What’s the secret sauce that makes a recipe resonate with you? What will tempt you, intrigue you? Make you want to cook it again and again?
I’ve peppered myself with questions like these for the past four years as I’ve combed through cookbooks and developed dishes for the Dinner in Minutes column. Once I selected a dish for testing, I wondered how I could make it even more appealing: Could I reduce the number of pans used, cut an ingredient or two? What substitutions would make the dish more accessible, less costly? Are the instructions clear, or could I simplify?
With every swing, I was hoping for a home run, but let’s be honest: Week in, week out, sometimes I was happy just to get on base.
I’ve been reflecting on this effort — and my successes and challenges — because Friday was my last day at The Washington Post. I came here as recipes editor in December 2019, went through the pandemic with you and came out the other side with a keener sense of how circumstances — global and personal — can affect our ability to feed ourselves.
I leave this job a savvier, more compassionate cook, editor and person.
I also leave feeling proud that sometimes I’ve shared recipes that have become favorites of yours, including Italian Sausage and Kalamata Olive Skillet Pizza; Pork Chops and Cabbage With Mustard Cream Sauce; Instant Pot American-Style Goulash; Garlic Butter Baked Cod; Pecan-Crusted Trout With Brown Butter Herb Sauce; Spinach Skillet Lasagna; and Loaded Baked Potato Soup. That’s a fairly diverse batch of dishes, right? That’s intentional because we want to serve all of our readers.
Still, one ingredient almost always went over well: chicken. Among your favorites: Honey Citrus Chicken Thighs; Crazy Crispy No-Oil Chicken; Mosca’s Chicken a La Grande; and, perhaps, the most divisive recipe I’ve shared in my career, Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and Potatoes. Some loved it. Others hated it. The bitterness of the lemon pith was the determining factor, it seems. (You can find these recipes at washingtonpost.com/recipes.)
All the dishes we publish at The Post are shared by food journalists who work hard to present a variety of well-tested recipes that make cooking a little easier and eating more enjoyable. I’ve been grateful to be part of that dedicated Food team and humbled by your support as readers.
I’m going to miss you all.
Often, this job gave me incentive to step outside my comfort zone and try a new ingredient or technique, but for my final column, I thought I’d go with a sure thing. I’m leaving you with this simple Baked Sriracha Chicken Breast from chef Jacques Pépin’s latest cookbook, “Cooking My Way,” which is what we should all strive to do, right?
I recommend Pépin’s cookbook, of course, and this recipe specifically because it is a prime example of how straightforward food can be delicious.
He slathers boneless, skinless chicken breasts with a mayonnaise-sriracha mixture and bakes them, transforming the common, often-on-sale piece of poultry into a moist, delicious main course. He calls it Chicken à la Susie in honor of his friend Susie Heller, who taught him the simple method using turkey breast.
“Economy, not only of food but of time and money, reflects the cook’s comprehension and intelligence about the craft,” Pépin writes, adding that the more you cook and familiarize yourself with basic ingredients and techniques, the easier it gets.
This five-ingredient recipe embodies the spirit of the Dinner in Minutes column. It is so easy you can commit it to memory. It dirties few bowls or pans, and while the chicken bakes (for 25 minutes), you have time to make a salad and vinaigrette, steam some vegetables, or cook your favorite grain and chill a bottle of wine.
You’ll sit down to a scrumptious dinner in minutes. With this one, I am certain of it.
Jacques Pépin’s 5-ingredient sriracha chicken dish is easy to make - The Washington Post
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