UnRecipe: There is Method to My Pizza Madness

Pizza seems like one of the simplest things to make, and yet it's always something we go out to have, or get delivered to our homes. Why is that?! I feel like it's a bit to do with the crust, and how most home ovens just don't have the Hulk Smash Strength to get to the blazing hot temperatures of a professional pizza oven. So what can we do to give our home ovens a boost? A pizza stone is handy, but what if you don't have one? My new pizza crust-making partner in crime is the silicone mat, aka SilPat. 

Silicone isn't just for fake boobs - it's great for pizza-making! - Photo by  Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: Tackling Pizza the Hut and Wishing the Schwartz Was With Me

We try to eat mindfully. We try to make good choices when it comes to meals. But sometimes you just have to say the hell with it all: I want deep dish, ooey-gooey pizza. I became literally possessed with the Pizza Demon, more specifically, Deep Dish Pizza Demon from the 9th Circle of Pizza Hell. I was dreaming of the stuff, and I can probably blame a lot of "Best of" food-related programming over the holidays pushing my food cravings into overdrive. Damn you, Food Paradise and Guy-freakin-Fieri. If you've never had deep dish pizza before, it's the masterful American Midwest bastardization of its Italian ancestor, trans-morphing the traditional thin, charred Neapolitan crust into a buttery, fried-dough-pie-crust-bowl, containing layers of sauce, cheese, meats, more cheese, more meats, and maybe some vegetables. God Bless America -- we don't do things half-heartedly, and definitely not when it comes to pizza.

Team America Deep  Dish Pizza - EFF YEAH - Photo by Wasabi Prime

FoodTrek: Maui Part Deux - Pizza and Beer, With Aloha

What's a pair greater than pizza and beer? Yeah, that's right -- NOTHING. They were together long before peanut butter and chocolate, and way-way before those Twilight kids hooked up for some vampiric bump n' grind. And so it should be no surprise that in the lush paradise of Maui, Pizza and Beer: A Love Story, continues on...

Oh what a feeling... drinking beer on the ceiling... - Photo by Wasabi Prime

In the second installment of Mauianigans (Maui + Shenanigans - duh), we managed to fit a trip to a local brewery in Lahaina and a from-scratch pizza place in Kihei. Not in the same day, mind you, but these separate excursions were too good not to put together as tasty suggestions for your next visit to the island of Maui. I credit Mr. Wasabi for organizing a tasting tour of the Maui Brewing Company. Brock was talking to his beer pals and someone said, "So of course you'll be visiting the brewery, right?" To which the obvious answer was, "Of course!" with hasty Googling afterwards, to figure out where the place was, and whether or not the brewery was open to the public for tours. The answer to that is no -- they don't do regular tours, but if you can get at least ten of your thirstiest friends together and schedule a time with them, they'll do a personal tour of the brew facilities with a tasting session afterwards for $10, including a wooden token good for a full pint at their brewpub, which is offsite from the brewery, at the Kahana Gateway Center. 

Look for the big, shiny brewing equipment and follow the arrows! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Maui Brewing Company's brewery and tasting room is located off Brock's favorite highway to say - Honoapiilani Highway, which goes right through Lahaina, but it's a little tricky to find. It's a working brewery, so it's in an industrial area hidden behind a few other street-facing buildings. The best visual signpost to signal you're within spitting distance is the Sugar Cane Train station, which has a pretty distinctive vintage train engine sitting out on a lawn. The brewery itself is about a row of buildings back, and you'll see that they've used some of their brewing equipment tagged for signage to let you know where to enter. The tasting room is a cool, laid-back place to grab a beer. No food, since they have the brewpub for that, but it's a great hands-on experience to see how the beer is made. Maui  Brewing Company has been making the good sudsy stuff since 2005, and it's the biggest breweries on the islands in. They have several signature beers: Bikini Blonde, Big Swell IPA, Mana Wheat and CoCoNut PorTeR, which you've likely seen and tasted on the Mainland, thanks to the fact they use cans instead of bottles. Beer in cans is like wine in boxes -- there's a stigma that makes you think "bad" or "cheap," but Maui Brewing Company is working towards adjusting people's drinking mindframes and realizing it all comes down to blessed science and good economic sense. The cans are less expensive than bottling, and they maintain the beer's quality better than glass, which can still allow light to affect the beer. Given the traveling these mighty sixers have to do, going as far as the East Coast, a secure and lightweight beer-shuttle is a necessity. The cans also ensure more beer can be shipped, so that's a good thing as well.

Where Maui beer is BORN - Photos by  Wasabi Prime

Maui Brewing Company is all about showing local love -- even the cans are locally produced. I learned on the tour that the ridges near the top of the can is like a branding from the can manufacturer, which in this case is on Oahu. If you see a can with the little ridges towards the top, that can was made in Hawaii, which would explain why I remember all those POG and guava juice cans having that unique feature. Ah, sweet, sweet knowledge! But back to the local ingredients, they integrate as much of the islands' flavors into the beers as possible, like the coconut for the porter, or for one of their special seasonal brews, the Aloha B'ak'tun, a spicy, smoky brew made with local chocolate. Their most popular beers are the lighter ones like the Bikini Blonde, Big Swell IPA and Mana Wheat, which you can find at most bars who serve Maui Brewing Company's tasty suds. They have a light, delicate flavor -- sunkissed, I dare say, and perfect after a hot day on the beach. And plenty ono with some pauhana pupus, like boiled peanuts and edamame. Our Pacific Northwest palates were more intrigued with their heavier, more complex CoCoNut PorTeR and that seasonal chocolate-spiced B'ak'tun, which I'm totally going to track down at our favorite Redmond beer shop, Malt and Vine.

Drankin' with friends and plenty aloha at Maui Brewing Co's tasting room - Photos by Wasabi Prime

It's good news to hear that Maui Brewing Company's doing so well that they're moving to larger facilities this year -- time to level up! No specific date announced, but it won't cause any slowdown in the production of their precious beer, and the brewpub will be open during the transition. I have to give a brewery operating in Maui a lot of credit -- it's a hot place, they're making a product that's extremely sensitive to temperature and moisture, maintaining equipment that is constantly exposed to some amount of salt spray that's nearly everywhere in the islands. They make a commitment towards sustainability, both in energy efficiency on their part with the beer canning, solar power usage, biodiesel made from their brewpub kitchen and used for their vehicles, as well as making sure their brewery waste is reused as much as possible -- they donate the spent grain to local farms for feed and compost. You know you're drinking to the Circle of Life when you're cracking into one of their beers. They make a quality product through a process with a conscience -- even if you're not a beer drinker, you have to appreciate that.

Enough beer-talk -- let's EAT. And drink more beer. - Photos by Wasabi Prime

We took our precious beer token to Maui Brewing Company's brewpub, which is maybe a fifteen minute drive from the brewery, give or take pauhana traffic. Really cool place. I loved the repurposed beer keg decor, from the entrance to their industrial light fixtures, complete with plugged bungs. Bung. Heh-heh. From a beer-drinking standpoint, the brewpub, along with food, serves more of Maui Brewing Company's beers -- small-batch, seasonal beers and specials like their Ginger Saison, which I very much enjoyed. Their food menu reflects the same locavore mentality behind their beers -- Maui onion soup, salads made with local hydroponic greens, and of course a lot of their dishes are made with their beer, like their chili or beef stew. I went for their beef stew made with their porter and locally-raised beef. I have to say, of all the beer-infused stews I've had, this one really retained that smoky-bitter porter taste in a nicely flavor-forward way. You weren't going to get drunk off beef stew, but there was no doubt they used that CoCoNut PorTeR in the gravy. And served with a scoop of rice, of course!

Beer-battered brie? Why the heck not? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Brock ordered their Pub Plate, which was Hawaii pub-style: kalua pork, one scoop rice, one scoop potato-mac salad, and a side of their house barbecue sauce made from their porter. I snuck a bite -- it was ono plenty. We also had their beer battered brie served with caramelized pineapple sauce, which is just a fancy way of saying FRIED CHEEEEEEESE. Aside from the fact it was molten hot, as if Pele herself had flipped the bird at this cheese, it was delicious, almost like a slightly deconstructed fondue, with the creamy pineapple sauce, gooey brie and pieces of bread. One of our brewpub crew ordered the nachos, which the simple name doesn't do it justice. It should be called King Kamehameha Nachos because these were downright royal. A volcano-sized pile of kalua pork, black beans, fresh salsa and jalapenos... and maybe a few tortilla chips thrown in there for good measure. The thing was gloriously ridiculous, and even when the pile was mostly gone, no one wanted the plate to leave the table, continuing to pick at it and keeping the servers from taking it away. Damn, that's some good nacho.

There was beer... now there's pizza at Fabiani's - Photo by Wasabi Prime

And so the beer was had... what about the pizza? I'll admit, I had my heart set on a sushi night. Gorge myself like a fat seal on whatever fish we could get our hands on at one of the sushi spots in Kihei that other travelmates had recommended. I was ready to be harpooned for sushi. But as most days and nights spent with a group of friends on a giant company vacation, you settle in with an early evening cocktail and ideas get thrown about over where to go for dinner. Fabiani's Pizza and Bakery was a name that came up as a place to check out, so sayonara, sushi -- it's Italiano, Aloha-style!

Fabiani's is in Kihei, a little off the beaten path in a small strip mall off Lipoa Street. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, handmade baked goods -- a total gem. It's clearly a popular neighborhood spot, as it was busy on a weeknight and that's always a good sign. The owner, Lorenzo Fabiani, is from Italy, so it's not one of those places that just tacks on an Italian-sounding name on the sign. It's all legit, yo. The chef is from Chicago, but don't think the pizzas are thick, doughy pies -- their crust is crispy, cracker-thin Roman-style, but sturdy enough to carry weighty toppings like The Mauian, which is kalua pork, Maui sweet onions, pineapple and a sweet barbecue sauce to balance the smokiness of the pork. We also tried the Maui Meaty, which is just that -- Supermeat! Italian sausage, pepperoni and ham - chomp. A more delicate and elegant offering is the namesake Lorenzo, topped with fresh mozzarella, proscuitto and a finish of fresh arugula drizzled with truffle oil, which made for a wonderful earthy, bitter green flavor combination. This was not an unhappy table. We also nom-nommed some artichoke dip and I was tempted by their house salad, which was made up of fresh greens from Kula, tossed with a vinaigrette made with lilikoi and vanilla, but my eyes fixated on their Aloha-talian mashup, Tako Carpaccio. Thinly sliced raw octopus drizzled in olive oil, sprinkled with fresh tomatoes and pine nuts. Unusual combination, but the fresh octopus with olive oil was heavenly; the briny earthiness of that cephalopod paired nicely with the richness of the oil. It wasn't sushi, but it definitely curbed my yen for seafood that night.

Aloha-talian -- I totally just made that up - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Italian food is the last thing I'd normally go for while in Hawaii, mostly because the majority of places are likely national chains -- not that I won't say never to deep-dish Pizza Hut guilty pleasuring. A pizza isn't something I'm going all the way to Hawaii to have -- HOWEVER, I would definitely go back to Fabiani's. It's got the local-transplant vibe of a neighborhood restaurant that took one culture's home cooking and adapted it beautifully to the islands, which is exactly how all the "Local" Hawaii foods came to be, from Spam Musubi (US military and Hormel) to kalua pork (pigs ain't local, yo!), even the sweet Hawaii-style bread and spicy sausage (god bless the Portuguese). My regret, as always, is that there wasn't enough time to go back and try their pastries and have more of their tasty food, but that's what finding a food gem is all about, looking forward to returning again.

There's still more Maui love to come -- I've got adventure on the high seas where all I could think of was that insufferably cheesy line from Star Trek IV: the Voyage Home, where Scotty says, "Thar be WHALES, Captain!" With that totally awesome preface, I'm sure you CAN'T WAIT!!!! Mahalo.

UnRecipe: A Day Late, A Dollar Short, But Still Delicious

I get zero points for blogging about seasonal ingredients today. But at the time I made all this stuff, I was cooking with seasonal ingredients like a Mofo. Garden tomatoes and fresh oregano? Looking outside into most PacNW gardens, it's a whole lotta soggy earth, wilted plants and gray skies, but a month or so ago, we were all still enjoying fresh-picked goodness. So let's jump into the Way-Back Machine and pretend it's still summer, shall we?

Yes, more effing tomatoes! I love these little guys!! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Gardening isn't ridiculously hard to do, but it's still a bit of work, so when you do yield even a modest harvest of edible goods, you want to celebrate them. Short of putting them in a glittery dress and making them learn to twirl a baton for an upcoming parade, you want to prepare them in a way that shows off their flavor and doesn't just drown them out as some supporting ingredient role. I didn't have a ton of tomatoes this year, but for the ripe lil' gems I got, I was celebrating the eff out of them. I went on a Pizza Rampage for a few weeks this summer -- not a bad thing to do, I admit -- and I was enjoying this magical food at several favorite spots, including The Station Pizzeria, which I happily shared many photos of their pizza-deliciousness. Working with fresh ingredients is what transforms pizza from cheap college junk food into something really special. I was particularly inspired by their spicy Cipolla, which has a mix of sausage, pine nuts, onions and fresh ricotta, as well as their Not So Classico, which had a sweet tomato confit, chevre and mozzarella, and a mix of arugula pesto and fresh arugula on top.

Inspired pizzas from The Station, and our own garden goods - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I wanted to make an UnRecipe - MacGyver pizza mashup of these pizza inspirations, using items from our garden, fridge and pantry staples and some CSA greens. I wanted to make everything as from-scratch as possible, so I used my go-to flatbread dough recipe from Epicurious, and that great homemade ricotta method using the microwave from Serious Eats. Fresh ricotta on pizza? To. Die. For. And making your own dough and fresh cheese isn't as much work as you'd think. The microwave method for fresh ricotta from Serious Eats has a lot of passive time, with the microwave zapping the milk and vinegar mixture, which is just enough time to throw together a batch of dough. You can use the dough hook attachment on your mixer or use your hands -- it really only takes fifteen minutes or so to put together a quick dough. You're just getting it mixed until everything comes together, you don't want to overmix and create concrete. Once the combined dough is balled up in a neat, clean round and placed in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap to proof, say Peace Out, and let it sit until dinner time when you're baking this bad boy. Same with the ricotta -- I made a double batch, based off the Serious Eats instructions, so it took a little more than double the time in our microwave to curdle and get cheesy. I drained off as much of the whey as I could, stirring the mixture through paper towels and a metal sieve, but once it got to Greek yogurt consistency, I set the cheesy sieve atop a big, empty measuring glass and set the whole thing in the fridge to just let gravity finish the job. I checked on it periodically throughout the day, stirring to agitate more of the whey to drain. The resulting ricotta wasn't as thick or crumbly, more creamy, like a thickened pudding, but because I baked the ricotta with the pizza, the oven evaporated a lot of the excess liquid.

You got the White Stuff, baby. Making cheese and bread - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I wanted the finished pizza to have a spicy mixture of pickled and fresh vegetables. I skipped the meat just because I thought sausage flavoring might overpower the vegetables and I wanted to highlight the freshness of everything. But if I were to add a meat, prosciutto would be a good candidate. I pulled some fresh oregano leaves and chopped them up super-fine, mixing it with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar for a basic dressing. This was tossed with halved fresh cherry tomatoes and pickled goodies like chopped kalamata olives and pickled peppers. Once the dough was proofed and rolled out to make a rustic, aka, lopsided and butt-ugly, shaped pizza, it was covered with the vegetables and dollop-bombed with the fresh ricotta. Into a hot oven the whole thing went.

Garden-delicious with pickled olive and pepper goodness - photos by Wasabi Prime

It was a pretty heavily-laden pizza, but luckily this flatbread recipe yields a sturdy crust. The oven pulled a lot of the extra liquid from the ricotta and gave it a little color, but kept it creamy. If you had more crumbly ricotta, you could probably wait until adding it towards the tail-end of the baking, just so it wouldn't get rubbery. Once the pizza was finished, I sprinkled chopped fresh arugula on top to give it a peppery, green finish.

Pizza from scratch, from cheese, to bread, to tomatoes - so worth it! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

The result was, of course, fantastic. While not something I'd make every day, it's good to make a meal like this now and then to remind your palate of what homemade tastes like. You never realize how much pre-packaged food we eat, even the stuff you get from restaurants -- if it's a big chain, chances are, some of the ingredients they use are premade. Granted, no one's going to die if you have a $5 takeout pizza now and then, but consider the notion that if you're going to treat yourself with some comfort-junk food, make it slightly less junky by making it yourself.

More garden-delicious delights - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I got struck by the Homemade Bug again when I had more ripe cherry tomatoes and was getting tired of just having them in a salad. I had an image pop into my head of the whole tomatoes baked into an herbed cheesy bread. Sounded like a good idea as any. Short of The Voices in Your Head that ask you to do evil, bad things, the ones that suggest a cheesy tomato bread is a far more socially acceptable option.

Cheesy tomato bread rewarded by a spot on Sunset's website - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I used the same flatbread recipe, but mixed in finely chopped herbs and shreds of Parmesan cheese right before baking it. I formed it into more of a loaf than a flat pizza dough, so that it would yield thicker slices. I used a mix of herbs -- oregano and rosemary, as that's what was left in the garden, but a dry mix of thyme, oregano and red pepper flakes would work just as well. I made little divots in the dough and pushed the whole cherry tomatoes in. A quick drizzle of oil and more cheese over the top, and into a hot oven it went to bake. The tomatoes caramelized, shriveled and popped, which doesn't sound good but that's what I wanted. They stayed sunk into the bread, binding with the dough, and they were a nice fruity bite as you ate the herbed dough.

It was a complete UnRecipe tomato cheesy bread, because I didn't really have any set plan over how it would come out, just a vision in my head of what the finished result could be. And I was glad to see it pretty much matched the picture in my mind. I was so pleased, I entered it into Sunset Magazine's photo contest, where they would showcase harvest-worthy images. I was pleased to see the bread made it online, which of course is all that's left of this loaf, as it was gobbled up without a trace. Will definitely make this again, maybe using olives, since we're at a loss for truly garden-fresh tomatoes these days.

And there ends our trip in the Way-Back Machine of Summer. No lush gardens to pluck fresh produce from at the moment, but we can still dream of seasons to come and how to celebrate those harvests in the kitchen for future meals.

UnRecipe: Asparagustatory Story

Good Taste. Bad Taste. What does it really mean to have a skilled palate? For some the answer is a culinary education background, learning about ingredients in a classic, academic environment. For others it could mean a willingness to at least try everything, no fear, with the understanding that having eaten something enough times, you'll develop an appreciation for it. Maybe it's a combination of both. I got to thinking about how we process flavors when I had a craving for asparagus, a tricky flavor all on its own, with a unique ability to tell a little something about ourselves.

Asparagus and egg pizza, it's what's for every meal - Photo by Wasabi Prime

My mind is fixated on flavors lately, as I'm in the middle of reading Barb Stuckey's Taste What You're Missing, about the wild and untamed science of savoring food. Likely more mild than wild for most bedside reading, there's no explosions, fast cars or girls in bikinis (at least not yet); instead, it's a pleasant stroll through the breakdown of how the human senses translate food to our body and mind, and why we adore some flavors but can't quite wrap our tastebuds around others. 50 Shades of Gray, it's not, but you'll be better enriched for it and not have to hide your shame behind another book jacket when reading it in public. 

One of the points that Stuckey makes in her book is about asparagus, and that it's an unusual litmus test for human senses. I cackle perversely over the fact that one of the amusements of asparagus is that it makes your pee smell. Maybe there's more 50 Shades of Gray going on than I thought. But honestly, it stinks and asparagus has made it abundantly clear that it's a vegetable that will not be ignored. Some people claim they don't have that pungent side effect after eating asparagus, but recent scientific discoveries point out that it's not whether that smell is present, but that it's a genetic difference in people's olfactory receptors that allow them to recognize it. It doesn't necessarily mean someone is a superhero with super-spidey-senses if you pick up a whiff of asparagus post-potty break, but it does make you think about the innate sensitivities people have, which apparently go as deep as our DNA. If only some people can sense certain things, how does that translate towards the ability to enjoy food? Granted, I'm not done with Stuckey's book yet, maybe there will be some revelation that when eating a candy bar, men just taste chocolate and sugar, but a genetic switch in the female genome is suddenly triggered by cacao, tapping into a primal endorphin rush that releases feelings of  rapturous bliss and a compelling desire to curl up on the couch to watch John Hughes movies starring Molly Ringwald. What, you don't get that after eating a chocolate bar?

Eating my greens, along with the glorious golden yellow hue of a gooey egg yolk - Photos by Wasabi Prime

In this process of reading Stuckey's book, I do find that I'm thinking more actively about food cravings and why something may feel so compelling to cook and eat. I was completely struck by the desire to make something with asparagus after seeing Chef Lisa Nakamura's asparagus and chevre crostini demo on a Q13 local news segment a little while back -- you can see the video here. Maybe it was because I really like asparagus and goat cheese, and don't need much convincing, but I remember having a very clear image in my head over what I wanted to eat, which was a variation on her recipe. Instead of putting the chevre and seasoned asparagus on a toast slice, I piled them atop thin pizza dough, with a big egg baked in the middle. Asparagus is a strange food. There's a reason why sommeliers are confounded by this funky green stalk -- it's grassy and bitter, and can bring out the bitterness in other things like an evil mother-in-law. But when paired with rich things like a creamy cheese or a runny egg yolk, somehow the flavors, much like The Force, is balanced in the universe, no stupid mitichlorian mythology required.The bitterness helps to cut through the rich yolk, the asparagus retains every fresh bite, despite its time in a hot oven. Somehow all these things work, and once you've had that balance before, maybe in the form of a platter of steamed asparagus with a healthy drizzle of hollandaise sauce, your brain just recognizes the pieces fitting together and you want it again and again.

Aspara-Egg-and-Chevre Pizza anyone? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

As I read more into Barb Stuckey's book, about how the sensitivity of tastebuds can be manipulated -- which I'm sure that's what happens with this combination of ingredients on the aspara-egg-and-chevre pizza -- it still feels like a bit of food magic. Even when something is complex with varying textures and uniquely-paired ingredients, and we may not be able to reverse-engineer what we're experiencing, it's like it just encourages our sense of taste even further, to continue staying hungry for something new.

FoodTrek: Wine, Pizza and Memory Lane

I revisited the Columbia Winery in Woodinville recently, to admire their recent renovations as well as sip some of their wines and sample the new flatbread pizzas they're serving in their tasting room. As I was heading home, I realized that Columbia Winery was my first introduction to the world of wine when I moved to Washington. I left California before coming of age to really appreciate the wineries up north, and living in Arizona, I wouldn't say the desert heat and soil is particularly viticulture-friendly. It was a visit to Columbia Winery over a decade ago for a wine tasting event that started it all. While I've been back several times since that first visit, this post does have a sentimental feeling of coming full circle.

Newly renovated wine club room at Columbia Winery in Woodinville - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Oenophile I am not, I'm simply a great enjoyer of wine and not always knowing the right descriptive beyond, "Yum. Another glass, please." But I do appreciate how experiential wine can be, not only in the drinking of it, but seeing where it's made and meeting the people involved in the process. Columbia Winery is the "old soul" of Washington wine, producing distinctive vintages since 1962, and growing into the state's largest winemaker. Even if you don't live in the area, chances are you've heard of them or seen their wines at your local stores. The winery is a favorite among the locals for weddings -- even in the chill of winter and our recent storms, it's still a popular place to hold a special event. I was told that over the previous weekend, a wedding was taking place at 6, and the power was knocked out hours before, but clearly Bacchus the God of Wine was smiling down upon the lucky couple -- the power managed to come back on at 5:30. I know they can't promise miracles in their event brochure, but apparently Columbia Winery has the good mojo working for it.

Follow the good advice of the wine barrel -- Enjoy! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I remember back when the Spirit of Washington train still ran, where you board a train in Renton and make your way out to Woodinville and wind up at the Columbia Winery. The train delivered you right in front of the picturesque Queen Anne-style building, you could tour the grounds, sample the wine, and get a glimpse of the winemaking process itself. I always took visitors on the winery train tour, and even when the train sadly had to shut down, I still took friends to Columbia Winery because they did such a lovely job of presenting the story of their wine with a really beautiful experience. Times have continued to change, and the wine production has moved closer to their grapes, out to Sunnyside in Eastern Washington. Yet the distinctive building remains and they're still doing the good work of being wine ambassadors, providing ample space to sidle up to the wine bar for a glass and a good story.

Hanging  out with Kerry Norton and Bill Collins shows how to charm the ladies - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I have to say, they crafted a truly cozy space to sit and just enjoy the evening with something delicious. A centerpiece fireplace, comfy leather chairs and sofas, and a blazing hot oven outside producing crispy flatbread pizzas are among the additions to the winery's tasting room. And really, as our college days have taught us well -- you can't beat pizza and wine. I was fortunate to be introduced to the gentlemanly charmer that is Bill Collins, one of their wine experts and keeper of wonderful wine tales. He gave a tour of the new Cellar Club tasting room with a beautiful copper ceiling -- a nice private tasting room that's a perk of being a wine club member. And he did a wonderful job of pairing wines with the pizzas. I was also very lucky to be there on a night that Director of Winemaking Kerry Norton was on this side of the state. Normally he's at Wine HQ in Sunnyside, but I was lucky to get a chance to talk with him and hear his thoughts on the winemaking process, and how the wine embodies the soul of the vine. He was describing how as a viticulturist, it's so much about the fine art of developing the vine, how depth of soil, amount of sunlight exposure and the push/pull of those (among other factors) can balance out the flavor of the finished grape. While different varietal blends can help balance out flavor, it always comes down to the grape itself and the care that went into it.

We sampled several wines, going from their 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay, to a sweeter Chenin Blanc and Riesling. A long line of red wines were sampled as well, with the 2003 Syrah from the Red Willow Vineyard being one of my favorites of the night. Bill Collins has a story for every type of wine, from how he learned the meaning behind "Malbec," to a memorable way of checking the true color of a wine, holding it against the light and letting it cast its hue on a white surface, but he put it best by saying the descriptive terms always sound better when using terms for gemstones and precious metals. Wiser words never spoken.

TGI Wine and Pizza Wednesdays - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Chef Jeff Lantz is the man behind the new food menu. A lawyer turned chef who's always had his heart set on the appreciation of wine and food, he's come up with flavor combinations that are both traditional and creative. The popular and perennial choice is their Margherita, the traditional pizza with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and a sprinkle of chopped basil. The ones to try are definitely their seasonal pizzas, which change out about every three weeks. I was able to sample the Great American Pie, a meaty combination of beef and bacon finely minced and spread over the thin crust, and the Apple Pie Columbia Style, with cinnamon apples, blue cheese, pecans and caramelized onion. Both were delicious, but I have to say the sweet/savory Apple Pie was my favorite, with its nice balance of ingredients, plus it paired so nicely with the wines Bill poured -- the Riesling and Chenin Blanc. The Great American Pie was wonderful with the hearty reds; I wouldn't normally drink a Sangiovese on its own, but paired with the pizza, it mellowed nicely and really became part of the meal.

It feels a little like revealing a secret, sharing this little gem of a hangout spot, but that's exactly what Columbia Winery has done with renovating their interiors and making it a place that's as much for the locals as it is for visitors. The place gets busy, so go early! The tasting room is open daily (except on Mondays) and on Wednesdays, they offer their wines by the glass and flatbreads at half off from 5 to 7pm, so even more of a reason to duck out of work a little early during the middle of the week. You can see their hours and contact information here on their site.

Many Wasabi Thanks to Bill Collins, Kerry Norton and the whole team at Columbia Winery for giving the grand tour and a lovely evening with such fine company!

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

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

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

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

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

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

OMG a Recipe: No Carb Left Behind

I can blame the Eat, Pray, Love hype or just admit that I love a good pizza now and then -- either way, I decided to have a whirlwind romance of my own with homemade pizza. I played around with flavors and came up with a surprisingly delicious combination that resulted in a Proscuitto, Goat Cheese and Wild Huckleberry Jam Pizza.

Affair-worthy pizza - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I've used this flatbread recipe several times before -- it's thanks to the good folks at Epicurious who published Ben Ford's recipe. It's simple and it works with home ovens, which I know can be a sticking point for getting crusts baked just-right. I tend to make a batch of the flatbreads first, baking them till lightly brown and then keeping them in an airtight container before adding toppings and then using the broiler to both roast the fresh ingredients and give the crust a nice char.

Inspired by meticulous berry-picking - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The inspirational ingredient was the jam made from the tart wild huckleberries that grow in our backyard. They're tiny little things that take several pickings to get a jar's worth of jam, but it's got a nice bite that makes me think of cranberry sauce, which would be a fine substitute if you don't have wild huckleberries handy -- I can't imagine everyone does. I didn't add much sugar, just to keep its use open for savory dishes. I thought the rich, salty flavor of prosciutto and a creamy goat cheese would round out and balance the flavor profile. The jam served as the base, then a few soft pinches of the goat cheese, and then a layering of the prosciutto. A few hefty sprinkles of black pepper gave it some bite, and under the broiler it went. The thin slices of fatty meat crisp up, the cheese gets soft and melty, and the edges of the bread develop a darker char. The resulting dish is both savory and lightly sweet, as you can't hide the fact that it's a fruit based sauce, but it lends itself as a nice balance to the heavier flavor of the pork.

Wasabi's Pizzeria - Photos by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: Fantasy Island Pizza

In the mind's eye, picture a tropical breeze, a perfectly serene beach, and the Smoove-B stylings of Mr. Rourke in his impeccable white suit to greet guests and present a pizza that looks somewhat like the one in the photo below. Not that it's such a wonderous thing that deserves a place on television's Fantasy Island, but more like when someone orders a "Hawaiian Pizza," I'm fairly sure it's only a fantasy that people in Hawaii are keen to order the combo of canned pineapple and soggy ham. Not to burst anyone's bubble, but they like their pizzas like everyone else: cheesy, meaty, and delivered in under thirty minutes before their beer gets warm. But it is one of Mr. Wasabi's favorites, and I felt this casual comfort deserved to be gussied-up a bit, so inspired by some pantry goods and our recent vacation, a Spiced Pineapple, Black Forest Ham, and Sundried Tomato Pesto Flatbread was created. Look, Boss! It's de pizza!

Eat your heart out, Ricardo Montalban, King of Khan - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Trader Joes was the driving force behind this dish. It's a great store, full of amazing things you never knew you needed, but can't live without, and after bringing them home, you're not totally sure how to live with them either. Organic heirloom cherry tomatoes? Individually-sized Greek yogurt cups? Frozen pot de creme? My personal weakness is their snack aisle (Chili Lime Cashews, you complete me), and came across a package of their dried pineapple with chili spice. I had no idea what it tasted like or what I would do with it. By the Power of Compulsive Shopping, I had to have it!

Flash forward months later when I realize we've accumulated too many random items in the pantry, it's time to cook our way through this smorgasbord, and I recognize the package of red spice-flecked pineapple chunks. I thought as a joke, they would make for a fancy Hawaiian pizza, but the joke got less and less funny as I thought it may not taste like total crap.

In an UnRecipe-like fashion, I collected items I thought would be a good fit, but in atypical fashion, I actually started jotting things down. Why? I don't know -- let's just call it preparation for Thunderdome. I did use a flatbread recipe from Epicurious by Ben Ford, which was a nice return to breadmaking. The rest of it was a MacGyver meal of throwing together things and hoping I didn't end up making a pipe bomb instead of a pizza.

Kickin' it with Flava-FLAV: spicy pineapple, sundried tomato pesto and heavenly ham - Photo by Wasabi Prime

While the flatbread dough rose, I had enough time to make a simple pesto from sundried tomatoes. For the cheese, I chose fresh mozzarella, as it melts nicely, stringy-good, and the flavor won't compete with the other elements. I went back and forth on the ham, wondering if I should use proscuitto or not, but went with Black Forest as it's a bit meatier and not as salty. Because the spiced pineapple chunks were so strongly seasoned with chili and ginger, I didn't want it to be a Fight Club of flavors.

Once baked, the finished flatbreads were a satisfying combination of savory and sweet. The dry pineapple chunks soak up the surrounding moisture, so they soften by the time it's baked. The crust was doughy with a good bite to it, a delicious reminder that making bread isn't so difficult and very much worth the effort. I don't have a pizza stone, but was still able to get the small paddle-shaped flatbreads done with a bit of crispness. The small shapes bake up quickly, which is good since they need to be baked prior to adding the pesto and toppings.

I often felt like the "Hawaiian Pizza" was akin to a plain pepperoni and cheese pizza -- boring and overdone. Approaching something I'm not excited about and finding a way to make it more interesting was a nice experiment that yielded delicious results.

Heavenly ham and el diablo pineapple combine forces! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Fancy Fantasy Island Flatbreads
(makes 8 small flatbreads)

*use flatbread recipe from Epicurious

flatbread toppings
8 oz fresh mozzarella, torn into 8 segments
8 slices of Black Forest ham
1 package of spiced dried pineapple from Trader Joe's

sundried tomato pesto
3 0z bag of sundried tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp chopped oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Waiting for bread to rise and/or bake, take tomatoes and garlic and pulse in a food processor until rendered to small, even-sized pieces. Add spices and let food processor break everything down into small bits before slowly adding the olive oil. Continue to mix in food processor until consistency is like a paste.

When flatbreads are done baking, remove from oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees F. Spread the pesto on the flatbreads and divide the cheese, ham and pineapple across the eight flatbreads. Place back into the oven and let the cheese melt and brown slightly before serving. Commence omming and nomming.