by TheLastWonton | Jul 28, 2010 | Appetizers & Snacks, Asian, Fruits, Hawaiian, Salads & Bowls, Sauces, Dips & Condiments, Sides, Vegetarian, Veggies
MY HAWAIIAN KITCHEN
Delectable memoirs of living on the slopes of Mt. Hualalai high above the famed Kona Coast on the beguiling Big Island of Hawaii.
Dear Journal – Most times I don’t want my hula practice to wind up for the night. I just want to stay and absorb all that Hawaiianness. Be a part of it. Sometimes when I’m there barefoot on the grounds of the Hulihe’e Palace with the sea splashing up behind me, the palms playful in the evening breeze, the shadows of a tropical dusk dancing close by, surrounded by gracious ladies swaying to the beat of the ipu (gourd drum) and the chant of the kumu (hula teacher) I feel like I’m living a fairy tale. My heart swells, squeezing me. It just doesn’t get any better than this. On a night just like this, after bidding my hula sistahs good night, I headed home filled to the brim with wonderful. Sitting on our lanai that night I munched on my latest favorite salad and tried with all my might to absord every glorious detail of this moment in time……of outrageous blessings. Now, whenever I make my Hula ula ula Salad I can almost hear my old kumu hula beating the ipu…. For once upon a time, in the palm fringed fishing village known as Kailua-Kona, there was a girl who…….
The slightly soft, slightly chewy, gloriously shoyu-laden noodles are hiding under the fresh greens and garden goodies. Now it’s time to cover them all up with more greens……
Dressing:
½ cup canola oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2-3 inch piece of fresh gingerroot peeled, minced or finely grated
1 plump garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon chile paste (sambal oelek or Vietnamese chile garlic paste)
Salad:
3 cups cooked and cooled Asian style egg noodles
4 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
7 cups assorted lettuce and greens (iceberg, romaine, baby spinach, endive, radicchio, arugula)
1 cup fresh carrot, shredded
½ Japanese or long English cucumber cut, quartered, sliced
1 ½ cups fresh ripe pineapple, cut into small cubes or chunks
½ cup roasted, salted macadamia nuts, chopped (or honey roasted and salted mixed nuts)
For dressing put all ingredients into blender container and buzz on medium for about 20 seconds until completely combined. Or use hand held blender, putting all ingredients into plastic beaker container and buzzing 20 seconds. Cover and chill.
On a large chilled serving platter place cooked and cooled egg noodles in centre. Toss with 3 tablespoons shoyu. Drizzle a little dressing over the noodles. Arrange greens all around platter and over the egg noodles. Scatter with shredded carrot. Sprinkle with pineapple cubes, cucumber and chopped nuts. Drizzle generously with dressing and serve.
by TheLastWonton | Jul 26, 2010 | Appetizers & Snacks, Hawaiian, Sauces, Dips & Condiments, Sides, Vegetarian, Veggies
MY HAWAIIAN KITCHEN
Delectable memoirs of living on the slopes of Mt. Hualalai high above the famed Kona Coast on the beguiling Big Island of Hawaii.
Fresh picked corn on the cob has never been so happy!
Dear Journal – Doesn’t fresh, tender corn on the cob take you back to childhood? Simple, straightforward hot summer night munching pleasures. Or as luck might have it, tropical evening lanai munching pleasures. It’s not everywhere on the islands, but when you find some fresh corn in Hawaii, how sweet it is. The other day we happened upon a handful of noisy, laughing keikis (kids) sitting around an old kitchen table that had been plunked roadside at the end of a long bumpy driveway that lead to a tidy aging farmhouse hiding in the shade of a jacaranda . The crooked cardboard sign with happy crayola drawings of a smiling sun, 3 corn cobs partially shucked and lots of happy faces, clearly stated in Sunglow Yellow – FRESH WAIMEA CORN. Without hesitation we bought a dozen cobs from impossibly charming vendors but came away with more than a grocery bag heaped full of corn. Later we enjoyed a gooey, spicy, deliciously creamy salsa brimming with lots of fresh Sunglow Yellow Waimea corn. Tropical evening lanai munching pleasures indeed.
4 tablespoons butter
3 ½ cups corn kernels or 4 ears fresh island corn, or delicious BC peaches and cream corn, or you pick.
½ teaspoon Hawaiian salt or sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Maui onion, or other mild, sweet onion, finely chopped
½ cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 – 2 Hawaiian hot chiles or jalapenos, finely chopped (how hot do you like it?)
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup mayonnaise
¾ cup sour cream
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 ½ cups sharp cheddar, shredded
Cut corn from cobs. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet. Add corn, salt and pepper. Stir to coat kernels with butter and seasonings and cook 4-6 minutes or until corn is bright yellow. Set aside in bowl. In same skillet or pot melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter, Maui onion, red pepper, hot chile and garlic and sauté gently for about 6 minutes. Transfer to bowl with corn. Add mayonnaise, sour cream and ½ of the cheeses. Mix well. Put in 9-inch square baking dish, casserole or glass pie plate. Sprinkle with rest of cheeses. Bake at 350F for 35-45 minutes. Serve hot from the oven with tortilla chips or your favorite dippers. The flavors go pop in your mouth!
**Mahalo nui loa Michelle for this delicious family favorite and for all your great test kitchen assistance!**
by TheLastWonton | Jul 22, 2010 | Appetizers & Snacks, Baking & Desserts, Breads & Sandwiches
Really, any excuse to make and serve garlic knots works for me. ANY EXCUSE AT ALL! These tiny little chewy garlic goodies are poppable. You know, like peanuts or popcorn. Only difference being they take 2 or 3 bites instead of that single munch. But they go down just as easy. Beware!
I’d never heard of garlic knots before the serendipitious day I came across them on another food blog. Thank-you plenty, Food Mayhem. What a delectable find! I adjusted the recipe just a tad and by george I think I’ve got it.
The recipe here only makes a dozen, which will disappear magically before your very eyes (they’re little), so, as mentioned on Food Mayhem, you’ll be happy to know this recipe works well doubled, tripled or quadrupled.
These scrumptious tidbits, heady with garlic, make delightful little warm-from-the-oven appies, or a perfect side nosh with salad or soup or spaghetti or stew or chicken or barbecued spareribs or, or, or……..well, you’ll see what I mean.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Here we go………… Whisk flour, sugar and instant or breadmachine yeast together in a small mixing bowl. Stir in water and salt until the dough comes together into a shaggy ball.
Plop dough into olive oiled small bowl or two-cup measuring cup, turning to coat dough with oil. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400F. Melt butter and add minced garlic. When the dough is ready, plop it, along with any extra oil left in the cup or bowl, onto a cutting board and gently press into a 5-inch x 10-inch rectangle. You’ll be happy with how easy this dough is to work with. It doesn’t jump around and slip back on you. It’s so cooperative! (Another dandy reason to make garlic knots more often.) Spread half of the garlic butter evenly over the dough. Cut into 12, 5-inch long strips.
Tie each strip into a knot and place on lightly butter baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Add chopped parsley to remaining garlic butter in a large bowl. When the knots are done to chewy, golden brown perfection toss immediately in garlic butter and serve ’em up hot.
GARLIC KNOTS
Generous 3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon instant or breadmachine yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 plump garlic cloves, minced
1 – 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Whisk flour, sugar and yeast together in small mixing bowl. Add salt to warm water and pour into flour mixture, stirring just until dough comes together into a shaggy ball. Pour olive oil into a 2-cup measuring cup or bowl. Place dough in cup, turning to coat with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Add minced garlic to melted butter. When dough is ready, plop onto cutting board along with any extra oil left in the cup and gently press dough into a 5-inch x 10-inch rectangle. Spread half of the garlic butter evenly over the dough. Cut into 12, 5-inch strips. Tie in knots and lay on baking sheet about 2-inches apart.
Bake 12-14 minutes or until toasty golden and the unmistakable garlicky aroma beckons you to MUNCH NOW. While knots are baking add chopped parsley to remaining garlic butter in a large bowl. Toss baked knots in remaining garlic butter as soon as they come out of the oven. Serve hot, but before you do, pop one now or you may be sorry.
by TheLastWonton | Jul 8, 2010 | Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast & Brunch, Salads & Bowls, Sauces, Dips & Condiments, Sides, Vegetarian
MY HAWAIIAN KITCHEN
Delectable memoirs of living on the slopes of Mt. Hualalai high above the famed Kona Coast on the beguiling Big Island of Hawaii.
by TheLastWonton | Jul 5, 2010 | Appetizers & Snacks, Beef, Pork & Lamb, Main Dishes, Salads & Bowls, Sauces, Dips & Condiments, Sides, Veggies
I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam. toot! toot!
Sorry, I don't know what came over me there. It's that old association thing. I see spinach, I hear Popeye.
When I was a kid that can of spinach that Popeye muscled open never particularly got my cravings revved up. Nope, never. But my oh my, how things have changed. I kind of have a thing now for fresh baby spinach. Bonus of bonuses, 'cuz it's really, really good for us.
Now I do crave spinach. Spinach salad to be precise. Eon's ago my husband and I owned and operated a fine little restaurant in Kelowna called Chianti's. One of Chianti's most popular menu items, hands down, was Spinach Salad. Mmmm…..mmm…..mmmm……. a damn fine way to get my spinach fix!
CHIANTI'S SPINACH SALAD…………..Continued
