Move Over, Martha – Kathy Casey’s in Ballard!

When I asked Kathy Casey at her Food Studios Holiday Open House on Saturday, December 12th – an event your Hedonista attended as media, complete with SWAG – how she feels about a comparison to Martha Stewart, she replied with wide, twinkling eyes: “Am I really compared to Martha?”

Perhaps. Perhaps not. (Think more Martha Stewart meets Julia Child.) You see, Kathy’s foodie niche – an evolution over the past 20 years – is very different (and, to be quite honest, very enviable): as a celebrity chef (and one of the first female executive chefs in the United States), mixologist, and TV, radio, and online personality who’s published nine cookbooks, Kathy travels the world as an international consultant to the global hospitality trade. For example, her next stop is Abu Dhabi – over the Christmas holidays, no less.

She is President of Kathy Casey Food Studios (offering classes and a venue for culinary and enophilic events), Dish D’Lish for her line of retail specialty food products (and catering under her Party T’ Go Go), and the Liquid Kitchen (her cocktail and beverage business consulting arm).

Her newly-released cook book, entitled Sips & Apps ($19.95) – and available for purchase through Amazon on this very web page, dear hedonists – is the perfect home entertainer’s culinary ‘n’ cocktail resource. The featured cocktail at this month’s open house – dubbed the “Dubious Manhattan” – is worth a tasting note or two, not to mention the recipe, posted with permission (many thanks, Kathy):

Dubious Manhattan

2 ounces bourbon

1/2 ounce Dubonnet Rouge

1/2 ounce sweet red vermouth

Dash of peach bitters

(Garnish – maraschino cherries or amarena cherries)

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.  Measure and add the bourbon, Dubonnet and vermouth. Next add the bitters. Cap shaker and shake with vigor. Strain and pour into a martini glass. Garnish with a cherry or two (or three) … either with or without a pick.

(Recipe from Sips & Apps, © 2009 by Kathy Casey, Chronicle Books)

The spicy aroma and warming finish of this traditional Manhattan variant makes it a good autumn/winter tippler.  Sips & Apps is chock-full of many such liquid luxuries; there are many “Cheers!” from Kathy there that are worth checking out.

Then there’s Kathy’s food.  She has an almond-encrusted VSOP Cheeseball (garlic, dijon, Remy Martin, VSOP cognac, scallions, and Worcestershire) that’s perfect for entertaining – soft, creamy, and the size of a softball, this cheese has a strong herb ‘n’ spice taste with many beautifully boozy undertones ($8.99).

And while we’re on the topic of booze, her 1-pound Over 21 Maker’s Mark Soaked “Real Fruit” Cake  ($9.95) will absolutely assuage any hesitation (nay, repulsion) of the stereotypical (*gag*) Christmas Cake. This cake – chocked full of a variety of dried fruit (apricots, cherries, cranberries, candied lemon/orange zest, raisins, currants, pineapple, and mango), mixed nuts and, of course, bourbon – is quite simply both edible and enjoyable. (Think a moist ‘n’ boozy fruit and nut bar here, dear hedonists.) Didn’t get your hands on one this holiday season? Too bad, ’cause they sold out weeks before Christmas. (They only make 250 a year, give or take.) Then again, there’s still time to acquire some New Year’s Eve goodies….

So go and visit Kathy at her food studio in historic Ballard – located in a beautiful brick building built in 1898, she’ll be hard to miss. Of course, with that Martha-meets-Julia celebrity vibe  thang goin’ on, trust me when I say that she’ll be easy to spot.

(And don’t be shy – she’s very approachable!)

Note: In order to comply with FTC Act 16 C.F.R. 255, Heed the Hedonist would like to disclose that it does occasionally receive media “comps” and/or media discounts – but not in exchange for favorable coverage, or for withholding unfavorable coverage, of the given venue/meal/performance/product/service.