weekend i made vietnamese spring rolls with basil from my plant. had a few leaves left so threw them into my pasta sauce for my lasagna to eat during the week.

whole steamed fish Cantonese style - steamed with sliced ginger and green onions and drizzled with a light soy sauce and hot oil mixture so the freshness of the fish really shines.

i was attempting to make homemade donuts and i thought putting them in a warm oven to rise would be a good idea. Since the heat wasn't on too high, I thought I was being smart and cutting my rise time. I wasn't smart enough to adjust my baking racks though, and put the bowl on the second highest rack. So the heat helped with the rising, but when as the dough was rising, it expanded and got all over my broiling element!

to make at least one recipe a month from my new magazines when they come and also try out one recipe a month from an old magazine too so hopefully I would have tried out at least one recipe from each of the magazines I own, new or old by the end of the year.

Jack Stack in Kansas City

at the end of the day, there is no bad cut of steak, but whenever i have a choice, ribeye has never disappointed me

guacamole. everyone appreciates homemade guac and it couldn't be easier to make.

oops, i just realized that it was supposed to be a basic dish, not a holiday dish, so please disregard my previous comment.

My most basic dish is guacamole. Nobody else I know ever bothers to make it from scratch so everyone falls in love with it.

i second Yolk and Bongo Room. Bongo Room especially if you like pancakes that are very creative. Yolk has all sort of amazing egg dishes.

to add to the meat ball suggestions, I actually made some Asian style chicken patties this week that my Chinese grandmother used to make for me. I used a pound of ground chicken (we might have been shopping at the same store as I got them on sale too!) and added to that a small onion and carrot that had been finely minced in a food processor. I also added some breadcrumbs, an egg, a little oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper. After forming them into little patties, I fried them up and served them over sauteed spinach. I also deglazed the pan with some soy sauce, water and corn starch to make a light sauce. I usually add oyster sauce but had run out this time.