UnRecipe: Thank God It's Tofuday

Sometimes you can't beat a really simple meal after a rough week, especially on the tail-end of a record heat wave. After all, why ruin the stove's week-long break of not being turned on? Let it sleep in for just another day or two. Instead of a complicated Friday dinner, it was more effort to put together the setup for these photos than it was to prepare the grand meal of cold tofu with chili sauce, lime juice, and shoyu (you know, soy sauce).

Oh boy, it's soy! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

As a wee one, my mother would regularly prepare meals with tofu -- heck, she still does, and it's remains a rare treat to watch her cook. She would drain and press the watery slab of soy to remove the excess water, and then cut it down into pristine little white cubes. I would sneak a few pieces before they were introduced into the dish and I always loved the cold, plain, slightly milky flavor of plain tofu. I didn't think much of it then, but when I cook with tofu now, I can't resist doing the same thing and it still resonates that memory of the senses that evoke a less complicated time. Or at least, that's what I like to remember it as. I'm sure at the time, I was probably overwrought with a math test or something.

Now, many years later, the comforting snack has become a full but simple meal. Mixing a bit of fresh lime juice and a squeeze of hot chili sauce into the shoyu, a savory dipping liquid becomes the perfect contrasting flavor. I can't control the weather, or how busy my week will be, but it's a comfort in and of itself to know I can return to something that tastes like home.

Aw, Mom.. it's so cute... can we keep it? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

* Post Script -A joy-for-soy THANK YOU to Tastespotting for posting the Kokeshi doll with tofu photo on their site!! Domo arigato!

** Post-Post Script -Another hearty THANK YOU to the folks at Foodbuzz for putting the same photo on their Top 9 today! Domo arigato, the sequel!

***Post-Post-Post Script - Three times a charm THANKS to Food Photo Blog for putting the spicy tofu pic on their site!

**** Post to the Fourth Power-Script - THANK YOU to Serious Eats' Photograzing for also putting the spicy tofu on their site!

***** Penta-Post-Script - Thanks to Foodie View for posting several pics of the spicy tofu post!

UnRecipe: I Hope Hell Has a Salad Bar

The house is almost ninety degrees and it's 10pm at night. Earlier in the afternoon, I looked outside and the tall evergreens looked like they were wilting from the oppressive heat. It's official: the Pacific Northwest is in Hell. I'm not entirely sure what mortal sin the Puget Sound Area committed, but it must have been pretty serious to cast us into the flaming pit of Hades without easy access to air conditioning. All that being said, a girl still needs to eat, so I had another dinner, sans heating element.

It's gettin' hot in herrre... so have a salad - Photo by Wasabi Prime

By the Power of DJ Spinderella, I remixed the Gettin' Figgy With It meal ingredients and made a couple of salads. One featured a roma tomato sliced thinly, sprinkled with goat cheese crumbles, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and some slices of proscuitto on the side. Not quite a caprese salad, but a similar idea. I had already shorn our basil plants down, and figured they needed some time to recover their foliage for another meal.

The other salad was a rerun of what we did on the weekend -- heirloom cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, snowpeas, and feta instead of goat cheese. It was nice to take a moment and enjoy the two cool, fresh salads, and dream of better days ahead. Hello, Autumn? Are you coming anytime soon...?

The salad days of summer - Photos by Wasabi Prime

* Post Script - Thanks to Food Photo Blog for posting the almost-caprese salad photo on their site! Grazie!

* Post-Post Script - Thanks to Foodie View for posting pics of the heirloom to-mah-toes and the split snowpea pic!

UnRecipe: Gettin' Figgy With It

The summer heat caused a serious case of Couch Potato-itis in the Wasabi household this weekend. I tend to develop a mild addiction to the Turner Classic Movie channel in the summers, and recently recorded King Solomon's Mines (1950) starring Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger on our DVR. It's a gorgeous Technicolor-riffic movie and both the leading actors are rather gorgeous themselves. I think given the hot weather, I wanted to see people suffering in the heat along with me, and searching for the fabled diamond mines in the deepest, darkest heart of Africa seemed a lot worse than languishing on the sofa.

O bring us a figgy dinner... and bring it RIGHT NOW - photo by Wasabi Prime

Given that state of inactivity, there was no way in hell I was going to turn on the stove or even BBQ. Thankfully, a bounty of summer goodies were at the ready, from both the store and our garden, so an uncooked summer dinner was on the menu for the warm evening.

Embrace of proscuitto and cheese? Yes, please - photo by Wasabi Prime

The star of this meal was undoubtedly a pile of fresh figs from Whole Foods, courtesy of Michelle, a fellow foodie-in-arms. I do love figs. They have a light, nuanced flavor that plays nice with both sweet and savory pairings, and the texture of soft and crunchy is just fun. Along with the figgy bunch, we had multicolored heirloom grape tomatoes, goat cheese crumbles, Sopressata salami, and proscuitto, procured from Trader Joe's. Our garden was able to provide more fresh snowpeas, basil, and romaine lettuce. A slice here, a chop there, and a caprese-inspired salad with the tomatoes, cheese, and basil was paired with goat cheese-stuffed figs, wrapped in proscuitto, and finished off with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Chunks of the Sopressata were nestled alongside some garlic-stuffed olives for snacking. I like my bubbly, so I always keep a bottle of the very affordable Domaine Ste Michelle Blanc de Blanc in the fridge. It helped cool our jets while we sat in the backyard with our faithful dog, Indy. She sure looked cute, but not cute enough for proscuitto-wrapped figs stuffed with goat cheese. Sorry, pup.

A dinner of fig-gasmic proportions - photos by Wasabi Prime

To further add to the evening's atmosphere, Brock had music from Hey Marseilles playing. They're a local group with a delightful Parisian sound that is reminiscent of the movie Amelie. They were playing at the Capitol Hill Block Party this weekend, but our summer laziness prevented us from attending. If anyone went and heard them perform, drop the WP a line!

* Post Script - Thanks to Food Photo Blog for posting my pic of heirloom grape tomatoes that almost made it into this post, as well as the pic of the wrapped figs. Cheers FPB!

FoodFail: Crater Blueberry Muffins

I saw this on a license plate frame today: "I used to be schizo, but we're OK now." That's a good description for how things are while I move the Old Wasabi at Vox to the New Wasabi here at Blogspot. I promise the recent confusion will subside, and I thank everyone for being patient with the changeover. To alleviate some of this self-imposed busybody-ness, I decided to bake blueberry muffins, as baking can sometimes be a calming thing. Everything leading up to the baking part went smoothly, but I was telling fellow blogger, Ms. Picket Fence, that I wished I lived near or around Crater Lake, Oregon, because then I could have called these Crater Muffins. Let's not ruin the post quite yet and just gaze for a moment at this serene tableaux of ingredients, shall we?

Still life with muffin ingredients, prior to "the Crater Incident" - photo by Wasabi Prime

Per some earlier Tweets this week, I was inspired to do something with blueberries. They're in season and incredibly well-priced right now. I decided to go with the blueberry muffin recipe I found on the charmingly funny blog, Omnomicon. The recipe was originally from Food Happens, and Omnomicon's Aleta had given it a foodie thumb's up. Bless her heart, she wisely advised to lighten up on the pecan and brown sugar topping, as that tends to cause the center of the muffins to collapse a bit while baking. I made sure to heed that bit of advice.

Food pr0n alert!! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

However, I'll be the first to admit that I made a substitution mistake, replacing the buttermilk part of the recipe with Greek yogurt. The recipe said yogurt could be used as a swap, but I think the thicker Greek-style yogurt made the batter more concentrated. I don't know what kind of mad science took place during the baking process, but it wasn't the kind of mad science that creates sexy Kelly LeBrocks from Barbie dolls. No, this crazy mad science created Crater Muffins that, instead of rising into fluffy mounds of goodness, they made a vertical dash for their neighbor and I wound up with sunken-in, crazy Siamese Twin pastries. But you know what? They were still damned tasty.

Pecan and brown sugar topping. It looked better before it went into the oven - photo by Wasabi Prime

While not pleasing in an aesthetic sort of way, the finished muffins were still pleasing in an om-nom-nommic sort of way. I had no trouble eating a couple, and in an act of nutritional defiance, called it dinner. This was probably the least offensive photo I could take of the finished muffins. I placed a little coffee mug with the Finnish cartoon characters, Moomin, as a crutch of happiness to lighten the gravity-stricken baked goods.

Moomins make everything better - photo by Wasabi Prime

Overall, I can't be that discouraged over the result, especially since I knowingly put the batter in harm's way with an untested substitution. I also swapped regular flour with whole wheat, hence the darker color, but I think the Greek yogurt 'twas what done this batter in. Live and learn. I'm still pleased with the photos and weather permitting, may try this recipe again, minus ingredient swaps, before the blueberry harvest peters-out.

I believe it's time for an ingredient montage! - photo by Wasabi Prime

* Post Script * Another big THANK YOU to Tastespotting for posting a photo of the blueberries from this post! As Leo Sayer would say, you make me feel like dancing!

* Post-Post Script - Big blueberry thanks to Photograzing at Serious Eats for posting the 'money shot' of blueberries getting mixed in batter. HOT!

* Post-Post-Post Script - Thanks to Foodie View for posting the pr0n-tastic blueberry mix photo!

UnRecipe: Pad Thai Stir Fry

I discovered two things today: our laundry room makes for a halfway decent photo studio, and Pad Thai is just as delicious without the rice noodles!

From wasabiprime-july photos

The Puget Soundians were given a day of respite from the summer heat, so efforts were quickly mobilized to use the stove and play around with the digital camera to actually take some halfway decent photos of ingredients and the plated food. I notice when it's hot, I tend not to feel the Epic Hunger that I normally do, so maybe that's what allowed me the virtue of patience to make a better effort towards food photography. At the risk of sounding like the star of the I'm Awesome Show, I'm quite pleased with the efforts, and it's encouraged me to put forth more effort in future posts!

The motivation behind this dish was a major jonesin' for pad thai. I have the exact opposite effect with food -- I had Thai food recently and instead of feeling satisfied, I felt like the Audrey II, hungry for seconds. Feed me, Seymour! Sadly, as I write this entry, I just realized I totally forgot to add peanuts into the dish. Crap. And I made the extra trip to the store to make sure I had them! The little Homer Simpson that lives in my head is yelling DOH! right now. What... no one else has a little Homer Simpson living in their head...? No...? Well, moving on...

In lieu of the traditional rice noodles, I was able to use half of the bountiful harvest of snowpeas that are taking over our garden. We went from a small handful of peas to a green pod invasion within the last month. Thankfully the bugs and backyard wildlife have not seen fit to feast upon them, so with any luck, we will be blessed with an abundance of green pea-ness. *giggle*

Along with the snowpeas, I snipped some garlic chives and some of the heartier scallion greens from our veggie garden. A few defrosted chicken breasts sliced thin, stir-fried in a wok with diced tofu, scrambled eggs, and then a healthy dose of the premade Por Kwan pad thai sauce from Uwajimaya, and it was a picture-perfect dinner made for the om-nomming.

From wasabiprime-july photos

* Post Script - Big thanks to Tastespotting for posting the pad thai photo on their site today. Merci Buttercups!!!

** Post-Post Script - Delicious thanks to Photograzing at Serious Eats for posting one of the pad thai photos on their site!

*** Post-Post-Post Script - Third Thanks to Food Photo Blog for posting a closeup shot of the pad thai. Cheers!!

*** Quadruple Post Script - Thanks to the fourth power to Foodie View for the pad thai post!

Wasabi...who...?

Greetings, Earthlings! If you've found this page, you'll no doubt be wondering the same thing my parents are, which is just what the heck is Wasabi Prime? Although they would most likely phrase it something along the lines of, "Is this like The Twitter or that MySpacebook-thing?" I'm sure you're well aware this is a food-themed blog, and the curiosity that led you to this page compels you to ask the real question, which is, there's a gazillion blogs out there, and a good chunk of them are food-related -- why the hell should I waste valuable goof-off time at work reading this one?

Why read this blog? Because I'm not a chef, I don't proclaim any wizard-like culinary wisdom, I'm just a home cook prone to moments of compulsive cooking -- JUST LIKE YOU. And I like to eat, very likely, also like yourself. In my very humble opinion, that's what makes this blog special, the fact that it's gimmick-free, just honest and sincere, reminding people that food is wonderful, but not mystical. Anyone and everyone can cook, it's not scary -- get back in touch with the food on your plate.

This blog shares the home-cooked successes, as it does the failures, and work-in-progress dishes. I'm terrible with recipes, often going off-book and literally throwing things together, so bear with me. Because of that, I'm a fan of "MacGyver Cooking," aka, "UnRecipes," where meals come together with whatever's on-hand, and I encourage readers to do the same kind of unscripted cooking. I'll take you with me on my adventures, within the lovely Pacific Northwest and abroad, sharing both food and travel tips.

When not blogging, I'm a freelance graphic designer (peek at my work at denisesakaki.com), food writer, recipe developer and sometimes food photographer. I've never officially been involved in the food service industry, and growing up, I was the pickiest eater in the world (scrambled eggs and hotdogs, no lie). But over time, I developed an earnest appreciation for food. Working on this blog has been a rediscovery of the role our meals hold in life, both present and past. Food is not just fuel. It's the centerpiece in family gatherings, the passing-down of tradition in time-worn recipes, and the shared revelry enjoyed with loved ones. Food is memory and it has an uncanny ability to weave its way into our collective lives and create new connections for memories yet to be made, and that is a journey worth taking, no?

So, sit back, grab a bag of Funyuns and a glass of aged port, and see what Wasabi Prime serves up. Feel free to email me directly at wasabiprime at hotmail dot com, if you feel so inclined. I'm always happy to hear from readers and discuss writing or photography projects. It's way more fun than fielding all that spam mail asking about erectile dysfunction or that Nigerian prince who keeps insisting that I alone can help him claim his royal treasure. Cheers.

* Side note, for I also write a style/art blog called the Jaunty Magpie, if you wish to take a peek... merci!

Disclosure Policy/Copyright Info for Wasabi Prime

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This policy is valid from 01 July 2009.

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact Denise at wasabiprime at hotmail dot com.

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The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. If I claim or appear to be an expert on a certain topic or product or service area, I will only endorse products or services that I believe, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.