From Bings to Queen Annes, cherries are one of the Northwest’s most famed exports, and also one of our most valuable crops. Needless to say, they’re luscious, sweet & tart, and decadent.

Cherry Mojito photo from Kathy Casey’s Northwest Table.

Eaten out of hand is always tasty but I love them crushed in fresh lemonade or in one of my favorite summer cocktails, Cherry Mojitos for a Crowd! Just combine pitted cherries, light rum, fresh squeezed lime juice, and simple syrup. Let this sit for an hour or so, and then add a big splash of soda water and ice. Now, you’re ready for summer sippin’!

Have you ever made cherry salsa? Make my Sassy Bing Cherry Salsa just like you would tomato salsa, but sub out fresh chopped cherries for the tomatoes. Toss with some fresh lime juice, fresh minced jalapeno, a little red onion and some cilantro–great on grilled chicken or salmon.

Or hey, how about just a big bowl of cherries for dinner? Why not! So head out to the market and pick of a big bag of fresh local cherries and taste the season! –Kathy

Cherry Mojitos for a Crowd
Makes about 10 servings

3 cups pitted fresh sweet cherries (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 bunch fresh mint (about 1 1/2 cups sprigs)
3 cups silver rum
2 cups sugar
2 cups fresh lime juice
———————————————–
10-ounce bottles soda water, chilled
Loads of ice for serving

For Garnishing: fresh mint, fresh cherries

In a large nonreactive container, such as a glass pitcher, lightly crush the cherries with a potato masher. Then add the mint, rum, sugar and lime juice. Stir well to dissolve the sugar. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours – or overnight. (You can remove the mint before serving if you like and then garnish with fresh ones.)

For serving: add the soda water to the pitcher of drinks. Add ice and serve immediately.

Recipe by Kathy Casey Liquid Kitchen® – www.LiquidKitchen.com

Congratulations to chef friend and author Trevis Gleason for winning the Prestige Award by the International Jury at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards! Held in China last month, this is the world’s only international culinary publishing awards ceremony. Trevis’ award winning book Chef Interrupted shares stories about living with multiple sclerosis, some of his favorite recipes, and his travel adventures in moving to Ireland. Yay Trevis!

Store-bought cookies just never taste as good as homemade. Isn’t this always true? Could it be that the extra dose of hands-on love makes homemade cookies that much more special?
I love cookies and have been making cookies most since I could stand. I still cherish my first Betty Crocker’s Cookie Book. Its colorful pages are to this day encrusted with pieces of dough, sugar, and other cookie ingredient goodies.

A Pile of my S’more Cookies available at my Dish D’Lish cafes!

Do you love cookies but never have enough time to whip up a batch? Then try out this baker’s trick. When you do have time, make up a few batches of your favorite cookie doughs then roll them each into logs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap then label and freeze them. Now, whenever the cookie craving hits you or guests stop by, just pull out a roll, slice, and then bake. Voila! Instant cookies will be ready for that after school snack, cookie craving, special guest, or any fun occasion.

I love experimenting with cookie doughs and see how the flavors bake together. How about taking your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and adding hazelnuts, instead of walnuts? Next time, try adding lavender and lemon zest or even herbs in a shortbread cookie. What about a pinch of cayenne pepper to gingersnaps for a sassy twist? Add a splash color to white chocolate macadamia cookies by stirring in dried cherries to the dough.

At my Dish D’Lish® cafes the S’mores Cookies are the most popular cookie. Chocolate dough is studded with toffee bits and finished with a topping of marshmallows and graham crackers  – baked till gooey good!

Everyone has a favorite. Mine is my Mom’s Oatmeal Gumdrop Jewels. My mom has made these cookies ever since I can remember. One of my favorite memories is having the important job of cutting up the gumdrops…and taking a sneaky quick bite every so often!

So get that glass of milk or cup of coffee ready, it’s time to bake up these sweet delights! -Kathy

Dish D’Lish S’mores Cookies
These are the most popular cookie at my Dish D’Lish Cafes! The marshmallow graham cracker topping makes them gooey delicious!

Makes 10 jumbo cookies

Dough
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
One 8-ounce package toffee baking bits

Topping
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

To make the cookie dough, in a mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening, sugars, egg, and vanilla well. Sift the flour, cocoa, soda, and salt together in a small bowl. Mix into the butter mixture. Stir in the toffee bits.

In a large piece of plastic wrap, roll the dough into a 3-inch-diameter log with flat ends. Wrap well and refrigerate the dough to chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days.

When ready to bake, preheat an oven to 350°F. Line 4 or 5 baking sheets with baking parchment (see Chef’s Note, below).

While the oven is heating, make the topping. Combine the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with a rubber spatula or spoon until the marshmallows are thoroughly coated. The mixture will be very sticky.

Cut the chilled dough into 10 equal slices. Place 2 or 3 slices on each prepared baking sheet. (When baked, these cookies spread to about a 5-inch diameter, so bake only 2 or 3 per pan.) In the center of each cookie, place about 1 heaping tablespoon of topping, using it all.

Bake the cookies for 18 to 20 minutes, or until just done. Let cool on the baking parchment until totally cooled and easy to remove.

Chef’s Note: If you’re short of baking sheets, just lay out the dough slices on additional pieces of baking parchment. When a pan of cookies is done, remove the pan from the oven, slide the parchment with the baked cookies onto a rack, place the next parchment sheet of dough on the pan and bake.

Recipe © Dish D’Lish®

My Mom’s Oatmeal Gumdrop Jewels
To make this task a bit easier, try snipping them into pieces with clean, wet scissors.

Makes approximately 6 dozen cookies.

2/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal (rolled oats)
1 pound spiced gumdrops, cut up into approximately 1/4-inch pieces}
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter, shortening, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Mix in buttermilk. Sift together dry ingredients and blend in. Mix in oatmeal, gumdrops, walnuts and raisins. Chill 2 hours, then drop by tablespoonfuls on a greased baking sheet. Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until golden.

Recipe by Kathy Casey Food Studios®

We all have our dessert traditions: those sweet treats that have been passed down the generations, shared from friends and family.

Maybe its Mom’s Ice Box Sugar Cookies, rolled out with love and cut from Great-Great Grandma’s cutters. You know: the reindeer, Christmas tree, festive snowman, and star. Then decorated with lots of icing, silver balls, and sprinkles. Or boxes of homemade fudge wrapped in wax paper and delivered in that special holiday tin.

How cool that these days you can just hop online and see what other’s sweet traditions are. Blogs, newsletters, Facebook pages, Pinterest, and Instagram – all bring us new and d’lish inspiration these days. It’s like having a recipe file at your fingertips!

And there is something to be said of that. Mom’s tattered and stained recipe card, with hand-written notes has that special love on it that is sure to come through in the final dish. So it’s important that these holiday traditions be passed on. Here’s a link to my Mom’s Gumdrop Cookies that I grew up with!

I like to preserve these well-worn recipes. Why not create a little digital book with your most cherished family and friends recipes to pass to those you love this holiday season.

Who wants a slice of my Over 21 “Real Fruit” Cakes made with Maker’s Mark?

My Grandma always baked amazing fruitcake – I took her recipe and have now given it my own spin by soaking dried fruits in Maker’s Mark bourbon, then mixing it with spiced batter and lots of toasted nuts. You can get my Over 21 “Real Fruit” Cakes while supplies last (available online or at my Food Studios in Ballard).

My tradition is to have a slice toasted on Christmas morning with a big cup of coffee! –Kathy

My dear friend, genius gluten-free guru Jeanne Sauvage, has released an inspiring new cookbook – the Gluten-Free Wish List, filled with delicious and craveable sweet and savory dishes for celiacs and the health conscious alike.

Living a gluten-free lifestyle can sometimes lead to feeling like you’re missing out on your favorite comfort foods, but Jeanne, who is gluten-intolerant herself, refuses to let this notion dictate her life and her diet. Jeanne’s book will fulfill all your cravings! After much trial and error, she has built a delicious and diverse collection of recipes that even I, as a non-celiac, have been drooling over.

From Challah to crispy Fried Chicken to chewy Bagels, Jeanne has managed to transform seemingly unattainable wheat staples into scrumptious celiac-friendly treats. Standout recipes include Potato Gnocchi with Tomato-Porcini Mushroom Sauce, Chicken and Dumpling Soup, Old-Fashioned Doughnuts, and her helpful and informative instructions for Laminated Doughs – hello Croissants! And if the idea of Pop Tarts brings back fond memories from your childhood, then check out her sophisticated and delightful take on Toaster Tarts.

Personally, I can’t resist a good tiramisu and her version is as luscious and satisfying as any recipe out there. It’s safe to say that the recipes in Gluten-Free Wish List don’t just ‘taste good for gluten-free’, they taste d’lish period!

Jeanne’s book is available locally in Seattle at Book Larder – stop on by to support Small Independent Book Stores.

Often the trick to a d’lish dish is the sauce, but sometimes making one can be a bit daunting.

Seattle author Susan Volland’s new book Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook’s Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors will help take the mystery out of making a great sauce. So you can easily splash, slather, drizzle or douse!

From basic recipes for stock (the building block of sauces) to creative and unique takes on classic recipes, this book has sauces covered from A to Z.

From quick and easy Stir-Together Peanut Butter-Hoisin Dipping Sauce to her recipe for a Vegan Corn “Hollandaise” – there are a lot of ideas to finish off your favorite dish.

Here are some of my favorite tips from her book:

Susan is an amazing chef and has wanted to write this book for years. It is one of the most comprehensive sauce books of all times and destined to become an eternal classic. Her recipes are always well written and precision tested.

So crack open a copy of Mastering Sauces and get saucy!

P.S. – And It’s never too early to think about holiday gifts for your favorite foodie. –Kathy

Stir-Together Peanut Butter-Hoisin Dipping Sauce
Susan says: “This sauce is nutty, sweet, and slightly exotic, and, it can be whipped up in less time than the quick-cooking dishes I like to dunk in it: grilled chicken skewers, Vietnamese spring rolls, or pot stickers. Double or triple the recipe, and you can use it to simmer chicken or as a sauce for chewy stir-fried noodles. It keeps well.”

Yield: 1/2 cup

1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup water, coconut water, or Really Good Chicken Stock
2 Tbsp. all-natural peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (or substitute 2 tsp. light soy sauce or tamari)
2 tsp. sambal oelek or Sriracha, or to taste
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice, Tamarind Water, or rice vinegar

Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the sauce at room temperature or lightly warmed.

If storing, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe from Susan Volland’s Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook’s Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors, W. W. Norton & Co.

Vegan Corn “Hollandaise”
Susan says: “The friends and I have introduced this sauce to—even die-hard carnivores and butter lovers—claim to prefer this vegan version to classic hollandaise. The creamy yellow sauce mimics the texture of hollandaise without relying on eggs and butter. It is not as cloying, it’s heat stable, it’s tasty enough to be slurped up by the spoonful, and there is little or no guilt afterward. You will need a few specialty ingredients: miso, nutritional yeast flakes, and arrowroot. These are available at some supermarkets and at natural foods markets. Arrowroot is added for stability and gentle thickening; kudzu root (available at health foods markets) can also be used.”

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

1 1/2 cups water, Corn Stock, or Corncob Mock Stock
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen yellow corn kernels
1/3 cup whole raw cashews
1 Tbsp. white (shiro) miso
1 tsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp arrowroot
1 – 2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper or dash of Tabasco

Combine the water, corn kernels, and cashews in a saucepan, cover, and simmer until the cashews are tender and the corn is very soft, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

Transfer the cashew mixture to a blender, add the miso, yeast, and arrowroot, and puree until very smooth. Strain back into the saucepan, pressing the solids against the sides of the strainer to extract as much smooth pupl and liquid as possible. Heat the sauce over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is just simmering and has thickened. Season with the lemon juice, salt, and cayenne. Serve warm.

Unlike hollandaise, this sauce can be refrigerated and reheated. Cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Recipe from Susan Volland’s Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook’s Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors, W. W. Norton & Co.

I look forward to our local NW Walla Walla Onions every year. When these sweet onions pile up at the farmers market, I know anything I make with them is going to be SWEEET!

Sweeter than a regular yellow onion, it’s said that biting into a Walla Walla is similar to biting into an apple. I don’t know, but I’ll try it if you do!

I DO know that they are mild and sweet enough to serve raw, thick slices with garden fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, some bright green basil and just a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar and good olive oil. One of my favorite summer dinners.

Another fave is to put a little olive oil and white wine vinegar in a large zip lock bag with thick cut Walla Walla rings and marinate for a few hours. Just before serving, toss in some chopped herbs like basil, tarragon, fresh chives, and Italian parsley. Perfect to serve atop grilled salmon or a steak – or add to a sliced tomato salad.

PS: If you’re an onion crier like me be sure to refrigerate your onions before slicing OR have a pair of onion goggles ready – it helps! –Kathy

>
Photo from Kathy Casey’s Northwest Table

Herb Marinated Walla Walla Sweet Onions
For a summer buffet table, grill a whole side of salmon and serve it on a large platter, festooned with the herbed onions and fresh herb sprigs. This is also great served with steak.

Makes 4 servings – and enough to top 4 salads, pieces of fish or grilled meats.

1 large Walla Walla Sweet onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rings
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh basil or cilantro
1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh tarragon
1 Tbsp. 1/2-inch-long pieces fresh chives
2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

To make the onions, carefully separate the rings and place in a resealable plastic bag. In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper flakes, and oil. Pour the marinade over the onions and close the bag, expelling excess air. Turn the bag to coat the onion evenly, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 4 hours, turning the bag occasionally. Just serving, gently toss the onions and marinade in a large bowl with the chopped herbs.

Recipe from Kathy Casey’s Northwest Table, Chronicle Books.

Strawberries really signal the beginning of summer. I can’t wait for the first big, juicy red berry of the season.

Probably the most popular way to enjoy strawberries (other than eaten from hand) is strawberry shortcake. Here’s a quick tip for my favorite take on the classic: Start with Fisher Fair Scone Mix, add in some chocolate chips, form them, and then sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake and serve with sliced fresh strawberries tossed with a touch of local honey, and a dollop of whip cream. For a truly decadent experience, add a splash of local berry liqueur to the whip cream! Yum!

On the non-dessert side, too, strawberries have multiple possibilities. In my Strawberry & Spinach Salad, I like to top them with thin slivers of sweet Walla Walla onion and glazed almonds, then dressed it all with a Lowfat Poppy Seed–Ginger Vinaigrette thickened with pureed strawberries – a light and refreshing summer salad.

If you don’t have strawberries of your own to pick, there are many choices around the Northwest for “U-Pick” strawberries. And if you have had a big day of picking but still haven’t eaten your fill while in the field, sit down and relax with a big, glistening bowl of just-picked juicy berries. -Kathy

Photo from Kathy Casey’s Northwest Table.

Strawberry & Spinach Salad with Sweet Onions and Poppy Seed–Ginger Vinaigrette
You can substitute toasted hazelnuts for the almonds. This salad is also excellent as an entrée salad, topped with grilled chicken cut into strips.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup light olive oil or other salad oil
2 teaspoons poppy seed

Salad
3 cups fresh strawberries, stemmed and quartered, or another local berry, such as raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries
2 bunches spinach, stemmed, washed well, and spun dry (8 to 10 cups)
1/2 cup thinly sliced sweet white onion, such as a Walla Walla Sweet
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

To make the vinaigrette, whisk the vinegar, ginger, mustard, honey, sugar, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil, emulsifying the vinaigrette. Stir in the poppy seed. Refrigerate for up to 2 days.

To make the salad, toss the berries, spinach, and onion with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle with almonds.

Recipe from Kathy Casey’s Northwest Table.