My favorite recipe - Meet James and Cassie Anglum, Colfax

Dec 02, 20100

Of all the worries a mother must cope with, dinner is not one of them for Cassie Anglum.

“He cooks dinner every night. I’m a lucky lady,” she said of her husband, James.

“I’ve done food all my life. Since I was seven-years-old,” James noted. His parents operated a café while he was growing up and then operated a catering service.

His family has six generations of butchers.

James and Cassie both grew up in Oak Harbor. She has known him since she was five as he was her best friend’s brother. She left home to attend Washington State University for degrees in broadcasting and English. James attended a culinary arts school in Seattle.

Despite moving up in the culinary world and getting a job offer at a restaurant in New York, James chose to move back to a “culinary black hole,” Eastern Washington, to be with Cassie. Cassie said he traded the life of a hot-shot chef for family when he made that decision seven years ago.

“We were always supposed to be going back to Seattle,” she commented, but by now they’ve carved out a life in Whitman County with their children Angelina, 5, who is attending kindergarten at Colfax; Rocco, 3, and Gianna, two months.

The family settled in Colfax in March, 2009.

James now works for Food Service of America and helps customers with menu planning and recipes.

“Cooking is my favorite hobby of all time,” he said. With training in French, Spanish, Italian, all International and US regional studies and time periods, James likes to ask people to name a country and he can put together a flavor profile and make a dish to represent that place.

If Cassie decides to make something special, like the Thanksgiving turkey, it’s hard for James to relinquish the reins.

Cassie spends her share of time in the kitchen. She does the baking, breakfast and lunch. Living with James has helped to refine her palate, she said. Their children are now taking their first steps into cooking.

“Angie’s pretty good at chopping vegetables,” Cassie said.

Rocco now gets to stir a lot and dump things in.

Cassie is mostly busy with the new baby at this point. Before Gianna was born, she worked at Whitman Hospital and Medical Center as a CNA in medical surgery.

They also like to go camping and do craft projects as a family.

Cassie’s Chocolate Chip cookies

3 1/3 cup flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 lg. eggs

2 lg. egg yolks

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt.

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and egg yolks. Mix in vanilla extract.

Gradually combine dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Form loose balls of dough and bake for 17-20 minutes depending on oven. Edges will be golden, centers soft. Let sit on cookie sheet for 10 minutes to cool before transferring to a cooling rack.

Herb Crusted Prime Rib

3 heads fresh garlic

1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil

4 oz. fresh rosemary

4 oz. fresh thyme

Opt. 4 Tbsp. smoked paprika

Peel all garlic.

Remove stems from rosemary and thyme.

Chop herbs. Then place all in food processor.

Add oil and puree. Does not need to be smooth puree.

Add optional paprika for reddish color and smoky flavor.

Preheat oven to 420 degrees.