Holly Hadsell - El Hajji

Easy Butternut Squash Salad

As most of my readers know I try to use whole, unprocessed, local, organic food in my everyday cooking. But I am not perfect and when I am short on time I will used a prepared food.  This salad uses, precut butternut squash and Wholesome Fruit and Nut Medley from Costco, and is the closest I am going to get to Sandra Lee.  It is great for Thanksgiving.

Serves 4

1   Package of prepeeled and precut butternut squash

3   Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2   Teaspoons chipolte chile powder

1    Teaspoon ancho chile powder

1/2    Teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 Cups Fruit and Nut Medley (walnuts, hazelnuts,

      pistachio, dried cranberries and raisins)

1    Satsuma Mandarin, juiced

1    Tablespoon chives, chopped

1     Teaspoon, dried thyme

 Salt and Pepper

Toss squash with olive oil, chile powders and cinnamon.  Place on baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minute or until fork tender and caramelized.   Cool down and toss with nuts and fruit, satsuma juice, chives, thyme and salt and pepper.  Serve at room temperature.

Another Great Easy Fall Salad: Fennel and Orange

This seasonal salad is so easy and delicious. 

Fennel and Orange Salad

serves 4

2     Bulbs fennel, sliced

1/4  Cup fennel fronds, chopped

2 Oranges, sectioned,

1/2  Cup orange juice (I squeezed out the juice from the

    leftover orange plup)

1/4  Cup red onion

1/4  Cup extra virgin olive oil

    Salt and pepper

Mix together and let sit for 1/2 hour before serving.

Healthy Stir Fry

My father is recovering from a serious medical problem so I try to cook with these healthy vegetables a few times week.  This is a great stir fry that uses mostly local produce and tastes great.

1/4  Cup extra virgin olive oil

1 Organic eggplant diced (from garden)

1 Cup organic beet greens, chopped

1 Cup organic collard greens, thick stem removed, and

   chopped (from garden)

1/2 Cup sweet maui onion, sliced

2 Cloves, organic garlic

1/2 Head organic purple cauliflower, floret broken in to   

  smal pieces

Pinch of thyme, basil

1    Teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 Lemon, juiced

Heat oil in saute pan, add eggplant, cook until golden brown.  Add greens, onion, garlic and cauliflower, cook until cauliflower is fork tender.  Add thyme, basil, lemon zest and juice. Serve and feel good about what you are eating.

Fried Poke

I know it sounds absurd but wonder if you had some left over poke from your poke bar party? What could you make with the leftovers?  Fried Poke!

 
Fried Poke was made popular by Hawaii chef Sam Choy.  It is simple to make and tastes great.  Sam serves it several ways in his restaurant, as a salad, in a wrap, on rice.

Fried Poke

2    Cups poke, residual soy sauce drained off

2    Teaspoons peanut oil (can substitute any oil with

  high burn point)

1    Tablespoon furikaki (sesame seed and seaweed

      seasoning)

Heat a wok to high, add oil, and sear poke at the high heat for just a few seconds until it gets a little color.  You want the fish to remain very rare on the inside.  Remove from eat and sprinkle with furikake.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Spiced Carmelized Apple

This is a great fall soup.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Spiced Caramelized Apple

serves 4

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons madras curry powder

   Pinch cinnamon and nutmeg

1 Shallot, chopped

4 Cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed

4 Cups veggie stock

   Salt and Pepper

Heat oil and add curry powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and shallots.  Saute for a couple minutes. Add squash and stock and bring to a boil.  Cook until squash is tender.  Strain squash, reserving cooking liquid.  Puree squash in blender. Put back in pot and thin with cooking liquid for desired consistency.  Garnish with spiced apple slice and cream.

Spiced Caramelized Apple Slices

2    Tablespoons butter

1    Jonathan apple, sliced in thin wedges

1    Tablespoon chipotle powder

1/4 Teaspoon cayenne pepper

1    Teaspoon brown sugar

Melt butter in saute pan. Mix chipotle, cayenne and sugar together.  Place apples in butter, sprinkle with spice mixture, turn over and sprinkle opposite side.  Cook until caramelized.

 

 

 

 

 

Great Entertaining Idea: Poke Bar

Hawaii has many great foods, kalua pork, laulau, lomi lomi salmon. Whick makes it hard to say what the official food of Hawaii is.  One tasty Hawaiian delicacy that has found its way around the world is poke, you can find poke on menus from New York to Sydney in many forms.

Poke is a dish that has evolved, much like Hawaii has, by taking elements from the different cultures that have imigrated to Hawaii.  It was originally chopped fish with salt, the Japanese influence brought the soy sauce in to the the mix.

The great thing about poke is that it has so many variations and the different flavors of poke, can please many palates.

A favorite item in my catering business is a poke bar, where you take different “mix ins” and display them beautifully so your guests and make their own poke concoction.

I did this recently when I had @chefmaxient over during his visit back home to Hawaii.

Here is what I had on my Poke Bar. What would you add?

Premium grade ahi (you could also have salmon)

Tobiko (flying fish roe)

Limu (seaweed)

Green onion

White onion

Jalapeno

Cilantro

Inamona roasted kukui (candle)nuts

Hawaiian salt

Mayonnaise mixed with sriracha sauce

soy sauce

sesame oil

Chop sticks and rice bowls for mixing

Inamona, roasted kukui (candle) nuts.  Kukui was very important in ancient Hawaiian culture.

Hawaiian salt.  This slightly pink tinged salt came from our friend's salt bed on Kauai.

Poke mix of ahi, cilantro, green onion, inamona, limu, jalapeno, soy sauce and sesame oil

Spicy poke mix: ahi, white onion, sriracha mayonnaise, tobiko and black sesame.  This is great wrapped in nori.

Poha Berry Gin Fizz

Poha Berries (Capped Gooseberries) are such a treat.  

They grow on the island of Hawaii and are prized for making jam. They have a husk like a tomatillo.  I came upon a pint of them and thought they would make a nice cocktail because of the tart yet slightly sweet.

1     Cup Poha Berries, husked and rinsed

1     Shot Gin ( I prefer Hendricks)

       Seltzer water

       Crushed ice

Puree Poha Berries in a blender.  Strain seeds out.   Fill a glass with ice add two tablespoon of Poha puree,  gin and seltzer.

Enjoy!

Saffron Rice and Pomegranate Salad

Since we are experiencing some extreme humidity in Hawaii a cool salad is what is needed for dinner.  The quinoa and pomegranate gives a delightful crunch.

3       Cups Saffron Rice, cooked (see recipe

         below)

1 1/2 Quinoa, cooked

1       Cup pomegranate seeds

1/2    Cup beets, raw, diced

1/4    Cup red onion, diced

1/4    Cup yellow bell pepper diced

1/4    Cup celery, chopped

2       Tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped

1/4    Cup lemon juice

3       Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

         Salt and Pepper

Combine all ingredients and chill until serving.

Saffron Rice

1 1/2   Cup long grain rice

3         Cups water

1         Pinch of Saffron

Combine in sauce pan, bring to a boil.  When water comes to boil reduce heat to low and cover, cook for twenty minutes.