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

OMG a Recipe: Greeting Spring With AsparaGUSTO

I get a little crazy around asparagus season. Maybe because it's literally like tasting Spring. When you're eating asparagus in season and it's not costing, like, $8 a pound because it was barged over from a continent away, you know the cold weather season is coming to an end. Things are growing again, leaves will start to bud, flowers are ready to bloom. Asparagus isn't in season for very long, you just enjoy the weird, alien-looking stalks for the time it's available, but you definitely feel a change in the air. Celebrating asparagus season is like you're actively taking a role in how our plates will be having a delightful, dramatic makeover. And yes, your pee will smell weird. Viva Asparagusto!

Once more, with Asparagusto! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

FoodTrek: Spring Fever and Yes, More Cowbell

"I got a fever... and the only prescription is... More Cowbell," so sayeth Christopher Walken's insane, Phil Spector-style record producer character on that high-larious Blue Oyster Cult Saturday Night Live skit from a few  years ago. If you have no idea what the hell I'm talking about and have a strong hankering to see Will Ferrell's hairy gut shake its money-maker, you should get to know your Internets better and see a quick-edit mashup on the YouTube. I definitely got a case of Spring Fever when I indulged in some springtime shenanigans: attending Woodinville RESERVE and savoring a day of sun at Pike Place Market. Start that cowbell, we're ready to rawk.

Ramping it up with spring in the Northwest - Photo by Wasabi Prime