Like we said in the introduction to our Best of 2009 awards, it is truly amazing how many brunches have popped up during the past year in places where they were not previously offered. This is why we have dubbed 2009 as The Year of the Brunch and why it is one of the two main categories for this year's awards. As previously mentioned, the other category is response to the economic conditions, so you will not find any $200 per plate brunches among the winners.
Obviously, we could have just given out an award for the best brunch, but where would be the fun in that. Among those of us considering the nominees, we discovered some deeply held standards for what had to be offered in a good brunch. So, instead of finding whoever averaged all those together into the best overall final product, we have chosen to give an award for each culinary requirement so you can choose for yourself which is most important to you when picking that perfect brunch destination.
Our second absolute requirement for a good brunch menu is at least one version of Eggs Benedict. Much like with the steak & eggs, we were willing to be very liberal on our definition of Eggs Benedict. First, the word "Benedict" needed to actually be in the title printed on the menu. As far as content of the dish, we needed an egg (preferably poached) and some form of meat (we started out thinking it would need to be pork but came across several excellent seafood and beef options) served over some type of bread and covered in an appropriate sauce (preferably Hollandaise).
Unlike our winner in the Steak & Eggs category, the winning dish in this category is anything but simple and classic. Our choice for Best Eggs Benedict of 2009 is the Texas Benedict at Cretia's on McKinney in Dallas. This dish involves perfectly poached eggs served over rotisserie pork, queso fresco, cilantro, tomato, and avocado on top of grilled jalapeno cheese bread, covered with chipotle hollandaise.
If you can actually imagine the actual taste experience from this description, then you are doing better than I did. It's almost impossible to contemplate the perfect balance that is actually accomplished with this dish. The stars of the dish, as they should be, are the eggs, pork, bread, and sauce, so let's start there. The eggs are perfectly poached and full of natural flavor. The rotisserie pork is absolutely incredible. It could not be more tender or flavorful and shines beautifully through every bite. In my mind, the most inspired ingredient of them all is the jalapeno cheese bread. It sounds like too much flavor in the bread, but it's simply not. They bake the bread in their own bakery, and the flavors meld perfectly with the strong tender pork, the creamy eggs, and the hint of spice from the chipotle hollandaise. However, if you had stopped with just the four starring ingredients, I'm really not sure the dish would work. It would be so rich and strong of flavor that it might just prove to be too much. This is where the little touches of queso fresco, cilantro, tomato, and avocado come in. The light freshness that is layered into the dish by these additions truly brings the dish to a new level.
If you truly want to have an idea of just how wonderful these flavors can be, you'll just have to head over to Cretia's and try it for yourself. I recommend the patio on a beautiful day with some bottomless house-recipe sangria.
