Recipes from the Ono Sunday

Basa with Tangerine Macadamia Nut Sauce and Purple Sweet Potato Mash

Serves 2

Note about Basa: from Oz, this mild skinless filet goes great with many sauces. Any mild, skinned fish filets will do for this recipe.
Note about Okinawan Sweet Potatoes: These can be found in an Asian Produce Store. If you cannot find them, you could substitute yams or white sweet potatoes.

Basa Ingredients:

2 Basa Fillets
½ Cup XX Flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups Panko Crumbs
Salt, Pepper and Piment d Espelete Powder (this may be difficult to find, you can also use good quality paprika) to season the crumbs. If you like a little kick, use hot paprika.

½ cup canola oil for frying

Sauce Ingredients:
Juice from 4-6 large tangerines (should equal about 1 cup)
Zest from 2 tangerines
2 shallots, finely chopped
¼ cup Macadamia Nuts roughly chopped
6 sprigs of lemon thyme

2 tablespoons canola oil (macadamia oil would work too if you can find it)

Sweet Potato Mash Ingredients:

2 Cups of peeled cut up Okinawan (purple) Sweet Potatoes cut into large chunks
Water or Chicken Broth to cover potatoes
1 Tbs Salt (I use a smoked sea salt that I make)
1 cup of milk (approximate)
2 Tablespoons of butter
4 Tablespoons chopped scallions or chives
Additional salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Place the potatoes in a pan with water & salt. Boil till tender (about 15 minutes) then drain and remove from heat.

Start sauce by sautéing the chopped shallots till they start to turn color. Add the mac nuts and toast a bit, then add the juice, zest and thyme. Turn down the flame to as low as your stove allows and allow the sauce to reduce by half.

Put out three dishes for breading, first one has flour in it, the second has the eggs and milk and the final one has the Panko Crumbs. Add oil to pan and heat on medium flame to about 350 degrees. Dredge the fillets through the flour, then into the egg wash, then into the panko crumbs. Add to hot oil and gently sauté till golden on each side (turn carefully with a large spatula). Drain on a paper towel and keep warm.

Mash or rice the sweet potatoes ( I used a sick blender because my ricer is somewhere over the Pacific right now) with milk and butter. Season to taste. I also add Piment d Espelete. Heat to desired temperature. Garnish with chives.

The Gleaners... more from Ono Sunday

Another Ono Sunday story… Yesterday (after the 7am Farmer's Market in Volcano) we met up with our Punaweb Friends Jim and Carey and Liz and Mike at the Onemea Farm Lots to glean the fields for the Hilo Food Pantry which provides food to anyone in need.

The machines and pickers had already gone through the field taking out the “perfect” potatoes for export to Japan and domestic vendors. The remaining potatoes would normally have gone to waste in the field. Carey and Jim are pretty much experts at this. They brought the trailer, tubs made into sleds, crates and other equipment for the harvest. They also provided some excellent fresh orange lemonade! And they shared some wonderful grapefruit and tangerines from their trees at home. Carey met the owners of the farm and when they found out that there were potatoes going to waste and hungry people in Hilo/Puna she used her ingenuity to gather together a few people to harvest them. The gleaning has to be done as close to the time that the pickers have gone through as possible, as they start to decay quickly. Jim and Carey organize these outings about once a month.

We hiked out into the fields and for a few hours, we were “pickin’ and grinnin’ “. Well at least we were laughing and talking and having fun while we were doing something good for our fellow islanders. Of course as a side benefit, we also got to bring home some sweet potatoes for ourselves and our neighbors. I used them as a mashed potato last night (recipe followson my next blog post) and I used some of Carey’s tangerines as a base for the sauce I made to go on some basa fillets (recipe also follows).

Now I intend on playing with the Okanawa Sweets and figuring out some fun recipes to do with them. I used to have to go to China town to find these gems on the mainland. I only really used them for baking and an occasional potato salad or to make chips for parties. Now I am going to have to dig deeper and figure out some other ways to use them. I love a challenge like this!

As a side benefit we were at the Volcano Farmer’s Market yesterday morning quite early and since I knew that we were going to be getting the potatoes later in the day, I lamented that I did not have my mandoline here, as it is still with most of our goods, floating across the pacific. Then we walked past the table with the kitchen items for their rummage sale and there was a German Mandoline in perfect condition for sale for 75 cents! Naturally I grabbed that immediately. I will use it to make some Purple Sweet Potato Chips tonight. It will also come in handy for making scalloped sweet potatoes. I can see using some of my fresh sage in that dish. And I may play with julienning some veggies too. The German mandoline is made from plastic but has sharp steel blades and it sure will be easier than doing the tricks with my knife.

Thanks to my friend Sonia, I was able to find a small nursery that has most every kind of herb plant and I have most of them planted already and the rest are awaiting our container’s arrival, as I brought many of my pots on it. So I will have those to use as I experiment with the sweet potatoes. If any of you readers have sweet potato recipes that you would like to share with me… send them on to me!

Ono Day.... starting in Volcano

Yesterday was an Ono (Hawaiian for good) Day! It started off with Wes, Valentine (our dog) and I driving up to Volcano at 6 am in order to get to the farmer's market there. It opens at 7 and Connie warned me that you have to get there early because it is composed of many small farmers instead of a few large ones and they sell out early. Most everything sold there is local and organic. There were lots of people there when we arrived and with Connie's advice, we drove through the first lot and into the second lot. As we drove in, there was a "No animals allowed sign" so we took Vali for a walk and then put her back in the car. Luckily it was a chilly morning up in Volcano, as you can see by the way people are dressed in the pictures. Speaking of the pictures, I had to use my cell phone camera because I left the Sony at home, so they are not the best quality.

The market was amazing and really fun. We will drive up there about one Sunday a month. There were several booths with prepared food, about 5 Thai booths, a Chinese Booth, A Japanese Booth and three or four bakers with incredible things. There were some booths selling teas and coffee and Wes bought a cup of coffee from one of them, but I did not get beans as my favorite beans are grown a few miles North of us from Hilo Sharks Coffee.

They also have a rummage sale going, which was fun. I found a fantastic German Mandoline (that is the kind you slice with, not a musical instrument) for 75 cents. I have a Swiss one on it's way in our container, but this was a nice one to use in the meantime.

The market has expanded and now is in two parts with one of the parking lots dividing it. All of the booths are under cover, so there is no need to worry about weather.

There were all kinds of ono produce for sale. We bought a few kinds of bananas, long slender green onions, beautiful baby kale, sweet onions, hard neck garlic, a white pineapple, purple shallots, deep red Roma tomatoes (picked the day before), yellow squash, spring lettuces with edible flowers and some stringless green beans. There were tons of flowers for sale and many plants and herbs too. We filled three of my Harrod's Shopping Bags and drove back home by 8:30 so Wes could go to his Yoga class.

More coming about the rest of our Ono Day... Gleaning the Sweet Potato Fields!

A Whole Lot of Plantin' Goin' On!

Well, we have been living in our new Hawaiian Home for 10 days! Yesterday was planting day for our new fruit and spice trees. Last Monday we went with our friend Kelly to Plant It Hawaii, a wholesale nursery in Kurtistown to pick up the order we selected when we were here in November. Yesterday, Kelly's farm worker Abel (who I call the incredible hunk) came to plant the trees and vines. He brought lots of organic furtilizer, compost and cinders to aireate the soil. Here is what we got planted yesterday: 2 Eureka Lemons, 2 Improved Meyer Lemons, 2 Variegated Pink Eureka Lemons, 2 Moro Blood Oranges, 3 Buddah's Hand Citrons, 2 Calamondin Limes, 2 Kaffir Limes (they are going on the lanais, underplanted with herbs), 2 Tahiti Limes, 4 Minneola Tangelos (excellent for juicing), 1 Kahalu'u Avocado, 1 Sharwill Avocado, 2 Dwarf Meiwa Kumkwats, 1 KeittMango, 4 Vanilla vines, 1 Allspice tree, 1 Cinnamon Tree, 1 Clove Tree, 2 Nutmeg Trees, 2 large Curry Leaf Trees (going in large pots on front porch where it is more protected), 2 each of Yellow, purple and orange Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) vines and about 30 varieties of herbs and peppers which will go in containers on the lanais and front porch. As these grow, flower and fruit, I will share more pictures of the trees as well as recipes and ideas as to what to do with the fruit and spices!

A BIG Thank You to our friend Kelly Moran of Hilo Brokers for the plants and labor. Another round of thanks goes to Abel the "Incredible Hunk" who planted all of the trees and vines for us. If you ever need a great real estate agent, contact Kelly at:

www.hilo-brokers.com
kelly@Hilo-Brokers.com
Office: 808-969-9400 x11
Cell: 808-938-5757
Fax: 808-969-7900
Toll Free: 800-769-4456

Visiting Akaka Falls

We drove down the road the other day to visit Akaka Falls. It is about 10 minutes from our house and nestled in a spectacular gorge. We tried to time the trip so that the cruise ship passengers were already gone, so we went late in the afternoon. However, it is said that it is even more spectacular when you go early in the day, so we will make a return trip to check that out. The circle trail was closed for construction, so we took the shorter easier trail to get there. Still, there are hundreds of steps to go up and down as you make your way to the viewing area. The entire trail was paved, wandering over streams and beautiful vegetation and most of it had hand rails, but I do have some friends that might find it too physically challenging. The view was spectacular. The water falls over 420' into a huge pool. Coming and going to the falls you drive through the little plantation town Honomu. There are about 2 blocks of commercial buildings, a few shops, a cafe and a very old theater. It is easy to imagine what this little town was like back in the Sugar Days of Hawaii, as not much has really changed there in those many years.

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

Aloha!

No pictures on this post. We have arrived on the island and we are getting settled in. But I promise many pictures are to come!

Our "goods" are on a container ship and won't be here for a few weeks yet. It was quite an ordeal deciding what to bring and making sure that it all fit in the container! Our movers, West Point Relocation specialize in oceanic moves and most of their customers are moving to/from Hawaii, Japan and Thailand. They did a terrific job and were superb at packing up our art and high value pieces of furniture.

We had a series of very successful garage sales in November and December. We also donated hundreds of books (they don't do so well in our humid Hawaiian climate) and clothes to charity. It is amazing how many things we really will not need in Hawaii. We got rid of many cold weather clothes as well as most of our leather goods. I could not bear to part with a few hand bags and sandals, so they will get a frequent wipe down to help preserve them. But leather jackets and most shoes went out the door. Finally as we were packing we discovered many other things that we really did not need and had a final pile of donations that filled an entire 1 car garage. After living here just a few days now, we are discovering that we need even less than we thought we would.

Hilo had over 30" of rain since we were here in November. It is very green and lush of course. The stream and water fall on our property are flowing too. On Monday when we arrived, we were delighted to find a bright sunny day! Tuesday was another sunny one and then we had a good rain Tuesday night and it cleared in time for me to go to the farmer's market at 9 am.

Speaking of the market... THIS is one of the reasons we love Hawaii so much! The market in Hilo is small by California standards. What it lacks in space, it supersedes all California Farmer's Markets in abundance and fantastic fruits and vegetables. I have to say only the Mercados in Mexico City & Cuernavaca have impressed me more than our little Hilo Farmer's Market. I brought home so many wonderful things. I will be sharing about each of our local fruits and veggies in the future. Some I have never seen before and others, like the fern fronds were only seasonal treats we had to forage for on the mainland. Here they are available year round.

We find that as each day passes we affirm the notion that we really do belong here and that some unseen force has drawn us to this beautiful island. It is hard to adequately describe the affinity I feel for the land, ocean and people of Hawaii. Living so close to the ocean, surrounded by sights, sounds and fragrances of such incomparable beauty brings me to the conclusion that this is truly one of the most special places on earth. I am honored to be one of Hawaii's newest citizens. I hope that I can make some contribution to this island and her people, whom we love already.