UnRecipe: The Tao of Spaetzle

Spaetzle. What a ridiculously fun word to say out loud: schPAT-zel. And it kind of looks like how it sounds, those marvelous little asymmetrical nuggets of handmade pasta goodness, all messily piled on a plate, usually coated in a butter sauce. They're delicious and perfect with a wintery dish like stew or a big hunk o' meat. Spaetzle is the realm of European grandmas who would make it from scratch for Sunday dinners and countless YouTube videos that show how effortless the process seems, at least until you make it for the first time. Spaetzle isn't difficult, but it requires a bit of finesse, and I'm the first one to say I don't have it, but on my list of to-do's in life, it's my goal to get some of that finesse and truly learn the Tao of Spaetzle.

Spaetzle attempt, Numero Uno - not bad, but could always be better - Photo by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: Far East Meets Eastern Europe

Did you know there's an Eastern European version of the magical Chinese soup dumpling, aka, xiao long bao? And did you know the this version is way less of a pain in the be-hind to make from scratch? Forget Lunar New Year, I'm defecting to the land of Eastern Promises, where the dumplings are hearty and plentiful -- priviet, comrades!

Soup dumplings, Russian-style -- meet khinkali - Photo by Wasabi Prime