April 2, 2013 - What We Ate Last Night

This is the way we eat at home: lots of vegetables, lots of flavor. Yes, we do eat out a lot - so many popups, great food at the Blaisdell Farmers' Market. We know we have to be prudent, thoughtful, when we eat at home. Spending an hour in the kitchen is the MAXIMUM I can stand to be there! Half an hour is ideal.

I had some Pit Farm beets I'd already cooked - I put Ted to work peeling them, then cut them into bite-size pieces. First I put a handful of sliced onions in hot olive oil, added the beets to brown and warm them, then a package of Okinawan spinach from Nalo Farms. These are glossy dark green on one side, dark purple on the other. They have to be stripped from the stems. The only new veg I've seen that I like better is the komatsuna. Otsuji Farms has this - it's in the turnip family, but has purple leaves and tastes like bok choy. After it's cooked, it will turn your nearby white food purple or green, but don't be alarmed. It's delicious. And be sure to leave some for me!

The other things we ate were leftover orange soup - most of my pureed soups look that color! This one was based on this recipe, but with mostly Garnet yam. Other versions use more carrots, tomatoes, even red bell peppers. Remember to adjust the spice levels to your own taste, and keep in mind various garam masala mixes, even fresh ginger, have different levels of heat. All I did was heat the leftovers in the microwave oven, and dished out two servings. We ate some orange food a couple nights before, too.

The final item on the menu was leftover whole wheat pasta - about 2.5 cups - thawed from the freezer. First, I sauteed a pile of sweet onion, then added several ripe tomatoes. When these were softened, I added a can of anchovies I got from the bargain corner at Foodland. Didn't rinse 'em or use the oil from the tin; I did smoosh them. (That's the technical term!) I added the pasta, a tiny bit of water. I guess white wine would have been nice. Then a chiffonade of basil before serving. Note: there was no added salt, it was just right! We had no parm, but that might have been good, too.

Ted's reaction: "There's fish in this?" Very good taste observation! But he couldn't find it!

So, we ate a variety of vegetables, whole grain pasta, a teeny bit of fish. Ready for tonight's dinner at Blaisdell Farmers' Market at The Pig & The Lady. See the menu here: http://thepigandthelady.com/0403-blaisdell-farmers-market-menu-miyazaki-w#more

By the way, the Pig & The Lady Miyazaki dinner & movie popup was fabulous!

People with Passion

I love to read about them, and to write about them.

You need to subscribe to the Star Advertiser to read Joleen Oshiro's article about this wonderful Leilehua High School teacher, Jackie Akuna, who inspires her agriculture students to care about the food they grow and eat. In a world dominated by factory-farmed food, in a state where most of our supermarket produce comes from somewhere else - days, weeks, months old - these central Oahu teenagers are growing their own fresh food! They are cooking and eating vegetables, and taking them home to supplement family meals.

But you can read more about Jackie Akuna at She Grows Food, a blog about women and the future of food, and on Alan Wong's Pineapple Press.Alan is also a Leilehua grad!

What is it about good, fresh food that brings me back to farmers markets every week? Two days ago, I talked to several people I met at the Blaisdell farmers market, who I've subsequently seen elsewhere. A week ago, I shared a table with 6 others. The server asked me who they were; I said I met them all at the farmers market!

Back on topic, the produce grown by the Leilehua ag students and Future Farmers is sold at the Thursday Wahiawa Farmers Market at the Hongwanji, and at the Peterson Egg Room (call first, ph. 621-7097.)

If you see me, ask to read my copy of the article, or come to the library to read it. It's worth your time.

You'll be heartened by the resolve and caring, the energy and influence of Leilehua alumna and teacher Jackie Akuna.

Lucky Me! Dinner Parties

Our cigar friend, Doc Jeff - who we teasingly call Chef Jeff - put out the call for smokers/eaters, and a slew of us showed up. First, we stopped at St. Germain Bakery, located close by, for two baguettes to go with The Pig & The Lady chicken liver pate made by the First Lady of varied and delicious Vietnamese cuisine in Honolulu, Mrs. Le. She's affectionately known as "Mama" Le. You can order this pate goodness for yourself, by the container. You may gasp at the price, but it is worth it - full of wine, brandy, love, care and most importantly, TASTE!

Sante! July 2012 Cheese Dinner @ Naked Cow Dairy

We also took some Naked Cow Dairy cheese: peppered Asiago and Waianae tomme. Naked Cow is the only dairy on Oahu making cow's milk cheeses; they also make delicious butter and yogurt - I was told they'll have halloumi, a Cypriot cheese, today. Our friends eagerly sampled both of them, and the buttery tomme was the favorite. We love sharing the good things we find at Honolulu Farmers' Market, at Blaisdell. Someday I'll have to write a post about all the lovely people we've met at the Farmers' Market!

What the host served us: grilled marinated and spiced ribs so tender, rack of lamb, perfectly done, and lehi, a type of snapper, prepared with lup cheong and bok choy, dark shoyu, cilantro and green onion. Can you say heaven? There was salad, red wine and other food, but the cheese, pate, meat and fish were the stars!

I have no pictures of this or the other dinner party, as I feel uncomfortable taking photos of food in other peoples' homes. I rarely take photos of the food I prepare at home! I'm too hungry.And I'll have to write about the other dinner party later!

Here are links to the first and second of Doc Jeff's dinner parties! I'm sure there were one or two that I missed, but these were all fabulous!

What have you eaten lately that was memorable and delicious?

Quick thoughts and tease

To those of you wondering how to slice ali`i mushrooms: clean or brush off anything brown you don't like, then slice into 1/8th inch slices vertically - the length of the mushrooms. I slice these pieces diagonally no longer than 1.5 inches long for a stir fry. Cut into smaller strips or pieces for use in an omelet or stuffing. Start cooking! These are so delicious and worth the price!

We were invited to not one, but TWO last-minute dinner parties last week. Yes, we had to do penance and eat more prudently after that. That is the tease, and I hope to get to that later today or by Wednesday. Happy eating!

Mission Street Honolulu Popup

I know it was more than three months ago, but I did have to digest it!

Between the worlds of farmers' markets and popup dinners in Honolulu, we have met some fantastic people and crazy chefs. When we sat down to the Mission Street Food dinner, we were soon joined by more than half a dozen of those regulars. If they weren't in the kitchen, they were at our table!

Here's what we ate:

Pickled Mussels, Guacamole

Yellowtail tuna

Fried Chicken,Watermelon, Fromage Ranch

Pork Belly, Lentils

Braised Beef Cheek, Burrata

Sauterne Shave Ice with Honeydew Cream

How was it? Great food and companions, good wine. My favorites were the yellowtail, the salad with watermelon and the dessert. Ted's favorites were the pork belly and beef cheek. One of our friends said the food was more like Commonwealth than Mission Street Chinese. The Mission Street empire now includes Mission Bowling Club and Mission Street Chinese NY. I went because I'm not sure when I can get to any of those places.

Here's my review of their book, Mission Street Food, by Anthony Myint and Karen Leibowitz. It's irreverent, amusing, full of recipes and insights. And their philosophy of giving back.

20% of each dinner went to a local Hawaii charity, GreenWheel Food Hub, an initiative which is working on getting electronic food stamps into farmers' markets. A worthy cause.

Autumn Dinner @ Home in Honolulu

My vegetables are talking to me. Again.

Tonight, they said: make me into a soup to warm up to this cool, blustery day.

This time it was a big ole yam and a pile of baby kale talking.

I peeled and chunked the yam, covered with water and microwaved until almost done.

Peeled and sliced a small onion and 3 cloves of garlic, then sauteed those in olive oil.

Added the yam chunks to the pot, along with about a cup of the water they were cooked in, as well as 1-1/2 cups of turkey broth from Thanksgiving.

Shredded about 4 cups of the baby kale and added that to the pot, along with 2/3 can of coconut milk.

Seasoned with black pepper, cayenne (just a pinch), salt, cumin. Simmered until the kale was soft.

Served the resulting soup with chopped tomatoes and Christopher Sy City bread. Sorry, no photos.

How would I make this better? Maybe some nutty garbanzo beans.

When I Cook

It's usually vegetable-based. By that, I mean the vegetables that are crying out to be used need my attention.

Tonight, we ate purslane salad with slivers of red onion, and cubes of cucumber and Roma tomatoes, with Angelo Pietro ume dressing. And miso steelhead with Sun Noodle soba. The marinade was thinned with water and heated in the pan the fish was cooked in. All simple, but good. And there are enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Now, if only the asparagus, zucchini and kabocha would stop talking to me!