Our 2010 Favorites

I guess I should've counted the number of new recipes we tried in 2010.  It would have been fun to see how they broke down by the types of dishes and what we thought of them.  Just for grins, I went through Kateiscooking's directory and made a list of my favorite newbies for the year.  I came up with 29 recipes that'll get made again and again.  And, in a couple of cases already have been made again!  I made a second list of oldies but goodies I've blogged about.  Those recipes that are frequently requested. 

Thank you so much for reading my blog.  Here's hoping you have a wonderful New Year!

The top three family requested recipes are:

Casa d'Angelo Salad.  It's the salad we have at almost every family gathering.  Everyone loves it.  A client brought her beau in the other day.  He's from Fort Wayne - which is where Casa d's is located.  When he found out I have the recipe on the blog, he was a pretty happy camper.

Chicken Caesar Lasagna.  Two of my stepsons request this for their birthday dinner.  My brother John's family loves it.  No wonder, it tastes fantastic.  And, I love how easy it is to make!

Glop.  What an inelegant name!  And, I confess, I named it!  This is a pretty heavily modified version of a dish we made when I was in cooking class in 8th grade.  We won't talk about how many years ago that was.  Let's just say I've been making this for a LONG time.

We have a couple of traditions that are rather fun.  One is a cocktail on Sunday evenings.  This year we tried many new ones.  Thanks to Jason at Ancient Fire Wines we got a lot of great ideas.  We also worked our way through a selection of blackberry drinks in Food and Wine.  But, three drinks stand out as our most repeated. 

Boss Tweed.  A Scotch drink that even folks who normally don't drink Scotch will probably like.  It's a little smoky.  Very complex.  Probably my favorite mixed drink of all time.

Lemon Drop.  This is an old drink that's a newbie to us.  Since we tried it, we've repeated several times.  We love how tart it is. 

Mike's Eggnog Wonderful.  I typically like my eggnog plain.  This isn't at all but it is wonderful stuff.

Washington Apple Martini.  Last but certainly not least.  Our friend Joyce got us started on these.  It really does taste like a wonderful ripe Washington Apple.

Then, there's brunch on Sunday morning.  It's not as frequent since my hours at the office have taken away Sundays at home.  But, about one a month, we manage to fit in brunch.  This year we revisited an old friend and found two new standouts.

Crabcakes Benedict.  A twist on eggs benedict and ever so much better. 

Lemon Lavender Blueberry Muffins.  These disappear more quickly than any baked good I've ever made.  I've got blueberries frozen to make some this winter.

Prosciutto Mozzarella Frittata.  One of the prettiest breakfasts I've ever made.  And, it tastes just as good as it looks. 

When it came to entrees, we pretty much covered the bases.  We tend to eat a lot of pasta, fish, seafood, chicken and pork.  Our favorites reflect that.

Merry Olde Sole.  Sole and seafood.  A surprise hit from an old cookbook I picked up in an antique mall.

Marmalade Salmon.  Connie really did eat cooked salmon.  And, he liked this.  We smoked the salmon so that helped.

Oven Fried Catfish.  Just what you want fried catfish to be.  A little spicy, crunchy crust, flavorful fish.  Thank you to my friend Drick at Drick's Rambling Cafe.

Peach Glazed Pork Tenderloin.  Amazing.  Fantastic.  I'd like some right now, please.  Thanks to my friend Chef Michael Braddock.

Southern Crab Hash.  One of the dishes we tried from Food and Wine.  We were both surprised at how incredibly good this was.

Chicken Scarpariello.  Another Food and Wine dish.  I've put off making it again because we've not been able to find Peppadew peppers around here.  Today, we ordered some online.  So, next week after the party, this is back on the menu.

Salsa Fish.  This just sounds too easy to be good.  But, it is so good that Connie ASKED for leftovers - twice.

Brined Turkey Breast.  I combined Alton Brown's brine recipe with my own under the skin paste and on the skin rub.  It was moist and flavorful. 

Stir Fried Chicken and Celery.  Who knew that chicken, celery and ginger could combine to make such a simple yet complex dish?

Penne Mediterranean.   My version of one of my favorite restaurant dishes.  We eat this regularly.

What did we have with all those entrees?  Lots of great side dishes. 

French Onion Soup.  Made with six kinds of onions.  I'd never made my own because I was intimidated by the fantastic onion soup at Bijou.  No more.  We'll have this now.

Potato Torte.  Layers of potato and cabbage and bacon.  This really can be an entree.

Mrs. Huber's Slaw.  I've always had the creamy slaw and loved it.  We ate at Joe Huber's farm this summer and fell in love with the vinegary slaw.  I bought the cookbook to be able to recreate it. 

Mushroom Pesto Bread Pudding.  I learned to make my own mushroom pesto rather than pay top retail for it.  Then, I created this elegant bread pudding.

Ratatouille Stuffed Peppers.  This one was a fun creation - and landed me on Foodbuzz's top nine for a day.

Individual Potato Gratins.  If you made me choose ONE dish that stood out this year, this would be it.  We've had them at least four times and have tried two variations.  A total winner.

Lana's Salad.  We've already made this about four times and I'd happily make it again today.  The photo of the finished dish doesn't show all the fantastic layers. This one does show all the wonderful ingredients.

Eggplant Stacks.  Eggplant is one of our favorite vegetables.  This was the perfect showcase for eggplant and tomatoes and basil from the garden.

Fried Green Beans.  Beer battered dipped in a garlicky aioli. 

Spice roasted sweet potatoes.  Ever so much better than the gooey potatoes with marshmallow etc.  These are tossed with fragrant spices and roasted.

Blue Cheese Potato Salad.  With blue cheese dressing that's to die for.

Then, there are a couple of things that just don't fit into the above categories

Wing Eggrolls.  The best new appetizer of the year.  Why didn't I think of these?

Olives Tart.  My go-to appetizer.  I've made this for years and get raves reviews from those brave enough to eat those little fish - aka anchovies.

Green Tapenade.  My favorite vegetable dip.  It's stuffed to the gills with anchovies, herbs and capers. 

Grilled Pastrami Sandwich.  We make a lot of grilled sandwiches.  This is the best of the bunch. 

Mom's Vegetable Soup.  Like chocolate chip cookies, Mom's version is almost always the best.

Did you notice what's totally missing here?  Indeed, desserts.  They're just not a big part of our lives.  We're much more apt to eat fruit for dessert than to have a cake or pie.  There is one dessert that I've made again and again and the leftovers actually get eaten. 

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce.  Thanks to my friend Doris for finding this recipe on Epicurious.

In 2011 we're going to try tracking our new recipes.  How well we liked them, where they came from, how easy they were to prepare, what category they fell in...  We're looking forward to sharing another year of food adventures!