The 26 Dish adventure was a great success because it got me out of a cooking rut, gave me something fun to do, and I picked up a few good recipes along the way (more on that soon).
Since this is all about food, I thought the first fun retrospective would be to look at what I made. While you weren’t keeping track of everything I cooked, I was and complied a list of all my ingredients across the 26 dishes:
With that stage set, let’s talk about some of the dishes now that they’ve all been cooked. Overall, 22 of the 26 dishes (85 percent if you prefer percentages) were ones I liked or ones I’d want to take another crack at. Of those 22, 13 are ones I’d make again without any reservations, and of that group of 13, 7 are worth talking about just a little more. In no particular order:
- Chicken Satay: This is the most surprising of all the dishes. Threading the chicken is a little bit of a pain, but that’s the only pain here. Its real value lies in its delicious flavor, incredibly quick cook time, and the ease with which it can be brought to a party, all of which (as Katie recently observed) will make this our go-to dish for summer grilling at the lake.
- Cheese Soufflé: Absolutely nothing not to like here. A great recipe that should be made for a celebratory occasion, but is easy enough to make any night. The flavors are exactly what you’d imagine from a soufflé.
- Slow Cooker Chipotle-Honey Chicken Tacos: Craving something with plenty of heat that’s perfect for a pot luck dinner, freezes well, and looks great? Make this now and thank me later.
- Simple Steak au Poivre: Simple in preparation, but not in flavor, this dish excels in its balance of the Sichuan peppercorns and whole black peppercorns. While strip steak is certainly a splurge cut of meat in terms of its price, it’s worth it under the right circumstances.
- Roasted Corn and Poblano Chowder: Every New England kitchen needs a heart-warming soup for the winter to have as soon as its done, and to stash away in the freezer as a reward after you’ve shoveled the driveway. You don’t want to neglect the sour cream and cotija cheese because they do wonders rounding out this fantastic dish.
- Garlic Braised Short Ribs With Red Wine: With ample inactive cook time and the ability to prep many of the ingredients before one starts cooking, this short rib recipe produces a stunner of a dish for not a lot of work. A fat separator is required if you immediately want to reap the rewards of the gravy. Serve it over mashed potatoes with some of the remaining chives and you’ll be well on your way to a memorable dinner.
- Fast Focaccia: I had very high hopes for this dish and boy were they met. With the rosemary and flaky sea salt, this dish was delicious and I cannot wait to make other iterations of it as soon as possible. As long as you have some dry yeast in your pantry, you probably have enough ingredients lying around your kitchen to put in this dish.
On a personal level (this won’t be long, don’t worry!), this wasn’t a life-changing experience, or one that made me find a calling in life. I was making the same, boring dishes over and over again and needed motivation and accountability to break out of the rut. In that sense, this project succeeded.
I have no idea what the next chapter of The Quincy Kitchen holds for me, but I’m confident it will be fun, relaxing, and delicious!
The Quincy Kitchen 