Tag: KOA

Upside-Down Cherry-Pear Cake

Great for breakfast or you can serve it with ice cream for dessert.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
  • 1 can (15 oz) pear halves, drained
  • 3/4 c slivered almonds
  • 1/4 c butter or margarine, melted
  • 1 c sugar
  • 1 c Original Bisquick™ mix
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 eggs

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 350°.
  2. Grease 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish.
  3. Spread cherry pie filling in baking dish.
  4. Arrange pear halves, cut side up, over pie filling.
  5. Bake about 20 minutes or until filling is hot.
  6. Meanwhile, in food processor or blender, cover and process almonds until finely ground.
  7. In medium bowl, mix butter, sugar, Bisquick mix, almonds, cinnamon and eggs with spoon.
  8. Spoon batter over hot pie filling and pears.
  9. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until cherries are bubbly and toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
  10. Let stand 10 minutes.  (I know, waiting is hard.  But is you son’t, all the topping will stay in the pan ;and make a mess.)
  11. Run sharp knife around edges of baking dish to loosen.
  12. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto baking dish.
  13. Turn plate and dish over.
  14. Let dish remain over cake a few minutes so topping can drizzle over cake.
  15. Serve warm.

Servings: 9

Source:  Betty Crocker

Beef Wellingtons on a Stick

Another win for puff pastry.  You can make these, freeze them (uncooked) and always have an impressive treat on hand.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tab olive oil
  • 1 lb beef tenderloin, cut into 12 cubes (Recommend Certified Angus Beef ® brand)
  • Kosher salt
  • Fresh cracked black pepper
  • 1 large shallot, finely chopped
  • 8 oz cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 1/4 c red wine (cook should finish the bottle, because, you know it won’t keep!)
  • 1 can pate (if you want to be authentic)
  • 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 c beef stock
  • 1 c dry red wine
  • 2 Tab  butter
  • 12 wood sandwich picks

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 40°.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  4. Pat the beef dry with a paper towel’
  5. Season all sides with salt and pepper.
  6. Quickly sear the beef on two sides only until deep golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes total, do not overcook.
  7. Transfer to a plate to cool.
  8. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until they begin to brown and release liquid, about 5 minutes.
  9. Add the shallots, 1/4 c wine and salt and pepper, and continue cooking until mushroom mixture dries out, is golden brown, and the shallots are soft about 10 minutes.
  10. Remove from heat and cool.
  11. Lightly flour a work surface.
  12. Slightly roll 1 sheet of puff pastry to thin it out a bit. (about 14″ x 14″)
  13. Cut each of the three sections in half.
  14. Put a teaspoon of the mushroom mixture in the center of each piece of pastry.
  15. Top with a dab of pate.
  16. Lay the beef cube at one end of the pastry.
  17. Begin to roll it, tucking the ends as you go pressing the seams together.
  18. Place seam side down on the parchment lined baking sheet.
  19. Repeat with 5 more.
  20. Cut the 2nd pastry sheet and continue with the remaining beef cubes.
  21. Bake the Wellingtons until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
  22. Meanwhile, in a small sauce pot, bring the beef stock and red wine to a simmer.
  23. Reduce by 1/2.
  24. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time.
  25. Remove the Wellingtons from the oven to a serving platter and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
  26. When cool, skewer with the sandwich pick.  Cooling allows the juices to set and not goo up the pastry.
  27. Serve with the red wine sauce.

Serves:  Makes 12 – 16

 Source:  Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen

Bacon Cheddar Breakfast Biscuits

Kick your breakfast bread up a notch!

Ingredients:

  • 4 c Bisquick
  • 1 1/3 c milk
  • 1 c mild cheddar shredded
  • 2 Tab dried chopped onions
  • 8 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
  • 1/4 c butter melted
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425°.
  2. Mix Bisquick, milk, onions, cheddar, and bacon.
  3. Using medium scoop, drop biscuits onto cookie sheet 1/2 inch apart.
  4. Bake for 9 minutes.
  5. While biscuits are baking, melt butter and stir in garlic powder. Remove to cooling rack.
  6. Brush butter-garlic mixture over tops of biscuits.
  7. Biscuits can be cooled after baking and frozen for later. They will thaw in 30 minutes at room

Serves:Makes 30 medium biscuits.
Source: Feels Like Home

Chili Egg Puff

You cannot have too many breakfast casseroles.  This one also works for a meat-free dinner dish.

Ingredients:

  • 10 eggs
  • 1 c flour
  • 1 pt  creamed, small-curd cottage cheese 2 c, 16 oz
  • 1/2 c  butter, melted
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 lb Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (4 c)
  • 2 cans (4 oz each) diced green chilies
  • butter for greasing pan

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven 350°.
  2. Beat eggs until light and lemon colored.
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the chilies, one at a time, blending smoothly after each addition.
  4. Stir in the chilies.
  5. Pour mixture into a well-buttered 9×13-inch baking dish.
  6. Bake at 350° until top is browned and center appears firm, 35 to 45 minutes.
  7. May be served hot or cold, with an optional dollop of sour cream. Corn bread and fruit go well with this dish.

Serves: 10 to 12

Source: Old Farmer’s Almanac

Tempura Dipping Sauce – Kitchen Cupboard Version

There are “authentic” recipes for dipping sauce, many brands to purchase, but when you make tempura to use up bits of leftovers you need a quick and easy sauce.  This will work.

Ingredients:

  • 1 c water
  • 1/4 c dry Sherry
  • 1/4 c soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp chicken broth granules

Directions:

  1. Combine.
  2. Heat until boiling.

Source:   An old “Almost authentic” cookbook somewhere

Baked Edam Cheese With Scallop Stuffing (Keshy Yena )

The slave trade brought this recipe from the Dutch colonized island of Curacao  to New Orleans.  

Ingredients:

  • A 4-pound Edam cheese
  • ¾ lbs raw scallops (shrimp, or chicken can also be used)
  • 3 Tab butter, softened, divided
  • 1 Tab vegetable oil
  • 1 c finely chopped onions
  • 1 medium-sized firm ripe tomato, peeled, seeded and finely chopped, or substitute 1/3 c chopped drained canned tomatoes
  • ¼ tsp ground hot red pepper
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ c soft fresh crumbs made from homemade-type white bread, trimmed of crusts and pulverized in a blender or finely shredded with a fork
  • 6 small pimiento-stuffed olives, drained and finely chopped
  • 1 Tab finely chopped sweet gherkin
  • 2 Tab seedless raisins
  • 1 egg, well beaten

Directions:

  1. Peel the cheese and cut a l-inch-thick slice off the top.
  2. With a spoon, scoop out the center of the cheese leaving a boat like shell about ½ inch thick.
  3. Hollow the slice from the top in a similar fashion to make a lid for the shell.
  4. Place the lid and shell in a large pan or bowl, pour in enough cold water to cover them by at least 1 inch, and let them soak for 1 hour.
  5. Meanwhile, grate enough of the scooped-out cheese to make 2 cups and set it aside.
  6. Rinse the scallops,
  7. If large, cut into 1/4th.
  8. Remove the cheese shell and lid from the water and invert them on paper towels to drain.
  9. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  10. With a pastry brush, spread 1 tablespoon of softened butter evenly over the bottom and sides of a round baking dish at least 5 inches deep and just large enough to hold the cheese compactly. (If the dish is too
    shallow or too large, the cheese will collapse and spread when it is baked.)
  11. In a heavy 8- to 10-inch skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the vegetable oil over moderate heat.
  12. Drop in the onions and, stirring frequently, cook for about 5 minutes, until they are soft and transparent but not brown.
  13. Watch carefully for any sign of burning and regulate the heat accordingly.
  14. Add the tomato, red pepper, salt and a few grindings of black pepper,
  15. Still stirring, cook briskly until most of the liquid in the pan has evaporated and the mixture is thick enough to hold its shape almost solidly in the spoon.
  16. With a rubber spatula, transfer the entire contents of the skillet to a deep bowl.
  17. Add the scallops, grated cheese, bread crumbs, olives, gherkin and raisins.
  18. Toss together gently but thoroughly.
  19. Taste for seasoning..
  20. Stir in the beaten egg.
  21. Spoon the shrimp mixture into the cheese shell.
  22. Place the shell in the prepared dish, and top it with the cheese lid.
  23. Bake uncovered on the middle shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the top is bubbly and delicately browned.
  24. Serve the “Keshy Yena” at once, directly from the baking dish.

Serves:  6 – 8

Source:  alleasyrecipes.com

Note:  You can use sliced Gouda to line the dish, sides and bottom, instead o hollowing out a cheese.  Cover the top with cheese also.

KOA Chopped Caprese Salad

 Caprese Salad is the perfect easy side dish for any meal! Simple, delicious, and healthy! Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil, and Balsamic Vinegar. Traditionally, tomato slices are layered on a platter with slices of Mozzarella and basil leaves, then sprinkled with oil and vinegar.  This salad is way better for a crowd!  Like pizza Margherita, it features the colors of the Italian flag: green, white, and red. 

Ingredients:

  • 10 ounces cherry or cherub tomatoes chopped in half
  • 8 ounces whole milk mozzarella cherry sized. Chopped in half or fourths
  • 1/4 c fresh basil chopped
  • 1/2 c good quality balsamic vinegar
  • 2 Tabs honey (if you want to make a balsamic reduction sauce)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Add the balsamic vinegar and honey to a small saucepan over high heat.
  2. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
  3. Once it’s reduced by approximately half and thickened to your liking (about 10-15 min), remove from the heat. Be careful it doesn’t get too thick, but a bit syrupy is good.
  4. Toss all ingredients except for the reduction in a bowl. (Can be made ahead to this point and refrigerate – just add dressing when serving)
  5. Drizzle with the reduction, adding a little at a time, tossing, tasting, and then adding more to your liking.
  6. Enjoy!

Note: you can also add 1 tablespoon of olive oil if you’d like the added flavor, but it’s not necessary

Serves:   4

Source:  The Cookie Rookie

Peanut Sauce

Not particularity “authentic” but a good, easy substitute.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • ½ c creamy peanut butter
  • 2 Tab soy sauce
  • 1 Tab fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp (packed) light brown sugar
  • ¼–½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

  1. With motor running, drop ginger and garlic clove into a blender.
  2. Blend until finely chopped.
  3. Add peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, and 1/3 cup water
  4. Blend, adding more water by tablespoonfuls if needed to thin, until smooth.
  5. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and chill.
  6. Bring to room temperature before using.

Do Ahead: Peanut sauce can be made 3 days ahead.

Servings:  4

Source:  Bon Appitite

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

This strawberry banana smoothie is made from four simple ingredients – strawberries, banana, milk and yogurt. There are many recipes – but when camping, keep it simple.

Ingredients:

  • 2 c fresh strawberries, halved
  • 1 banana, quartered and frozen
  • 1/2 c Greek yogurt (Greek yogurt is nice and thick, but you could use regular yogurt in this recipe as well.)
  • 1/2 c milk

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a high powered blender and blend until smooth.

Serves: 2

Source:  Lisa Bryan – Downshiftology

Don’t tell anyone but you can add an ounce of rum if no one is looking.

Mai Tai – The Original Tiki Cocktail

The Mai Tai is perhaps the most famous Tiki cocktail for a good reason.

Ingredients: 

  • 3⁄4 oz Fresh lime juice
  • 1⁄4 oz Rock candy (simple) syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water)
  • 1⁄4 oz Orgeat almond syrup
  • 1⁄2 oz Orange curaçao
  • 2 oz Premium aged rum
    Garnish:
  • 1 Lime rind and fresh mint sprig

Directions: 

  1. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker, except the garnish.
  2. Add all the ingredients to a shaker and fill with crushed ice.
  3. Shake vigorously until the shaker is well-chilled and frosty on the outside.
  4. Pour (unstrained) into a double Old Fashioned glass.
  5. Garnish with fresh mint and a lime if you fancy that.
  6. You can also float some dark rum on top of the cocktail.

Serves:   Makes 1 cocktail – enough??
Source: Liquor.com. postprohibition.com/recipes/trader-vics-mai-tai/

And a bit of history.  Note the date is 1994.

The Mai Tai hits the Big Five-0
Celebrating The (nearly) Perfect Mai Tai
By Rick Carroll

Bright as a tropical moon, smooth as summer surf, rich as old Lurline passengers, cool and fresh as green limes, the Mai Tai is Hawaii’s favorite drink. One sip and it’s paradise. Or, should be.

On the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Mai Tai, the state of the most popular tropical cocktail in the Pacific is shaky. Most Mai Tais served in Hawaii today are too strong, too sweet and, at $7 and up, too expensive. They are pale imitations of the original.  Some taste like gasoline, others like cough syrup. They burn the throat, produce terrible headaches and generally give Hawaii a bad name. They should be served with a Surgeon General’s warning.

The worst Mai Tais are served in Waikiki. They contain cheap rum, bottled pre-mixes, canned pineapple juice and orange juice concentrate. Weak and syrupy, they look murky in a plastic glass brightened only by a red maraschino cherry and pineapple wedge skewered on a plastic sword. These tacky concoctions have little in common with a real Mai Tai and should be avoided at all costs.  Some variations on the original theme are excellent because they don’t alter the basic ingredients.

The classic Mai Tai is an unforgettable cocktail, an icy Jamaican rum and fresh lime juice drink with a subtle hint of oranges and almonds and a sprig of fresh mint for garnish.  Now, that’s a Mai Tai.

The Mai Tai may be Polynesian in name, but it’s American in origin, created not on a tropical lagoon but on the mudflats of San Franciso’s East Bay in 1944, by a legendary California restaurateur, the late Vic Bergeron of Trader Vic’s fame.

There’s been a lot of conversation over the beginning of the Mai Tai. And I want to get the record straight,” Bergeron said before he died. “I originated the Mai Tai. Many others have claimed credit. All this aggravates my ulcer completely. Anyone who says I didn’t create this drink is a dirty stinker.”  Don the Beachcomber claimed he created the drink but circumstantial evidence favors the Trader, who, in a 1947 book, “The Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide (Revised),” told how he originated the Mai Tai in his Oakland restaurant:

“In 1944 after success with several exotic rum drinks, I felt a new drink was needed. I thought about all the really successful drinks- martinis, manhattans, daiquiris, all basically simple drinks. I took down a bottle of 17-year old rum. It was J. Wray & Nephew from Jamaica-surprisingly golden in color, medium bodied, but with the rich pungent flavor particular to the Jamaican blends.  The flavor of this great rum wasn’t meant to be overpowered with heavy addition of fruit juices and flavorings.  I took a fresh lime, added some orange curacao from Holland, a dash of rock candy syrup, and a dollop of French orgeat for its subtle almond flavor.  I added a generous amount of shaved ice and shook it vigorously by hand to produce the marriage I was after. Half the lime shell went into each drink for color and I stuck in a branch of fresh mint.”

“I gave the first two to Eastham and Carrie Guild, friends from Tahiti who were there that night. Carrie took one sip and said, ‘Mai tai roa ae.  In Tahitian this means,’out of this world, the best.’ Well, that was that. I named the drink ‘Mai Tai.'”

The Mai Tai became popular at Trader Vic’s restaurants in Oakland, San Francisco and Seattle. In 1953, Bergeron introduced the Mai Tai to Hawaii at the Royal Hawaiian and Moana Hotels whose well-heeled guests arrived by Matson Line steamships.  It was the right drink at the right place at the right time.

To celebrate the Mai Tai’s 50th birthday, I went in search of the perfect Mai Tai, no small task since there are more than 6,000 drinking establishments in the islands today. Most serve a Mai Tai, not all of them are mai tai, if you know what I mean.  The decline of the classic Mai Tai began shortly after 1959, when Hawaii became a state and jets cut the flight time from the West Coast to 4.5 hours. Bartenders now had to hustle to serve the big new wave of tourists eager for a taste of the tropics.  “Everybody wanted a Mai Tai,” said Harry K. Yee, former head barman at Hilton Hawaiian Village. “We served them as fast as we could make them.” Made by the gallon, sold by the glass, a Mai Tai cost $1.25 back then. “They are sweeter, bigger, milder and more expensive now,” Yee said. “They are not the same drink.”  Seeking greater profit, Waikiki hoteliers diluted Mai Tais, used cheaper rum and substituted Hawaii’s own pineapple juice for fresh lime juice.

While everyone was snorkeling, the Mai Tai slowly evolved into a sickly sweet, two-rum float with pineapple juice under a pink paper parasol. It began to fade in popularity as a new generation turned to Frozen Margaritas. To punch up the Mai Tai, bartenders added a 151 rum float which made it taste like boat varnish.  By the 1980s, the original version of the Mai Tai could be found in Waikiki only at the Halekulani, which takes great pride in serving classic cocktails by original recipes. New York bartender Danny DePamphillis reintroduced the original Mai Tai at the Moana Hotel in 1986. It was perfect-Trader Vic would have been proud- but at $5.50 its revival was short-lived.

Today, contemporary versions of the original Mai Tai may be found in Hawaii’s finer drinking establishments. If you’re a purist, like me, you will follow the original recipe and make your own. I guarantee it will be-out of this world, the best. Mai tai roa ae.

Trader Vic’s Original Mai Tai

  • Pour only 80 proof J. Wray & Nephew Rum over shaved ice.
  • Add juice from half a fresh lime.
  • Some orange curacao.
  • A dash of rock candy syrup.
  • A dollop of French orgeat.
  • Shake vigorously.
  • Add a sprig of fresh mint.

Where To Find the Perfect Mai Tai

Where you sip a Mai Tai is almost as important as the ingredients.  This tropical drink always tastes better in a thatch hut on a lagoon with coco palms lining the shore. A great Mai Tai in the Tonga Room of San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel is not the same as a great Mai Tai on Waikiki Beach. Here’s my short list of where to find and enjoy the best Mai Tais in Hawaii today:

Oahu
Halekulani, Waikiki
The search for the perfect Mai Tai ends here at the House Without A Key. It’s as close to the original as you will find in Waikiki. This sophisticated version is comprised of a fine blend of two rums, lemon and lime juice and sweet orange curacao. A purple Vanda orchid adds a splash of color. $7.25.
Jameson’s By The Sea, Haleiwa
Up on Oahu’s north shore, big waves draw surfers from around the world but Mai Tai connoisseurs pack the lanai at Jameson’s at sundown to catch the wave of Mai Tais prepared by head barman Jim Bragaw; the best in Surf City. $5.00
New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel
Go on Aloha Friday when the exotic sounds of Arthur Lyman waft across the golden sand. Ask veteran bartender Clara Nakachi for a classic Mai Tai. Sit under the tree where Robert Louis Stevenson wrote poems to Princess Kaiulani. Take a sip, stare out to sea and wonder, is this not be paradise? $5.75

Mau
The Bay Club, Kapalua Bay Hotel & Villas
Maui may be the Chardonnay capital of the Hawaii (all those California wine-bibbers) but you can find a great Mai Tai at the newly renovated Bay Club overlooking Kapalua Bay where head barman James “Kimo” Tagupa knows how to make a good one. $7.25

Molokai
Ohia Lounge, Kulakoi Hotel & Golf Club
At the end of a hot dusty trail ride on the Molokai Ranch, nothing tastes finer than a Mai Tai in the Ohia Lounge, an airy seaside bar on Hawaii’s biggest white sand beach. Mai Tais taste original here because hardly anything ever changes on Molokai, thank goodness. $5.50

Kauai
Tahiti Nui, Hanalei
Tahiti Nui got smashed by Hurricane Iniki but its world famous Mai Tai lives on. It’s Auntie Louise Marston’s secret 30-year-old family recipe imported from Tahiti. Only change over the years-no more vanilla beans. The new Nui reopened New Year’s Eve-same place, same Mai Tais, the best on Kauai. $5.00

Hawaii
Shipwreck Bar, Kona Village
Johnno Jacko wrecked his 42-foot schooner on the reef at Kaupulehu in 1959 and stayed on in the islands to build Kona Village. The hull today serves as the Shipwreck Bar where host Fred Duerr still serves the traditional Mai Tai, according to Trader Vic’s recipe. $7.00

About the Author
Rick Carroll is the author of numerous Hawaii books from The Bess Press including Great Outdoor Adventures of Hawaii and the best-selling anthology, Chicken Skin: True Spooky Stories of Hawaii. He is now editing Travelers’ Tales Hawaii, due in the Spring of 1999 from O’Reilly & Associates, San Francisco. A former San Francisco newspaperman, Carroll lives at Lanikai Beach, Hawaii, and still drinks dry martinis, up, with a twist.

Copyright Rick Carroll 1998. All rights reserved.
This article originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News on November 9, 1994. Reprinted here with permission of Rick Carroll