Best meal I had this year: The Publican

I've got a group of hungry friends for whom The Publican has changed the way we do Chicago. We always make a stop. We don't leave the Windy City without eating some of that bacon.

This is not Publican, this is from the Eating Lansing kitchen.

Sometimes, the nicest ones of us even bring some of that bacon across state lines to share, which reminds me that I have two more deliciously thick slices of bacon in the freezer, courtesy of the world's best bestie.

In August, we went to Chicago. We ate a lot, and as usual we ate at The Publican.

It was just as tantalizing as 2012. While The Root came close, so close, The Publican still won top honors.

I have got to spend more time in Chicago.

Best thing I made this year: slow-roasted filet of beef with basil parmesan mayonnaise

I'd like to be best friends with Ina Garten.

Here I am, offering my dream best friend a blueberry muffin.

I love her recipes, of course. I love that she used to work in the White House as a nuclear policy analyst, then she decided to buy a store (Barefoot Contessa) and break into the food biz. I love that she is unabashedly friends with Alec Baldwin, Mariska Hargitay,and a slew of middle-aged gay men who are constantly coming to her Hamptons home to arrange flowers, iron linens, and select the wine.

I love that she met her husband Jeffrey when she was 15 years old and is still so obviously head over heels for him. Also, read this, because it is hilarious.

I love that she is 65 years old. Have you seen her SKIN?! I'll have what she's having.

Finally, I love that Ina's book Foolproof gave me my best recipe of the year. It's a knock their socks off, bask in your glory, give me my own cooking show type of recipe, one that I made three times this year for three special occasions. I made it for the book club baby shower I threw for a great girlfriend of mine, mama to the world's most beautiful baby girl. 

I next made it for a party I threw in April, at which the boyfriend made his debut to 30 of my nearest and dearest. I wanted him to know what he was getting himself into right off the bat.

I brushed the recipe off again just a few days ago for a belated Christmas lunch. The original plan was to have a leisurely lunch at my father's house on Christmas Day. I would cook, we would all exchange gifts, my nephew would be given presents that he might be able to enjoy in six months or so.

Then, we lost power. Most people in Lansing did, and it stayed out for days. There was an uproar. We postponed Christmas lunch until the following Sunday and I put my beef tenderloin in the freezer.

Lo and behold, Christmas a few days late is just as sweet. It's even better when you have a juicy, tender, succulent filet on your plate, slathered with a salty, sharp, unexpectedly delicious sauce that resulted in my brother totally losing his mind ("put it on everything," he told his wife. "Put it on your face.") 

Christmas goes on. Families change, and they go on. Babies are born, relationships start and end, and, in my family, we eat. While we may not always be able to say how we're feeling, while we may not always know how we're feeling, we know that we will survive, we will adapt, and, above all, we're hungry.

slow-roasted filet of beef with basil parmesan mayonnaise, green beans gremolata, mashed potatoes

Ingredients

1 whole filet of beef tenderloin, trimmed and tied (4 1/2 pounds)
3 tablespoons good olive oil
4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
10 to 15 branches fresh tarragon
Basil Parmesan Mayonnaise, for serving, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Use an oven thermometer to be sure your oven temperature is accurate.

Place the filet on a sheet pan and pat it dry (all over) with paper towels. Brush the filet all over with the oil, reserving about half a tablespoon. Sprinkle it all over with the salt and pepper (it will seem like a lot but believe me, it makes a difference). Place the tarragon branches around the beef, tying them in 4 or 5 places with kitchen twine to keep them in place, and then brush the tarragon with the reserved oil.

Roast the filet of beef for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, until the temperature registers 125 degrees in the center for rare and 135 degrees for medium-rare. Cover the filet with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Slice thickly and serve warm or at room temperature with Basil Parmesan Mayonnaise.
Basil Parmesan Mayonnaise:

2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup vegetable oil, at room temperature
1/2 cup good olive oil, at room temperature

Place the egg yolks, lemon juice, Parmesan, mustard, basil, garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process for 20 seconds, until smooth. Combine the vegetable oil and olive oil in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. With the processor running, slowly pour the oil mixture through the feed tube to make a thick emulsion. Taste for seasonings -- the mayonnaise is a sauce so it should be highly seasoned. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use; it will keep for up to a week.

NOTES: this cut of meat is expensive- about $20 a pound. I get mine at Mert's in Okemos, where I ask for it trimmed and tied.

Do yourself a solid and use your meat thermometer. You don't want to overcook a $100 piece of meat.

The keys to mayonnaise are room temperature eggs, a food processor or a strong arm to whisk, and a sloooow addition of the oil.

This sauce is addicting. Make a lot and use it for crudites, on sandwiches, with your eggs in the morning.

Second best meal I had this year: The Root

This was a tough call.

Really, excruciatingly difficult. 

I knew that when I had to crown my best meal of 2013, I would have two strong contenders. I knew it in June, after I first went to The Root. I was blown away by the entire experience- the interior, with its tree branches and no-frills decor, the unparalleled training of the servers with their Vic Firth pepper mills, the proud Michigan-ness of everyone involved.

And the food. Of course, the food.

I've eaten at The Root four times since June, the last time being the Young Guns dinner, and every time I am blown away. It is an hour from where I live. I am being honest when I tell you that, if someone called right now and asked me to drive an hour to meet them there for lunch, I would drop this yoga mat right on the floor and get in the car. It is worth it.

If I haven't convinced you yet, I can't. If I have, take me with you.

Dig The Root, indeed.

 

Second best thing I made this year: wedding cake

In November, my girlfriend Kayla got married. I made her cake.

The cake, hydrangead.

The cake, pre-hydrangea.

It was a standard carrot cake, made with the tried and true recipe which I've shared with you before. This one, however, was made with Trader Joe's gluten-free flour. It made no discernible difference in the taste, the layers just baked a bit flatter. Which is preferable when you're frosting a massive cake.

The bottom tier was a 3-layer, 9-inch cake. The top tier was 3-layers, 5 inches. I transported the tiers separately to the hotel where the reception would be held, inching my way over every speedbump and lamenting the cobblestones that line Washington Square.

It was a beautiful, delicious success. I hope that Kayla and Pat's marriage will be the same.

Third best meal I had this year: Zazio's

Last spring I headed to Kalamazoo to visit my grandparents. I also informed my cousin Kevin, my main competitor in the quest for Grandma's love, that he would be taking me out to dinner that night. Kevin gamely agreed, and I spent the afternoon looking forward to dinner at Zazio's.

While I have been visiting Kalamazoo several times a year for my entire life, I'd never eaten at Zazio's. It had, of course, been on my Restaurant Wish List for years. As I waited for Kevin and his girlfriend Kimmie, I admired the colorful decor.

 When Kevin and Kim arrived, I learned that he is friends with the chef and several members of the staff. I couldn't believe my good fortune, and the fact that my own cousin had been sandbagging me for all these years.

After much deliberation and several rounds of making up my mind just to change it again, I placed my order. I had seared scallops- one of my favorite dishes, which I can rarely resist.

 For my entree I chose the duck- so juicy, so perfectly complimented with tart berries and a crispy, salty polenta cake. Heaven.

 We hadn't eaten enough. We were starving. Out rolled a platter of chocolate.

The meal was perfect. The restaurant is beautiful, the food is to die for and much of it is locally sourced. Zazio's offers Chef's Tables, tickets to which would make a wonderful gift for the serious eater. If you make the drive to Kalamazoo, the restaurant is conveniently located downtown in the Radisson- you can spend the night and have breakfast the next morning at Food Dance, one of my other Kalamazoo favorites, or get a coffee at Water Street Coffee Joint. My grandparents will likely be at mass at St. Augustine Cathedral, stop and give them a shout and you might find yourself in the next issue of the Johnson Jottings.

No, I'm not an agent of the Kalamazoo Chamber of Commerce, but maybe I should be.

Third best thing I made this year: supercorn

Food holds memories for me. When I eat sugary cereal, which is rare, I remember the camping trips that my family took when I was a little girl. My mother, who fed us only the healthiest of healthy cereals back at home, would loosen the reins a touch and give us a variety pack of tiny boxes of sugary cereal to fight over. I always wanted the Coco Krispies.

When I eat chocolate mousse I am transported to La Rotonde in St. Amand-Montrond, France, where I spent so many evenings in 2005 and 2006 with one of my very best girlfriends, learning to eat.

When I eat popcorn, which is at least twice a week, I think about my dad, who would always make it for me, no matter the hour, if I just raised my eyebrows and asked "PC?"

Last summer, the boyfriend and I unwittingly created another food memory. Day after day, I would come to his apartment with bags heaping with sweet corn. If the grocery special was 8 ears for $2, I would buy 8 ears of corn. For the two of us.

While he would gamely light the grill and never tell me to figure out how to do it myself, I shucked the corn, rubbed it with oil, and carefully arranged each ear over the grate, just so. He would hobble into his kitchen, frustrated with his broken leg, and start to make his bacon butter. I chopped cilantro, crumbled blue cheese onto a cookie sheet, and ran outside to turn the corn that I'd inevitably forgotten about.

In the summer of 2013 we ate ear after ear of corn. We told everyone about it, to the point that truly they must have wondered why we were so excited about a commonplace vegetable. We didn't care, and we kept eating and marveling at our self-described brilliance.

I told you about supercorn before, and I hope you make it next summer. Maybe with someone who is special to you, or, better yet, for someone who is special to you.

Fourth best meal I had this year: Asia's Finest

For why I loved Asia's Finest, on the south side of Lansing, read my article here.

And for an educational and entertaining article which started me on a pho crawl through metro Detroit, head over here.