Readers’ Choice: 2012 Best Read and Most Loved Recipes

Here at Spectacularly Delicious we strive to present a little bit of something for everybody — in the USA and the big wide world beyond.  With our 2012 readership growing in such far flung reaches as Fiji, Laos and Azerbaijan perhaps, just maybe, we are inching along toward that goal.

So let’s close out the year with a look at the most popular stories and recipes visited by readers in 2012.

But page views aren’t the only metric that illuminates the lure of Spectacularly Delicious. Today we pull back the veil to reveal the recipes people spend the most time poring over. Are they the most complicated? Catnip for those with poor reading skills? Or does it even matter why Aebelskivers entrance readers for over half an hour each time they drop in?

We only advise and observe.  We do not judge — that’s up to you. 

Spectacularly Delicious’s 2012 Best Read Posts and Recipes:
1. The Jams and Jellies landing page is SpecD’s most popular destination with a stellar line up of preserves in this order of popularity: Beach Plum Jelly, Zesty Strawberry Blueberry Jam, Pomegranate Jelly, Vanilla Pear Jam and Caramelized Apple Jam.

2. Charcuterie is the second most-visited page and the leaders are Lonza, Berliner Currywurst and my manifesto on Why You Should Make Your Own Sausage.
3. Pheasant Under Glass!

4. Machaca con Huevos (thank you Olga Breeskin!)

5. Crab Rangoon. Crab Rangoon? CRAB RANGOON! (A viral sensation on Pinterest. If you come across Crab Rangoon sometime soon I take all credit for its renewed popularity.)

6. St. Paul Sandwiches — This beloved shrimp egg foo young on white bread is a delicacy found at all the best drive up chop suey houses in St. Louis and ironically enough, is virtually unknown in St. Paul.

7. Saganaki Jenni Pulos – As this video shows, my cooking demo with Jenni is nothing short of incendiary.

8. Pancakes Barbara, from the legendary style maven Elsie de Wolfe. I’d say it’s a classy recipe, only then it wouldn’t be.

9. Beef Bourguignon Under Pressure. Viva la pressure cooker!

10. Duchess of Windsor Shrimp and Corn Pie. Bessie Wallis Warfield Spencer Simpson Windsor was not just another pretty face. Actually, not even close. But she did have a reliably hot pie.

While those were the best read pages, here are the pages where people lingered longest.

Aebelskiver afficiandos averaged 32 minutes reading time. Which is about how long it takes to whip up a batch.

Muligatawny Soup took up 27 minutes of cooks’ busy schedules. There are a lot of garnishes for this dish, no doubt double checking the coriander and currants played a part in this time drain.

Pomegranate Cranberry Mustard was an 18 minute read on average. My guess is the page was left open while folks watched the how to make mustard video.

Steak and Oyster Pie – 18 minutes.

Fourteen minutes was the magic number for Eton Mess, Black Paella, and The Perfect Hot Dog.

Lobster Bisque a la Poseidon Adventure and Wild Cranberry and Orange Sauce both logged 12 minutes on average.
A couple of gnarly outliers, Shad Roe with Bacon and Spicy Pickled Veal Hearts and Lambs Tongues each clocked in at 11 minutes.

The last ten-minutes-plus read was the pleasant A Nice Little Tool to Have: Cornichon Slicer. 

And on that note, Happy Everything and Merry Always in the coming year.  Thanks for stopping in.

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