LunaCafe’s Burnt Caramel & Lemon Chevre Brownies

LunaCafe’s Burnt Caramel & Lemon Chevre Brownies

Folks sometimes ask what inspires my recipes. Such a hard question. Anything and everything is my truthful response. I am almost always thinking about food. This brownie recipe, for instance, was inspired by the following nearly concurrent events: •Sampling goat’s milk cajita in a Mexican grocery store in Portland. •Making cajita myself. •The All Chocolate! All Month! celebration at LunaCafe. •Plan to work cajita into a brownie recipe for the celebration. •A Brownie Throw Down on The Food Network, which the Vermont Brownie Company won with their chevre brownie. »

LunaCafe OtherWorldly Silky Fudgy Brownies

LunaCafe OtherWorldly Silky Fudgy Brownies

What I really love about baking is that even if you don’t get the exact result you are going for, you sometimes get a nonetheless marvelous different result. That’s what happened with these brownies, which I intended to be the epitome of chewy chocolate... »

The Wonderful World of Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

The Wonderful World of Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

With the proliferation of cocoa powders available today, how is a cook to know which is the “best” to use for any particular purpose? To complicate the selection process, there are three types of cocoa: natural, alkalized (Dutch process) and super alkalized (black or onyx).... »

Bittersweet Chocolate Orange French Toast for Lovers

Bittersweet Chocolate Orange French Toast for Lovers

With this post, we kick off the second annual Love Rules! All Chocolate! All Month! celebration at LunaCafe OtherWorldly Kitchen. To check out the wonderful chocolate creations we debuted last February, be sure to visit the All Chocolate! recipe archive. Beginning now, every post until... »

Curried Seafood Cakes with Fresh Ginger Aioli

Curried Seafood Cakes with Fresh Ginger Aioli

I have a passion for seafood cakes of any variety: Dungeness crab cakes, shrimp cakes, fresh or smoked salmon cakes, and varieties yet untried. They are easy to make, but many a fine cook errs by adding too much binder. You want to taste... »

Yakima Valley Artichoke Appetizer

Yakima Valley Artichoke Appetizer

This recipe originally came into my files from my sister-in-law and culinary diva, Mary-beth. Or was it from my other sister-in-law, entertaining diva, Priscilla? Well, it was definitely from one of these two remarkable women. For a few years, many years ago, while living amongst... »

The Best Damned Hash

The Best Damned Hash

James (AKA MauiJim) has always hated hash with a passion. “That awful, mushy stuff,” as he puts it. “Tastes just like dog food smells,” is another of his customary remarks when the hash subject is broached. This man doesn’t mince words. And he... »

New Years Eve Quartet of Entertaining Spreads

New Years Eve Quartet of Entertaining Spreads

I know I’m late for New Year’s Eve, but I didn’t finish these four spreads until just now. Where oh where did the week go? Nevertheless, I want to share them with you in hope that perhaps you can whip up one or... »

Toasted Hazelnut, Honey & Garam Masala Brittle

Toasted Hazelnut, Honey & Garam Masala Brittle

But as I perused further, I saw one resolution that I could easily accomplish TODAY. It said: “Make peanut brittle. No peanuts. Must be exceptional.” Aha! (Did I mention that I have never made peanut brittle or any kind of brittle?) So I began researching... »

A Cup of Spicy Christmas Tea

A Cup of Spicy Christmas Tea

I love the smell of aromatic spices in the house. I love inhaling warm wafts of spicy goodness while cradling a cup of hot tea in both hands. Comfort is the word that comes to mind, but an elemental comfort that is hard to... »

Panforte di LunaCafe: Tis the Season

Panforte di LunaCafe: Tis the Season

A dried fruit and nut laden Christmas specialty of Siena, Italy, panforte (pronounced pan-FOHR-teh; variously called Panpepeto, Siena Cake, Panforte di Siena, Panforte Nero, and Panforte Margherita) is often described as a type of fruitcake. To call it a cake of any type, however,... »

Cornmeal, Black Pepper & Rosemary Butter Cookies

Cornmeal, Black Pepper & Rosemary Butter Cookies

After several weeks of nearly non-stop, high-intensity cookie baking, I present you with the final cookie of this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Starry Night bake-a-thon. TA DA! In the kick off post, I set the stage for this completely new collection of... »

Brown Butter, Toasted Almond & Toffee Shortbread

Brown Butter, Toasted Almond & Toffee Shortbread

Well, folks, we are almost to the end of LunaCafe’s second annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Starry Night bake-a-thon. After this post, only one more cookie, and then it’s time to put away all the cutters, stencils, sprinkles, and other holiday cookie baking... »

Garam Masala & Candied Ginger Cookies

Garam Masala & Candied Ginger Cookies

If you have been following along on this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Starry Night bake-a-thon, you know this is my year for putting tradition aside and pushing the holiday cookie flavor envelope. Perhaps this particular cookie pushes the envelope to its most... »

Trim the Christmas Tree & Eat It Too Cookies

Trim the Christmas Tree & Eat It Too Cookies

That’s right! You can eat the tree! Over the past year, I encountered a fair number of Northwest restaurant dishes and cocktails featuring Clear Creek Distillery’s Douglas Fir Eau de Vie. This pale green brandy is an infusion of hand-picked spring buds of the... »

Heavenly Brown Butter, Lavender & Lime Cookies

Heavenly Brown Butter, Lavender & Lime Cookies

If you have been reading this blog over the 15 months of its existence, you probably know by know that I am very fond of two flavors to an inordinate degree: lavender and lime. You may even remember the Blueberry Lavender Limeade I... »

Cranberry, Pistachio & Candied Ginger Shortbread

Cranberry, Pistachio & Candied Ginger Shortbread

If there is one cookie in this year’s Starry Night collection that positively shouts CHRISTMAS, it has to be this one. If you don’t overbrown the cookies, the sparkling red cranberries, green pistachios, and yellow lemon zest and candied ginger will glow like little... »

Sweet Parmesan Almond Cookies

Sweet Parmesan Almond Cookies

I’ve never seen a recipe for SWEET parmesan cookies. Recipes for SAVORY parmesan cookies abound, as any Bing Search will reveal. But why not a sweet parmesan cookie? The inspiration for this unusual cookie comes from executive chef, Gregory Denton, of Portland, Oregon’s Metrovino restaurant.... »

Comfort & Joy Spice Cookies

Comfort & Joy Spice Cookies

No Christmas cookie collection is complete without at least one old world spice cookie. The smell of these cookies baking in the oven is one of the joys of the holiday season. Thus, every December, I make a triple batch of my favorite spice... »

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