Mixed Plate: Getting In the Season of Ingredients With a New Cookbook

Blame it on the Spring, but the excitement of seasonal cooking is most definitely in the air. Social media feeds are being filled with blooming tulips and gardening photos of early herbs and awakening greens. It was fitting that I received a copy of acclaimed Seattle chef Greg Atkinson's new book, In Season (Sasquatch Books), right as our own garden started to come back to life.

Sous vide Halibut with Rhubarb Ginger Butter Sauce, from Greg Atkinson's In Season - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: The Wrath of Congee

Yo, all my Asian brothahs and sistahs from other mistahs -- are you ready to rumble?? Tiger Moms everywhere are ready to judge meals all over the world, and cast tired looks and furrowed eyebrows across tables at what's going to be served up for CNY! Chinese tradition would dictate you're busy fretting away over a traditional Lunar New Year meal coming up at the end of January, where we say farewell to the Year of the Snake and howdy to the Year of the Horse for 2014. It's a big deal, and it's an important time to gather with loved ones and welcome the new year properly, but I also get that it's stressful like any other holiday fraught with family and drama. I say... to hell with tradition -- invite all your non-judgy friends over, who love you just the way you are, not how many hours of piano practice you shirked as a kid, and serve up the new hotness that I am naming as the Next Big/Annoying Food Trend for 2014: Congee Brunch.

My submission to Food Fads of 2014: Congee Brunch - Photo by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: A Sweet Bon Voyage!

Cupcake Break. That's what my old workmates and I would declare after a particularly long, stressful, annoying day or week. One of us would to a nearby bakery and bring back some sweet treats. It would usually be multiple flavors, so we could cut them into smaller pieces and sample a little of everything, and just dwell in that drug-like haze of an extreme sugar high. At least before the crushing blow of Harsh Reality set in, and we'd have to get back to work. When Trophy Cupcakes first headed Eastside, to their spot at The Bravern, that became a regular on our Cupcake Break rotation. Which leads me to today's post -- sometimes you need not only a Cupcake Break, but a Real Break. So I'm having both!

Sometimes the day needs a chocolate cupcake. Likely more than one. - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: Eggs-actly the Book You've Been Waiting For

There's a Sriracha-themed cookbook, there's likely more than one bacon cookbook, so it was only a matter of time before someone not only did an all-egg cookbook, but one that took advantage of the meme-riff on Portlandia's "Put a Bird on it" skit. I give you, Lara Ferroni's "Put an Egg On It."

Pasta carbonara "nests" inspired by Lara Ferroni's new book - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: An Oh-Fishally All-Seafood Post

You've heard my situation with seafood many times before -- I relinquished my Asian Card at a pretty young age by not growing up in a household that prepared seafood. My dad didn't like any of it and my mother's a combination of being very accommodating and just too tired to deal with much BS, so opts for the path of least resistance. Fair enough. I also was never forced to play one or all of the following instruments: a) piano b) violin c) flute, so that pretty much guarantees my being voted off Asian Island. But I'm working my way back into the Tiger Moms of the World's good graces -- look, I made a whole seafood-themed post, using recipes from the new Ivar's cookbook!

Ivar's somewhat Original Gangstah chowder, recreated at home - Photo by Wasabi Prime

FoodTrek: Rollin' Deep, Seattle-Style, with Celebrity Chefs

In the wacky turn of events that has celebritized the culinary world to rock-star levels, it's a welcome sight to see that there are truly skilled chefs who are deserving of this spotlight. The fame doesn't distract from what they've always loved, which is an appreciation for food, its preparation, and for someone like celebrated chef, restaurateur, and TV personality Rick Bayless, it's an opportunity to educate and invigorate one's love of cooking. I had the very fortunate opportunity to see him and Seattle superstar chefs Tom Douglas and Thierry Rautureau host and cook up a storm for a cooking demo and engage food enthusiasts on both a local and nation-wide level during a live Twitter chat on #FoodieChats.

Chef Rick Bayless with the Seattle Breakfast of Champions - Photo by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: Midnight In the Chocolate Chip Cookie Garden of Evil

What's this noise about evil chocolate chip cookies? Is there even such a thing?? This post is inspired by CakeSpy's new book, The Secret Lives of Baked Goods, which just came out. Jessie the Spy o' Cake invited people to share their own baked goods secrets (good or bad), so I submitted a story, which I also want to share with you, about the agony, the ecstasy and the oh-the-humanity of chocolate chip cookie obsession!

Chocolate Chip Cookies... I can't quit you - Photo by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: Hot Wok Culture Shock - a Tale of Two Noodles

With food, as is with life, it's so much about presentation and context. We all have our set ways and expectations, but we're never beyond making adjustments. I don't mind the idea of both savory and sweet crepes, but I still can't quite wrap my head around the notion of a "dessert pizza," where it's usually smothered in marshmallows, chocolate and a hefty serving of Just Plain Awful. While I'll never be a fan of sugary pizza, I do think there's something to be said for the versatility of ingredients and even the kitchen tools we use to prepare them. For example, take something as simple and homey as a plate of spaghetti and meatballs -- would it totally blow your mindgrape to know it was all cooked in a wok?

Spaghetti cooked in a wok, dogs and cats living together - MASS HYSTERIA - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I think my wok had a Liz Lemon/30 Rock moment of, "What the WHAT?!" when I was simmering an Italian style red sauce in it. I'm certainly no purist, I've thrown Sriracha or Tabasco sauce in pasta sauces if I'm out of red pepper flakes, and nobody died from an acute case of culture shock, but yes, even the Mister, aka the Whitest Kid You Know, had to do a double take to see red sauce with meatballs simmering in a wok. I think he was worried the Asian Police would finally serve out that longstanding bench warrant against me for sucking at math and never learning to play the violin. 

I was inspired by Lorna Yee's new book, The Everyday Wok Cookbook, which the cover alone had me dead-set on making her Spaghetti and Bison Meatball recipe from the get-go. I don't need much arm twisting to make spaghetti and meatballs, but I was intrigued at the thought of using bison meat and even more intrigued at the weird juxtaposition of a marinara sauce throwing my anthropomorphized wok's brain for a loopty-loop.

Wokked spaghetti and meatballs - weirdly wonderful - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Using a wok as an all purpose cooking vessel isn't so crazy. I'm pretty sure billions of Chinese people can attest to its versatility and use. Granted, they're probably not making French toast in it, but really -- why the hell not? It's got a sizeable surface area with varying temperature zones that are fairly predictable (center = screamin' hot, away from the center = less screamin' hot) and the amount it can hold makes it ideal for soups and stews. Many people prefer woks as their stovetop deep fryer, convinced it's better than the typical Dutch oven. I use it as a one-pot wonder when I make things like Pad Thai at home -- it's great for getting the noodles partly cooked, then a quick wipedown and it's ready to cook the rest of the dish. Everything fits back in the wok for when it comes time for the final ingredient combination, and that's kind of how this spaghetti and bison meatball dish worked out.

I thought the bison meat would be tough to find. It's not something I normally shop for, so I immediately assumed I'd have to get it from a specialty grocer. And of course as Murphy's Law would have it -- no fancy butcher seemed to be carrying it. The holiday season doesn't help, as it's all festive meats taking up precious shelf space, and rightly so. I had my sad No Bison Meat face on (it looks much like this) until I happened to be at the grocery store where we live and there was a whole flippin' row of ground bison meat! At the Safeway, of all flippin' places. Apparently, it's not as exotic as one would think, so don't skimp on using bison meat for this dish. It's very tender, has a good flavor and not gamey since most bison are likely farmed/grazed like cows.

Tis the season, and Lorna's cookbook would make for a great holiday gift, especially if you want to up the ante and give the book with a new wok for someone who may not cook a lot, but wishes to learn. The recipes are very user-friendly and the book is beautifully photographed, which inspires you to get into the kitchen. The food is enticing and it covers multicultural menus. There's macaroni and cheese, breakfast omelets and scrambles, paella, several traditional Asian dishes like pockmarked tofu and dumplings, and even a dessert section. It's a nice reminder that just because you have a wok, it doesn't mean you only have to cook Asian-sounding dishes in it. It was a refreshing exercise for me to consider the wok as just another team player in our kitchen full of cooking vessels, and it's as much of an A-Game player as a basic skillet.

Whole wheat spaghetti for dan dan noodles? Fantastic - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Since this post is about multipurpose things, I'd also like to wave the banner of versatility for the simple spaghetti noodle. My wok was back in its Happy Place making a heaping pile of Szechuanese Dan Dan Noodles one night. I had everything I needed from the Asian grocery store -- black vinegar, preserved mustard greens, an industrial sized bottle of sesame oil, sesame paste, and enough Szechuan peppercorns to last me for when the Year of the Dragon gets chased out by the Year of the Snake. Since I live out in BFE-Duvall, I only make periodic trips to a big Asian grocery store in Bellevue to stock up for a few months at a time. Most of the things I get are dried, canned and preserved, so it's got great shelf life, but I always neglect the noodles. Curse my feeble brain! I forgot to get more udon noodles and Chinese style egg noodles, both of which are great for making dan dan, with their thickness and wider surface area to hold more sauce. The local grocery stores have some Asian noodles, but they're typically chow mein style or flat rice noodles which are great for some things, but just mehhhh.... for what I wanted.

Enter the Dragon: whole wheat spaghetti noodles, for the win. I don't typically love whole wheat noodles for traditional pasta dishes. Regardless of the health benefit, I find them tough and depending on the sauce you're making, they can make the finished dish ruddy-looking and less appealing to the eye. But for a noodle dish like dan dan, where it's rich and nutty from the sesame paste and oil, and a mix of textures from the ground, fried meat and freshly sliced scallions, having a hearty noodle works well. You don't want something turning into mush, and that extra toughness of the whole wheat spaghetti has a satisfying mouth feel.

Dan dan noodles is one of those dishes with a million and one ways to make it. I've had versions as a soup and most in this stir-fry method, all flavored with the smokiness of the Szechuan peppercorn and rich sesame taste. The recipe I work from is thanks to Appetite for China's, available here. This recipe's style isn't as oily as some -- the most traditional has the noodles sitting in an orange bath of chili oil, which is plenty good, but if that's not your thing, this less oily version is a great dish. If you love the idea of peanut butter spicy noodles, that's one way of describing dan dan noodles in familiar terms. It's quick, and I've even substituted ground turkey for the ground pork -- the seasonings are strong enough and there's plenty of fat from the sesame paste and cooking oil.

So, cheers to versatility, in both ingredients and cooking vessels. Food and recipes constantly evolve in the way we prepare them, so throw away the rule book now and then and don't be afraid to free your mind and make spaghetti in a wok.

Mixed Plate: Hello, My Little Petite Sweet...

Tis the season for sugary sweets and decadent treats.. and then wondering why the pants don't fit come New Year's Day. It's so hard to resist all the goodies around this time of year! Especially when you work at an office and every week someone brings in something homemade or clients are sending gifts of thanks like fancy chocolates. And don't get me started on the day one of my office mates introduced me to the entity known as The Kringle. And it's definitely the season for making at-home treats, both to give away and hoard for yourself, and therein lies this bloggy sweet tale...

Deck the halls with... shiny stuff! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I don't have an office break room anymore to indulge in communal sweets, but I do get into a baking mood when the holidays come 'round. I was decorating the house, pulling out Christmas stuff one weekend and it just didn't feel like the holidays until the house had the smell of fresh baked goods perfuming the air. And just doing a run-through with a cinnamon/vanilla scented candle wasn't going to cut it. 

I had been meaning to try the recipes from the new Petite Treats cookbook, from the wild n' crazy gals over at Mini Empire Bakery. It's their newest book, as adorably cute and petite-sized as their first book, Mini Pies, which I enjoyed baking from as well. If you haven't already done your holiday shopping, it's one of those cute, charming cookbooks that make for easy gifts, since it's full of photos, the recipes are for familiar desserts, and there's a lot of good options and suggestions for making things vegan, gluten-free and just a more natural way of enjoying your sweets. And the best thing is, the desserts are MINI, so you can EAT MORE. This logic of mini desserts is brilliant.

Petite Sweets from the Mini Empire Bakery team gives you a reason to eat your beets! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I wanted to try their Red Velvet Yippee Cakes, which are a mini version of whoopie pies. Having made whoopie pies before and seeing how large they can be, and how much butter goes into the icing, you get a little of that reality shock. As wonderful as they taste, it's the Thing That Cannot Be Unseen, remembering how many sticks of butter had to be sacrificed for a healthy slathering of sweet, iced filling. Making a mini version of whoopie pies was much easier for my brain's calorie counter to handle, plus the recipe in Petite Treats uses beets to give the red velvet cake it's signature hue. Traditionally, beets were part of the original recipe, the ingredient that gave the cake that distinctive color, but thanks to the popularity of this vintage recipe and the need to play up the red hue for TV Land and Food Photography-ville, most recipes suggest using a scary amount of red food dye. Granted, the dye is safe and it's not like the crazy tumor-growing stuff we all drank down in iced Cherry Squishee form back in the 80s, but that red color really is quite alarming, especially in the large amount required to make today's expectation of red velvet cake.

Their recipe called for canned beets, which has the benefit of the beet juice -- nature's food coloring! And don't get it on anything, it stains like Bloody Murder. I used roasted beets, just because I had them, but don't worry, whether home roasted or canned, you're not going to take a bite from the cake and say, "Mmm... borscht-y!" I've baked with beets before, even blended them into chocolate brownies to keep it moist -- they're ideal to bake with chocolate, as the bitter cocoa goes nicely with the slightly earthy, but sweet beets. You don't taste them at all, and for this recipe, they lend their color in a more natural way, more of a burgundy color. While the cake won't have that blood red look that you usually see, it's a truer red velvet cake. And hey, burgundy is one of the hot trend colors of the year, so consider your dessert extra fashionable.

I didn't have a special pan to make each little yippee pie that perfect mound-shape, and I wasn't sure if the dough would run on the pan, so I made square yippee pies. As Huey Lewis and the News would say: It's Hip to be Square. The cake batter is stiff enough to where you could pipe or carefully spoon each half onto a prepared baking sheet, just being mindful to keep each dollop as uniform as possible. I basically made a red velvet brownie, then once it was cooled, carefully sliced it across the middle and added frosting to the center before slicing into smaller pieces. I personally love cream cheese frosting, so I used that as the filling, but the recipe comes with a great buttercream icing recipe, which is more true to whoopie/yippee form.

Something sweet to give - lavender sugar - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I saved our mini red velvet cakes for ourselves, as the cream cheese frosting made it a little harder to mail out to family and friends. We have to save a little something sweet for ourselves, right? But while I was in my baking/decorating mode, I managed to make a quick batch of lavender sugar, something sweet that's very easy to package up and give to friends. In the final stages of homemade gifts, I had some dried lavender from a friend's garden and plain white sugar. I buzzed the lavender buds and sugar in a food processor until they were as chopped up as possible, and then divided up the fragrant sugar into those quaint little Weck jars, which are all the crafty rage these days. A pretty blue-lavender bow, and these little darlings were ready to gift to friends who like to bake or drink tea. A little sprinkle of this in tea is wonderful, it sweetens and perfumes the drink beautifully. You could probably incorporate it in cocktails as well, but again, using it sparingly as the lavender is strong. I used this sugar in this year's lavender shortbread cookies, cutting the regular sugar with some lavender sugar to make the cookies extra special.

A sweet finish to a productive holiday weekend - Photos by Wasabi Prime

And so I managed to cross off several holiday to-do's on my list, while enjoying a house smelling like sweet cake and lavender. It's a rare moment of holiday heaven when you can both feel productive and be rewarded with a delicious dessert afterwards. Don't forget to put Mini Empire's book on your holiday gift list, or for any dessert fan in your life -- everyone deserves to have a little something sweet now and then.

OMG a Recipe (Sort of): Come to the Dark Side... It's Snacktacular

I felt like my head was shoved into a trash can, right before being tossed overboard into the open sea. That's what it feels like when you're sick with a nasty head cold -- sensory deprived and completely out of sorts, which was exactly how it was when both myself and the Mister were Infected With Pure Evil. Well, to be clear, the Mister was Wicked Sick, I was getting the steady onset of Sickness to Come, with that awful stuffy head/inner-ear off-balance feeling that you get when a cold is brewing. So what do you do when you're trapped indoors and all  your senses are about as sharp as a bowling ball? You cook and bake up a storm, of course!

Homemade Doritos - a new wonderful/terrible discovery thanks to Lara Ferroni's new book - Photo by Wasabi Prime

The nice thing about being sick, if there is such a thing, is you're a captive audience to focus on things you've been wanting to do, such as try out new recipes from new books. I had been flipping through Lara Ferroni's new Real Snacks book, which you can get off Amazon or her website, or even better, a bookstore where you can browse all the lovely sweet and savory snacks she's put together. I had a copy of one of her previous books,  Doughnuts (only one guess about what it's about!), and I made baked maple bars, which turned out more like buns for me, but they were plenty tasty. I was excited to try out some recipes from Real Snacks because at heart, I'm more savory than sweet, and with recipes for at-home versions of pretzel sticks, cheese puffs, crackers of all sorts and even the almighty Dorito, I knew I was going to be in blissful snack-ville.

Sweet and savory options from Real Snacks - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The real treat behind Real Snacks is that it's not just about recreating your favorite childhood snacks, it takes favorite childhood food and breaks everything down, even to the seasonings. There's recipes for homemade onion and cheese powder, a list of natural sweeteners and different types of flour, which all strive to make the junk food less junky. It's still salty-sweet goodness, but doesn't it make you feel a little better to have a homemade Twinkie or Ding-Dong, filled with real cream filling and not the mysterious goo that could probably outlive a nuclear winter? And I'm going to go out on a limb to say I'm pretty sure the homemade pastry snacks taste better.

Yes, there's more effort involved in following the recipes to the letter, preparing the homemade seasonings ahead of time, but it's a good middle ground if you want to remove the mystery preservatives from your lifestyle but not give up your favorite guilty pleasures. There are a few recipes like the homemade Cheetos which require special equipment like a food dehydrator -- I don't have that -- but I realize a lot of people have those newfangled gadgets and if so, congratulations, you're on your way to homemade cheese puff bliss. But there's plenty of basic recipes that don't require fancy gear that I'm already marking off to become this year's edible holiday gifts. This is a great book as both a gift and a source for making homemade goodies to give away -- because who's going to say no to a batch of homemade Oreo cookies? If you're shaking your head "no," shame on you. Why do you hate America? Why do make bald eagles cry? You'll eat those homemade Oreos and love them.

The homemade Doritos gave me a reason to live that weekend. You're sick, you lose a lot of motivation and energy, and worst of all, food is just so lackluster when your senses are dulled by the Sickness of Evil. But the recipe was simple enough and I had most of the ingredients handy. I made some modifications -- I baked the tortilla wedges because gadzooks almighty, I hate to fry. A little brushing of cooking oil and baking the wedges until crispy at about 350 degrees in the oven is just dandy, even if it takes a little longer than throwing them into oil. The seasoning mixture I put together was minus the homemade onion powder -- I blame being lazy and not feeling well, but I mostly wanted salty and spice, so I added more salt and cayenne pepper. I even put a bit of cumin powder to add another layer of flavor. Mostly, I just wanted something salty, crispy and to remind my tastebuds there was a reason to live. I tossed the baked tortilla triangles in the powder, let the oven set the flavoring for a few minutes, and I seriously ate the whole batch over the weekend. I could not stop, I turned into the Doritomonster, barreling through the population of Doritotown with abandon, leaving nothing but sorrow and Dorito-emptiness in its ravaged wake. But I could afford to be callous and selfish -- I was really hungry and I knew I could make this again easily enough.

An apple pastry a day keeps the munchies away - Photos by Wasabi Prime

For every thing, there is a season, and for every savory, there a sweet craving ready to emerge like a bat out of hell. I had just received a bag of apples from a friend's tree. Beautifully natural, waxy gems from Mother Nature, but tart as all get-out. My friend gave me fair warning: they're baking apples, don't bite into it, doofus. Noted. Although I did take a little bite from a slice and my ugly-squinchy-unpleasant-face confirmed that they were, indeed baking apples. Nothing makes a house feel cozier than something baking in the oven, so I got it in my noggin to make a heavily spiced apple pie, full of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, the works. I had more apples than I needed for a pie, but then I saw one of the recipes in Real Snacks for homemade Pop Tarts. My brain made the little "ding" sound your egg timer makes, because gosh darn it, I'm just that much of a simpleton.

I never liked jams or jellies growing up. I didn't even like fruit pies. So for a long time, Pop Tarts weren't on my radar, as a strawberry filling sounded about as thrilling as a punch in the face. But when the cinnamon-sugar flavor came out, I gave it a whirl and I was addicted to those Diabetes in a Box morning treats. Common sense kicked in at some point and I said goodbye to Pop Tarts forever, but I liked the notion of homemade cinnamon-apple toaster pastries. The leftover apples were just enough to make a filling for two batches of the homemade Pop Tart recipe. It's basically a pie filling, but I cooked down the apples until they were almost applesauce, as I wanted it to be that smooth, gooey texture I remember from those Pop Tarts of yore.

The Great Pop Tart Caper - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The dough was the perfect combination of soft and heartier grain flours, so that you get that signature sturdy pie dough crust. Less flaky, more solid and sturdy, but not stale or cardboard-like, as actual Pop Tarts are. The work involved is constructing each tart -- you're basically making giant pastry ravioli. I was generous with the filling, overfilling most of the tarts, but the dough stood up nicely and so what if some of the tarts looked like a giant ravioli. Getting that signature crimp texture along the edges from a fork felt especially satisfying. I'm already envisioning a peanut butter and homemade jam version, which would be really delicious and dangerous to my waistline.

I added the frosting once the tarts were cooled, but you could easily go without, maybe sprinkle some finishing sugar over the tarts before baking, to give it a little decoration. Once the frosting is on, it doesn't really make the tarts toaster-friendly, I think the frosting would burn, but I was just lightly reheating each one in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Any more than that, and the heat will literally make the frosting boil. There's no need to reheat them at all, but there's just something extra-good about a warm mini apple pie. It felt like a Food Circle of Life to give my friend some of the apple Pop Tarts made with fruit from her tree. Simba, I am your Father.

Darth Vader just wanted apple pie and homemade Pop Tarts. And Love. - Photos by Wasabi Prime

So, despite the Dark Side of being sick and not wanting to do anything but sit on the couch and watch cartoons -- which we did all weekend -- Lara Ferroni's Real Snacks book did get me off my germ-riddled behind and get cooking. Give the book a look-through, even if you're not a Pop Tart or Dorito enthusiast, I guarantee there is some snack in there that will get your food nostalgia doing a happy dance.

UnRecipe/OMG a Recipe: Meat + Potatoes 4EVER

Despite the holiday being "so last week ago," you're probably sick to death of all the ooey-gooey annoying-ness that is Valentine's Day, even more annoying since the blasted month has an extra day! Curse you, Leap Year... and you're little dog too! But I have to say the best couple ever, more heart-worthy than Romeo + Juliet, Caesar + Cleopatra, Julia + Paul, even Brad + Angelina, is Meat + Potatoes. Why? Because you can celebrate their divine pairing even when it's not the most loving/annoying time of the year. No fat baby cherubs with bows n' arrows required.

When Potato Met Pork... a love story - Photo by Wasabi Prime

To be honest, we've been enjoying the joy of meat and potatoes all month, indulging in thick protein-y wedges of meat with starchy, creamy spud goodness. And real potatoes, not the sweet potatoes or yams we usually get, as they tend to be more healthy and less starchy. February has been our month to indulge, enjoying sweets given by friends or ones that came fresh-baked from our oven. It's hard not to give in to food cravings during the month that's all about eating rich treats, and watching the Food Network when they spend a whole day showing the 1001 ways you can eat chocolate certainly doesn't help. We were the very happy recipient of some Jonboy caramels, which are an absolute favorite -- they're handmade in Seattle, available throughout the city and as far as Oregon, produced in small batches and they come with a freshness date. A little box of those, plus some sweet Valentine cards from friends -- how can you not fall in love with Love? Or junk food, for that matter? 

Sweet Overload!! Valentine goodness everywhere - Photos by Wasabi Prime

And of course, once the sweet tooth gets going, everything just goes sideways, so I made some peanut butter cookies with peanut and bacon brittle I had sitting in the pantry. It's what any sane person would do, right? I originally bought the smoky bacon peanut brittle from Foodzie, and I noticed the freshness date wasn't looking so fresh, so instead of just sitting on the couch and snarfing it down in an act of Old Yeller food mercy, I thought putting it in cookies would be a better way to enjoy them in a slightly more civilized and prolonged manner. Woe to my rapidly widening thighs that I made this right before Valentine's Day, as we were already awash in sweets, ready to have more with our respective gifts to one another, and I still had other dessert plans, incuding an Epic Carrot Cake which is so epic, I'm saving it for another post (stay tuned...). Le Sigh. St. Valentine needs to change his moniker to be the Patron Saint of Muffin Tops, or very possibly Tooth Decay.

PB and B cookies - peanut butter and bacon brittle cookies! - Photo by Wasabi Prime 

For several meals, including Valentine's Day, I was trying out some recipes from John Howie's new cookbook, "Passion and Palate: Recipes for a Generous Table," a new book that came out late last year and gaining momentum in the rrrrowrrr-worthy Year of the Dragon. Aside from the fact he includes a recipe from one of my favorite things at his restaurant, the ahi-topped deviled eggs, it's a book to take note of in the fact that it's part of the growing trend of independent publishing. It's a real honest-to-goodness book, not an eBook -- you can flip through the pages and drool over the food photos like any of your other favorite cookbooks. It's a really lovely collection of recipes, very high production quality and the photos are beautiful -- it's part of the new wave of self-publishing that's kicking the reputation of indie books looking too homemade, right to the curb. If you live in the Washington area, you can get a peek at the book in John Howie's restaurants, available for purchase there, or online.

Valentine's Day, celebrating our love of creamy potato dishes - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The OMG a Recipe part is the fact that I put together meals based on recipes (which I won't list, as I do believe you should support cookbooks, but the recipes are all in there!), but the UnRecipe part is of course that I made some substitutions, so yes, shame on me. I did a variation of John Howie's pork chops and herbed cheese potatoes -- I didn't have a cedar plank to roast the pork, which I know would have made it extra flavorful, so I just seasoned accordingly and fnished it with a Marsala pan sauce. I roasted the potatoes minus the cedar plank, but with the listed seasonings and got some very tender, crispy starch-a-riffic goodness. I realize a signature element (cedar plank) was taken out of the mix, but the resulting dish was no less delicious, which I think is a nod to a cookbook's recipes being flexible and being able to handle swaps and substitutions with ease. I know, Boo to Wasabi for excluding such an important flavor element, but the resulting dish wasn't disappointing, and very doable on a weekday time budget, which this combination was perfect for, with the stove doing some of the work and the oven doing the lion's share.

I used the creamy potato lasagne recipe from Passion and Palate for Valentine's Day, to go with a seared flank steak crusted with blue cheese and breadcrumbs. The flank steak wasn't part of the book, I just wanted something basic so that I could focus on the potatoes. Layers of creamy potatoes with caramelized onions, to go with a meaty steak? That's heaven for Mr. Wasabi, who is a manly-man, and manly-men are fine with a simple meal of meat n' potatoes, so why mess with this logic? I admit, I modified the recipe -- I added crumbled bits of bacon on the finished potato dish. And I went heavy with the onion caramelization, but that's just my preference, as I love that super-sweetness of cooked onions. Regardless of what I pushed/pulled/substituted -- the result was so om-nom-nommy that it put me in a food coma that had me passed out on the couch by 10pm. The wine probably contributed a bit to that, as would a day spent prepping the meal and getting the house Valentine-Ready for when the Mister came home. But hey, it was worth it. Even if Indy felt a little left out of the festivities.

Dueling Valentines - whose is better? Correct - long live the Dark Side - Photos by Wasabi Prime

And yes, that is a bedazzled ultrasuede black heart-shaped box of chocolates with Darth's head on it. Ironically, it was filled with milk chocolates, not dark chocolates (Target, you should have been more clever!). That, some robots with hearts-themed socks and some really geeky Downton Abbey/Supernatural-themed Valentine cards is a recipe for True Freakin' Love. Brock, of course, went the traditional route and got me an amazing, beautiful box of hand-picked chocolates from Fran's. Because chicks dig it the most and he knows it's one of my favorite places to get special sweets. You can decide who wins the Dueling Valentine gift war, but I think it just goes to show that even a silly commercialized holiday can still bring out the best in people and remind you that no matter how weird you are, you know each other's hearts best.

OMG a Recipe (Book): Get a Real Taste of Aloha

This is generally how the conversation would go when I would say I'm off to visit family:
Me: "I'm going to Hawaii to visit my family for a few weeks."
Person I'm Talking To: "Really? That's so great -- are you going to be sitting on the beach every day?"
Me: "Nope."
Person: "But you'll be drinking Mai Tais and eating everything with pineapple on it, right?"
Me: "Not really. I'll be eating a lot of stuff, but most of it doesn't really have a lot of pineapple."
Person: "No tropical drinks or pineapple on everything? What the hell is wrong with you? Isn't that what everyone does over there?"
Me: *rolls eyes*

This exchange has lessened over the years. Maybe it's because I've had it enough times with people to where they stop asking the same questions about Mai Tais and beaches, but I'd like to believe it's because folks realize that when you go to Hawaii, it's not a cheesy postcard, but a pretty well-established and unique food culture. Yes, there's plenty of pineapple, but there's much more than that. Hawaii has a sizeable number of talented home cooks, so cookbooks are not only popular there, they're very well-used. A new book to make note of is Flavors from a Plantation Town.

Wan Jah Juhn, Korean hamburger, kimchi slider-ized! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

You're not going to find this book on Amazon or on the shelves of any major bookstore, so stop Googling/Amazon Prime-searching. You'll have to go right to the source, ordering directly from the folks who produced the book. Flavors from a Plantation Town is an independently-published cookbook that just came out in November, put together by volunteers by the Friends of Waipahu Public Library, with all proceeds of the book going towards the Waipahu Public Library. It's a charity cookbook full of over 175 recipes, including a history of the city of Waipahu, on the island of Oahu, which started off as a sugar plantation town, much like many of the cities throughout the islands in the 1800s. Fast forward a century or so, and it's a busy, thriving city, with a library that, like many other libraries around the country, could always use a little support to continue its programs. The book is $10, available at the Waipahu Library if you're visiting or living in Hawaii, but if you're like me, Mainland-bound, there is an order form you can fill out and get as many books as you like. I posted a Word document of the form on GoogleDocs, if you want to download it here.

Tasty items from a new cookbook you have to buy several copies of. Do it -- right now! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Hawaii has a unique cookbook culture, with schools, companies and organizations putting together books of collected recipes, someone gets a printer to donate services, and a big spiral ring-bound book is made and sold around town and at book fairs to help raise money. It's been going on for decades -- if you know anyone who worked at the Hawaii Electric Company, you may have a collection of the last twenty years of HECO cookbooks that get put out every year. The featured dishes are usually everyday favorites, family recipes, and they're about as local to Hawaii as you can get. The dishes aren't the things you'd get at a fussy four-star restaurant along Waikiki, these are the things people have been making for years, the local favorites that people crave, some recipes span several generations, reflecting the cultural bento platter that makes the islands so unique and special. If you're looking for a real taste of Hawaii, these locally produced cookbooks are the way to go -- for $10 it's a pretty reasonable price for a very unique gift, so consider this on your list of what to give your food friends this year.

If you get the book, you can make something like the Korean kimchi sliders you see, which were a bit of a jazzed-up version of one of the book's recipes, a Korean Hamburger (Wan Jah Juhn), where ground beef is heavily seasoned, marinated and then dipped in egg before pan-frying, so you get this great crispy outside and a tender patty. I made mini-burgers and got a package of small dinner roll-sized buns. I topped the burgers with kimchi and mixed some of the pickling juice with mayonnaise and smeared that on the bun before stacking everything together and eating with abandon. I also made the classic Potato Macaroni salad, using one of the recipes in the book. It's similar to my mom's recipe, except that this one uses shredded crab and it's seasoned with powdered Ranch dressing mix. This is resourceful, flavorful cooking at its best. Two scoops, please.

You're wondering what's my connection to the book -- I have one recipe I donated, a slow cooker spicy barbecue pork sandwich, done up in a Vietnamese bahn-mi style (p. 114) -- but my main connection is my family is part of the Friends of the Waipahu Public Library organization. My aunt and uncle live in Waipahu, they're involved in the community, they raised their children there and I just appreciate the fact that there's such a big effort to keep libraries and their programs alive and well. And my cousin Dawn Yoshimura did the artwork for the cover -- she's an amazing artist and she did an absolutely beautiful job. Everyone donated their time and effort to this book, especially the folks who collected and edited the book, gathering so many different recipes and organizing it in a way that's easy to browse and cook from. Bravo, Friends of Waipahu Public Library!

Local crowd favorites from Hawaii - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Back to the food culture of Hawaii -- I don't want to burst anyone's bubble about pineapple. It's okay, you can have it every day if you want, but don't expect it to be sprinkled on everything. When I explain that "Hawaiian Pizza" is not really what the locals eat, it's like I've just said Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are all secretly working for the CIA, collecting information on little kids to be used against them in adulthood. Which, according to Agency rules, they cannot confirm nor deny, but still,  you get a lot of sadfaces about the pineapple thing. On my last visit to Hawaii, I was reminded of all the everyday comfort foods that are nearly unheard of on the Mainland, but I hope visitors to Hawaii will sample and enjoy as much as the locals do. My dad likes his Hamburger Steak, which is basically beef patties covered with gravy and onions, served with rice -- throw a fried egg on it, and it's a Locomoco. It's a staple at local restaurants, like mac n' cheese, but probably seems weird to most folks. I think my cousin was quietly aghast when I said you couldn't just pick up a Chocolate Dobash Cake at any old Mainland grocery store bakery. It's this chocolate-rich, yet delicately spongey layered cake -- yet another boon from the Portuguese immigrants who brought their pastry knowledge to the Islands. Why isn't this getting as much cool, hip love as macarons? And yes, the ubiquitous Spam Musubi and Saimin -- I adore them, but when I'm on the Mainland, I feel like my love of Spam is like an illicit love affair, whispered among cult-like members who share the same food-love. There should be a secret handshake.

Tropical fresh, from farmers markets to the home gardens (and even on the roadside) - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Of course, the ease of super-fresh tropical produce never fails to amaze me when I visit Hawaii. I was visiting around the season of fresh ginger, so the markets were selling bundles of the young pink and white root, barely any trace of that woody, tough skin you usually have to peel off. On morning walks with my mom, we'd pick the little wild guava growing along the side of the street, snacking on the way back to the house. And I did enjoy pineapple in the best way -- straight out of my aunt and uncle's garden in Kaneohe, where they lop off the tops, shoves them into the ground, and a few months later, the fruit starts showing up. They don't live on a farm, it's just a house in the middle of the suburbs, but this is how a lot of people roll in Hawaii. They take advantage of the rich soil, things grow well, and home gardens supplement what they get from the stores or catch from the sea. It's a nice lesson in being more self-sufficient and making use of what you have. This is the same mindset that went into a lot of the recipes in Flavors from a Plantation Town, as much of the heritage recipes in the cookbook are ones created out of necessity, blended with neighboring cultures, and using whatever ingredients the Islands could provide. Get the book, try the dishes out, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with these Hawaiian melting-pot recipes.

Mixed Plate: Baked Goods for Goodness Sake

One of the reasons the Seattle area is such a special place is not only is it full of incredibly multitalented and creative people, those same creative and multitalented people like to get together and activate their Wondertwin powers for good. Case in point: you need sweet stuff, the new Cakespy book, Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life is FULL of sweet stuff, and for even more sweetery goodness, the second annual Will Bake for Food bake sale fundraiser extravaganza is gearing up for more sugar-addled charity goodness! Let the sugar rush... BEGIN!!!!!

Because nothing bad can happen at Tiffanys... when you're eating a cookie - Photo by Wasabi Prime

So, I'm writing this post on a wicked sugar high, thanks to the sweet little Tiffany and Co.-inspired bonbon recipe from Jesse Oleson's new book. I feel like I could flap my arms and fly to the rings of Saturn from the buttery-sweet sugarbuzz I'm on right now, these cookies are so addictive. The recipe didn't even have a picture-perfect photograph of the cookies, Jesse's adorable little drawings of anthropomorphized cookies being all sassy-like were enough for me to say, that's it, I'm making these! Best known on the interwebs as Cakespy, Jesse wrote this incredibly cute, sweetly clever cookbook-slash-illustration bonanza that is now available in bookstores and an Amazon.com account near you. It's a mix of colorful photos mingling with Jesse's signature illustrations, guiding you through each recipe. I like this book because it's got an attitude all its own. These aren't fussy desserts that will fill the hearts of the baking-fearful full of dread, they're a mix of classic comforts and easy to make treats that combine prepared sweets with homemade touches. It reminds me of a book I would have enjoyed with my mom when I was little, inspring and demystifying the art of baking, as there are a lot of recipes in here that you could do with a little one, with minimal need for ovens and sharp objects. Baking and cooking shouldn't be work or drudgery, it should be fun, creative and a way to express yourself, just like this book.

Easy-bake cookies, dangerously quick to make and eat! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The Tiffany Bonbon recipe was super fast and easy to make -- I literally whipped up the dough in the morning, baked everything, and had it iced and decorated by the afternoon. The recipe recommends filling the cookies with something extra, like nuts, chocolate or coconut. Since I'm awash with Halloween candy, I used chocolate covered maltballs, aka, Whoppers. They were easy to push into the centers of a dough ball made with a cookie scoop, a handy tool when making these cookies, since you'll get evenly-sized shapes. Since the recipe doesn't require baking soda or baking powder, the cookies pretty much stay the same shape and size you form the dough into when you bake them. I'm already thinking of more cookies I'll make with broken up candy bars or peanut butter cups, as I've got a ton of those leftover as well. The dough for these cookies is buttery and rich, like a shortbread, but more creamy. As simple as the recipe is, you get a really satisfying cookie. It's easy to decorate and you can make it as simple or as fancy as your patience will carry you. I'm already thinking of putting this one into the Christmas cookie roster, maybe adding a little cocoa powder and doing a chocolate version, so stay tuned!

Will Bake for Food 2: The Cookie Empire Strikes Back!

The recipes in the Cakespy book are so easy, I hope you not only get this book, but use some of the recipes to make some baked goods if you're thinking of being involved in the upcoming Will Bake for Food event, happening in Seattle on Saturday, November 12th. Last year's event raised hundreds of dollars and this year's event hopes to do the same and more, fighting the good fight against hunger, with the Emergency Feeding Program being the beneficiary group this year. Unfortunately, bad timing is preventing me from being present at the event, but I still want to voice my continued support for this community effort, taking something as simple and good-hearted as a bake sale, and making it extra fabulous with well-known local bloggers, cool raffles and oh yeah -- hella delicious homemade sweets! So, please mark your calendars, tell your friends and family about this event, and do your part to help stamp out hunger in our own community.

Elegant and sweetly delicious - Photos by Wasabi Prime

OMG a Recipe (if you get this new book): Me-Oh-My, it's Mini Pies!

I've confessed of my deep, abiding love for miniature food in the past. Mini burgers, aka the ubiquitous "slider," pigs in a blanket, I love them all -- but what about pastries, or more to the point, pies? All the delight and enjoyment of a slice of delicious pie in a single bite -- brilliant. And besides, it's kinda funny to see the look on people's faces when you tell them you ate a whole apple and pumpkin pie in one sitting. *burp*

Apple Chai Mini Pie - it's a superstar! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I had the opportunity to check out a friend of a friend's (thanks, Chuckman!!) new cookbook that just came out, Mini Pies by Christy Beaver and Morgan Greenseth. It's exactly that, a cute little book full of miniaturized sweet and savory pies, and techniques over how to make this mini-magic happen in your own kitchen. Christy and Morgan are the dynamic piemaking duo behind Mini Empire Bakery, a shop in Seattle making all kinds of yummy desserts with a focus on quality local ingredients and having a full menu of options including vegan and gluten-free choices.  I know that probably sounds like a typical bakery to a lot of people lucky to live in large cities or in regions close to a bounty of fresh produce, but we forget there's quite a lot of places where a bakery like this would be a dream come true. We forget what a rare gem quality bakeries can be! So a cookbook like this is especially nice, as people everywhere can still have a taste of Mini Empire Bakery, even if they are hundreds of miles away. The book includes instructions for making vegan-friendly pie crust, there's a lot of soy milk used in recipes, and there are different options for how to fill or top a pie however a person may choose, whether they have dietary needs or not. The book is full of inspiring photos of wee baby pies, and creative ideas for flavors.

With this book, you can create your own Mini Empire at home! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I could have made a big batch of mini pies and sat on the couch to graze on my dessert bounty, watching my thighs grow. But no! I wanted to make several of the mini pie filling recipes and also foist some gently-used clothing on friends for a clothing swap brunch. Mini pies, like the full sized ones, have the same challenge as most desserts -- you can't just make a little bit. Even with the miniature size, you get the equivalent of a full pie, just portioned out in single servings, so invite friends over or package them up as a gift, because they're ridiculously adorable as they are dangerous to have around. You'll eat all of them, I swear. I decided to make a range of pie options, two savory and two sweet. I went with the season, choosing their classic pumpkin and a spicy number, a chai apple for the dessert pies, and a caramelized onion with olive tapenade, and a spinach and cheese quiche for savory. Mini pie brunch and a clothing swap -- it's not a bad way to try some new recipes and trade some wardrobe goods amongst friends. I have to say, clothing swaps are my new favorite thing, and it doesn't have to be clothing, could be anything -- books, kitchen tools, etc. It's kind of like an indoor rummage sale, except that it's a swap and everyone brings their own stuff to trade.

Pie filling factory - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I modified some of the recipes a hair -- I had some leftover turkey slices, so I sliced and crisped it in a pan, while wilting some fresh spinach for the savory egg and spinach quiche. It made them a little more hearty, since I had more sweet than savory options. For the caramelized onion pie, I used kalamata olives for the tapenade versus a mix of olives. Again, I was going more with what I had available, but their recipe would yield a nice creamy tapenade with the combination of olives. For the sweet pies, I had fresh roasted pumpkin on hand, which I mixed with the other ingredients in a food processor to help blend down the chunks. About one small sugar pumpkin is enough to yield the 8 ounces needed in the recipe, if you decide to go with fresh squash. For the chai apple filling, the recipe calls for Granny Smith, which are ideal for dessert pies since they're nicely tart and firm. We had a surplus of Fuji apples from our CSA, so I went with those instead, which turned out perfectly. When you're making multiple pie fillings, I recommend making or preparing as much of the fillings ahead as possible, so they're ready to fill the readied dough shells. Our kitchen may have looked like a mad array of bowls and dishes full of oddball things, but once the batches of filled mini pies were going into the oven and baking away, it went pretty fast.

Filling pies and cutting the dough just right - Photos by Wasabi Prime

As to the tools of the trade -- I didn't have specialty miniature pie tins. A lot of bakeries are starting on this trend, and there are mini pie tins available at kitchen supply stores. But the Mini Pies cookbook suggests using your muffin and cupcake pans, which work just dandy. I have multiple sizes: wee bitty appetizer tart pans, regular cupcake-sized pans, and Texas muffin-sized pans. I had mixed amounts of filling for the savory pies. Since they were more chunky with the whole ingredients, I thought they would fill the small bite-sized appetizer pans better, showing off their texture. I did have extra spinach and turkey quiche filling, but that was by design -- I baked off the excess in ramekins for a quick breakfast while I was working. The cook's gotta eat too, right?

I saved the larger cupcake-sized pans for the dessert pies, since I had more filling for those. The real trick was getting the sizing right for when the pie dough needed to be placed into each tart or cupcake mold. It needs to be cut in a large enough circle to make a fully-formed shell up the side of each mold shape, so you find yourself hunting around the kitchen for round shapes that can make a nice, clean cut. A biscuit cutter was perfect for the little bite-sized pies. The standard cupcake pans required something larger and I was pleased to find that the metal top for a cocktail shaker makes a just-right circle! Plus the sharp, clean metal edge ensured a clean cut. I know people say to use a wine or cocktail glass for cutting pastry rounds, but some glasses have rounded, blunt edges, making it harder to cut. Plus, it's glass and you hate to mess around with that if there's an accident. It's all fun and games until someone gets a big shard of glass in their dessert.

Savory mini pie goodness! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The mini pies were a hit. Sure, it requires a little extra effort versus making one large pie, but gosh darnit if they're not cute as all get-out. And it inspired me to consider doing mini pies for Thanksgiving. I'll still make the traditional pumpkin pie, but maybe pecan and apple or pear, in mini form, so there's less hard decisions to make when dessert comes around. You could easily have two of these small pies in one sitting. Even three! 

Much thanks to the girls at Mini Empire Bakery for letting me cook through some of their recipes and enjoy their wonderful new book,  Mini Pies. This is a great gift idea if you're looking for something to make/give to someone for the holidays -- the book is small and would go nicely with a batch of mini pies!

Mixed Plate: Keep Calm and Have a Brown Butter Bar

The health experts usually say it's an unhealthy sign when you have an emotional relationship with food, but sometimes you just need what you crave to get through a tricky time. While the going gets tough, the tough make rich and creamy macaroni and cheese and a tray of brown butter bars. It's way cheaper than therapy, right?

Macaroni and cheese, better than Prozac - Photo by Wasabi Prime

It must be something cosmic or a sign that summer and I don't have the best relationship; I remember around the same time last year, things were so hectic, I had to put a hard-stop to everything and just hole-up for a bit, just to recharge and tamp down that moment of, "What the hell am I doing? Maybe I should've been an x-ray technician." I don't really know what an x-ray technician does, beyond fiddling with x-rays, but it sounds like the sensible sort of job that one takes to make the family feel more at ease than the current answer, which is, "living 'in-the-now' as a graphic designer/blogger/writer/photographer." That's the answer that makes Mom and Dad ponder in bewildered silence: four year university... for this? Self-doubt and personal crisis aside, this latest bout of excitement in Wasabi-World has been a combination of usual workaholic shenanigans, topped with the 1-2 punch of a wee car accident. No major injuries, everything's fine, but it's the Supersized Big Meal Deal of Compounded Crap no one needs that really takes the Mickey outta you. But I had the Power of Carbs to see me through. Glory Hallelujah!

It gets kind of annoying how many recipes for macaroni and cheese are out there. There's a million "ultimate," "best," "greatest," or "most amazing" mac n' cheeses in cookbooks and on restaurant menus, to the point where you want to scream. But maybe it's a case of not blaming the messenger -- there's a good reason this comfort food is so ubiquitous. Maybe we all need a little comfort now and then, and having a bowl of cheesy, noodle-y comfort at every turn makes it a lot easier to take a moment to get centered and eat heartily. While I didn't go out to a restaurant to order this cheese for my whine, I can see why it's such an easy, quick meal to make from scratch, since you probably have the basic ingredients handy: pasta, milk, flour, and cheese. This version had some bacon crumbles, but even without the smoky divine swine, making a basic bechamel sauce and loading it full of different cheeses was a pretty direct route to a happy, calm state of food coma-ville. And at least for a little bit, I didn't have to think about anything beyond the feeling of a full stomach.

Great book and tasty methods for getting to one's happy place (with help of Miss Indy) - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Another big savior for my sanity was this dessert from Keren Brown's new book, Food Lovers' Guide to Seattle. It's a great insider's guide to all the great restaurants, specialty ingredient shops and even a calendar for food events. It's also got the extra bonus of recipes shared by local chefs. Highly recommended by the author herself, I had to try the Brown Butter Bar recipe from Pastry Chef Heather Earnhardt of Volunteer Park Cafe, which is like the classic favorite Blondie Bar, but with a sophisticated twist, browning the butter to give the batter a toasty, nutty flavor. The finished bar is an ooey-gooey sweet treat. The recipe reminds you to not overbake the bar, and I tend to extra-underbake things like brownies, so my resulting Brown Butter Bars were probably heavier on the ooey-gooey factor, but I didn't care. We don't make treats like this to be some impossibly perfect dessert. Much like the pasta and cheese combination, we want our food to mainline Happiness into our system and spare the window dressings.

It was also a delicious reminder over how amazing brown butter, aka beurre noisette is. The toasted, nutty flavor is distinctly rich and hazelnut-like. I tend to use it more in savory dishes, but I forget how lovely it can be for baked goods. Turn off the Calorie Counter Voice in your head as you throw a few sticks of butter into a saucepan, and simmer n' bubble your way to golden-brown deliciousness. But this isn't something you walk away from -- butter goes from brown to yucky-burnt in the blink of an eye. It doesn't need babysitting, it needs P-Diddy/Diva-like attention and nurturing. It's a bit like making ghee or clarified butter, as you're cooking the butter itself, toasting the milk solids, developing that nutty flavor, but you stop the process before the butter is totally separated. The basic stages were captured on-camera: the butter will melt down to a foamy, golden elixir before starting to slowly darken, and when you can smell that nutty (but not burned) fragrance, shut the burner off and take the pot off the heat, as it will continue to cook just from the residual heat of the butter itself. I mean it when it says it goes from brown to burnt in an instant -- when the color starts to develop, it's wicked-fast and you have to make sure you're quick on the draw to remove it from the heat. But the extra step is worth it, and it's what makes the bars from Keren's book so worthwhile for your sanity.

So take a moment when you need it. Keep calm, carb-out, and if you have a fuzzy friend like Miss Indy who will quietly listen to your woes and likely drool for a nibble of pasta or brown butter bar, all the better. And when you see Keren Brown's book on the shelf, by all means pick it up! Get twelve copies and send to friends who may be considering a trip to the Northwest, as there's great restaurants and insider-track notes about what to order or buy when you're letting your stomach be your guide in a city. Whether or not you live in Seattle, the recipes alone are definitely worth it, as I think the Brown Butter Bars speak for themselves.

It's like BUTTAH! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: I'm Just a Love Machine

The Prime has never been one to fully embrace Valentine's Day as a full-on holiday, but maybe being around a lot of restaurants and food-related work, it's hard not to get swept up in the lace-trimmed, pink hearted wonderland of L-O-V-E. This year, I found myself making homemade sweets for friends using a recipe from Alexandra Hedin's sweetheart of a book, Entertaining at Home,  and trekking around Woodinville, to get some sweet and savory inspiration at the seasonal chef's demos at Willows Lodge.

These peanut butter and chocolate treats should come with a warning: Highly Addictive - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Getting straight to dessert first, Alexandra's book is a great mix of both lifestyle and recipes, which I think they should almost have a new category for books simply called Hostessing with the Mostessing. Is it grammatically correct? Heck no, but it kind of covers it all, as her book, Entertaining at Home, is one of those where you really take in the full experience of each meal, not just the individual dishes. You look at where a meal is held, how the food is presented, and the little decorative details that aren't necessarily edible, but provide a satisfying experience for the whole occasion. I have to give mad props to a local food and lifestyle talent having a book published and much mad propitude to her peanut butter and chocolate squares recipe, which I made a double-batch of. When I was done stuffing my face with the irregular-shaped end pieces, I cut everything down into little bite-sized rectangles and put into Valentine-themed candy cups, stacked in celo bags and decorated with a strip of red and white polka dot fabric. It's not the typical heart-shaped box of chocolates, but it was a little sweet thing to give to friends to let them know how sweet they are. The book is available at bookstores, or you can order directly through Alexandra's site - I'm sure she'd love to hear from you!

Barking Frog's Chef Bobby Moore cooking up savory dishes at Willows Lodge chef demos - Photos by Wasabi Prime

You know what goes really well with peanut butter and chocolate squares? Sea bass with carrot ginger beurre blanc and oysters! Maybe not. But switching gears and puttering over to the Willows Lodge hotel in nearby Woodinville, there are chef demos the hotel graciously hosts at seasonal times of the year. I went to the holiday demos, which included presentations on cocktails, appetizers and desserts. They hold these events midweek, right in the Willows Lodge lounge area, past their big fireplace as you walk into the main entrance. They usually start around 5 or 5:30, but you really have to get there as early as possible -- 4:30 is adviseable, as the lounge area becomes standing room only. It's like the best kept secret in sleepy Woodinville-town... and I just let the cat out of the bag!!

Flourless chocolate cake, flavored with raspberry by Pastry Chef Matt Kelley - Photos by Wasabi Prime

It's a really nice treat, as you're sitting there with a happy hour glass of wine, maybe one of their tasty appetizers (I love their lamb burger with sweet potato fries), while Chef Bobby Moore or Pastry Chef Matt Kelley at the neighboring restaurant, the Barking Frog, prepare something right in front of you, recipe cards are passed out, and you get to sample everything they make. For the Valentine-themed presentations, Chef Moore prepared an appetizer of oysters topped with an herbed mascarpone and brioche crumbs, a lighter twist on the typical Oysters Rockefeller, and then seared bass with a sweet carrot ginger sauce over a fennel risotto. Pastry Chef Matt Kelley made a rich flourless chocolate cake with a raspberry truffle center, topped with raspberry chantilly cream -- divine, no? On the night of Chef Moore's savory demo, there was the added treat of sampling wines from Dusted Valley Winery, who co-hosted the presentation. While they don't have these every week, they generally hold these special cooking demos around holidays, and I believe there's another one coming up in March - check the Willows Lodge events page for updates.

Whatever you decide to do for Valentine's Day, whether it's going out for a special dinner, staying in and making a special meal, or getting one of those heart-shaped pizzas from Papa Murphys, have a heart-shaped day, and hugs n' kisses to all!

Sweet and Savory Valentine Wishes to ALL - Photos by Wasabi Prime