chop A Culinary Playground

Extending Aloha a Benefit for Haitian Relief at the Orginal Roy's Restaurant

I attended a wonderful dinner on January 22 to benefit the American Red Cross Haitian Relief effort at Original Roy's Restaurant in Hawaii Kai.  Two things made this benefit special.  The first was that the dinner was on the honor system, we made a donation that we felt fitting for the dinner.  Secondly this was the ultimate tweet up.  This dinner was sold out (2 nights) pretty much by twitter word of mouth.  @NEENZ, the Chief Evangelist of Alltop spear headed getting Hawaii twitter population to come out and show support.

At our table we had @GyspsyRaven. @13379lad180r and wife, @NEENZ, @noe808, @NctrnlBst and my husband Moumen.

@RoysRoy prepared a Haitian inspired menu.

These light, yet salty corn fritters were great. A perfect  bar or super bowl snack.  I think I am going to try to make them.

The Haitian Style Conch Ceviche was really good.  It had a nice Jalapeno kick and lime acidity.

Caribbean Style Chicken with Nalo Greens.  This dish had us stumped at first.  We thought the topping  garnish was fried ogo (seaweed) later @GypsyRaven figured out it was sweet potato.  It did get us thinking, what would fried ogo taste like?  I liked the lemon garnish.

Pork Loin Chop "Griots" with Sauce  Ti-Malice, Bananes  Pesees, Riz er Pois Colles.  I loved the plantains.

 
Gateau De Patate - this was a very sweet, dense flour less chocolate and spice cake.  The caramelized bananas were a nice touch

Neenz and Chef Roy Yamguchi

It was a fun night for a good cause.  Please make a donation to help those in need in Haiti.  They have a long, rough time ahead of them but I hope they will be able to rebuild their lives.

Also check out Global. Local and MetroMix for more pictures. 

  

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 A Moroccan Feast

Our yearly Moroccan dinner was chosen by Foodbuzz for their 24, 24, 24 event – 24 bloggers, in 24 places making 24 posts.    The party was  a success and we had a lot of delicious food to share with dear friends.

Menu

Spiced Pistachios with Apricots and Argan Oil

Assorted Olives and Feta Cheese with Sage Honey

Moroccan Carrot Salad, Tomato Salad and Eggplant Salad

Shrimp Chermula

Opakapaka Chermula

Lemon Chicken

Lamb Tagine with Apricots and Almonds

Kefta – Ground Lamb Brochettes

Pastilla – Sweet and Savory Chicken Pastry

 

Carrot Salad

1    Pound carrots, peeled

1    Cup lemon juice

1/2 Cup extra virgin olive oil

1    Tablespoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1    Tablespoon ground cumin

1/4 Cup cilantro chopped

3     Cloves garlic chopped

2     Tablespoons agave syrup

        Salt

Cook the whole carrot until fork tender.  Slice into coins.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together and a toss with carrots.  Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Moroccan Tomato Salad

1     Pound tomatoes, peeled, seeded and

chopped

2     Roasted bell peppers, peeled, seeded

and chopped

1     Onion, chopped

2     Cloves of garlic chopped

1/2  Cup of cilantro chopped

2      Tablespoons ground cumin

1      Cup lemon juice

1/2   Cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together.

Moroccan Spiced Pistachios

1     Tablespoon Extra Virgin olive oil

2     Cups Pistachios

1/2 Cup dried apricots quartered

2     Tablespoons ground cumin

1/2  Teaspoon argan oil

1/4  Cup cilantro

2      Tablespoons course sea salt.

Heat oil in sauté pan, add cumin and toast for 30 seconds, add the pistachios toast for two minutes or until they start browning.  Take off heat and add argan oil, cilantro, apricots and sea salt.  Serve warm.

@ShareYourTable at the buffet.

Assorted Olives, Feta Cheese with Sage Honey and Hummus

Lamb Tagine with Apricots, Almonds

Lemon Chicken with Olives

Pastilla, flaky pastry filled with chicken, eggs, almonds and cinnamon topped with powdered sugar - Always the hit of the party.

The evenings beverages included Cristal Rose, Tavel Rose, Chateau Neuf du Pape, Beaux Freres Pinot Noir.

Relaxing after dinner, do you recognize anyone??

Eat Local Challenge days 6 and no 7

Yes I failed at my eat local challenge and did not make it to day seven.

Day six was a pretty good day which was topped by a dinner of Sautéed Mahi Mahi with Hamakua Mushrooms and Thai Fried Rice (rice was a cheat)

On day seven I had a super busy day that did not allow me the time to go to the farmers market, thus I had no local items to eat.

Was this project a failure, no.  I realized for the most part I do eat local as much as possible which helps out economy and is better for the environment,.  If in a disaster and we could not get any get any food shipped in, I could survive.  The hardest part of this is that it was a restrictive diet only allowing certain foods.  I am not good with diets, I love food from all over, I love to experiment with food and this was not possible in eating local.

The feed back from my kids was pretty negative, my 9 year old complained all the time.   He is a very picky eater and there was not much that he was willing to eat.  My 17 years old on the other hand is a very adventurous eater and his biggest complaint was nothing tasted like my cooking and it all kind of tasted the same (lack of spices).

A lot of questions also came out of this challenge.  Is it OK to eat local if it is a GMO (lots of our produce is GMO)? Organic verse non organic?  Do we have enough resources to sustain our islands?  Lots of questions with many varying answers.  Next I would like to work and arrange a panel discussion on this.  Another project?

Day 2 and 3 Eat Local Challenge

The second day of the eat local challenge went smoother that the first.

We started the day with some scrambled island fresh eggs and pineapple.

For lunch I made hamburger buns and we had North Shore Cattle Feta burgers. These were delicious and my 9 year old was happy.

That afternoon we made pasta and ricotta cheese for lasagna. 

I have made ricotta before but never with island milk.  It came out so good it was much fresher tasting that with mainland milk.  I am so glad we have a dairy again in the islands.

The lasagna was made with Northshore Cattle ground beef, fresh made pasta and ricotta, Big Wave tomatoes and collard greens from my garden.

I also went to a small vegetable market in my neighborhood.  It does not just sell local but the local items are marked with signs. Here is what I picked up.

fresh mint

fresh thyme

baby grape tomatoes

edamamae

corn

sweet potatoes from Molokai

Day three started off with pancakes made with island milk and butter and local honey.

Lunch was left over lasagna.

I made a braised brisket with North Shore Cattle beef served with mashed purple sweet potatoes and a green salad.

Braised Brisket

2 Pounds beef brisket

   (North Shore Cattle)

2 Tablespoon Olive Oil (luxury item)

3 Stalks Negi Onions, cut in 2 inch

   pieces (they are a mix

between a leek and a green onion)

Substitute 1 leek or 1 onion (Farmers Market)

2 large Carrots, cut in 2 inch pieces

   (Ho farms)

1 Cup, diced tomatoes or cherry

tomatoes (farmers market)

1 Cup daikon turnip, cut in two inch

pieces (farmers market)

1    bunch thyme (farmers market)

3    Tablespoon honey (farmers market) –can

  sub with brown sugar

3    Tablespoons Hanapepe salt (substitute

with sea salt

1    cup red wine (cheat)

4    cups water (local from tap)

Heat olive oil in heavy casserole.  Sear brisket on all sides until brown.  add all vegetables except turnips.  Add salt,  thyme, honey, red wine and water.  Cook in a 250 oven for 2 1/2 hours.  On the last half hour, add the turnips, make sure they are covered in the braising liquid.  Serve over potatoes.

Day 1 Eat Local Challenge

Yesterday was the first day of our Eat Local Challenge and yes it was a challenge.  The day had complaints and road blocks but it also had some  great food and surprises.

I started the day at the farmers market.  The plan was to eat breakfast at the market and pick up some vegetables and beef for the week. I grabbed some corn for my breakfast which was great but my 8 year old wanted a burger from North Shore Cattle but the line was so long and  I was not going to stand in it.  So then came my first cheat.  I decided to buy some bread that  I would toast and he could have it with Naked Cow Dairy cream cheese.

I still had not planned what  I was going to make for lunch and when I was at the Bale bread stall I came up with an idea.  Bale also has many  Vietnamese Sandwich shops and they were selling the bread for Banh Mi so I decided to pick some up to make Banh Mi sandwiches with the chickens I bought from a farm on the north shore.

Lunch was the banh mi sandwiches.  I pickled the carrots and daikon that I bought at the market.  All the rest of the vegetables came from the market or my garden. This is a great site for Banh Mi.

The eight year old did not  eat the sandwiches and just had bread,  By the time dinner came around he was complaing and said he was starving.  So we had another cheat and made him chow mien noodles (locally made) with carrots and spinach. 

The rest of the family had grilled local chicken.  Which everyone said was the best chicken that they have had in a long time.  Beet and Naked Cow feta cheese salad and sliced tomatoes rounded off the meal.

 

Raw Shaved Beet and Feta  Salad

1 Pound beets, peeled and sliced paper

   thin with a mandolin  (Mao Farms)

2 Tablespoons sliced chives (garden)

1 Tablespoon chopped mint (garden)

1/4  Cup diced feta cheese (Naked Cow

   Dairy)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

    (luxury item)

1   Sprinkle Sea Salt (Hanepepe salt bed)

Arrange sliced beets on a platter, sprinkle with mint, chives and feta.  Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with  salt.

Shopping List

North Shore Chicken – cousin picked up on farm for me

Farmers Market

Cucumbers

Diakon

Carrots

Green Beans

Beets

Lime

Tomatoes

Cream Cheese

Peppers

Ground Beef

Brisket

Eat Local Week

Tomorrow I join 200 others from Kanu Hawaii  to eat locally as much as I can for one week.  This is quite a challenge for many reasons.

1.  I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

2.  I will need to feed my household of seven who all have various food challenges

3.  It may break the bank.

My isolation of living on an island is actually one of the reasons that I am doing this.  I have thought about what we would do if for some reason we could not get  our shipments of food to the island, how would we survive? This test may show if it is feasible.

Yes, I have seven people living in my house and some will have some difficulties with the challenge. First of all I have three boys that eat constantly  My youngest, Jake (2) loves his little snacks (Cheerios). What will I replace them with?  My middle son, Gabe(8) is my finicky eater no fish, the only vegetable that he will eat are carrots.  Will he shrivel away  from not eating? Zayn (17), will eat anything but he also will be going to movies with friends (popcorn) and basically as a typical teen does not want his mom telling him what to do. I also have my father living with us and  he has a chronic condition which is affecting his appetite, so I am going to allow him the food that is easy for him to eat such as ice cream and yogurt.  As for my mother, husband and I we are fine with this and will eat anything.

It will be interesting to see how much this is going to cost.  I will be doing shopping at many places to get the best price.  Eating locally can be more expensive and I will be able at the end of the week to see how much more it is.

Tomorrow I start the day at the Farmers Market near Diamond Head and I guess I will take this week meal by meal. I am allowing us a few luxury items, flour (I will make bread and pasta), olive oil (I can not live with out it), and spices.  I will be blogging to chronicle this week.

Please leave a comment if you have any tips or thoughts.

Hawaii State Farm Fair

Great day at the farm fair at Bishop Musuem.

Egg producers showed the kids how egg size is determined.

Then they play a word game with the eggs (the eggs had letters on them)

Naked Cow Dairy sampled their Feta Cheese

 

This poster shows the taro production decline.  I am working on a story about this.

A taro root, this is what the Hawaiian food staple poi is made of.

 

4 H livestock. BTW the pig is sleeping.

 

Beautiful torch ginger.

  

More ginger.

Mats were provided to sit on the grass and enjoy the fair.

 

The petting zoo.