Top 10 of 2012

Well, it's that time of year again - time to review everything I've eaten, drunk, tasted, sampled, and enjoyed this past twelve months. There's been a lot o' good eatin', as always - I live in a fabulous community filled with great food, restaurants, shops, and other treats! But as I remember and reminisce, there are inevitably a few shining stars that rise to the top of the list.

And so, without further ado, here are some of the very best things I enjoyed in 2012. I highly recommend that you go find them, cook them, and relish them, too!

The barbecue at Red Rock Downtown Barbecue in Ypsilanti is excellent; the mac 'n' cheese (pictured above) is even better. Here's what I wrote in my Frugal Floozie Friday post about the restaurant: "the star of the show - the star of the entire meal - was the Macaroni and Cheese. What you see ... is the small version ordered off the side dish menu; it was enough that I could very well order it for a full meal! And I'd be lucky to finish it ... though it was so exceptionally rich and smoky and luscious that leaving any behind would be unforgivable. Jeremy and I literally scraped the bottom of the dish to make sure we didn't miss any of the goodness!"

After you eat the mac 'n' cheese for dinner, walk across the street to Bona Sera Cafe and linger over the luxurious Salted Caramel Gelato for dessert. You only have to spend a mere $1.50 for this rich treat.  This past summer, I posted that "if the salted caramel gelato was my last dessert on this Earth, I could die blissfully happy in a giddy reverie. It was buttery, salty, and like liquid gold as it melted on my tongue. I've been craving it since I left, and promised Wonder Woman I'd be back for more."  I need to get back there, and you need to make a special trip yourselves.

Not too far removed from the buttery sweetness of the gelato is my very own Drambuie Butterscotch Sauce, which doesn't even need cake or ice cream, just a spoon. I'm always loathe to include my own recipes in this annual list, as it seems a bit conceited; at the same time, this really was stellar and I'm very proud of its flavor as well as its simplicity. It's a lovely change from traditional hot fudge sauces.

Another item which can be enjoyed in a variety of ways - on a salad, as a vegetable or pretzel dip, schmeared onto a sandwich - is the blue cheese dressing at Old Town Tavern. It is "an exceptional thick, garlicky blue cheese dressing so good that I've even written to the restaurant to see if they might share the recipe with me." (Still hoping to be able to make it myself, though I'm happy to go pay for it at the restaurant, too.) Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it; but it's not too hard to imagine a dressing with generous chunks of cheese, which is thick enough to cling to whatever it's going to enhance.

I am a huge fan of chocolate, of peanut butter, and of chocolate served with peanut butter; this is, as we all know, one of the classic combinations. In September, I was thrilled to help judge the Girl Scout Cookie Bake-off Benefit, featuring desserts prepared with Girl Scout cookies. The treat that won 2nd Place for "Most Creative" was the Peanut Butter Bombe created by Cheryl Hanewich of La Dolce Vita. This was rich, creamy, seductive, filled with rich peanut butter and topped with smooth, sleek chocolate ganache. It was even garnished with candied bacon - the sweet/salty combination reigned supreme!

Now, to go back to the savory rather than focusing upon the sweet ....

The Jolly Pumpkin Cafe & Brewery is noted for its beers; however, when I go out I'd rather spend my money on food than on drink. For a ridiculously fair $5, the restaurant offers an exceptional snack that Jeremy and I enjoyed immensely: Truffled French Fries. As I wrote in my original feature: "They were utterly irresistable - so crisp, so fragrant with rosemary, so subtly and perfectly flavored with truffle and salt - that we'd have each happily devoured our own serving rather sharing. The fries were perfectly complemented by a rich mayonnaise-based dipping sauce - ketchup would be a sacrilege. I've already made a note to myself that these fries will be on my Top 10 list for the year."

When I served Baked Chicken with Morels and Leeks, Jeremy told me it was the best chicken dish I've ever served. Wow! In the post about it, I wrote: "The chicken, having baked in cream, is fork-tender. The sauce is luscious, and lets the leeks and the morels shine without either one overpowering any other ingredient." You don't need to spend a fortune on the ingredients: chicken thighs are inexpensive, and a few dollars' worth of morels are all you need to infuse a rich, indulgent flavor to the sauce. Be sure to make this during the all-too-short morel season! When I noted to Jeremy that I was including this dish, he reiterated: "I don't think there could be anything better in the history of ... ever!"

Baconfest Michigan is one of the best events I've ever attended; Jeremy and I were in our glory, eating bacon in everything from sliders to grits to ice cream! (Here's my summary of the party.) But of the multiple options served by 30 vendors who celebrated everything glorious about the pig, my favorite treat was the bacon-coated caramel apples from The Root Restaurant & Bar. The apples were tart and crisp, the caramel was smooth and creamy and buttery, the bacon was chewy and salty. Altogether, these hit every taste bud, offered every texture. They were utterly sublime.

Fruit 'n' Nut Baklava - my own spin on this beloved traditional dessert - was a huge hit with everyone who tried it. The flaky layers of phyllo dough, the sweet chewiness of the dried fruits, the crunch of the nuts, the hints of dates and cinnamon and honey throughout. Baklava has a reputation for being difficult to make, but this isn't true at all; one of the beauties of phyllo dough is that, while it's very fragile, it also doesn't really matter if you tear it while layering it - the dough will crack and crumble anyway, so who's going to know??? Try this recipe for yourself and see how easy it can be to make something so impressive.

And finally, here is a lovely wine that Craig and I enjoyed immensely, celebrating its annual release in November. The bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau that I purchased at The Produce Station was wonderful - light, fruity, sweet but not overly so, juicy, bright, and vibrant ... it was definitely our favorite of the variety of wines we've tried (with dinners, at events, at tastings, etc.).  As I paid for my purchase, the fabulous cashier noted that my outfit perfectly matched the bottle; she gleefully called for Jorge, wine steward extraordinaire, to bring the camera so she could take a picture of me with my prize!

As Frank Sinatra sang, it was a very good year for my continued adventures in celebrating food. This list doesn't even begin to encompass all the wonderful creations, the fabulous dishes, the friendliness of service, the helpfulness of staff members, and other attributes which contributed to celebrations, to moments that required comfort, and to the many instances where food was integral to an experience. Whether a guilty indulgence in doughnuts at midnight, brownies offered as solace, or a milkshake shared with someone you love, food is so much more to us than mere sustenance.

May 2013 bring you much luck and happiness, and an abundance of good things to enjoy!

My Yiddische Nachos (for Daniel Saraga)

In its original incarnation, this was going to be a fun and frivolous post - truly Floozie-ish. A winding tale about a ridiculous but fabulous little concoction of Jewish-style nachos, using potato latkes as the base, that was inspired by my friend and blogging buddy Daniel Saraga of The Haggis and The Herring - the culinary adventures of a nice Jewish boy and his Scottish wife.

I had written on July 30 about Totchos - nachos made with tater tots. They're unbelievable, and also unbelievably good!

Dan wrote to me:

"Walking across the office it hit me: If you can make a really thin latke (thicker than a potato chip, but not too thick - maybe made with pureed potatoes), then you've got a plate of Yiddish nachos .... Dunno if I want to even attempt it - it sounds good, but it also sounds like a heart attack on a plate."

Well, I was hooked! So we bounced ideas back and forth a bit, and decided that instead of chili or refried beans we would use cholent [CHOH-lehnt] - an iconic Jewish stew that cooks slowly over a Friday night, so that Jews can return home from Saturday morning Shabbat services to a hot meal without violating prohibitions against cooking on the Sabbath. And we decided to make it a vegetarian cholent, incongruous as that notion is (since it's traditional to battle over who gets the marrow bones that are often put into it), because we determined we should respectfully honor the dietary laws and thus prohibit any mixing of meat and dairy products despite not keeping kosher ourselves. And it's just not a proper plate o' nachos without cheese, after all.

I'm not quick-witted by any means - it's a gift I admire and envy in others. When I asked Dan what this little taste treat should be called, he immediately wrote back to me: "Well, as long as we can get Mandy Patinkin to endorse them, 'My Yiddische Nachos,' of course :-)" [YID-ih-shuh]

Dan said: "Now we've talked about it enough that I might need to actually do something about it. I might wait until December, tho." I promised to get to work sorting out some details, trying to figure out how to cook the latkes to the proper consistency, how to make a good vegetarian cholent. I wanted to be ready for Chanukkah, when latkes are the mandatory food - fried in celebratory oil as they are - which would be the perfect occasion for our dish.

I left services on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, September 17, and went to the store to pick up a few things. I saw a package of soy chorizo and thought to myself that I should get some, precisely because I intended to work on Dan's inspired nacho notion after the Jewish High Holidays and knew I would need this ingredient for the cholent.

I got home from the store, turned on my computer, and was surprised to find an email from Dan's wife Meredith. I couldn't believe what I was reading - it made no sense, it wasn't possible. Tears started streaming, because what Meredith told me was such a horrific shock: her Darling Daniel, as she always called him, had died suddenly just three days earlier after making dinner for his family, which he loved to do. Sadly, the very heart attack Dan feared from this dish is what apparently took his life. He was only 37.

Meredith wrote that Dan had considered me a friend, which I feel was truly an honor; he was a good, good man, a great guy, smart, funny, with a heart that shone even through a computer screen. He left behind two very young sons - Jacob just learned to ride a bike this past summer, and their Jeremy isn't yet 2 - with a third baby, affectionately known as "J3," on the way. And he left behind Meredith, whom he cherished and who adored him in return. Even though Dan and I never met in the real world so that I could see his face light up when talking about them - we had bonded in cyberspace over food and Judaism - his love for his family was abundantly clear in everything he wrote.

And so, what should have been a silly post about devising a plate of Jewish-style nachos - as two friends bantered back-and-forth from Toronto to Ann Arbor over the nitpickiest, yet critical, details - has instead turned into a bittersweet tribute to my friend Daniel Saraga, without whom this recipe would not exist. He devised the idea and named it; and his combined respect for tradition, love of food, multi-cultural worldview, creativity, and distinct playfulness and humor all shine through in this delicious mishmash.

I debated whether to make these with a Moroccan influence (Daniel's heritage - he teased me when I used my traditional tea glasses to serve peanut butter pudding!) or a Mexican-ish one; instead, I decided to focus on the "Yiddische" aspect, leaning towards Eastern Europe. Dan and I had considered the difficulty of choosing a cheese, but never settled upon anything in particular.

So I am immensely grateful to Simone of Morgan and York, a lovely shop offering exceptional wines and gourmet foods, who took on my quandry and recommended a wonderful Cheddar. She gave me two choices that would honor the ban against mixing meat and dairy products (cheeses without animal rennet), and also a wide variety of others that I could use in further experimenting for my own supremely treyf ([TRAYF] = non-kosher) purposes, such as adding brisket to the cholent before topping it with cheese. (She also provided a personal tasting session for my Jeremy and me, which was so fantastic!) I also offer thanks to Eric the Cheesemonger at The Produce Station, another fabulous specialty food and wine market, who suggested Comté ([kohm-TAY] - a Swiss-like cheese) for its exceptional melting qualities. Together, the cheeses offer the ooey-gooey factor coupled with an "oomph" of flavor.

It makes me so, so sad that I didn't get to share the final concoction with Dan, that he didn't get to try it or share it with Meredith and the boys; I would have waited anxiously, after sending him the instructions, to read his report back about who looked askance, who dove right in, how many days the house smelled after frying all the latkes ... :) I smile as I contemplate it, and as I write this remembrance of my friend.

But he won't be writing to me, won't be making me laugh with his comments, won't be sharing this last stretch of the Yiddische Nachos adventure with me. And I realize that this loss for me so greatly and inconceivably pales by comparison to knowing that Dan won't watch his boys grow up, won't hold his new baby, won't grow old with Meredith.

Dan led me to this dish, and I hope he was guiding me as I prepared it. Either that, or he's shaking his head and offering up a pained, "Oy!" I hope I came close to approximating his vision.

With many, many thanks to Dan for the smiles, the laughter, the thought-provoking questions and comments, and especially for his kindness and his friendship. Never doubt my philosophy that people bond over food, even in cyberspace. The term "blogging buddy" is so woefully inadequate to describe some of the truly wonderful people I've met online, like Dan, but never had the thrill and privilege of meeting in the real world so that we could share a meal. I am so grateful for having known him.

May Dan's memory be for a blessing ....


My Yiddische Nachos

Latkes:

• 1 egg
• pinch of kosher salt
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons matzah meal
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 cups frozen hash browns
• oil, for frying

In a medium bowl, combine egg, salt, pepper, matzah meal, and water; add hash browns, and let rest for 5 minutes. Place into a blender and puree until just a bit of texture is left.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil at a time in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add batter by the scant 1/4-cupful and fry for 4 minutes per side until golden brown. Remove to a plate and continue until batter is gone.


Cholent:

• 1 cup dry kidney beans
• 1 cup dry pinto beans
• 10 cups + 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 large scallions, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 12-ounce package Trader Joe's soy chorizo
• 1 14.5-ounce can stewed tomatoes, chopped, with their liquid
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2-1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt-free seasoning
• 1/3 cup quick-cook barley
• 1 cup beer

Place the beans and the 10 cups water into a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, and cook 10 minutes. Turn off heat, cover saucepan, and let beans soak for 2 hours or more. Drain.

Rinse the Dutch oven, then add the oil. Add onions, scallions, and red pepper flakes; cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chorizo, tomatoes, and mustard; cook for 5 more minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 5 minutes.

Place the cholent into a crockpot, and cook on "low" for 8 hours or more.

(If you prepare just the cholent, rather than the entire dish, it's a great vegan meal.)


Nachos:

• 4 ounces grated Comté cheese
• 1-1/2 ounces grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• sour cream, for serving

Place the latkes on a microwaveable serving platter, and top with 2 cups of the cholent. Sprinkle the Comté over the top and cook in the microwave until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle the Cheddar over the top without heating it. (Cheddar has a tendency to separate, so Simone recommended doing this to preserve its integrity.) Serve immediately with sour cream, a traditional accompaniment to both nachos and latkes.

Serves 4.