DailyWaffle

Banana Date Cake (Vegan)

This week, I've been in overdrive catching up on Mad Men so that I'm up to speed for season 5. And now I've got '60s-era food on the brain. But rather than torture myself with some kind of terrible aspic with vegetables in it, I decided on a date cake. Flipping through some of my vintage cookbooks I discovered we used to eat a lot more date cake and date bread than I realized. It's even in an episode of Mad Men, one where Don Draper is having a tete-a-tete with Sally's teacher in season 3. She's made three loaves of date nut bread for a school bake sale.

March 29, 2012

Rustic Tuscan Chickpea Soup

Oh, humble chickpea, when we met at the Sizzler salad bar when I was seven, you were called garbanzo beans, and you were just an alternative to kidney beans in my salad. Little did I know that around the world, other cultures were doing you so much more justice in dal or falafel or hummus.…

March 20, 2012

Breakfast Recipes

Sunday Brunch: Corned Beef Hash

Around St. Paddy's Day, my grandma always bought an extra corned beef and threw it in the freezer, so at some random time of the year, in June or maybe October, you knew corned beef and cabbage would turn up on the dinner table. Last year with the best of intentions, I bought an extra…

March 17, 2012

Main Course Recipes

Char Siu Experiment, Hoisin Pork Results

Last week I posted a one-off with a photo of some char siu chicken legs we had in Kauai. I don't know what the secret to char siu is aside from the red food coloring, but I'm determined to crack it. I went to Uwajimaya yesterday to check out the jarred and packet marinades and see what was in those, but the plan was to make the marinade myself. So, while some Chowhounders said there's no way a restaurant uses ketchup and hoisin, an old recipe in the Honolulu Star Bulletin said different.

March 12, 2012

Main Course Travel

Eat Local: Hamura Saimin in Lihue

There's almost nothing more comforting than a bowl of noodles. No matter what country it comes from -- China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Italy, heck, even America -- noodles fill your belly and soothe the soul. So it should be no surprise that after a 6-hour flight from Seattle to Kauai, our first stop was Hamura Saimin in Lihue.

March 11, 2012

Restaurants Travel

Food Truck Alert: Pat’s Taqueria in Hanalei, HI

I'm usually a rigorous researcher before a vacation, so at least I have ideas for things to do and places to eat in between chilling out and reading books under swaying palm fronds. But for this trip to Kauai, I was pretty much useless. Although Pat's Taqueria was in the guidebook, I didn't know that until later, so we got lucky. But if there's one guiding light, one truism that I know is actually true it's, "Where there are surfers, good Mexican chow follows." See also: Tacofino.

March 7, 2012

Main Course Photo One-offs

Photo One-Off: Char Siu Chicken Legs

There are a million reasons to want to live in Hawaii -- sunny days, sandy beaches, great surfing. I'm adding these char siu chicken legs to the list. Thanks to the melting pot of cultures in Hawaii, Foodland, a local grocery store chain, offers pre-marinated char siu drumsticks in the meat department. These…

March 6, 2012

Travel

Eat Local: Hanalei Farmers Market on Kauai

On Kauai, the farmers market in Hanalei is serious business. It opens at 9:30 on Saturday morning next to the soccer fields and a few minutes before 9:30 a.m., there are already 20-30 people waiting to be let in. There's no leisurely browsing here, once the rope goes up, shoppers beeline for their favorite vendors. On this late February morning, there are gorgeous strawberry papayas, mangoes, rambutans, avocados, salad greens, cilantro and parsley, ginger and more. And for someone who's been eating a lot of chard and citrus, it looks like heaven.

March 4, 2012

Baking Fruit Recipes

Airplanes and Apple Pecan Muffins

I'm in the airport security line. Passengers are taking off their shoes and jackets, putting their laptops and liquids into bins for the x-ray machine. TSA employees are calling out reminders to remove belts and money from pockets. It was a morning flight, so in the bin along with my purse and toiletries, was my breakfast. "Oh, I'm sorry, those muffins can't go through," says the TSA guy. I take a beat, trying to figure out what he's talking about. Then I smile, "Oh, because they look too good, right?"

February 26, 2012

Baking Fruit

Baked Strawberry Shortcake Doughnuts/Donuts

You've heard of the Donut Man in Glendora, California right? If not, let me introduce you, because what they do there, you need to know about it. The Donut Man is famous for their fresh strawberry donuts -- that's right, they take a glazed donut, slice it in half and sandwich in an enormous portion of fresh strawberries (or peaches, later in the summer) in goo. It's ridiculously deliciously goo-d. Today, I was thinking about those doughnuts and meant to stop by Top Pot on the way home for a couple of glazed and then I promptly forgot. Instead, I came up with these baked strawberry shortcake doughnuts (or in this case: short, cake doughnuts). Doesn't it look like one of those spongy dessert cups they sell right next to the strawberries in the produce department?

February 20, 2012