54: My Blog's Top 10!

Here is the Top 10 as of June 2011, listed in order of the number of times it has been viewed.

1.       Braised Veal Chops with Root Vegetables
2.       Curry Goat Stew
3.       Filet Mignon with Mushroom Provencal over Fennel and Leek Puree
4.       Pan Roasted Pacific Cod with Wild Mushrooms and Zucchini Puree
5.       Mussels w/ Smoked Sausage and Fennel in Champagne Broth over Squid Ink Linguine
6.       Mussels in a Thai Style Coconut Curry Broth
7.       Braised Elk Meatballs with a Carrot and Thyme Torte and Broccoli
8.       Filet Mignon with Swiss Chard and Beet Puree in a Rosemary Balsamic Sauce
9.       Lamb Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in a Green Pepper-Tomato Sauce
10.   Braised Bison Short Ribs over Goat Cheese and Sage Polenta with Asparagus

I promised you I would write a recap of the first six months of this blog a few posts back. While I might still fall short of giving you the full recap, I thought I would use a post to talk a little bit more about the 10 most viewed recipes and some general background insight on why I created this blog.

I have cooked for many of you – my friends in different parts of this country, and you all have said one thing to me: Your food is good. My mom thinks I missed my calling as a chef, but I’m still waiting for her to give me the keys to her kitchen. My girlfriend says I have ruined food for her, but I counter that I have taught her how to taste it. With such things in mind, I created this blog in November of 2010 as a way to share my cooking. Food, after all, and the subsequent feelings of community and satisfaction, is designed to be shared. It’s also a way for me to gauge just how good a cook I am, for I have no formal training as a chef. I cook based on the tidbits I have picked up from working in restaurants, other people’s recipes, and my own understanding of how food works together. See my bio on the right as you scroll down for more information.

Something missing from this blog is comments on the recipes. I average 136 views a month, so people are viewing this blog – 956 views over the past 7 months as of this post. The blog is also viewed in different countries around the world, including but not limited to Russia, Australia, and Japan.

I hope that you will provide some feedback from this post as to what I can do to better engage my readers. I have included easy to use features such as rating my blog entries with one click (feature removed due to lack of use and ease to post comments. I don’t mind if they’re anonymous. I’m more concerned with what you think of my cooking. Is it good, is it easy to recreate from my instructions, what changes can be made to the blog itself to promote engagement – those are the elements I’m concerned with as I enter my 8^th month of having a food blog. Originally, I created this blog to share recipes with the occasional restaurant review, but I have since abandoned that formula and went simply with providing the recipe. The blog continues to be a work in progress.