Food and Crafts for All Occasions

The King of Pancakes: Dutch Baby

Dutch baby is an amazingly versatile, super delicious and astonishingly easy to make oven-baked hybrid of pancake and popover. It can be made sweet or savory and topped before or after baking with all sorts of tasty things. It’s good for breakfast, br/lunch or dinner and is suitable for both everyday meal or special occasions.

Marinated Green Beans, Vietnamese Style

This is not a traditional Vietnamese recipe, but rather my play with Vietnamese ingredients. Quite a successful play, I should say. These beans turn out really mind blowing: slightly sweet and tart, and spicy, and savory, and packed with umami.

Romancing the Potato: Roasted Potato Wedges

I’ve already posted one roasted potato recipe here. This time, it’s different potatoes, different cut and different presentation.

Roasted potato wedges can be served as a finger food which together with a great bold flavor makes them an ultimate crowd pleaser. And given that they are no hassle to make, they please a cook no less. Just get nice long and relatively thin potatoes - Yukon or, which is even better, small Russets - and you’re good to go.

I love my potato wedges spicy and herby, served with a cooling sauce like tartar. On the other hand, you can go light on spicing potatoes and put some hot pepper into the accompanying sauce instead, your call. Either way, it’s a winner.

Smoked Trout Dip

This dip is another delicious use of smoked trout. My husband raves about it every time I make it.

Have it on warm toasted bread. Some thinly sliced radishes on top will give a nice touch.

Japanese Style Spicy Baked Prawns

Have you ever tried baked spicy mussels in sushi bars? They use Sriracha infused mayo and garnish the mussels with flying fish roe and sesame seeds. I’m a sucker for these things. And I like the recipe even better with prawns on a half shell. Not your traditional Dynamite prawns, but super delicious and cute looking, too.

Brined Mackerel (or Herring if you're lucky to get it!)

This is not exactly a summer dish for me (it was 90 in Seattle this afternoon!), but I was asked to post this recipe, so here it is. Elli, thank you for reading my blog!

Salted herring, especially salted in brine, is a popular Russian dish. Skinned, filleted, thoroughly deboned, then sliced into bite-size pieces, layered with sliced sweet onions and drizzled with aromatic unrefined sunflower oil and several drops of table vinegar or lemon juice, it makes a nice dinner along with boiled potatoes and some vegetable salad. 

Best Ever Simmered Corn with Chipotle & Cumin Butter, Cotija Cheese, and Green Onions

Even though the local corn season will only start somewhere in mid-July, devoted corn fans in Seattle should be happy right now since most of the supermarkets offer quite nice Mexican corn. And for a reasonable price, about 50 cents per cob or so. So if you missed this somehow, it would be a good time to run to the store and grab some.

The secret to a great simmered corn on a cob lies in seasoning the water you cook it in. Two ingredients go in there, salt and sugar in equal amounts.

Tuna Poke

Poke (POH-kay) is a Hawaiian chopped raw fish dish that is usually served on top of boiled rice. When on Hawaii, we can live on poke only (well, add fresh fruits, too!). Poke is ubiquitous there – you can find it in restaurants, in supermarkets, in special poke cafes.

Pearl Onions in Balsamic Vinegar

Let me tell you that these onions are seriously addictive (ask my neighbor Maren!). I prefer to always have them in my fridge as they make a great snack for an impromptu party. Serve them cold or at room temperature with soft goat cheese on a piece of crusty rustic baguette or ciabatta. Blue cheese will work as well. They also make quite a terrific topping for steaks, lamb roast and pan seared duck breast.

Warm Salad with Farro/Barley, Radicchio, Frisee, Wild Mushrooms and Poached Eggs

This a more recent and more "mature" variation of this recipe. It's so balanced in flavor and textures so you would not need anything else to serve it with. Though if you never feel satiated unless you had some meat or fish in your stomach, a few seared scallops or sautéed sweetbreads would be the best choice.

4th of July Feast (last minute recipe): Corn and Jalapeno Dip

Here's a superfast and simple hot dip recipe which is a perfect choice for 4^th of July feast. Raving reviews are guaranteed and the total damage on your side is about $10 and less than a half hour of cooking time with only 5 minutes involving your active participation – the rest is done by the oven.

Mussels in Tomato Sauce with Jalapeno, Cream and Madeira

Every time we go to Taylor Shellfish on Melrose ave (Capitol Hill) to binge on shucked oysters and a glass of cava/beer, we usually buy several pounds of fresh mussels on the way out. Taylor Shellfish carries the best mussels in Seattle and supply them to many local restaurants. These mussels are absolutely perfect – large with plum and meaty flesh.

Prawns Sautéed with Paprika, Garlic, Lemon and Parsley

This super simple way to cook prawns is one of my favorites. They can be served as a hot appetizer along with crusty bread to dip up the sauce or tossed with spaghetti or linguine for an entrée.

Beans in Tomato Sauce wit Cinnamon and Fresh Dill

These beans seemed to be quite popular at our last Society lunch. I myself happen to be a big fan of this Greek inspired dish. I make it using either cannellini or garbanzo beans, though the Greeks, I believe, would take large white beans called Gigandes, which are, unfortunately, are not available in our stores yet.

Korean Carrots

First of all, I have to explain what this salad has to do with Korea because you wouldn't find this dish in Korean restaurants either here or in South Korea. Only in Russia or the countries that once were USSR republics.