Thursday, March 10, 2011

It's Good to Have Goals

A while back, I think I mentioned that I was building a list of foods I want to cook at least once in my lifetime. I was inspired by a post like this that I saw on another blog and immediately started jotting on all of the delicious things that came to mind. My goal is to reach 100 and eventually cross them all off the list. Unfor

I'll cross them off the list as I make them and post links to my posts about them (I already have one down with the polenta!). I'll also continue adding to the list as my wheels churn, but I could definitely use your help! Let me know what's missing from the list and I'll consider adding it. I only have two simple criteria:

1. It has to be delicious (or at least have the potential to be delicious!)
2. It has to be a challenge (and I'm not talking crazy-hard, but definitely on the other side of easy)

Here's the growing list:

My Top 100 Desired Dishes
1. Arancini Made it!
2. Steamed Dumplings
3. Egg Rolls
4. Cheese Fondue
5. Au Gratin Potatoes
6. Homemade Potato Chips
7. Corn Chowder Made it!
8. Fritata
9. Polenta Made it!
10. Homemade Manicotti
11. Homemade Fettucini with Vodka Sauce
12. Stromboli/Calzones
13. Chicken and Dumplings Made it!
14. Bacon-Wrapped Filets
15. Popovers
16. Croissants
17. Bagels
18. English Muffins Made it! (Though I'm still on the quest for nooks and crannies!)
19. Sourdough Bread (Not yet, but I did get my hands on some starter for sourdough pancakes!)
20. Irish Soda Bread Made it!
21. Frozen Yogurt
22. Gelato
23. Cannoli Made it! (Although in shortcut form ... will make the real thing someday!)
24. Chocolate Fondue Made it! (And without actually intending to!)
25. Chocolate Mousse
26. Hot Chocolate Souffle
27. Salted Caramel Brownies
28. French Silk Pie
29. Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie (I made Banana Caramel Cream Pie, which is close!)
30. Coconut Cream Pie
31. Dutch Apple Pie
32. Lemon Meringue Pie
33. Fruit Tart
34. Lemon Cheesecake
35. Mini Cheesecakes Made it! (But still need to perfect it ...)
36. Angel Food Cake
37. Rum Cake
38. Bread Pudding
39. Paczki (jelly doughnuts)
40. Kringle
41. Kolache
42. Fortune Cookies
43. Doughnuts (I made one attempt that failed. And then succeeded with mini doughnuts!)
44. Homemade Vanilla Extract
45. Sio Bao
46. Corned Beef
47. Homemade Gnocchi
48. Rye Bread
49. Soft Pretzels Made it!
50. Apple Strudel
51. Homemade Jam Made it!
52. Thin Crust Pizza Made it! (On the grill, no less!)
53. Tiramisu
54. French Macaroons Made it!
55. Chilaquiles
56. Homemade Pita Bread
57. Stollen
58. Baklava
59. Spanakopita
60. Banana Pudding
61. Bittersweet Chocolate and Stout Beer Ice Cream (thanks to Tanya T. for the recommendation!)
62. Frozen Custard Made it!
63. Graham Crackers
64. Spaetzle

5 comments:

  1. Kringle! I have a recipe in my wisconsin cookbook. I think it should be on the list.

    By the way, irish soda bread is super easy, but still totally worthwhile.

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  2. Oooh! Good idea. I bet kringle is as difficult as the bear claws I vowed never to make again! Still list-worthy, though.

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  3. Paczki! Those are so good! You won't regret it :)

    Lets see what you could add..hmmm... all variety of danishes I imagine are challenging. What about funnel cakes? A deep fried turkey? What about a baked alaska? Deep fried ice cream? I'm really steering you toward the most healthy stuff, aren't I? haha

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  4. I second the vote on deep-friend turkey (since I've had it in the past, and it is awesome). Would also add:
    * homemade gnocci
    * cioppino
    * lobster bisque
    * cheddar biscuits
    * sio bao (steamed Chinese buns with different meat fillings)
    * pancit palabok (ok, this is more on my dream list, but this is a classic Filipino noodle dish)
    * singapore noodles (the spicy kind)
    * fried fish (Chinese style, which is done by pouring hot oil continuously over the fish to cook it)
    * petit fours
    * truffles
    * croquembouche
    * fortune cookies (it IS possible to make these at home... I think I might even have a recipe somewhere)
    * shark's fin soup

    Ok, I'm officially hungry now :-)

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  5. Holy cow, Tiff you have a lot of suggestions! And I'm digging almost all of them ... with the exception of shark's fin soup. Not so sure about that.

    But thanks for all of the awesome ideas! I'm about to update the list!

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