Top 10 of '11

It's that time of year again - time to review everything I've eaten or sipped in 2011 and determine which of the 1000 or so dishes (3 meals/day + beverages + treats - reheated repeats = ???) rose to the top of the food chain (ha!) and will make my Top Ten list.

Decisions are difficult enough for me when I merely have to sort through the myriad varieties of orange juice. Truly, these types of endeavors make my brain hurt because of all the permutations!

So imagine how overwhelming this annual project is, narrowing everything down to only ten selections while simultaneously remembering a couple of disappointingly bad meals (which I'm too nice to talk about publicly) and lingering deliriously over the particularly stellar ones ... well, I nearly become catatonic.

But enough of the meandering preamble! You want to know what made the cut, don't you? (Some of you may already have scrolled down without even bothering to read the introduction!) You want to reject my choices or cheer along with them.

Without further babbling and in no particular order - with the exception of the #1 spot, which I knew would be the winner the very moment I tasted it this summer (even announcing this to my dining companion, who heartily agreed) - here is my Top 10 list for 2011:

10. I was only permitted one taste of the Chocolate Hazelnut French toast at the Bomber, with thanks to Jeremy for treading that fine line between wanting to share the joy and wanting to hoard the goodies all for himself! But that one taste was enough to know that this was an absolutely luscious and decadent treat. Of course, how can you go wrong with divine Nutella, warm and gooey as it oozes out of golden toasted, battered bread? I'm not even sure I would put syrup on my own serving - I might treat it as the dessert-like creation that it is and douse it with whipped cream instead. Either way, this was a fabulous breakfast!

9. The Garlic Parmesan Fries at Chicago Reds are amazing! Here's what I wrote about them in my original post: "These were as close to perfection as fries might possibly come - golden, crisp, hot, salty, garlicky, cheesy, but none of these attributes was overdone. The consistency was ideal, and the flavorings were exceptional." And I wouldn't change a word of it.

8. My Curried Rhubarb Chicken is one of the very best dishes I've made. I debated whether to include any of my own recipes here; but I'm very proud of this, so why not? I also received some lovely compliments from those who tried the dish after it was posted: "I made this tonight and it was awesome! The brown sugar caramelized on top of the chicken and the rhubarb dissolved into a super-yummy sauce." "(We) had your Curried Rhubarb Chicken. I felt like it was a dish from a fancy restaurant .... We loved it!" I'll look forward to spring not only for the warmer weather, the flowers, and finally seeing grass once more when the filthy remnants of snow melt, but also because rhubarb will be in season and I can make this dish again.

7. Whether using Flip Flop Wines Moscato to glaze a cake, enjoying it with a light dinner, or sipping it after a meal, I think it's just lovely. And I'm not alone: Wine Enthusiast magazine has named Flip Flop Moscato one of its "Best Buys." I originally tried the Moscato because it was sent to me for marketing purposes, with no promise of a review but assurances that it would be mentioned whenever I used the wine in a recipe. (I never want anyone to think I'm endorsing an item only because I've received a freebie, so I refuse to do product reviews.) But I like this wine so much that I now buy it for myself ... how 'bout that?

6. I attended a fabulous wine tasting sponsored by The Produce Station and hosted by the Alley Bar. Some wonderful foods were provided to accompany the wines and to help cleanse our palates between tastings. At my table, the charming offering was a plate of sliced baguettes from Detroit's Avalon International Breads and a really lovely cheese. In my post about the event, I described the Pyramid Pointe goat's milk cheese from Evergreen Lane Farm & Creamery as "slightly tart and creamier than butter." The creamery's website gives further detail: "Pyramid Pointe is a soft-ripened cheese made from pasteurized goat's milk. It has a pyramid shape with a natural grey/white rind which is blackened with ash .... The flavor is mild with a sharp lemony finish." It was wonderful!

5. I spoke at Temple Beth Emeth's annual Sisterhood DAMES Dinner, and had a fabulous time! I made new friends, and ate an extraordinary meal prepared by chefs Burt Steinberg and Ron Philipp. The Asian cole slaw, with a light cilantro-lime dressing, was lovely; the brownies were rich and decadent. But the Chicken Franchese - a lightly breaded chicken breast topped with a sauce comprised of beurre blanc and Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, red peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms - shone beyond any of the other delicious dishes. The flavors were explosive and vibrant, some more prominent while others added depth; the sauce was slightly tart, creamy, and an exceptional enhancement to the fork-tender chicken. I wish I could simply send you to a restaurant and tell you to order this dish; instead, you'll just have to hire Burt and Ron to cater a party for you!

4. I haven't written about this one yet, because Jeremy and I visited just 3 days before the place closed for the season (it will reopen on February 1). But the root beer at Bill's Drive-In, on Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti, was exceptional and simply had to be included here! The soda is homemade, and is reminiscent of previous incarnations you may have enjoyed; but it is so far beyond any others in taste that you'll hardly believe that they can all be called "root beer." There's not too much fuzz or fizz, and the flavor is incredibly rich. Jeremy's initial reaction says it all: "Holy s---! This is, like, the best root beer I've ever had in my life! It's amazing!" (With many thanks to the wonderful Mary Catherine Smith of WEMU for the recommendation.)

3. The chocolate-glazed orange cake that I adapted from a recipe on the back of a note card I'd bought at The Andy Warhol Museum was just exceptional! It was unbelievably moist, the flavor was bright and vibrant, and the rich chocolate glaze was utterly decadent. It would be an ideal dessert to serve in winter, when oranges are plentiful as we wait for the return of berries and other summer fruits. And how perfect would it be with a cup of cocoa, particularly on a cold, snowy day? I absolutely loved this cake!

2. The pierogi at my BFF Wendy's family Easter feast represented a 3-day labor of love, and were truly extraordinary! There was an enormous pile of the beautiful, golden treats which were filled with either sauerkraut, cheese, or prunes. And I can personally vouch for each variety, although the prune pierogi were my absolute favorites with their sweetness and a hint of spice. Not one of those measly 3" pierogi that you find in the grocery store was anywhere in sight ... pfffft! Each of these was at least twice that size, and the fillings were all homemade in addition to the dough having been mixed and rolled and formed by hand. I have already invited myself back for next year's holiday celebration, and would love to join in the pierogi-making party, too!

And who won the top spot?

What is the very best dish I've eaten all year long, the one that makes me smile and sigh with longing just to think of it???

1. The Churro Sundae at Frita Batidos, the Cuban-influenced eatery run by Eve Aronoff.


I can still conjure the fragrance of the beautiful fried pastries - slightly citrus, mingled with warm spices. I vividly remember the contrast between the slight crunch of the churros' exterior, coarse with a coating of sugar crystals, vs. the tender softness of the interior. The churros themselves were extraordinary, and yet they were remarkably enhanced when dipped into the creaminess of melting ice cream. The aromas, the textures, the flavors ... truly, this dish was superlative.

So, that's it for 2011. On Sunday, a brand new year of eating begins!

Feast + Easter = Feaster!

My priceless friend Wendy invited me to spend Easter with her extended family in Buffalo ... a spur-of-the-moment adventure.

Each of us would have spent the day childless -- with her son away at school and her daughter at a prestigious internship at the State Department, and Jeremy spending the day with his dad's relatives. So we left at 8 o'clock that morning for the kind of venting, ruminating, processing, evaluating, planning and resolving "Thelma and Louise"-style road trip that we excel at, and found ourselves at her Aunt Sandy's house by 2:30, just in time for a feast.

Now, many people think they provide a lot of food for family gatherings; I always used to think that I did, but I've been shamed! There were 25-30 people at the party, and truly enough food to feed 3 times that many ravenous folks ... I am not exaggerating. The ham that would normally be a centerpiece was, frankly, the least of the items on this awe-inspiring buffet!

Everyone was so wonderfully warm and welcoming, including the many well-behaved dogs -- I felt more at home there than I do with my own family. I had only ever met Wendy's sister Cheryl (here with her gorgeous first grandbaby, 4-month-old Hazel) and her husband Joe before this, so many people would have been overwhelmed by the crowd. I, however, leapt into the fray by discussing my -- and their, apparently! -- favorite topic, food.

Sandy (with one of the beloved furry family members) and her daughter Cindy were bustling about making final preparations to the feast; and this was such second-nature to them that neither was at all frazzled or stressed even as I asked questions and took notes, intrepid food/recipe devotee that I am.

A pot of something they called "White Soup" was placed onto the burner to keep warm ... it was a 16-quart stockpot, twice the size of any I own. A 9"x13" pan of cut-up sausage and a huge tub of kluski noodles were set next to it, for adding to the soup. I asked if this were similar to my friend Connie's pickle soup, as it was creamy and smelled slightly sour.

Sandy told me that it was Vfos (I think), pronounced [FAHS], and that it certainly was a close relative of Connie's soup with a similar method of preparation. She gave me a bit of explanation on how it's made; but she referred me to Bob, her niece's husband, who makes the soup each year and could give me better details.

So I meandered off to find Bob, who was stationed in front of FOUR griddles making potato pancakes. The batter for these was literally being scooped out of a bucket, there was so much of it; it had started as 20 pounds of hand-peeled and mostly hand-grated potatoes. And these babies ... whew! You've seen pictures of my latkes, and they are miniscule compared to what was being cooked here!

Bob is Italian, and was happy to talk about his family's feasts while growing up (pasta was served at every holiday, with manicotti -- which he pronounces infinitely more beautifully than I do, even when I put on my "I studied Italian for a year" accent!) being featured at Easter. But since many of his relatives are gone, he has brought his love of food and tradition to Wendy's family and joins in the preparation of their feast.

He told me that the White Soup begins by cooking sausage in water, with the quality and type of sausage being critical for flavor so he makes sure to get precisely what he wants instead of substituting. The sausage is removed from the liquid once it's done, and the pot is refrigerated overnight so that the congealed fat can then be skimmed. Heavy cream (rather than sour cream in Connie's soup) is combined with flour for thickening, and then milk is poured in to make it rich, while some vinegar is added for the sour flavoring.

Sandy then came in and told me that there's also onion, though it's a whole onion that's boiled in the liquid rather than any chopped onion being added (because the soup is smooth, until you add the mix-ins). She also added a bit of horseradish for some bite; and while she was serving the kluski noodles today, she usually offered elbow macaroni so that the soup can swim into the pasta while the pasta swims in the soup. She and Bob kibbitzed back-and-forth as they made sure to cover all the details for me!

In addition to the tradition of the soup, there were also handmade pierogi to be found ... 120 of them, to be exact, a 3-day process altogether. Four of the amazing women in this family had gathered on Wednesday to take the fillings Sandy and Cindy had prepared the night before (so they could chill and not melt the dough) -- they mixed and rolled and cut the homemade dough, filled it and pinched it, then pre-boiled the pierogi. The pierogi were then brushed with butter and refrigerated, awaiting the final frying on Easter so they'd be warm and golden and luscious!

There were three varieties of pierogi: sauerkraut (which Jeremy ADORED when I gave him one of the astounding abundance of leftovers Wendy and I had been sent home with), a slightly sweet white cheese, and "fruit" as they were being called "so people will eat them."

Fruit??? Plum, actually. I get it! You mean "prune," don't you, but no one likes to eat prunes so they've undergone a marketing ploy and are now "dried plums." These were, indeed, prune pierogi, with a filling that had a hint of both cinnamon and clove. And truly, Wendy and I could have simply devoured the entire batch of them without sharing -- they were so, so good!!!

Now, everyone knows what a good eater I am -- never underestimate the skinny girl, 'cause I tried one of everything (and returned for seconds on a couple of options!). And this was even before dessert.

Oh, man, did you say "dessert"???

Yup. 5 different varieties of dessert, too: Eclair cake (a cream puff base with custard and whipped cream on top), lemon meringue pie (which I adore, but no one else in my world does, so I hadn't had it in ages!), lemon cream torte, an almond-flavored Texas sheet cake, and Placek ([PLOT-zik] = a rich, buttery, crumbly Polish coffee cake).

I tried one of each of these, too ... and I am not ashamed to admit it! I relished every bite of each delectable item!!!

Wendy and I were then sent off for the 6-hour trip home with plates full of leftovers and lots of hugs. And I told everyone that I would more than happily come back next year, and try to get there in time for the pierogi-making party. And maybe, too, for the Mass at which representative samples of the Easter meal are packed in a basket, draped with a lace cloth, and offered for a blessing to be shared with everyone who joins in the meal.

Family, faith, and food are all bound up in these traditions, sharing nourishment for both body and soul with those who are most precious.

I was thrilled to have been invited and welcomed, and am immensely grateful to everyone for their warmth, their recipes, their smiles, and the sheer joy of this feast!