Wordless Wednesday

Lilikoi (Passionfruit) Flower

(Ok, I'm breaking the rules. Words are happening because I really need your help to get my recipe for Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder in the running for a contest I entered. Please vote by clicking here: Flavors Take Flight. Thank you all so much!)

Green Sand, Art and Pie: A Labor Day Adventure

 Believe it or not, yesterday was my first visit to the Big Island's Green Sand Beach.

It's a 6 mile round trip affair if you don't have a 4WD vehicle. We didn't have a 4WD vehicle so it was a long hot march. Very lovely though.

 My sister wouldn't let me pick through the ocean trash for treasures for fear of getting stuck with a needle. Legit reason. Someday I'll find a real glass float though, that's the goal. Next time I'll bring a bag, and help haul out some of this eye sore.

We came across some unexpected street art as we were leaving the beach parking lot. That's a depiction of Queen Liliuokalani.

Did you ever see "Exit Through the Gift Shop"? It's a documentary about street art and artists and is superb.

Check out my friend Andrea's blog: Urban Mediums. It's all about street art and its contribution.

 

Then we treated ourselves to pie at my favorite little Big Island cafe.

Hope you had a great Monday holiday!

While you're here, don't forget to vote for my Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder in the Flavors Take Flight recipe contest. Mahalo! 

Eat a Pear, See Your Future

I always complain about baking. It's time consuming, it's tedious, it's fattening, it lacks creativity.

Actually none of those things are true.

I was complaining to a friend about the tediousness of baking when she pointed out that exact measuring was not necessarily a feature of baking at all. So it seemed I wasn't giving baking a fair shake.

So I made a pear tart. Vowing to follow my taste buds and not an exact recipe.

Something you should know about me is that I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Even more than that, I don't like to screw up, fail, or blunder in any way. Baking freaks me out because well, I'm not that good at it, and sometimes it gets screwed up.

Maybe I'm tired of avoiding things just because I'm not perfect at it. Maybe the first pear tart I made turned out weird. Maybe my husband ate it anyway.

Baking can totally be creative, that's what I learned. Especially in the second round, after tasting my mistake tart. Add more fruit! Sprinkle it with cinnamon! Embrace dough rolling!

(Can you spot the cat in this photo?)

There is no need to fear butter and sugar.

(Pssst: Help me win the Flavors Take Flight recipe contest by voting for my Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder here: Flavors Take Flight. Thanks friends!)

Goat Cheese and Pear Tart
serves 8 if you're lucky

Crust:
(From Joy of Cooking)
Roll Cookies (makes two 9" tart crusts)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in rest of ingredients. Chill the dough 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.

Filling:
(Inspired by Leite's Culinaria)
6 oz. goat cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 TBL sugar
3 pears, cored and cut into small pieces
1 TBL unsalted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 TBL+ white sugar

Pre-heat oven to 375 after your dough has chilled (don't skip this step, I learned the hard way). Roll out dough into 1/4 inch rounds, handling it as little as possible. This is important. I rolled mine out between sheets of waxed paper. Place dough in a greased pie tin or tart pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

While waiting for the crust to bake and cool, mix the goat cheese, egg, vanilla, and 2 TBL sugar in a small bowl. Lower the oven temp to 350. Once the crust has cooled considerably, add the goat cheese mixture, spreading it out evenly to the very edges of the crust.

Add the pears in layers, sprinkling a little cinnamon and sugar on the layers as you go. Dot with the butter.

Bake tart in the 350 degree oven for 30 minutes on the bottom rack until pears are nice and browned. Enjoy!

(And don't forget to vote for my Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder!)

Gourmet Grilled Cheese

Simple things can be special. Simple things like grilled cheese.

But these simple things can be taken a bit too far. Exhibit A: Grilled Cheese Martini. Just say no.

Get yourself some good bread. None of this sitting-in-Costco-for-who-knows-how-long pre-packaged stuff. The bakery aisle is a better place to steer yourself. I am so over processed breads. Cheaper, yes. Better, no no no.

Toasted bread, melty cheese, dressed salad. Dinner. Good dinner.

Admire the sunset while contemplating pear tarts, coming soon by the way.

Hey, while you're here, why not vote for my Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder in the Flavors Take Flight contest. I'd really appreciate it!

Gourmet Grilled Cheese
serves 2

4 slices good bread
8 slices swiss cheese
4 slices of yellow onion (thin)
1 tsp olive oil
4-5 cups lettuce mix (mine had arugula mixed in)

Dressing for salad:
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp honey
1 TBL lemon juice or white wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet. Add cheese to bread and top with onion and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melty.

While the cheese gets melty, wash your lettuce, and dry completely (very important). In a medium bowl, whisk mustard, honey, lemon juice, salt & pepper together. Slowly whisk in olive oil to emulsify, taste and correct if needed.  Add lettuce and toss.

Top toasty cheesy bread with salad. Enjoy!

Herb Specimens

From my garden. 

Oregano. 

Spearmint. 

Lavender. 

Lemon verbena. 

Lemon grass. 

Green onion. 

Rosemary. 

Basil. 

Thyme. 

I'm frustrated with how these photos turned out but posting anyway. Photography can be so stinkin' hard! Having a garden with fresh herbs cheers me up though. 

I would be ecstatic if you voted for my Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder in the Flavors Take Flight contest by clicking the link and giving it a "thumbs up."

Mahalo! Hope everyone out there had a great start to the week. 

French Toast Casserole

Sometimes when you make fondue you have lots of leftover bread.

You could make croutons. You could make teeny little munchkin pizzas.

No you couldn't.

Alas, I have the solution. French toast casserole. It's a little like bread pudding and a lot delicious.

And this is not just breakfast. This could totally be dessert. You could have a complete breakfast themed dinner party; bloody Mary warm-ups, omelets, fried potatoes, and mimosas for dinner, French toast casserole for dessert, Irish coffees to round it out. Now that's classy.

Before you run off and make this for breakfast, don't forget to vote for my Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder in the Hawaiian Airlines Flavors Take Flight contest. Mahalo for your support!

French Toast Casserole
serves 6

6 cups French bread cubes (or enough to fill a 9x13 baking dish)
2 TBL butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 c milk*
1/4 c white sugar, divided
1/4 tsp salt
tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c pancake syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter. Add bread cubes. In a separate bowl beat eggs, milk, half of the sugar, salt, vanilla, and pancake syrup. Pour over bread cubes. You may want to gently stir it around a bit so all the bread cubes get coated. Allow to stand for at least 15 minutes to allow the bread to soak up the goodness.

In a small bowl combine remaining sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle over the top of the bread mixture. Dot the bread mixture with the remaining butter.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden and eggs are set. If you used sliced or soft bread, it may take less time to bake, so keep an eye on it. Enjoy!

*Milk note: we don't drink cow milk except half & half for coffee, so I mixed 3/4 c half & half and 3/4 c rice milk. I'm noting this, because I don't think rice milk on its own would have worked. 

Vote for me! Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder

**Voting has closed, but you can see this and a collection of other amazing soups at Easy Natural Food**

Hawaiian Airlines is offering a free trip to Honolulu and a culinary adventure with Chef Chai in their "Flavors Take Flight" contest. The entry with the most "likes" on Facebook, Twitter, and the Hawaiian Airlines site are entered into the top 10.

Why am I telling you this? So you'll consider voting for my Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder! Doesn't it look yummy? Vote here: Flavors Take Flight.

It all started with some dirty hands.

Hands that pulled these Hawaiian sweet potatoes (aka Okinawan sweet potatoes) right out of our own garden.

Then I said to myself, "self, let's make a fish chowder with island ingredients."

And you said to yourself, "another fish chowder, huh?" Just go with it.

We had to drive around the neighborhood in search of a green papaya to pick that wasn't super-obviously in someone's yard.

Lucky we live [in] Hawaii.

Hawaiian Style Fish Chowder
serves 4
Don't forget to vote for this recipe:)

1 TBL canola oil
1 cup thinly sliced Maui onion
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce
2 1/2 cups Hawaiian sweet potato, cubed to 1/2 inch
1 TBL fish sauce
2 cups water
1 tsp Hawaiian sea salt
2 tsp sesame oil, divided
1 1/4 cup coconut milk
1 lb ono, or other white fish, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup finely julienned green (raw) papaya, 1 inch long, 1/4 wide
1 TBL shoyu (soy sauce)
1/4 cup sliced green onion
1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add canola oil, onion, ginger, and chili garlic sauce and cook until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add chopped sweet potatoes, fish sauce, water, salt, and 1tsp of the sesame oil. Liquid should just cover potatoes; if not, add a little more until covered. Cover the pot and cook 13-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

In a separate bowl, add green papaya, shoyu, remaining sesame oil, green onion, sesame seeds and toss.

Back to the stove, turn the heat down to low and add coconut milk and fish. Cook, uncovered, until fish is cooked through, 6-10 minutes. Don't boil or simmer the chowder, this is also a good time to check your chowder for seasoning and add salt if needed. Check the fish frequently for doneness, you don't want to over cook it. Turn the heat off and cover the pot, allowing it to rest at least 30 minutes.

For serving, spoon desired amount into bowl and top with green papaya mixture. Enjoy!

If you liked this, consider voting for me by clicking here: Flavors Take Flight