Call it sacrilege, or call it heaven sent - the truth is, I brought a box of Leonard’s malasada’s back with me from Oahu a day ago and I thought what awesome buns they would be. With that thought I went to work.

What is a “Malasada?”

For those who do not understand what a malasada is, I can only humbly tell you that if you enjoy fried food, doughnuts in particular - you need to have one at some point, and there is no better malasada then Leonard’s in Honolulu, HI. More about malasadas on Wikipedia.

It’s like a NYC bagel, one only thought they knew bagels until they find themselves within the boundaries of New York City and mistakenly, without a second thought, order a bagel. Bagels are just never the same again, at least it wasn’t for me.

Leonard’s looks like some run down, neighborhood dive on the corner - in fact that is exactly what they are. Awesome, right? Crystal first took me some time ago and since then I’ve been hooked. Usually, depending on the time of day, there are lines out the door and through the parking lot - guess it’s not such a neighborhood secret anymore.

Imagine the most perfectly fried, golden balls of yeast you’ve ever seen. A slight crust on the outside, then a warm, gooey, chewy center is what makes these molten globs of carbohydrates so damn delicious.

In my humble opinion, they’re the best thing I’ve eaten with my hands…in recent memory anyways.


The Malasada Burger

Mine began with a small batch of ground beef, I mixed chopped red onions, ground ginger, kosher salt, pepper, a bit of olive oil and basil in then mixed it up. Shaped them into patties then put them into a hot pan.

With the malasadas I first popped them into the microwave for 15 seconds to warm them up, then into the oven to crisp them up. You can re-dust them with sugar if you wish.

Now it’s time to architect this monstrosity…I melted provolone over my patties, just because that’s what I like.

A little baby arugula, and one must have bacon on something like this. Not to mention bacon makes EVERYTHING BETTER!

Fried egg is a must for something this decadent. Fry up some quail eggs if you have them, and add a little cracked pepper.

Finally, a heirloom tomato slice and red onion rings.

Now eat.

So now that it’s said and done, I’m thinking next time, if I ever do this again, I’d add some sort of aioli, maybe a light dressing on the greens and even ever so slightly toast the malasadas.

more on my flickr.

-Wallace

Haven’t been up to too much since Yosemite, just recuperating and spending time with Crystal and Sniffy. We’ve also made good on our attempt to cook more and as a result quaffed quite a bit of grape juice. Some good and some not so good, but I assure you every bottle pictured below was outstanding. Other then this, we just watched Sniffy lounge around.

roasted an artichoke or two

Sniffy’s been quite active. Not sure what she thinks about when she tip toes around the living room, but it’s entertaining.

one one of Crystal’s runs she noticed that the pond across the street was full of ducklings, naturally we went over with a bag of stale bread.

it’s every duck for itself out there.

pan glazed then roasted pork with arugula salad

although Sniffy explores almost on a daily basis, the majority of the day she’s like this…somewhere.

we’ve also done quite a bit of wine tasting, had this delicious meritage or crimson at uncorked in saratoga. Crystal brought a couple bottles home.

there were also a few lazy evenings where we cheated cooking. trader joe’s pizza with left over arugula.

i also accomplished something that took me 5 years in the making, finally constructing Thomas Keller’s famous “Spanglish Sandwich.” essentially a really well done BLT with fried egg.

Sniffy seems to love this spot in the bathroom.

we also made time for a Ridge Winery visit, the 2005 Monte Bello was absurd.

we also somehow went through three boxes of strawberries, I’d argue Crystal more then I.

one of the most delicious white’s I’ve ever consumed, in fact I just polished off the bottle last night.

and finally…some quality Sniffy and Crystal time.

-Wallace