Mixed Plate: Oktoberfeast at Wasabi's and Taking a Vacation

Due to work and a busy schedule, we missed a lot of the big public events celebrating Oktoberfest, including something called the Sausagefest over at Redhook Brewery, which would have been funny to have come up with multiple ways of sounding as juvenile as possible, had we gone. Instead, we celebrated the harvest season in our humble abode, with a Beer and Mushroom Sauce Chicken, served with Maple Bourbon Butternut Squash and Zucchini Fritters. Beer and liquor on the dinner table, together at last.

Oktoberfestivus for the Beer-Drinking Rest of us - Photo by Wasabi Prime

It was also a chance to use recipes from two local cookbooks -- the zucchini fritters from Lorna Yee and Ali Basye's Newlywed Cookbook  and the carrot cake recipe from The Grand Central Baking Book, a favorite Seattle bakery sharing its secrets in a really amazing book. The zucchini fritters were a great way to use the last major harvest from our garden, as our zucchini is on its final push. As a side dish, they were a nice savory cake to enjoy with the main course before we were promptly stuffed silly with slices of rich, cream cheese frosting-topped carrot cake.

The main course was simple enough -- chicken breasts pounded flat and a simple mushroom sauce made with a beer reduction, similar to a marsala wine sauce, just substituting a rich flavored beer like a porter or dark ale. Butternut squash was roasted down with a drizzle of maple syrup and bourbon, and then buzzed with cream into a smooth puree for a pretty presentation.

Meet your maker, Mr. Zucchini - Photo by Wasabi Prime

We weren't alone in our Oktoberfeasting -- Mr. Wasabi had just harvested his home-grown hops, so we had our homebrew friends Mr and Mrs. K  + J over to both talk about and drink beer. We sampled some older beers Brock had made, as well as enjoyed a cocktail or two, mixing our alcohol much like the meal. But it was on a full stomach, so don't worry, liquor + food + beer = never fear.

Pan-fried garden goodness - Photo by Wasabi Prime

As to the second part of the post title -- yes, the Prime is taking some time. Off, that is, so Peace-OUT till the end of the month. It's that great time of year when it's before the holidays so airfare hasn't gotten to the point where I need to sell an organ just to visit my family in Hawaii, so I'm taking off these next couple of weeks to spend time with Wasabi Mom and Dad in Hilo-town. But never fear, I will remain active via Twitter (@WasabiPrime) and plan to intake massive amounts of Island Grindz and whatever Wasabi Mom is feeling like cooking -- it never matters because everything tastes so ono when you're with family. I will also be around for at least one University of Hawaii football game, which my parents always host a gathering for, so send some wishes of good luck for UH on their game at Utah State on Saturday the 23rd. While I didn't go there for school, I still want to show some ohana for the 'Bows. Go Warriors!

Carrot cake - the best way to eat your veggies - Photos by Wasabi Prime

OMG a Recipe: Maple Bars, er... Buns

Homer Simpson, your Elysian Fields await, and they're covered with sprinkles. Lara Ferroni's new cookbook, simply and sweetly titled, Doughnuts, pretty much says it all. OK, so the full title is Doughnuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home, but really now, be honest, she had you at "Doughnuts," right?

Fresh-baked doughnuts, where nothing is wasted, not even the hole! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I had the wonderful opportunity to get a look at Lara Ferroni's mouth-watering and beautifully photographed book about everyone's favorite breakfast treat. Going through the book, it's a collection of luscious imagery that stir up sugar-spun memories of childhood. Seeing the stacks of colorful glazed beauties made me think back to the mornings when my mom would take me with her on her grocery run to the Lucky's Market, and we'd stop off at the Winchell's doughnut place nearby. The twisty shapes and chocolate-covered delights were tempting, but I'd always get the same glazed doughnut bedecked and bedazzled with bright hues of pink, orange and green sprinkles. She'd ask if I wanted something else, offer up something new for my sugar-addled palate to try, but I'd never falter from that sprinkled choice. I have very vivid memories of those seemingly humdrum grocery store mornings, made all the more special and bright with a little pastry treat before going home. When I think of glazed doughnuts, I think of simple pleasures, and a lovingly indulgent Mom.

Fast forward many years and a wider selection of doughnut appreciation under my rapidly tightening belt, I was eager to try out a recipe in Lara Ferroni's book, to share with visiting friends. Doughnuts are traditionally a fried pastry, giving it that light, buttery crispness that we've all come to love, and I was pleased to see there were a couple of baked doughnut recipes in the book. It's also a gluten-free-friendly book, offering recipes that use alternatives to wheat flour. The doughnut dough itself is fairly basic, with just a few variations, and it's more about the ways one dresses it up with toppings and glazes. Just consider the doughnut the Little Black Dress in breakfast pastry-land, where accessories can change the look of it for any occasion. S'more Doughnut? Yes, please.

Books and Buns - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I went with the baked doughnut recipe, which was basically a sweet yeast dough that rises to the occasion. I know, it's best enjoyed fried, but I didn't want to be fussing with hot oil that early in the morning, before the coffee had fully kicked in. The baked doughnut not as light as its fried counterparts, with the recipe accurately describing the finished texture as a bit like a bagel. But it's not so sturdy that you want to smother it in cream cheese -- once baked, it remains tender and best enjoyed still-warm. I don't have a doughnut cutter, so I tried my hand at making DIY maple bars, as the book has a recipe for a maple glaze. Unlike the store-bought maple bars, the finished glaze isn't a food-coloring caramel, but a more natural, opaque ivory that hardens to a nice sweet shell over the finished doughnuts.

Clearly, my maple bars were more like maple buns. I didn't want to over-handle the dough by forcing it into a long bar shape, so I just made little loafy-looking things. They rose up and baked into puffy zeppelins and once glazed they looked a bit like frosted loaves of bread. I don't care. They were delicious and with fresh brewed cups of coffee, my friends and I enjoyed every bit of their maple bar/bun goodness.

Check out the recipes for yourself and wander back down your childhood memories when you pick up a copy or twelve of Lara Ferroni's new book, Doughnuts. If you want to see more freshly-made doughy sweetness and book giveaways, check out these amazing bloggers on a virtual pastry tour:

Oct 12—CakeSpy
Oct 17—The Sophisticated Gourmet
Oct 21—Cannelle and Vanille
Oct 25—Cream Puffs in Venice

UnRecipe: Chasing Summer's Shadow

Our scale is broken, or needing a battery replacement, and it's probably just as well because I've been on a serious baking/dessert kick, no thanks to the fleeting days of summer. I feel like a bear fattening up for winter, I just need to find a cozy cave to crawl into for the next few months. The balmy sunny season seemed to have made a hasty exit, stage left, but in its wake were some fleeting handfuls of blackberries, which I put to good use. Exit summer, enter Blackberry Clafoutis and Buttermilk Blackberry Ice Cream Float in Lavender Soda.

Clafoutis... Clafoutis Kline... (really bad "Overboard" botched quote) - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I've never made a clafoutis before, but it sounded fancy and I had a recipe lying around from a magazine. It's like a big, fruity souffle you make in a pan, dotted with fresh summer fruit. I should have had more blackberries and a smaller pan, as my clafoutis turned into a skinny, puffy pancake. It was still delicious, don't get me wrong, but it was stretched too thin and more crepe than cake. Dusted with confectioner's sugar, I honestly didn't care, and its thin-ness only served to provide my brain with the unhealthy logic that it's totally okay to eat half of it in one sitting. I will revisit this dessert and improve on technique to make a proper clafoutis, so consider the dessert gauntlet thrown.

The last of the summer berry haul resulted in me and the ice cream machine, yet again. I love homemade ice cream, what can I say? This latest creation had a buttermilk custard churned with cooked down, sweetened blackberries. It all kind of came together tasting of a berry cheesecake, which is never a bad thing. You know what else isn't a bad thing? A big scoop of that ice cream sitting in seltzer water flavored with lavender simple syrup. If that doesn't taste like pure summer I don't know what does! While the last of the blackberries are gone, it's a nice flavor memory to keep around and a nice reminder of what to look forward to next year.

Blackberry mania at Wasabi Kitchen - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: Heeding the Primal War Cry of FOOD NINJA

It was a dark and stormy night... I was approached by a wandering stranger, wise in the ancient ways of Food Ninjas, to take part in something mysterious and powerful... and it went a little something like this...

Yes, you nerd, those are d20 gem dice - Photo Dramatization by Wasabi Prime

So maybe the introduction into being a Food Ninja didn't really happen like this, given the fact that I am not a pink and white eraser shaped like a hamster. A girl can dream, can't she? I was introduced to the ways of the Food Ninja by none other than foodie friend and blogger, Salty Seattle, aka Linda Nicholson, who looks both stunning and deadly, wielding her fierce kendo swords and her even more fierce disco-fro. If you want to know the full details about just what it means to become one with the stealthy art of food fabulousness and how to enter a TOTALLY AWESOME CONTEST, read her Food Ninja post and get your creative thought-cells pinging over what you can do to show off your inner Food Ninja skills. And if you just want to stay up to speed about what's going on in the Food Ninja world, follow the ninja shenanigans (ninja-nanigans..?) over Twitter with the hashtag #FoodNinja.

My way of getting my Food Ninja swerve-on was to incorporate the favorite flavors of tea into a breakfast muffin. The bright citrus burst of orange. A tall, dark and handsome charm of fennel seed. The sultry round flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. All baked together in a hearty muffin that will get your morning moving. But there's Food Ninja Stealth involved in this muffin... something you can't see... something the aromatic flavors deceive you with...What's missing?! you ask, frantically looking all over, wondering if you'll suddenly be attacked from all sides by nearly invisible assailants.

Food Ninja Spiced Muffins - my throwing stars are hidden underneath! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

The missing ingredient is... gluten. And the stealthy ingredients are a mix of sorghum flour, xanthan gum, and an all-purpose gluten free flour mix that has a combination of rice, sorghum and tapioca flours. Gluten-free baked goods are by no means a new thing, it's just something new I wanted to try in my own kitchen, as I have several friends who have developed wheat intolerances over the years. This was my first foray into gluten-free baking and hope to improve on my Food Ninja skills to feel truly at ease with the Do of Gluten-Free Mojo.

I'm including this fledgling gluten-free recipe, which was patchworked together from reading other recipes and suggestions over subbing-out wheat flour. The orange fennel and spice flavor was something I'd wanted to do in a baked item, and this seemed like a good way to test it out, as it would be a really heavy flavor that would need to be in something hearty. This recipe produces a dense muffin, like a whole-grain bran, but the flavor is good. I'm keen to improve on this recipe, so I may play around more with the flour combinations, using less sorghum, as I know it's a heavier, protein-rich flour and the rice flour would probably lighten things up a bit. Xanthan gum sounds strange and factory-made, but it's a natural carbohydrate that's made from fermented sugars; it's in a lot of gluten-free baking recipes as it gives that nice chewy texture that gluten normally provides, and you can buy it by the bag in a natural food store or the gluten-free section of your grocery store.

Overall, I was pleased with this early foray into gluten-free baking and aim to improve as I familiarize myself with the way different flours interact in doughs and batter. Being able to bake yummy things in a gluten-free way will just feel like another Food Ninja skill in an arsenal of weapons used for fighting off the evil horde of boring meals!

Food Ninja Gluten-Free Orange Fennel Spice Muffin
(makes 10-12 muffins)

Dry Ingredients
1 cup all purpose gluten free flour
1 cup sorghum flour
3/4 tablespoon xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
2.5 tablespoons of orange zest (about two oranges' worth)
4 tablespoons of fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the flours together, including the xanthan gum and sift into a bowl. Grind the fennel seeds in a spice mill or using a mortar and pestle to break down the seeds into small bits. Add in the fennel, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all the other dry ingredients. Mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, orange zest and juice, egg and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly add the wet to the dry ingredients, mixing until fully incorporated, but do not overmix. The final batter will be thick and sticky, more like a cookie dough.

 Divide the dough between a muffin pan lined with paper muffin cups and place into the preheated oven to bake. Full baking time should take between 15 and 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Rotate muffin tin halfway through to ensure even baking. Enjoy with your morning coffee or tea before you leave for your daily ninja rituals.

Do you like my muffin top? It's gluten-free, baby - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: Wasabi Calls in Sick and Stops to Smell the Roses

It had been a while since the Prime felt under the weather. It’s always the same old thing – you start feeling the hint of a cold creeping up, so you get into defensive ninja mode with vitamin C, tea, and most likely extra rest. Inevitably, this SWAT team action tends to nip the icky feeling in the bud, however as un-luck would have it, I was ignoring the signs, especially after some work was ramping up and really putting things into crunch mode, plus it happened to be the week Mr. Wasabi was gone on a business trip. From Friday through Sunday, I lost a weekend and had to be a lame-o bail-out on several parties and gatherings with friends as a result of my feeling under the weather. In retrospect, the house arrest was probably what I needed to keep from being a total maniac with my to-do list clutched in a white-knuckled fist.

Feeling sick? Homemade pizza cures everything - Photo by Wasabi Prime

One would think having the house to oneself would be peaceful -- and it was -- but the Workaholic Wasabi rests for no one, and realized that one of the best things about Brock is that he forces me to slow down and disengage from the day. Without him, I'm a dervish whirling at Tazmanian Devil speed, wondering when I'll spontaneously combust, but more than likely it just makes me sick. In the feeling of not-so-greatness, I was blessed with a couple of things -- some extra time to just indulge in comfort food and a visit with a friend who brought incredible roses from her mother's garden.

Stop and smell the roses, dammit - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I used to think giving flowers was somewhat bittersweet -- they're lovely when you have them, but then you're faced with that inevitable task of disposing the wilted, dead blooms after their moment in the spotlight is over. I stopped sending my mom flowers for Mother's Day and would just send practical things like a new set of knives or a couple of Silpats. But flowers?? What's the point? Everything dies, youth fades -- oh, the humanity of it all! Oh, enough, already. I've gotten over that fatalist bummer point of view because, for heaven's sake, flowers are pretty, they smell nice and they really do brighten up a room. Especially when you've got a bouquet so huge you can split them into two smaller ones and it decorates twice the space! When a friend like Miss Shutterbug, aka, the Fabulous Sabrina (check out her portrait work!) comes over with a giant bouquet of flowers and shares a bit of caprese-inspired pizza while watching Pride and Prejudice with an under-the-weather friend, that's the best medicine that money can never buy.

FoodTrek: Under the Sea with Eric Rivera at Blueacre

I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating because one of the best things about writing a food blog is it gives you the opportunity to meet incredible people who draw back the curtain of their lives and share their passions. And they can be pretty damn funny dinner companions, to boot. I had the pleasure of hanging out with Eric Rivera of Eric Rivera's Cooking Blog (@ericriveracooks on Twitter), and his fabulous wife Mindy, at the cool-as-the-sea Blueacre Seafood in the bustling heart of downtown Seattle.

Get your dose of "Vitamin Sea." So smart, I wish I thought of that.  - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I was lucky to have a personalized culinary guided tour of Blueacre's menu from Eric, who would know it best as he sees it from behind the scenes every night, and knows what items are the bomb-diggity. I honestly love any opportunity to just cast a menu aside and say, "what would you like to serve up?" Especially at a place that specializes in the goods from the sea, where freshness prevails and whatever was recently swimming, squirming or using its invertebrate muscular foot to toodle around is probably the best bet for a om-nom-a-riffic fate.

This was an especially good experience for me, because I'm not a good seafood eater in that I didn't grow up eating it. I'm very much a seafood-n00b. It also probably means I should give up my Asian Card because we're supposed to dig that stuff to the max and I'm some genetic anomaly that should be tagged, bagged and kept for study. I can do the American thing and blame my parents, or more specifically my dad who never liked much seafood, so we never had it when I was growing up. But I realize it's a stupid, finicky thing and I've been trying to enjoy more seafood and eventually work my way up towards learning to prepare it more in our own kitchen. Hello, 2011 resolution.

Om-nom-nomming with my new/old iPhone - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Something I'm trying to appreciate more is oysters on the half shell, and I can thank Team Rivera and Blueacre for a really beautiful experience of a gorgeous platter surrounded with pearlescent mollusk goodness. I was able to try two different Kumamotos, which I'd had before and loved their creamy, smaller sizes -- at least the local ones I'd eaten previously. California ones are apparently a bit bigger and they have a fuller, briny flavor, but maintain a rich creamy texture. Anthony Bourdain wasn't just waxing poetic when he'd slurp an oyster and look all dreamy-eyed -- they really do taste like the sea; a beautiful savory, full flavor that's like that first startling breath you take when you approach the ocean and the surf is high. It's like King Neptune just smacked you in the face. And you liked it.

Eric ordered up several favorites to sample, including the Green Curry Mediterranean Mussels, Totten Inlet Manila Clams in Purgatory, Ultimate Jumbo Lump-Dungeness Crab Cake and the Potatoes Mineapolis. We also got to enjoy a special customized version of their "Angry Crab," with a shrimp swap-out, making it a great sharable seafood plate sprinkled with toasted garlic chips and spicy serrano slices, soaking in an incredible sauce that was both citrus-fresh and richly spicy. Actually, all the sauces were amazing -- the coconut-sweet green curry sauce with the mussels and the purgatory clams in a smoky chorizo sauce were so flavorful, it was hard not to resist the urge not to order up a whole loaf of bread to just soak every last drop of it. The giant cake of crispy potatoes was like a dessert, it was so indulgent. Who doesn't love those buttery crispy bits on the tops of hashbrowns? Well, this is like a whole mack-daddy pancake of buttery crisp goodness, sprinkled with bacon and a dollop of sour cream. You'll want to marry this thing and have little tater tots with it when you see it. It was a great side dish to go alongside all the shellfish, just to mix things up with texture, plus the smokiness of the bacon bits went nicely with the chorizo flavors in the other dishes.

My only regret was not having my "grown up" camera. I left the Canon at home, because I fear it's like a huge beast of a distraction, plus I recently became the hand-me-down recipient of Brock's old iPhone now that he finally upgraded. I wanted to take it out for a spin and see how it would do as an "in a pinch" camera. It did OK, but I'll haul in the Canon Beast next time, just to give the food its proper due. Distraction be damned -- the food is ready for its closeup, Mr. DeMille.

Hey Spartacus, check out these clams! Oh, baby!  - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Of course beyond the wonderful food and seeing the cool, fast-paced world Eric gets to inhabit every day, it was an absolute treat to witness another story of a person who has taken life by the reigns and is boldly following their own star. Eric's story is similar to many others who first pursued the sensible path that everyone says one should do, and then one day the path undergoes a corrective detour and "should" becomes "want," and a totally new adventure is underway that enriches the soul. Eric's enthusiasm for his culinary craft is unmistakable, just by looking at his blog and reading his tweets, he's thriving at being a student of life, learning new skills and taking leaps that not only push him forward but inspire others to do the same. And he's blessed with a wife and family who support his dream and cheer his achievements. Plus I'm sure it's pretty nice to have a culinary school graduate and kitchen professional in the family, as you will never have a boring meal or stare blankly into the fridge and sigh that there's nothing to eat.  And no, closing the fridge and opening it again a minute later won't make something good just "appear." Believe me, I've tried, and it no worky.

Much Wasabi Thanks to Eric and Mindy for being so awesome, as well as the ninja skillz of Blueacre Seafood for preparing a fantastic meal that's helping my education towards "Vitamin Sea" appreciation.