Celebrating 100 articles about gourmet food in Knoxville with a look back: A top 10 countdown

This article is Number 100 for this Examiner, and so to commemorate the occasion, this article is a list of the ten most popular Knoxville Gourmet Food Examiner articles of 2010 and then a short list of my personal favorites (honorable mentions), being that I've tasted all of these. Knoxville, this is a chance to check out the most popular material from your local-first Gourmet Food Examiner, so take a look and enjoy. For fun, each gets a little informal commentary and a short description, and in the spirit of counting down for excitement, they're given in reverse order.

Number 10: 12 must-have dry seasonings for every serious cook to have in their kitchen

• 
  This article really is just a short list of 12 flavorful flavorings that good cooks use all the time. In my kitchen at home, many of these are used on a daily basis to create great meals that my friends and family rave about. List-lovers and home-cooks will get a lot out of this popular article. In my usual way, every item on the list is packed with information about why it's so great to have around the kitchen.

Number 9: Perfect chocolate chip cookies recipe - minor variations on the Nestle Tollhouse recipe

• Here I share my mom's secret to make some of the best chocolate chip cookies possible using the classic recipe, which in her opinion, "shouldn't be messed with... much." It also brings with a tip I picked up from a pastry chef that has elevated Mom's perfect cookies even further, so it's a must-read for chocolate chip cookie lovers (or anyone with kids). With the tips in this article, they always come out crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

Number 8: New Mexican red chile sauce - probably the best red enchilada sauce - chile colorado - in the world

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  I wouldn't have believed it until my brother moved out to New Mexico, with some of my help, but I'm sold: the chile sauce they make in New Mexico is incredible, and the secret is simple: New Mexican chiles, which you can pick up in Knoxville at The Fresh Market locations consistently and at Earth Fare and Kroger's less consistently. They keep for a long time when dried (which is how you'll buy them), so pick some up when you see them. This sauce is crazy good on almost anything you put it on.

Number 7: Flavorful dry rub seasoning for steaks, chicken, pork, burgers, and other meats

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  I created this recipe and used it for a great New Year's dinner with friends and a nice grill this year, and it was wildly popular there and on Examiner. The secret is using good smoked paprika, which is good on a great many things, much like the chile sauce from Number 8. This rub works well on any meat that's about to hit the grill and is delicious worked into burgers, so as spring and summer tempt you into firing up your grill, be sure to take a look at this article and bookmark a grilling secret that will make your friends think you're a pro.

Number 6: Brie-stuffed French toast with toasted pecans and a Jack Daniels and maple glaze

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  If I told you how many times I've had to make this ever since the day that I finally decided to test it out (I came up with the idea years ago and sat on it for a long, long time before finally trying it to fill the Winter Recipes call for Examiner.com), then you'd either be super-jealous or feel for me. My family raves about this recipe. It's one of the most gourmet breakfast/brunch items that I've tasted, which is surprising considering it's incredible simplicity. It also holds the distinction of having received the most comments of any of my articles so far. Try it, and you're guaranteed not to be sorry!

Number 5: 7 tips to perfect homemade hash browns with recipe and ways to make hash browns of gourmet-quality

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  People love the simple stuff and being able to do it well. This article is actually an in an entirely higher echelon of popularity than the previous five, despite the non-gourmet status that hash browns carry. The thing is, they're hard to make right unless you know what to do, and this article gives you that information. It's actually Part 1 of a two-part article, and Part Two would actually have qualified as #11 on this countdown if it was a bigger countdown. Combined, the two would be comfortably in the Number 2 spot on this list, so it seems many, many folks are enjoying these tips and making better hash browns at home as a result, including the tips in Part Two to make them more of a gourmet item on your breakfast table.

Number 4: Homemade pasta recipe

• Again, the simplest things tend to be very popular, as is the common theme on this half of the list. Making your own pasta at home is satisfying, delicious, and rather easy, and we haven't looked back since we started doing it. All that's required is know-how and some simple ingredients, and it can easily be made while the cooking water comes to a boil.

Number 3: Hot Rod's 50's Diner - a review of a great 50's style restaurant in Maryville-Alcoa

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  This diner, located in Maryville on Hannum Street, has easily become my favorite in the area. Don't be fooled, it's certainly not a gourmet place -- it's a diner -- but the food is absolutely top-notch, consistently. At the time when I wrote it, there wasn't yet a Knoxville Restaurant Examiner (there's a cracking good one now), so I took the charge of spreading the word about this place upon myself. Check it out if you haven't. All the necessary info is in the article. Oh, and if you have the nerve and the guts, try their Chubby Challenge (detailed in the article) and win some glory and a t-shirt.

Number 2: Rich chicken stock from scratch, a great base for soups and gravies with tips

• Not much needs to be said about this article: great soups, stews, and many other recipes start with great stocks. This one shows you how to make one using chicken as the backbone.

And, at last...

Number 1: Homemade chicken noodle soup, completely from scratch

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  Almost everyone loves chicken noodle soup, but so many folks don't know what they're missing by always getting it out of a can. This article is about a soup recipe that I invented for my wife last time she got sick, so I could try to help her feel better and get her something healthy, whole, and nourishing that I made with love and care. It was a hit. The article was too: it was in this position easily before it went crazy on one day on StumbleUpon (feel free to Stumble it yourself and keep the ball rolling), making this article alone count for nearly 20% of my page views this year! Social media hooplah aside, definitely check this article out and give the soup a try... it's great, even if you don't incorporate the homemade noodles.

So, that's the Top 10 in 2010 so far, celebrating 100 articles by the Knoxville Gourmet Food Examiner. Out of the other 89, I took a while to sift through and pick five honorable mentions, favorites of my own that haven't hit the same popularity as the others. In no particular order, they are:

1. 
   Homemade hot chocolate (or cocoa) from scratch - save money and do better with this winter treat -- I love hot cocoa, especially on cold days or in the evening, and this healthy recipe for it allows you to make it yourself with all premium ingredients and total control. It has a follow-up teaching you how to make great variations on the original that's worth seeing too.
2. 
   Homemade tomato soup with creamy polenta and drunken Italian sausage crumbles -- Yes, really. That. It was that good.
3. 
   Pecan-crusted pork tenderloin with rosemary-garlic mashed potatoes and a simple salad -- I thought this meal was a perfect combination of delicious simplicity with gourmet tendencies combined with a strong connection to the East Tennessee palate. It was definitely a gold-medal winner at our house.
4. 
   Light and fluffy corn pancakes with lemon recipe topped with bananas foster glaze, Tennessee-style -- Another great breakfast item that I now get to make again and again and again for my wife and step-daughters. Total yum. I don't think I'll look back to regular pancakes either after having the cornmeal kind.
5. 
   Delicious, easy homemade mocha latte recipe brings coffee together with chocolate -- There wasn't a Knoxville Coffee Examiner when I wrote this article (there is now, see the link -- it's me!), so I felt no guilt about dipping into the realm of gourmet coffee. This recipe is simple, easy to make at home, and delicious, using only basic ingredients to achieve a great result.
6. 
   (Yes, 6): Award-winning homemade marshmallow mocha latte recipe - Vienna Coffee Company's Winter 2010 winner -- This is one of the first articles that I wrote as the Knoxville Coffee Examiner, although the original intention had been to put it on here. Since this page gets more readership and since the recipe features great local-to-Knoxville coffee, I thought it would be a good idea to mention it here. It's very, very good: another mainstay at my house ever since I made it. It also is award-winning, testifying to its deliciousness.

Buy it locally! If you follow the links to any of these articles, you'll find tips and instructions on how to get what you're reading about from Knoxville-local markets, which is a great way to support your community, Knoxville. Definitely keep an eye open for them and try to buy locally whenever possible.

To see the other 84 articles published on Examiner.com by the Knoxville Gourmet Food Examiner, click here for a complete list. If you like what you've seen in these articles, consider subscribing (it's free!) at the top of the page by clicking "subscribe" and supplying your e-mail address. You'll get a short note in your e-mail every time a new article is published, so you won't miss a thing!