As we're moving further into the second month of the new year, it's important to re-evaluate the important things in life. Like trying out new recipes for example! Because setting goals throughout the year is extremely exciting, I'm making it a necessity to perfect 10 new recipes to add to my culinary repertoire over the course of the year.

Beef Bourguignon

Beef Bourguignon is a french beef stew with carrots, peas, potatoes, and delicious stock. It's usually served with a bed of buttered egg noodles, which soak up all of the sauce from the stew. This recipe is a staple in Julia Child's well known cookbook, "Mastering The Art Of French Cooking", which I'd love to own one day. 

Carrot Cake 

Ah, the infamous carrot cake. Some people disregard carrot cake as being one of the most favored desserts because of it's main ingredient, the carrot. But carrot cake is delicious, moist, and not too sweet in the way that some cakes can easily be. Paired with a cardamom frosting, this cake is simply perfection and I'd love to have a staple recipe for it. 

Macaroons 

As my undeniable love for french cuisine has progressed, so has my love for macaroon's. These cute little treats are delicious, colorful, and absolutely amazing to give as a gift. Whether it's chocolate, lemon, or pistachio, macaroon's will always brighten someone's day. 

Ravioli 

Ravioli is an awesome pasta to master simply because you can always make it different. The filling inside the light, pillow-like dough is what makes it so great. Whether you stuff them with ricotta & spinach, mushroom & gruyere, or tomato & parmesan, these airy delights are really difficult to resist. 

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup is most typically served in restaurants, but in my opinion, nothing is ever as good as home cooking. I'd love to perfect this recipe because imagining my family walking into the house after a long day, smelling the aromatic thyme, Parmesan, and shallots caramelizing away truly warms my heart. This dish is is guaranteed to be a winner every time. 

Scones

Just thinking about scones makes my mouth water. Scones are perfect for breakfast, brunch, meetings, snacks, or dessert. A very common scone flavor is pumpkin, but I'd love to learn how to make raspberry, cinnamon, and blueberry. These puffed up masterpieces are always a big hit. 

Roasted Chicken & Vegetables

Pictured above you'll see Ina Garten's classic roast chicken and mustard sauce. Although bold to say, roasted chicken is in fact my favorite dish in the whole world. With the crispy exterior and the moist interior, it's extremely hard to resist a perfectly cooked roasted chicken. Hopefully, by the end of the year I will be able cook this dish just as good as Ina makes it. 

Noodle Soup

Asian inspired noodle soups have become very popular this past year. Whether it's ramen or pho, people love the unique flavor and warmth that a noodle soup can offer. I'd be interested to play around with the Asian inspired flavors of ginger, chile, and lime and also the type of noodle to form the perfect noodle soup.

Hand Pies

Hand pies are like little galettes that can be savory or sweet. The picture above is a plum hand pie, but you can try any filling with either fruits, vegetables, and/or a variety of spices. Whether savory hand pies for a starter, or sweet hand pies for dessert, these beauties are rustic, homemade, and definitely in my top 10. 

Jam

Though many of my pre-existing dishes use jam, I don't currently have a staple jam recipe. Like many other recipes, jam can range from savory to sweet. On the savory spectrum, tomato jam is a huge hit. On the sweet side, berry jams are usually my go-to spreads. Aside from being so versatile, jam is also a great gift to put in a mason jar and send to a friend.