Mixed Plate: The Gospel of Breakfast

I hear it time and time again: Breakfast is the Best Meal. And you know what? It's 100% True. You may as well write that into every holy book out there, canonize it for future generations, not that they won't already know and accept this to be the gospel of meal enjoyment. And I know I can say that out loud, into the Bloggosphere, into the Inter-Webs and nary a peep of offense or complaint will surface. Because we know this simple fact to be true. So let us raise our hands and rejoice in the holy celebration that is Breakfast! Hallelujah!!

First there was darkness... then there was breakfast pastries from Essential Baking Co. - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Bring on the poisonous snakes for our ritualistic snake-handling dance and get ready to hurl those crutches aside, brothers and sistahs, it's time to revel in the glory and the power that is Breakfast. I'm not exaggerating on this, breakfast is really that good. I did a whole piece on it for my Sense Memory column for Honest Cooking months ago, and everyone had great reasons to share why breakfast is the bomb-diggety. They included wonderful things like: you can have it 24/7 at a lot of diners, it tastes good any time of the day, it's got the perfect combination of protein, starch and fat, and of course the most important reason -- you can drink in the morning and no one gives you a sidelong glance. It's the only reason Bloody Marys and Mimosas were created, to make morning alcoholism more fashionable. Plus there's fruit and vegetables in it, so it's like a serving of produce, really.

I have to think our idea of breakfast with eggs, bacon and hashbrowns is more of an American thing. I thought about this as I was getting breakfast with a group of friends after a particularly brutal night of Releasing the Kraken -- we all had visions of pile o' food dancing in our alcohol-pummeled heads. Our breakfasts are a distinctive mashup of European styles, English breakfast with French omelets and maybe some German sausage thrown in for good measure -- but it's all over-the-top. Mile-high pancakes covered in fruit, chocolate chips and whipped cream. Gravy piled on biscuits with cheese, egg and a mound of bacon. You never have just one egg, it's always four served at restaurants. Even though it's all one great cholesterol/fat bomb, we love it because it's got all the ingredients and flavors we crave. And it's a savior when you've got a wicked hangover.

Stare long enough, you'll get a sugar high - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Comedian Jim Gaffigan made a funny yet true observation: breakfast is the meal that allows you to have cake first thing in the morning. Don't deny it. A sweet cake full of chocolate chips or fruit is dessert, meant to be had at the end of any other meal, but no one bats an eye when you have that monster-sized chocolate chip or blueberry muffin, topped with sugary-sweet streusel crumbles. Or an icing-topped scone. Or some marvelously flaky, cinnamon-sugar-filled sticky bun covered with currants and chopped nuts. I'm the last person to complain about breakfast pastries, specifically because we're not obligated to call them "sugary sweets for breakfast." I was like a kid given the Golden Ticket to Willy Wonka's mildly disturbing Chocolate Factory when I was blessed with a wealth of pastries from Essential Baking Company. It was a true spoil of baked good riches, mostly breakfast sweets, like scones, muffins and flake pastries, but also their incredible monster-sized cookies, jammy thumbprint cookies and some of their fruit bars. 

I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille... - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Essential Baking Company is one of my favorite bakeries and I don't get to enjoy their marvelous goods nearly as much as I'd like -- and that's to my waistline's benefit, believe me. The fact that they've got a Bellevue cafe set up at the University Bookstore just adds more temptation every time I'm in that neighborhood. Fresh-baked artisan breads, sweet pastries, all the reasons you say Glory Hallelujah for Carbs and give up those supermodel almond-counting dreams. As much as I wanted to eat all my favorites in one sitting, I just saved my absolute favorites and packed the rest off with the Mister, so that he could share the wealth with workmates. I admit, I saved the best ones and hoarded it like Gollum, whispering My Precioussssss.... I gleefully rationed out the flaky butter croissant, cinnamon roll and sugar-dusted almond croissant across a few days, savoring each bite. I rarely have breakfast pastries, mostly because it's not worth the sugar crash and quite frankly, so few bakeries are as good as Essential, but when you get a chance to indulge, they are Top Gun, Best-of-the-Best, and will be your Wingman any breakfast morning. 

Perfect Sunday morning - latte at French Bakery, brunch at Trellis - Photos by Wasabi Prime

What I really love about breakfast is when it gets fancied up and becomes Brunch, which just makes breakfast a real event to soak up those last, precious moments of weekend freedom on a Sunday. I forgot how wonderful a true lazy brunch can be, but got a nice reminder a little while ago when I met some friends on a Sunday morning in Kirkland. We planned to meet up at Trellis, the restaurant below the Heathman Hotel, which has a fantastic breakfast menu full of locally-sourced seasonal goodies. I got there a little early and gave myself a little present of Me Time, getting a creamy latte at the French Bakery across the street. I was tempted to get one of their almond croissants, which is probably my favorite thing at The French Bakery, but knowing a proper brunching was the order of the day, I stuck with the latte, which is honestly a treat all on its own. To sit in a little cafe on a sleepy Sunday morning, sipping a latte while flipping through a magazine, it's a religious experience all its own. Very zen and just appreciating the present. Maybe not as zen as giving up all material possessions, donning a robe and living in an ashram at the top of a mountain for years, but hey, this is 21st Century Zen, complete with a pretty foam drawing. By the time I got to Trellis, I was fully in the mindset to enjoy the morning with friends, have that Bloody Mary, and have a hearty omelet stuffed with goodies like cheese and avocado. And their free mini-doughnuts are a nice touch, too -- cheers to you, Trellis.

The weekend tradition of the Skillet Breakfast - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Most breakfasts for us are enjoyed in our own kitchen. And they're hardly as eventful as a restaurant brunch. It's very low-maintenance, I don't dirty more than one skillet at a time, which is why I tend to call this mish-mash meal our usual Weekend Skillet Breakfast. As long as I have eggs, cheese and milk, I can make something. It's usually chopped up vegetables or leftover meat cooked up in a skillet that gets some eggs mixed with milk poured over it, and then the whole pan goes into the oven. I sprinkle cheese over everything, right before it goes in, and right at the end, I turn on the broiler to give it a quick crispy topping. It's not the prettiest meal in the world, as I can never predict what will show up in the mix, so the ratio of ingredients can be totally off the charts. Many times, it's a Green Eggs and Ham hot mess, because there's a bunch of kale or chard thrown in. But it's tasty, hearty and goes well with coffee as we curl up on the couch, still in our robes, and watch some craptacular television. For us, this is why breakfast at home is a marvelous thing.

The makings of a delicious Breakfast-Monster - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I will try to mix things up now and then -- I had a chance to play around with Demitri's Bloody Mary seasonings and I had a Lightning Bolt moment in my brain: Bloody Mary Breakfast Sandwich! I wasn't necessarily trying to figure out a way to spike a sandwich and get a booze buzz off of it, but I saw the dry Rim Shot seasonings meant to flavor the edge of a Bloody Mary glass and thought that would nicely season some ground pork for a homemade breakfast sausage. A couple of tablespoons will do for a half pound of plain ground pork, letting the flavors soak in overnight before forming small patties to fit in between an English Muffin. I used the Bacon Salt flavored Rim Shot seasoning, so I skipped adding bacon to the sandwiches -- sounds like heresy, I know, but this flavoring had its share of smokiness and I didn't want it to be overwhelming. I did add ham, so there was more Divine Swine added to the sandwich, along with a fried egg and a smear of sun dried tomato pesto, to give a little nod to its Bloody Mary origins. 

The Breakfast Sandwich of Champions, thanks to Demitri's Bloody Mary salts - Photos by Wasabi Prime

A fried egg on a sandwich the size of a burger is great, there should be enough layers and overall surface area to absorb the inevitable yolk runoff. On a breakfast sandwich the size of an English Muffin... not so much. I lost most of the precious liquid gold yolk to the plate, which was easily mopped up with the sandwich, but it was messier than I would have liked. Upon making the Bloody Mary Breakfast Sandwich a few more times, I cooked the egg yolk to a more solid, pudding-like thickness, so its texture could be enjoyed with the sandwich itself. There's really no science or recipe-magic to any of this, the main thing is making your own breakfast sausage patty by seasoning it with whatever marvelous flavors you can find. I heartily enjoyed this cocktail-inspired sandwich for Brinner, aka, Breakfast for Dinner, several nights in a row.

Baby quiche-cakes - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Breakfast inspires innovation, from cocktail sandwiches to individual hand-held quiches. The cupcake craze has resulted in all of us owning our share of cupcake tins. I have three different sizes: little bitty appetizer-sized tins, average just-right size, and Texas-sized muffin pans. These things have been dying to be used because no one wants cupcakes anymore, they're so sick of 'em. I was going to a brunch party at a friend's house and wanted to bring something easy to eat. This was also a housewarming gathering, so I didn't want to assume everything was unpacked. It wasn't a pastry-eating group, so I couldn't hit the Doughnut Button. I decided on little vegetable and cheese quiches, baked in cupcake tins for convenient pre-portioned eating; no nuts or gluten to keep it allergy-friendly and no meat in case there were vegetarians. All the food bases were covered. Everything worked out well -- I had eggs, a fresh bunch of chard, a mix of Parmesan and cream cheese to make it savory and creamy. The only hitch was I should have used muffin tin liners. Even if the quiches looked like weird, flat cupcakes in the liners, it would have kept me from soaking and scraping that damn cupcake tin fifty times, just to get all the little bits of egg off of it. Even with a spray of cooking oil, the egg stuck to the metal like glue. I was able to get the quiches out with a bit of finessing, but the eggy residue was like drywall spackle on that tin. Lesson learned, and let it be a lesson to you out there -- muffin tin liners ARE YOUR FRIEND.

Cheers to Breakfasts of all sorts, the meal you cannot judge, even with a bottle of bourbon - Photos by Wasabi Prime

So to sum up this Breakfast Bohemian Rhapsody, it is the ideal meal for any situation, be it festive, humbly prepared at home, or a food intervention after drinking your weight in boozeahol. I love how it's the Little Black Dress that fits for any occasion, can be enjoyed day or night, and that a lot of diners all over the country recognize this appreciation for the Perfect Meal, serving it every hour of the day, with love, honor and respect. So raise them hashbrowns high and praise them over-easy eggs -- Hallelujah for Breakfast!

UnRecipe: Welcome to Egg-Thunderdome, Extra Bacon Please

"Two men enter. One man leaves." So sayeth the law of Thunderdome, a post-apocalyptic view of a savage future ruled by Tina Turner in a wicked chain mail evening gown with Aqua Net hair up to the heavens. And there's Mel "Mad Max" Gibson running around somewhere in all this, but when it comes to Thunderdome, it's all about Aunty Entity and her rag-tag band of pure crazytown. Dystopia met suburbia a few weeks ago when I made breakfast for a friend and created Egg Thunderdome, where many were sacrified in the almighty name of Breakfast. We don't need another hero, we just want some freakin' poached eggs.

Two eggs enter, one and a half left! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I had promised a homemade breakfast for a friend and she was good enough to make the trek out to Middle of Nowheresville Duvall. She was game to have anything, which meant a MacGyver-like meal of whatever the CSA box had delivered that week. I made a crazy vegetable hash of onions, rainbow chard, mushrooms and spinach. Not particularly inspired, but we both love our veggies and they were delicious with a roasted pepper sauce and some eggs. One notable ingredient I'd never worked with before were sunchokes, aka Jerusalem artichokes. They're funny little root vegetables, apparenty related to the daisy -- the plants bloom with a flower that looks just like a yellow daisy. They look like a cross between ginger and potatoes, stubby little root-knots that need a really good scrub to get the dirt off, and they can be eaten raw or cooked. The flavor is similar to an artichoke, sort of mossy and fresh, but with a root vegetable texture. I've had them sliced thin and fried, made into sunchoke chips, which are wonderful snacks. I didn't have any potatoes, so I used the sunchokes the way you would the typical tuber, cleaned, diced and pan-seared. They were mixed in with the vegetable hash and softened. In this mix, their flavor wasn't particularly pronounced, but I didn't have many sunchokes to work with. If I wind up with more than a handful, I'd definitely want to try something else, like maybe shredding them, forming into pancakes and frying them up. I think the artichoke flavor would be more noticeable and they would taste perfect with a lemon-herb aioli. But we'll save that thought for another meal -- Thunderdome waits for no one.

Breakfast hash with CSA goodness and sunchokes - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Stuff got Real when I was trying some different methods to poach eggs. I know poaching eggs isn't difficult, it's a basic cooking method everyone should probably know, and while I've done it in the traditional low simmering water with vinegar, my poached eggs always look like a righteous mess. I've tried steaming eggs in oiled ramekins, letting indirect heat do the poaching -- this works, but you get oddly perfect shaped egg-pucks, since they form to the shape of the little bowls they cooked in. I've tried methods using the microwave, but that feels like Egg Deer Hunter -- sometimes it's fine, but sometimes it's a catastrophic mess, and that's stressful.

The low-heat, slow cooking method of sous vide has of course been all the rage these last few years, and for good reason, you get some really tender results from low temperature cooking. I looked at an old copy of Lucky Peach, the magazine put out by Momofuku's resident food-wizard, David Chang. He had this lovely article about slow-poached eggs. He described cooking the eggs in their shells using indirect heat, either a funky balancing act using double bowls in simmering water, or a steam basket. I tried the steam basket method but to Chang's point, he said it's hard to control the heat of the water on the stove -- you need really consistent low heat, like 60-65 degrees, which is crazy-low. My burners kept on their lowest setting, even using the steam basket, still overcooked the eggs for the most part. This is where Thunderdome came in -- several eggs entered the metal realm of battle, and very few made it to the breakfast plate. Not that the overcooked eggs were thrown out -- it just meant we had a bunch of soft-boiled eggs for the week.

This was by no means a failure. We still enjoyed oddly-cooked eggs over our breakfast hash, the meal was toasted with some lovely bubbles. I went for a straight-up raw egg yolk over my hash because I'm gangstah that way and it looked pretty for the photo. Despite the less-than-perfect results, it still got me thinking of other ways to slow-poach eggs in the shell without having a sous vide cooker. Heaven knows I don't need another gadget in an already overstuffed kitchen. I'm thinking of doing this again using a crock pot set to low, filled with water and a steamer basket set inside with some eggs. The worst that happens is I wind up with more soft-boiled eggs, but if it works, I'll definitely post the results. Consider Egg Thunderdome a work in progress!

Celebrating Egg Thunderdome in style, with classy bubbles - Photos by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: My Dinner With Cthulhu

It starts out simple enough, a basic craving for a basic dish... sear up some steak, fry a few eggs, an ad hoc hash of whatever vegetables are around... and then it gets weird. Downright Lovecraftian. And before you know it, a humble breakfast-for-dinner meal has a science fiction Chimera of your worst nightmares showing up on your plate, a culmination of humanity's anxious energy, a fear of the unknown... Hold fast, kids, you're Cookin' with Cthulhu.

Baked eggs with hash, before a mythological beast crashes the meal - Photo by Wasabi Prime

The desire to make steak, eggs and hash wasn't some culinary ritual to call up H.P. Lovecraft's creature of the eponymous story, Call of Cthulhu. It just sort of  happened on a quick plating of leftovers, and I'm saving that photo for last because it's freaky-deaky, and I don't want it to ruin the telling of a genuinely tasty breakfast hash. Honestly, who wants some skeevy tentacle-faced winged leviathan muscling-in on your quiet meal at home? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't say "please" when asking for seconds. He'd just pulverize your sanity and leave you an empty husk of a human being while he threw on extra dashes of Sriracha on your serving of Brinner. He'd probably watch all your DVR-ed episodes of Glee and just delete everything before you saw them. He'd even drink all the OJ and just leave one swallow in the carton before slinking off back to R'lyeh like a total d-bag. Thanks for nothing, Cthulhu.

Brinner done right - with steak and bad-ass hash - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I just wanted to make a Bad-Ass Breakfast Hash. Yes, that's a thing. It's a delicious thing. The CSA had a lot to do with it, providing a bevvy of veggies to play with, but I found a nice combination of produce that makes for a delicious and colorful hash. I like to start building the perfect Bad-Ass Breakfast Hash with the perfect bad-ass base, which is of course: Bacon. A couple of slices rendered in a large pan on a burner set to medium-low. Get all that delicious swiny fat pulled out, it's liquid cooking gold. Remove the crispy slices and set aside, they'll get thrown back in later if you don't just eat them as you cook, which is totally understandable if you do. Toss in some diced red potatoes with the skin still on, let them get a nice browning with the bacon fat. Start building flavor with diced onions and let them sweat and slowly caramelize. The next vegetables are as much for color as they are for flavor -- bell peppers (red and yellow are best, as they're sweeter) and the chopped stalks of rainbow chard. You'll throw in the green leaves of the chard later, but the stalks are edible, they need extra cook time to get tender, and their color stays for the most part. It kind of reminds me of cooking rhubarb; you don't keep the intense color, but it won't brown, instead mellowing to a pastel color. I get a lot of crap for cooking Brown Food, and while there's some brown/neutral tones in this hash, the peppers and chard keep it pretty. Adding the chopped greens of the chard towards the end, just to wilt, keeps the hash  looking fresh. A nice addition for keeping the flavor bright is finely-chopped preserved lemon rind -- I know, not a super common ingredient, but if you feel the hankering to jar up some excess lemon with a ton of salt, just check out the We Can Portlandia That post about pickling everything. I have to say, I'm addicted to the use of preserved lemon rind. I don't always have fresh citrus to zest, but a jar of salted lemons is mightily convenient for these UnRecipe MacGyver meals that  often come together with little planning or grocery shopping.

The hash that makes you hollaback fo' more - Photos by Wasabi Prime

You can't have steak and eggs without steak, of course. I used a flank steak. It's one of my favorite cuts, just because it's got a nice flavor and there's never a doubt over which direction the grain of the meat goes. As long as you're slicing across the lines of the grain, you will not get a tough bite. Getting a nice sear in a pan, ideally in the rendered bacon fat, is a good start. You just want to cook it rare and it will continue to steam a little, wrapped in foil, resting while the hash is getting cooked. You could skip the steak altogether, just going with eggs and bad-ass breakfast hash, but I had a hankering for red meat. When the hash was done, I sliced up the end cuts of the flank and tossed that into the hash, just because I could.The center rare part of the steak was saved for thin slices to go with the finished eggs and hash. I cracked eggs into ramekins of hash, baked in the oven. It's kind of like a mix between poached and fried eggs; still runny but sunny-side up with the yolk staring at you. If there's any crisps of bacon left, sprinkle as a garnish.

Sunny, runny egg yolk, is there nothing better in the world? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Despite all the Lovecraft pre-func on this post, it really wasn't until we had Brinner leftovers of steak, eggs and bad-ass breakfast hash that Cthulhu made an appearance. A lame attempt at being artsy, fanning out the reheated steak slices before topping everything with a couple of fried eggs had us staring right into the Face of Madness, before it was devoured by the Mouth of Madness. Such is the pitfall of our love of putting eggs on... well, everything. Call it Cthulhu, call it Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama, call it whatever you like. We just started into its terrifyingly mad sunny-side-up face and devoured the devourer of souls because dang, we were hungry.

Let's be honest, if this were the first photo, you'd have stopped reading the post - Food photo by Wasabi Prime





Mixed Plate: Om-nom-nomming the Town

Friends have brought up that I don't write as much about places I eat at. While it's true, I don't eat out as much as I used to, I still go on benders now and again, trying different things for assignments or just the rare treat of meeting friends for food and libations, heavy on the libationery. So I thought, why not do another all-you-cat-eat buffet of calorie-soaked goodness, showing some of the places I've visited over the last few months? Release the Kraken -- let's eat!

Teddy's Burgers make me happy, as do their tater tots - Photo by Wasabi Prime

People love hamburgers. And why shouldn't they? They're a meaty slice of Americana. Oddly, I never liked burgers when I was little; much like coffee, rare meat, liquor and chaotic decision-making skills, I acquired all that as an adult. But I love burgers now, and one of the places I like to visit is in Woodinville, called Teddy's Bigger Burgers. I've written about them before on Serious Eats and other publications because I genuinely like the spot. It's got a fun 50's feel to it, a really nifty saltwater fish tank, and you can customize the burgers, hence the "Bigger" in the name -- you can choose a 5, 7 or 9oz patty. It's a chain that originated in Hawaii and somehow made its way to the Pacific Northwest. Really delicious beef patties where you can taste the meat, they tell you up-front that it's going to be on the medium side, which of course keeps it tender and juicy. Their spicy tater tots are my favorite. If I really want to treat myself, I'll get one of their shakes -- they're made with thick ice cream and you feel like you're going to suck the eyes from your sockets from creating such a vacuum, trying to pull a sip through the straw, but that lets you know it's thick stuff and worth the effort. Patience, grasshopper, just let that bad boy soften a little while you're eating your burger.

Welcome to the Lab, experiment with the science of impulse control - Photos by Wasabi Prime

My other Burger-Indulge Mecca is the latest location for Lunchbox Laboratory, opened Eastside in Bellevue. I've had their legendary flavor-packed Kobe beef burgers before, but now it's just become a WMD a little closer to home, tempting my tastebuds towards calorie damnation with its siren song. Believe the hype, the burgers are incredible; they're on the pricier side, but they really respect the beef, along with other meats, since you can get non-beef burgers as well. I can't stop myself when I'm there, I just want to have a little of everything -- their daily mac n' cheese, both the tater tots and sweet potato fries, the burgers of course, and don't get me started on the milkshakes. You can spike the milkshakes with booze, and all I can think of is that Kids in the Hall skit about the Girl Drink Drunk, and I smile. This is what's wrong/right with America. And likely why I won't live to 100 but I'll sure be a happy, full-bellied camper when the Reaper comes a-knockin'. I was there for the preview night, right before they opened a few months ago, and it was the perfect way to have a little of everything without feeling ill. I need to head back for their happy hour, for smaller bites -- even their cute little happy hour burger in the drive-thru themed paper sleeve is tasty. If anyone wants to shout-out a burger and boozy milkshake happy hour, I'm there.


Hidden-find favorites always taste better - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Lunch breaks at work yield the best food finds -- you get the best discoveries when you're trading lunch spots with cubicle-mates. My favorite places are ones that friends have recommended, either for to-die-for sandwiches and/or quick but delicious food spots. And they're all located in strip malls! Don't discount the homogenized land of Strip Mall America. Most small eateries can't afford the rent of a standalone building in a cool, hip neighborhood. Hell, a lot of these places won't even take plastic, so always keep cash handy.

When I worked closer to Redmond, two of my lunch spot favorites were Herfy's Burgers and Yummy Teriyaki -- they don't even have websites, the links are to their Yelp pages if you want to check them out. Herfy's is tucked away in a ghetto-tastic strip mall, but don't judge a book by its cover, they do a tasty fish n' chips, as well as burgers. Another strip mall king, Yummy Teriyaki, has a cult following, usually with the Microsoft set. I was turned onto this place by the Mister and his old roommates. The Seattle area has the unofficial title of being the teriyaki take-out capital of the universe. Fine, maybe not the universe, but there's as many teriyaki places as there are Starbucks, so that's telling you something. I even shared my love for Yummy's spicy chicken in the March/April issue of 425 Magazine -- when they wanted a list of tasty spicy foods, how could I not include such a secret love shared by so many?

My other favorite spot is over in Factoria (the address says Bellevue, but it's Factoria -- gotta keep it real) -- ridiculously awesome deli sandwiches at Goldbergs' Famous Delicatessen. When the bread is like a clamshell ready to pop from so much deli meat stacked up inside, you have sandwich nirvana. This is more of a sit, relax, enjoy kind of lunch; save it for a weekend or an extra long lunch when the boss is out of town -- I've gotten the sandwiches to go, and they hold up fine, but having it right there, freshly prepared, is the way to go. Pencil in ample food coma time afterwards, maybe a nap. Goldbergs' has all the deli classics, but I really need to get over there one weekend to have their breakfast. I was eyeballing their morning menu and it all looked good. I haven't had a classic Eggs Benedict in a while, and they seem like the place who would do it up right.

Date nights and bountiful breakfasts - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Usually dinners out are reserved for "Date Night," and the Mister and I often head to Adam's NW Bistro and Brewery because hells bells, the food is tasty, and it's close to home, just in the neighboring city of Monroe. Our last Date Night there was right before they changed their winter menu over to spring -- I'm sad to see their slow-cooked beef shortribs go, but the brighter flavors of spring and more seafood are here. They have a happy hour, which has really tasty small plates, and that's a nice way to graze your way through more things, as their portions are generous. Not that I wouldn't want to commit to another giant plate of beef shortribs, but since we don't go out as much, I'm more for eating additional flavors versus a ton of one thing. Another great Date Night spot is in line with the hidden finds of Strip Mall America -- Pomegranate Bistro is like the best little secret in Redmond. It's a secret everyone knows about, as it's always packed to the gills. It's in an office park, totally unassuming at first glance. Because owner and chef Lisa Dupar runs a catering company as well, it's like a dual operation -- nice dining area, and big windows for you to watch her catering crew make tasty things in the huge kitchen and prep area. I prefer going here for breakfast; it's got livelier energy and it's perfect timing to see her pastry chefs make craveworthy desserts. I saw them putting the finishing touches on a chocolate cake the last time I was there, and I wanted to bust through the window to take it and make a run for it, Thelma and Louise style. FYI, they now have a bar and happy hour, bless their hearts. Pomegranate for cocktails and snacks? Sign me up.

I won't break through glass to steal chocolate cake, but I will break the diet rules for a crispy croissant now and then. I was reminded of the simple pleasure of a good pastry after meeting a friend and spending a low-key day browsing shops and not being under the gun for deadlines. We finished off our lazy day at The French Bakery, the one over at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, which by the way -- Best. Food Court. Ever. The fact that you can get Korean, Russian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai, Indian and Greek food, all in the same spot, it blows typical greasy pizza/hot dog stands out of the water. FYI, they're weird about taking photos in their food court -- they get fussy with people with cameras, so stick to your phone cameras if you want to snap pictures of food. The French Bakery is actually outside of the food court, with a street-facing storefront, but definitely head there when you're wanting something sweet. Their pastries are divine, but you have to go just to see their ginormous croissants. I'm guessing they're like party-sized pastries, because they're literally the size of a cake. They're not shaped any differently, just imagine a flaky croissant zapped with a Make-Me-Giant ray gun. And yes, I was tempted to get one and just eat it myself in secret, powdered sugar-dusted carbohydrate shame.

So for those who think I never leave the kitchen, I do wander out periodically, and in the last few months, this is what my appetite had found! What's the latest thing you've eaten that you really enjoyed?  

OMG a Recipe: A Waffle-y Big Adventure

I blame the punchy buzz of morning coffee for doing a post mash-up about waffles and a 1995 Hugh Grant/Alan Rickman movie called An Awfully Big Adventure. It makes for a somewhat pun-ny post title, and maybe one could argue these Spiced Waffles with Greek Yogurt and Apple Compote have sweetness cut with a bit of tart sourness -- much like the movie -- but that would be really stretching relevancy, no? Meh... let's just continue on this waffle-y bad pun.

I waffle for homemade waffles - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I actually put together this breakfast combo a while back, when family was in town last spring. Call them vintage waffles. I meant to post the recipe sooner, but if you write a blog, you know how life happens, posts back up, and then you find yourself trying to make this stuff look freshy-fresh when you know you made this thing like, a year ago. But it doesn't mean it's bad, quite the contrary, as I was reminded I should make these again when there's a brunch needing to be had. I wanted to make an apple pie-inspired of waffle, substituting Greek yogurt for ice cream. You could make it more dessert-like and used whipped cream, but the goal behind this particular breakfast combination was to balance a little bit of health with treat-value. The waffles are made from whole wheat and oat flour; there's still eggs and butter in it, so it's not totally health-conscious, but I tried to keep the sugar content low, knowing it would be topped with fruit. I prefer using a Belgian waffle iron -- I love the big-toothed grid, leaving larger spots for other flavors to seep in -- but any ol' waffle iron would do. You could make these as pancakes, the conversion is included in the recipe below, but come on -- drag that waffle iron out. It's lonely. It needs to feel useful, no matter how much of a pain it is to clean. And that's the thing about waffles -- you make it in large batches, so that's why it's great to feed a small group you're entertaining on a Sunday.

The movie you shouldn't see while entertaining guests is the post's namesake -- An Awfully Big Adventure. I linked the preview if you want to get a peek, but let me assure you, the charming preview was the exact opposite of what the story was. It was marketed as a clever comedy, and I got roped in by the perennial charms of Alan Rickman. Frankly, I was a little scarred for life after seeing it. I know it was years ago when I rented it on Ye Olde VHS format, but to this day, I still have a little bit of a beef with this movie. It went from slightly melancholic British comedy to "whoa, things got super-dark, super-fast," leaving you with the feeling that maybe you should make some warm and toasty waffles with a comforting apple compote to calm your disturbed nerves. Or make a really stiff drink, repeat as necessary. It wasn't a bad movie, the performances were all very solid and the story was quite compelling, but dangit, I was expecting something sweet and got the equivalent of a punch in the face. But at least I got to use it as a play on words for a waffle post; build those bridges one carb at a time.

How breakfast feels like dessert - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Spiced Waffle Mix
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour (oatmeal ground up in food processor
to flour consistency)
2 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
2 tbsp pumpkin spice powder
Wet Ingredients:
2 cups water or milk
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

This mix can be used for pancakes if you don’t have a waffle iron, just reduce the butter/oil amount to 4 tablespoons.

You can also mix the dry ingredients ahead of time to always have a pancake/waffle mix handy for future use, and then add the wet ingredients when you’re ready to prepare them.

To make the waffles, sift all the dry ingredients together in one bowl. In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Slowly drizzle the wet ingredients in with the dry, mixing until just incorporated – it’s OK if there’s a few lumps in the mix. Do not over mix or the waffles will be tough.

Spiced Apple Compote
3 small Granny Smith apples, skinned, cored and diced
4 tablespoons of butter
½ cup of sugar
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg

In a sauté pan, heat to medium high and melt butter. Add in the sugar and stir until the sugar melts down and begins to caramelize into a light brown. Add the diced apples and continue to stir, cooking down the apples, releasing most of their liquid and becoming soft and almost translucent. When the apples are fully cooked down, resembling the filling in an apple pie, add the vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg, mixing well. Turn off the heat and serve compote immediately over waffles or pancakes, or refrigerate and reheat until ready to serve.

This is also good served with plain yogurt. You can serve the compote spooned over a dollop of Greek style yogurt, on top of the spiced waffle for a sweet breakfast.

UnRecipe: Happy Brunch-Day to You

I don't know who invented the concept of brunch. It was likely some restauranteur who had a fondness for late Saturday nights and equally late Sunday morning breakfasts to cradle the hungover masses with copious amounts of greasy protein. Or maybe it was someone who just likes breakfast for every meal. I'm gonna have to go with option B.

Stick a candle in this mofo and make a brunchy birthday wish! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I'm all for any meal that justifies cake (or coffee cake) as a main course and allows for alcoholic beverages before noon without judge-y stares. It's also a nice way to celebrate someone's birthday. A while back we had a little brunch gathering at the house. It's tricky to get people together, lives are busy and a lot of our friends have young children or new babies, so the days of late-night wine-ing and dining aren't necessarily over, just a little harder to put on the books. So instead of evening gatherings, we do the dine and wine in the morning, under the socially acceptible umbrella of brunch. Mimosas for my homies!

Another nice thing about brunch is it widens the margin for what to serve. Sure, there's the typical eggs n' bacon offerings, but I've done chicken and waffle brunches, and gone the Hawaiian route to locomoco-it with eggs, rice, hamburger and gravy. There's nothing that's off limits, and when in doubt, the old adage of throwing a fried egg on something will convince crowds it's breakfast-acceptible. Brunch is like a bright, wide, delicious future waiting to happen. And so I made pulled pork BBQ over corn fritters for a birthday brunch gathering. And yes, I Put a Bird's Egg on It. Twice. With the lid off.

Pulled pork with pancakes - the only reason to wake up early in the morning - Photos by Wasabi Prime

If you've been following the blog, you of course realize I was inspired by the BBQ pork pancakes from Hogshack in Richmond, BC. It wasn't convenient for me to drive several hours north and leave the USA, so I just paid them homage by this brunch and recommended friends to check them out the next time they're visiting the Great North. As for the birthday cake, it was a coffee cake baked from the Grand Central Bakery cookbook, probably one of my favorite collection of recipes that will totally rock your socks off. I recommend folks picking up this book. I would have included the recipe for the pulled pork and corn cakes, but everything was sort of modified, just due to some dietary needs of guests. I'm trying to learn how to cook with less sugar and salt, finding different ways of seasoning food and just being more conscious of ingredients that have any kind of pre-preparation, which often has a lot of hidden sodium for preservation purposes. I know it sounds really restrictive, keeping salt, sugar and carbohydrates in check, but I do think it's a good exercise to think about food and seasonings as wholly as possible. It doesn't stop  me from enjoying salty, sugary goods now and then, but this meal was a good way to think simply, but not feel like anyone was missing out. That's a good way to ensure many more birthdays and brunches to come.

UnRecipe: Put a Bird's Egg On It

The Portlandia "Put a Bird On It" meme has certainly seen a lot of mileage, but I'd like to start a new, more delicious meme of Put a Bird's Egg On It. Seriously. It just makes food better. See...?

If you liked it then you shoulda put an egg on it - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Truthfully, I welcome any excuse to make pasta carbonara. I rather like saying "pasta carbonara" because it sounds far superior to "eggs n' bacon with noodles." Italians do scrappy leftovers with style, si? I actually made this heaping dish of happiness a while back, using some farm fresh eggs with ridiculously bright yellow yolks. If you ever have the opportunity to get a hold of fresh eggs, do so -- you'll notice the richness of the flavor and just the look of the yolks are eye-popping. Sunshine-yellow, creamy yolk-y goodness. Not that you can't enjoy this dish with grocery store eggs, but yowza, that color. Too pretty, right?

As you can tell, I'm all over the place on these posts in terms of when dishes were made -- the eggs were originally from Once in a Blue Moon Farm, out on Orcas Island, when we made our late spring trek out there. Even as hard-boiled eggs, they were delicious, enjoyed with some cured meat and fresh bread from the local bakery. Not that it's news to anyone, but the simplest high-quality ingredients can be all you need for a really good meal. And it doesn't need a lot of prep time. In the case of hard boiled eggs with some meat and cheese, the most amount of time spent is getting the water to boil, and that's plenty of time to slice up some things and pour yourself a glass of wine. You'll be on glass number two by the time the eggs are done.

Thanks for the nomz, chickens - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Another simple, but tried-and-true meal of enjoyment is, of course, Brinner. Breakfast for Dinner, as coined by the TV show, Scrubs. Maybe this term existed before, but no one relished it quite like the character Turk, who would celebrate with glee when his girl would make it. Maybe it's a guy thing. Or maybe it's the fact that there's a reason breakfast is the one meal that diners and greasy spoon restaurants serve it at all hours -- it just tastes really good. I had made a skillet hash of cubed ham, sweet potatoes, onions and whatever else we had in the crisper, cooked some bacon in the oven, and served it all up with fried eggs on top. All around 6pm on a Sunday night. It's kind of a lazy night. You know you have to go to work the next day and for most people, breakfast is really celebrated on the weekends, since you actually have the luxury of time to either make it or go out for a nice sit-down meal. So having fried eggs with hash for dinner is a nice way of saying, break the rules and enjoy the simple things. All thanks to putting a bird's egg on it.

Sunday Brinner - Photo by Wasabi Prime

FoodTrek: Avast Ye, Wasabi -- a Feast by Sea

Despite the pirate-themed title, there was no walking of planks, nor were there any shivering of timbers. There wasn't even a pegleg. Yarrrrr. But for my last post chronicling the most recent visit to the land of Hawai'i, I had to devote the final Aloha oi to the deep blue seas that surround the tropical islands. The beaches and crashing waves of the surrounding seas is what brings most people to the islands, so let the saline spray of  days spent on the water (and hearty meals to fuel the day) be the sendoff for this exotic escape.

Starting the day at Kamakahonu Bay in Kailua-Kona -- Photo by Wasabi Prime

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the most responsible eater. My breakfasts generally tend to include coffee, coffee, and maybe a side of coffee. Oh, more coffee? Yes, please. I know, it's the breakfast of computer jockey champions, right? But when you've got a big day of activities planned, it's fine to go for the gusto and have hearty breakfasts to energize your gut for the rest of your day. Hawai'i is the only place where I can use the somewhat weaksauce justification that fruit or cream-filled malasadas is the right way to start the day.

Malasadas from Tex's in Honoka'a and some keen finds at Kona's Lava Java - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Wilford Brimley had no idea what he was talking about when he was crowing about oatmeal. Fried, sugar-dusted pillows of pastry dough stuffed with Bavarian cream or guava jelly is, as the wisdom of Bat Country-fried Charlie Sheen would say: Duh...winner. On the drive over to the western side of the island from Hilo, I stopped off at Tex Drive In, in Honoka'a, where the food is truly Ono Kine because the sign clearly states it. It's a little unassuming coffee shop clearly favored by the locals for pleasantly lazy breakfasts, as the outdoor tables all have coffee mugs full of Trivia Pursuit cards, a sign that they want you sit for a spell. It's gotten national attention for its filled malasadas; I think spiky-haird Guy Fieri from Food Network descended upon this place at one point and bequeathed his backwards sunglass-wearing mojo upon them. The malasada pastry itself isn't anything new -- you can get these beignet-like doughnuts originally brought over by the Portuguese from just about any local bakery. The addition of a thick, pudding-like chocolate or vanilla cream or local fruit jelly is a Tex's thing, because I don't think most bakeries do this. It may seem like gilding the lily, as it's already sugar-coated fried dough, and while I personally am a malasada purist who prefers it the un-filled way, this breakfast was purely in the interest of food reasearch. Which of course means the calories from that rich vanilla Bavarian cream-filled malasada totally didn't count. But all research trials must be repeated to fully determine its results... so repeated visits Tex's to further such studies is most certainly warranted. Food research, people! Get with it.

Monster cinnamon rolls for monster appetites at Lava Java - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Another breakfast-with-gusto spot that totally hits the spot is Island Lava Java, right along Kona's Ali'i Drive. It came with the recommendation of both visitors and locals, and it did not disappoint. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, but I used them as my go-to for breakfast, as well as a souvenir shop. I picked up a few necklaces with painted ceramic charms made by a gal who used to work there and sells her jewelry right on the counter. It's nice to find things that are locally crafted and with a sense of discovery about them, and unlike most of the little trinkets you pick up in souvenir shops, I knew for a fact these weren't made in Taiwan. Hawai'i-made, yo -- keep it local. As for Lava Java's food, they serve up big meals and most notably, cinnamon rolls so massive, they'd make the state of Texas green with envy. The cake-sized rolls literally take up a dinner plate, all buttery and cinnamon-sugar filled, drizzled with icing, looking like a coiled snake ready to strike you with carbohydrate deadly force. It's got a bit of a caramelized sugar crust, likely a result of the filling oozing out during the baking process, but it gives it a nice, unusual texture that you're not used to in a cinnamon roll. They have a coffee drink menu to rival any Starbucks, of course serving only local Kona coffee, so be sure to indulge in the java from Lava Java. If you're brave or in need of a high-octane jolt of caffeine, try their Depth Charge coffee drink, which is a shot of espresso in Kona coffee. The fuel food I particularly enjoyed was their Waipio Stack Breakfast, which was sort of like an open-face breakfast BLT -- two over-easy eggs served over bacon, fresh avocado, and thick slices of toast smeared with a chipotle mayonnaise. For something sweet, but not as intense as their cinnamon rolls, their Island Style Pancakes offer a couple of large pancakes covered in macadamia nuts, bananas and drizzled in coconut syrup. True, these are not meals for those with a timid appetite, but for a day filled with seaside activities, you need to feast with boldness!

Breakfast to fuel the day on the water with The Kona Boys - Photos by Wasabi Prime

So what activities are worth burning off such kingly feasts? A day on the water, paddling the waves with The Kona Boys, or hanging on for dear life on a fast-moving boat before snorkeling in a sealife-rich bay with the adventurous team at Captain Zodiac. I think one of the best ways to enjoy the ocean is to explore it using your own power of motion, without the aid of a powered motor, at least the first time you spend a day on the water. You get a sense of the current's force, you're fully immersed in the waves and feeling of its natural ebb and flow, and as my scuba-diving aunt would say: welcome to the food chain. (Enter John William's score from Jaws here.) I kid! I kid!!! Don't worry, the shores of Kona are safe. Despite its deep waters being a favorite haven for deep-sea fishermen, the life it's teeming with is about as fierce as dolphins and sea turtles. Sure, there's animals like sharks around, but hey, it's their 'hood, they're not looking for trouble and think of swimming in the ocean the way you would camping in the woods. You know there's lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) out there, but it doesn't stop you from roasting up some s'mores on an open campfire, right? In the ocean, as on dry land, if you don't go looking for trouble, trouble will not go out of its way to find you, so swim happy.

Some of the best guides for these crystal-blue waters are the surfer dudes from Kona Boys, whose beach shack is right on the beach of Kamakahonu Bay, right by the Kona pier. It's a pretty awesome place to call your "office," with a shallow bay perfect for practicing kayaking or stand up paddlesurfing, with the backdrop of King Kamehameha's heiau right in the background. I have to give them a lot of credit because they got me upright and (sort of) paddling on a surfboard, out into the open sea. It's almost like standing on the water and you feel each wave rise and fall beneath your feet, while working every muscle to try and stay balanced and constantly paddling to stay on course. I feel like it's an activity akin to golf -- when you're really good at it, you feel at peace with the world and are overcome with a sort of zen feeling while doing it, but when you first learn it, it's a little daunting, overwhelming, and afterwards you'll discover muscles you didn't know you had before. That's not to say stand up paddlesurfing (SUP, as it's called) is unpleasant -- far from it, as it's an exhilarating experience that makes you acutely aware of how small you are in the world when it's just you on a surfboard and a little paddle in the middle of the ocean. Another activity that's really good to take advantage of is the guided (and self-paddled) outrigger canoe tours that the Kona Boys offer. They have a beautiful traditional wood canoe or wa'a that seats about six to eight people, which everyone does their part in providing the propulsion needed to send it along its merry way up and down the Kona coast. It's good to do this first thing in the morning, as the sun's heat isn't as intense, not as much activity out on the water yet, and the currents aren't as strong. Our guide for the wa'a tour was Kawika, who explained the history of the Kailua-Kona area, the traditional Hawai'ian people and the influence of the British settlers. When you're out on the water, it brings home that connection between people and nature that remains an indelible presence even in modern day times.

Dolphins showing off and gekko taking a break - just another day in paradise - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Even with the fast-paced excitement of a monster engine hurtling you through the waves on a zodiac raft, you still keep that connection with the ocean. Even if it's quick bumps against the waves between feeling like you're nearly airborne. You sort of turn your brain off, don't think about how fast you're going and just hang on for the ride while doing one of the zodiac tours by the aptly-named Captain Zodiac. They offer raft tours where you can stay above the water and watch whales, or they'll take small snorkel groups to Kealakeua Bay, the site of Captain Cook's arrival and invariably his final departure off the mortal coil on his final visit to Hawai'i; it's a protected bay of calm water that's full of reef sealife where you can snorkel for hours, just watching everything swim around you. They've been doing tours for almost twenty years, taking groups out to get an up-close and personal introduction to Kona's wild underwater wonderland. Unlike other tours where it's you and two hundred of your most random acquaintances, their captains take small groups of less than a dozen people, zipping everyone around on a military-grade zodiac, and they know all the choice spots to catch schools of pilot whales and show the local spinner dolphins a good time, providing a wake for them to surf on (so amazing, by the way). The captain we had was fantastic -- he was a fisherman himself, and he knew to follow the food chain, seeing where other fishermen were, which would attract other animals like whales. We were able to see several dolphins and an incredible family of pilot whales in their natural habitat, just swimming alongside our small little boat. Again, out on the open water, you're reminded how tiny you are, and that in Mama Nature's house, you show your respect or expect to get a righteous spanking. We minded our p's and q's and were rewarded with a beautiful afternoon snorkeling in Kealakeua Bay, seeing all the tropical fish swimming around in the calm bay water. You can usually see turtles, but there was only one sighted that day. I've snorkeled here before, and going for a second time, you're reminded that patience is a virtue, and while it's tempting to swim all over in the hopes of finding something interesting, sometimes you just have to float quietly and just see what passes you by. I apologize for not having photos of this experience, as I didn't have a waterproof camera, but sometimes the best things just need to be experienced, so if you find yourself in Kona, looking for a way to spend the day, definitely look up The Kona Boys and Captain Zodiac.

The only way to come off from the high of a day spent on the water is a tall frosty glass of... kava. No, not beer or an umbrella-topped fruity beverage. It's pau hana done local style, drinking a traditional Native Hawai'ian beverage that I won't say makes you drunk, but it does provide an oddly mellowing sensation. So what is kava? It's a drink that's been used as a natural relaxant for thousands of years by Pacific Islanders, an extract made from the root of a pepper plant. It's not fermented, so there's no alcohol in it. The natural flavor of kava is quite bitter and is often mixed with fruit juice or coconut water to help balance it out. People describe kava's effect as being pleasantly relaxing to almost a punchy, goofy drunk sensation. Are you technically drunk? Not in the legal sense. But I wouldn't recommend operating any forklifts anytime soon after having a cupful of the stuff. I'd heard about it plenty of times, but had never tried it before, so with a few travelmates, we sought out a kava place one night. Sort of tucked away between all the other shops and restaurants on Ali'i Drive is Kanaka Kava. It's a funky little kava and local food spot, sort of nestled further back from the street-facing storefronts, and if you're familiar with the area, you're within sight of the Outback Steakhouse, so let that be the "as the crow flies" guidepost. We all got a coconut shell cup of kava, mixed with fruit juice to sweeten the taste. The best way to describe it was, it numbed my face, but in an awesome way. Maybe it was the combined effects of a busy day on the water, but kava totally slowed my roll and was a pleasant way to come down from a busy afternoon, without the magically regrettable effects of my typical go-to, boozejuice. And maybe it was the kava talking, but those conga drums listed on the bulletin board sure sounded like an awesome idea.

Move over, Miller Time, it's time for kava and conga drums at Kanaka Kava - Photos by Wasabi Prime

So at long last, this brings my latest Hawai'ian adventure to a close. Picture a sunset. The sway of palm trees. Me passed out on too much kava and time spent in the sun. Fun times had by all, to be sure. It had been a while since I'd had a real adventure on the Big Island, so this was a long time in coming and it just made me love this place that much more. I look forward to my next visit, as there's always new adventures to take a bite out of. Mahalo and Aloha oi.

Mixed Plate: Coffee and Brinner on a Midwinter's Night

Breakfast for Dinner equals...Brinner. It's a fact. It's like New Math, it's so factual. And I highly recommend it. You  know what else I recommend? Someone else making it. On a particularly brisk winter's night (and by brisk I mean freakin' freezing), Mr. Wasabi rolled up his sleeves and cooked up a simple, but elegant dinner of pancakes, bacon and eggs. Brinner, it's what's for Dinner.

Baby, it's oh-so-cold outside - Photo by Wasabi Prime

We were chillin' like a villain with Bob Dylan, it was so cold. The icicles were forming on the trees and it's a nice change of pace from complicated festive meals to have something as simple as eggs n' bacon for dinner. I first heard about Brinner from the television series Scrubs, and I don't know if they made it up, but it's a pretty good idea. Honestly, when does a nice hearty breakfast not totally hit the spot? There's a reason why Dennys serves their Grand Slams twenty four-seven. And it's not complicated because you figure, most kitchens will likely have the basics -- eggs and milk, along with the core baking ingredients like flour and baking soda. Or just a big box of Bisquick you bought on your last Costco trip thinking, "Oh yeah, I'll go through this." So what if the box is stamped "good until 2005." It's dry goods. It's probably fine...?

Mr. Wasabi has ample poms and brinner-making talents - Photos by Wasabi Prime

For the rest of us who don't have the giant monolith of Bisquick, you can find a basic pancake batter mix online; I recommend hitting up the usual suspects like Epicurious.com. I'm not even going to try and guess where the recipes came from, since Mr. Wasabi was the ringleader behind this meal and I was extremely grateful for that. When you're cooking almost every meal, it's such a nice thing to have someone prepare something for you. Plus it really was flippin' cold outside, so hot pancakes sounded incredibly good, especially when they've got a hearty sear from bacon fat! Apparently Brock reserved the pan drippings after cooking the bacon and didn't waste a delicious drop.

Turkish coffee is less of a Caf-Pow, and more of a Caf-KO - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Breakfast and/or Brinner is not complete without coffee. We've been fawning over our latest new addition to the kitchen gadget gang -- a pretty brass Turkish coffee mill from -- of all places -- the land of Turkey. Our friend Ms. SJBe returned from her latest global jaunt and returned with spices and all the jewels of Araby. Well, maybe not that exactly, but I'm doubtless she joined the ranks of most holiday travelers who got jiggy with TSA folks at the airports. To that, all I can say is, I hope they at least buy you dinner before the rubber gloves come on.

Turkish coffee is particularly nice if you're not a big coffee drinker but a big legalized stimulant fan. It's so sweet, it's really like a dessert drink, and the stuff is literally rocket fuel, packing the punch of a steel fist, but in a velvet glove. It's sparingly served in a small demitasse cup, like a shot of espresso. A bit like the analog version of espresso, except instead of the java jolt being extracted through steam, Turkish coffee is superfine grounds percolating in hot water just like regular coffee, but the grounds are allowed to settle before drinking. I don't have the method down-pat, as Mr. Wasabi makes it, but you can peek here to see how people on WikiHow make it. The intake method of Turkish coffee lends itself more to slow, relaxed sipping and not shotgunning the little cup back like a Roman fratboy, otherwise you'll get a mouthful of superfine coffee sludge. We can learn a lot from the Turks. Sit with your supercharged, supersweetened coffee. Enjoy. And then wait patiently for the caffeine to let your mind part the fabric of time, space and dimension.

It's still cold and Indy still begs for Brinner - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: Flipping the Bird at Tradition and Frozen Turkeyday Travails

Do you still have Thanksgiving leftovers? We're still picking at the last scraps of November's festive edible sendoff as we enter the December holiday binge. Where's the Shake-Weight when you need it? Or better yet, just say the hell with it and get some drawstring pants. It's so hard not to enjoy every last morsel, especially after looking through the Thanksgiving That Was...

Turkey in the key of Mediterranean - Photo by Wasabi Prime

We extended our Turkeyday festivities across a couple of nights. A bird was cooked in Kitchen Stadium Wasabi, but the deed was done on Saturday night. I had it in my head to make a fragrantly-spiced bird, so I used an ample sprinkling of My Spice Sage's pumpkin pie spice to give the turkey a rich flavor and a nice bit of color. I was also basting the turkey in a glaze of reduced pomegranate juice and molasses, just to nudge along the caramelizing of the skin. What helped give the meat itself a nice flavor and tenderness was brining the bird in a long, several-day soak of salt, sugar, bay leaves, peppercorns and citrus rinds. It's worth the extra step, as it will guarantee meaty moistness (giggle) and infuse the turkey with a flavor beyond its surface seasoning. I like to break the turkey down into its delicious parts, versus cooking it all at once, mostly because I have no vessel large enough to brine a whole bird and in general, I just prefer the faster cook time once it's dismembered like a Dexter victim. Despite the missed Norman Rockwell photo opportunity, slicing a just-cooked bird and burning fingers ain't fun. Less fussing, more eating. I further tossed aside tradition by making a citrus and garlic-flavored couscous mixed with the vegetables roasted in the turkey's bastings, mixed with dried fruit, nuts and chickpeas. Even the cranberry sauce got a reboot, with a healthy dose of fresh pomegranate. Tradition be damned.

Own the Bird, especially at breakfast - Photos by Wasabi Prime

On Thanksgiving Day proper, we went to an epic meal cooked up by Mr. Wasabi's friends from the Crossfit Eastside Gym. Don't worry, we didn't eat in a gym, dinner was served at the lovely home of K and M, who were kind enough to invite us over, along with several others. There were two turkeys -- one smoked and covered with a blanket of woven bacon, and the second bird was deep fried and glazed in a spicy hellbroth of Buffalo Wing sauce, making it a Buffalo-Turkey. Bet Darwin never saw that one coming. You'd think it was crazy, but it was brilliantly delicious. Everything at this huge dinner was fantastic and all I have to show for it is the next-day turkey breakfast hash made with the leftovers they sent everyone off with. I know, I should have brought the camera, as this was a true feast, but I figure I'd give this meal its own holiday break from the nonstop clicking of a digital shutter. Tradition be double-damned.

There will be pie, little gifts and a snowy-faced dog - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The turkeyday festivities were also marked by the first snow of the year. Or more like, the first Seattle-gets-shut-down-by-weather of the year. Maybe it's the Thanksgiving Gods reminding us to be really flippin' thankful, but I know Mr. Wasabi was happy to be home after his five-plus hour commute home from downtown Seattle in frozen road conditions when the snow and ice first hit at the beginning of the week. We were fortunate not to lose power, even in the wilds of Duvall where we live, and the snow days gave extra prep time for making the pumpkin pies I said I'd bring for Thanksgiving dinner. The last of my fall holiday decor suffered the fate of becoming pumpkin pie filling, landing squarely into Wasabi Mom's vinegar shortcrust recipe, which is a never-fail favorite that always yields crispy, flaky crust. Topped with cardamom-infused whipped cream and I had unhealthy breakfast options for days.

Walkin' in a Winter Blunderland - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Despite the poop-tacular weather, I have to say when snow falls in Duvall, it's a pleasant winter wonderland, as long as you don't have to be anywhere. If you do, then it's a frozen hell on earth trying to get in and out of the city. The snow lasted long enough to pose for some countrytime photos before melting enough to make the roads passable for Turkeyday. Despite the very early chill and some slick road conditions, this Thanksgiving had to be one of my favorites in that I felt like I was able to enjoy a little bit of everything I love to do over the extended holiday weekend, even if it was as simple as eating, sleeping in, and reading books.

Dateline, Duvall - Old Man Winter goes berzerker - Photos by Wasabi Prime