2011 was a hard year to peg for "top food memories" for me. Sadly we didn't do anything overly remarkable outside of our trip to Europe, and I think that's reflected a bit in my choices. Aside from the 6 items from that trip that are listed, I had at least 5 others that were maybes that just missed the cut. I may add pictures of the dishes later, but right now I haven't prepared that. So in random order, here are my top 10 food memories from 2011!
Tzitzikas Salad from Tzitzikas kai Mermigas
This salad was part of our first full meal in Greece, and it was such a fresh and delicious salad. So much of our trip stands out with regards to food we ate, but this was the start of our adventure, and it also was really healthy and really tasty.
Mushroom Pie from Ariston
A rich, buttery, flaky crust on both sides surrounding garlic and butter sauteed mushrooms. If the thought of that doesn't make your mouth water, you probably shouldn't read this blog anymore. No, I'm serious, just leave now. Ariston is a well known bakery in Athens, and of all of the pies we tried, this was my favorite. The crust was similar with most of the pies that they offered, but the mushroom filling was just amazing. A little buttery, a little garlicky, and unbelievably moist.
Mercimek Kofte from Antalia
It's not a stretch to say that M and I order in a lot. M orders more than I do due to her work schedule, but we both do order from time to time. One thing that we both fell in love with was the Mercimek Kofte from Antalia. It's a kofte made out of red lentils, and it is unbelievable. The first time M ordered it, she used all of her will power to not finish eating it all and actually save me some. Since that time, she has never saved a single bite for me, but we've ordered it together so that I've been able to eat it more.
Fish from Kounelas
We've had a lot of fresh fish, but this was something different. It was a simple preparation of being grilled over a wood-fire grill seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon. It was such a fresh and tasty preparation, and the fish was excellent. It was our last meal in Mykonos, and it was the perfect end to that leg of our trip.
Stuffed Vegetables from Lefteris
Lefteris is a restaurant in the small village of Apiranthos on the island of Naxos. You need to rent a car to get there, and it's a long and winding mountain drive to get there. But it's totally worth it. The food is extremely fresh since it's all grown in the garden just downstairs from the actual restaurant. The stuffed vegetables were literally picked that morning, and you could taste the freshness. While I doubt we'd ever make that drive again, we're so glad we did it this time to have that great meal.
Chicken and Tomatoes in Balsamic sauce from Homemade
This may not have been the greatest dish ever cooked, but it was special to me. I made this at home, and it was a tasty dish in my opinion. This was the first dish that we made out of the cookbooks we received from our wedding, and we were very excited about it.
Loucoumades from Regina Rose Amat
Loucoumades are Greek pastries that are made of fried dough and soaked in honey and cinnamon. They're round balls, but they're not like little donut holes like you'd fine here in the US. They're light and chewy with a good bite to them. I've had loucoumades before here in the states, but this little store in Halki specialized in them. They tasted incredible. They had the perfect texture, the honey was layered perfectly, and they were a great snack on our drive to Apiranthos. What made this even better was that we ate these while relaxing in the shade of a quaint little street in the middle of a small town. The atmosphere was fantastic, and it just felt so relaxing.
Pappardelle Bolognese from Babbo
M and I fell in love with pasta bolognese after our trip to Amsterdam in 2010. We had one of our many "versary" dinners at Babbo, and this was one of the dishes that we got as part of the pasta tasting menu. It was a rich meat sauce with veal, pancetta, and proscuitto. The tomato sauce was balanced and really absorbed a lot of the flavor from the meat.
Crab Toast from abc kitchen
This dish was part of our wedding anniversary dinner so it already had a special place in our hearts. The crab toast is something that is highly recommended at abc kitchen so we had to try it. It's loaded with sweet, succulent crab, and it has just the right amount of citrus from the dollop of lemon aioli on top. What made this meal even more amazing was that, in the middle of it, Chef Jean-George Vongerichten came in for a meal with his family, and his table was right next to ours.
Naxian Potato Salad from Meze Meze
Naxos is known for growing some of the best potatoes in the world. At our first meal at Meze Meze, we ordered way too much food as usual. However, one of the highlights of this meal was the Naxian Potato Salad. Loaded with onions, tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, a local cheese called xinomizithra, and obviously boiled potatoes. The salad was loaded with flavor and freshness, and it had just the right amount of creaminess and saltiness from the cheese. It was a great dish, and it stood out even though we ordered 3 or 4 potato dishes and had to roll ourselves home.
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