My favourites of 2009

As we've just started 2010, I wanted to point out some of my favourite dishes of the year! It wouldn't be possible if I hadn't started writing this blog last year as it made me more adventurous about food and I learned so much from the other food bloggers. What an adventurous year it was! Below I've listed some of the dishes that I tried or learned to make only this year and I absolutely love them!

The soup of the Year 2009: Cauliflower soup. It is an easy to make and very creamy soup. The good point is that it is without cheese and taste wonderful! I made it hundreds of times and it was always a hit among my family or friends.




The appetizer of the Year 2009: Stuffed red pepper with feta. I've already written about my addiction to roasted vegetables and I can eat anything that is roasted and if it has feta inside, it tastes even better! If you add some lemon juice and garlic with some olive oil - I can go crazy!!!



The salad of the Year 2009: Eggplant and red pepper salad. Another hit that had roasted vegetables inside. It is quite time-consuming to do all the vegetable roasting and so, but it is so worth it! It's definitely my family and our guest favourite salad or we can call it 'meze'. If everyone loves it, it really deserves to be mentioned!

The vegetarian dish of the Year 2009: Vegetable Jalfrezi by Jamie Oliver. I chose this dish as it had two of my favourites - lots of vegetables and it is Jamie Oliver's dish, plus it was one of those not many times that I try Indian cuisine. Jamie Oliver is definitely my favourite chef who combines simple ingredients and makes a very delicious food. Have a look at his recent family photo that he added to twitter! One of the best family portraits!!!

The best beef dish of the Year 2009: French style beef and mushroom stew. My family doesn't eat much beef but when it comes to beef stews I believe that French have one of the best recipes. During the last six months everyone was cooking beef bourguignon as they were inspired by Julia Child. I made it myself but I didn't blog about it as it had been eaten just so quickly and I had no chance to take any photos! Still this choise was also delicious and the beef was tender and muchrooms really complimented the meat! I'll definitely make it many more times!

The best chicken dish of the Year 2009:Lemon and olive chicken. It is definitely a winner just because it is so easy and so quick to make and it gives such great flavours plus it looks good on a plate!

The pizza of the Year 2009: Caramelised onion pizza. I fell in love with this pizza from the first bite and if I ever make a pizza at home I make only this pizza. Sometimes I add some extra vegetables ( mushrooms or peppers) but caramelized onion on a crunchy but soft pizza pad is just mouth-watering!



The pie of the Year 2009: American apple pie. I love this pie because it is so full of apples, rasins, cinammon and lovely sauce that forms from sugar, apple juice and butter. Sometimes I like mixing apples with pears! Definitely a winner! For Christmas I made spicy apple cake with caramel sauce which can be called Christmas time favourite!



The tart of the Year 2009: Strawberry tart. Strawberries always attract people's attention and everyone loves them! This tart was very fresh and strawberries really showed up in it!






The cheesecake of the Year 2009: Lemon cheesecake. This cheesecake was the most successful cheesecake of my life. The tartness of the cake went so well with the lemon flavour and the texture. By the way, I got many compliments for it from my family and many friends that made it.




The traditional dish of the Year 2009: Imambayıldı. I love traditional food of any country as it represents the main flavours of the country. As much as I love Lithuanian cold beetroot soup, since I moved to Turkey I love Turkish ımambayıldı, i.e. stuffed eggplant with fried onion and tomatoes in tomato sauce and loads of garlic. I can have this dish almost every day as it is just so good despite simple ingredients!

Of course there were many other dishes that I really enjoyed eating but those were the dishes that actually represent my taste buds. And as I look at the list I notice the main influence of Middle East and American cuisine with a touch of French. Well, I live in Turkey, I watch American cookery shows and I just love France. All in one is me! But still I love my Lithuanian roots with its cottage cheese, herring, cold beetroot soup and dumplings!
To finish this entry I want to thank some authors of some of my favourite blogs for interesting recipes, extraordinary stories and photos, and huge passion for food and sharing! Thank you all!

• Thanks to Mary from One Perfect Bite for her recipes and a story that goes with it.
• Thanks to Peter Minakis from Kalofagas.ca for pursuing his passion for Greek food. I especially loved his interpretation of Ukranian Borsch the Greek way! Well done!
• Thanks to Joan Nova from Foodalogue for her entertaining entries!
• Thanks to Kalyn from Kalyn's kitchen for sharing her passion for healthy food and helping others to stick to their diet plans.
• Thanksto Foodie with Little Thyme for sincere entries in her blog and for numerous comments on mine!
• Thanks to Kevin from Closet Cooking for interesting numerous recipe ideas.

I also want to thank some Lithuanian bloggers that inspired me in so many ways!

• Thanks to Forelle and Dautarte for creating '52 skanios savaites' ( 52 tasty weeks) and working hard on it!
• Thanks to Sonatina for inspiring me to start my own blog. Her blog was the first I started reading and really got into trying new recipes.
• Thanks to Jurate for wonderful lessons and recipes from India.
• Thanks to Bea for sharing various aspects of your life and your love for food.
• Thanks to girls from Tobulos ( Perfect) for funny stories and lovely recipes.
• Thanks to Neringa for passion to try all the possible new and interesting recipes!

I'm really looking forward to meeting new people and trying new recipes and dishes that the 2010 will bring! Have a wonderful and delicious year everybody!