Hilo Bay Cafe with Wasabi Prime!

Hilo Bay Cafe's Parmesan Custard with Roasted Eggplant and Red Peppers

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of dining with 2 friends, one old and one new at Hilo Bay Cafe. The Big Island Visitor's Bureau is hosting a group of travel writers this week and one of them is blogger Denise Sakaki who writes the blogs Wasabi Prime  and  Jaunty Magpie  from her home base in Washington state. The other one is my long time friend Jessica Ferracane who owns the PR Firm Irondog Communications and lives here on the Big Island. Jessica works closely with the Big Island Visitor's Bureau and they graciously hosted our evening at Hilo Bay Cafe so we could talk story about all of the good things on the big island.

The plan was to start with a few appetizers, and move on to a full dinner, but after Chef Joshua Ketner brought out a plate of his fabulous Beef Carpaccio we had to have more of that.... 

And so we grazed on several small plates instead. 

Portobella Wellington with roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes 

If you are ever in Hilo, a "must do" is a meal or two at Hilo Bay Cafe and do not forget to try a Jalapeño Martini! The food is mostly local, organic and exquisitely prepared. And if you are lucky enough to live here, let me know when you want to meet up for a meal or cocktails! You can also find Hilo Bay Cafe on Facebook where there are more pictures, menus and specials listed frequently. 

Aloha from the Orchid Isle~

Romanesco Pasta with Sweet Corn

Romanesco Pasta

I love the look of this interesting vegetable. Romanesco is bright green, beautiful, almost jeweled looking. While this broccoli has only been available in US markets for a few years, Romanesco broccoli was first documented in Italy (as broccolo romanesco) in the sixteenth century.

This is a simple recipe for an incredible pasta dish. You can use any pasta, I used some penne this time. You could also use cauliflower or tightly formed broccoli for this dish.

If you are not lucky enough to live in a place like Hawaii where we get fresh sweet corn all year, you can use good quality frozen corn for this. 

Ingredients:

1 head of Romanesco

2 heads of garlic with the tops sliced off

Olive oil (you will need about 4-5 tablespoons for roasting and 2 for sautéing.

2 small red onions or shallots sliced thinly

2 ears of fresh corn cut from the cob

½ cup heavy cream (optional)

¼ cup VSOP Cognac (optional)

Crushed red pepper, coarse black pepper and salt to taste

½ # thick pasta cooked  al dente (reserve ¼ cup of pasta water)

Preheat oven to 350. Use a silpat pad or parchment paper to line a large baking sheet.

Cut up the Romanesco florets in large chunks and toss in olive oil with a little salt and pepper, then pour on to the baking sheet. Add the two garlic heads and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 30-45 minutes until the garlic is soft and the Romanesco is starting to caramelize.  Set aside.

 Put the pasta water on to boil.

In a large skillet add remaining olive oil, corn and onions with a pinch of salt. Stir and heat till the onions start to get soft. Squeeze the roasted garlic into the center of the pan, stir well and then add the Romanesco. Stir and add the cream if using. Cook for a minute till cream starts to thicken. Add the cognac & simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon or spider, add the pasta to the pan and stir. If needed, you can add a little pasta water to the pan.

Serve with freshly grated parmesan and crushed red pepper.   

Chinese New Year in Hilo

  

 Yesterday, Hilo had it's Annual Chinese New Year Festival. Here are some pictures from the event. you can see more from past events here: Chinese Film Fest and here: Chinese New Year 2009 And click the following link if you want to learn about Portuguese Bean Soup, which is interestingly the hit of every Chinese New Year Festival in Hilo!

Portuguese Bean Soup!

 

Puppets!

Shave Ice Ice Baby!

Firecrackers ready to go off...

Best Garlic Bread EVER!

The Best Garlic Bread Ever

This is a simple recipe for the best garlic bread you will ever put between your lips.  It is easy to make and will keep away the vampires!  You will need a large baguette; I prefer to get a kind of chewy one, not one that is soft and puffy.

In a sauce pan mix together the following:

• ½ pound of butter (I use clarified butter that I make ahead)
• 20 garlic cloves that have been finely minced
• A tablespoon of dried parsley (fresh is fine too, but you should double it if using fresh)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of freshly ground coarse black pepper
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1-2 tablespoons Lawry’s Garlic Salt
  

Simmer for about 20-30 minutes on low, stirring occasionally. You want to incorporate the flavors as well as cook the garlic a bit. Raw garlic has a bite to it.

Once you have cooked it all down, then use a pastry brush to put it on a baguette cut in half lengthwise.  Make sure you get plenty of the chunky bits of garlic and parsley well distributed.

Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes and then put under the broiler for just a minute to brown. Add lemon zest from one lemon to the top of the bread and prepare to devour!

Manicotti and Caprese Salad

Last night’s dinner was a visit to Italy. I made four cheese manicotti topped with a sauce from my garden tomatoes and a Caprese Salad with some local Heirloom tomatoes. It really is pretty simple. First start off with a basic sugo, a tomato sauce that you have made ahead, great for using leftover sauce. You can even use a good quality canned sauce if you wish. 

 Manicotti

Filling:

·         1 cup mascarpone cheese

·         1 cup finely grated parmesan

·         1 cup grated mozzarella

·         2 cups fresh ricotta

·         1 egg

·         Zest from a large lemon, preferably a Meyer Lemon

·         LOTS  of freshly ground black pepper, at least a tablespoon

·         A pinch of crushed red pepper

·         ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian Parsley

·         Pinch of salt

Mix together in a food processor and then put into a pastry bag.

Assembly:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Boil manicotti till al dente. Strain and rinse in cold water till cool enough to touch.

Holding a manicotti tube, insert the pastry bag as far into the tube as you can without tearing the bag. Fill, making sure there are no gaps. Turn to the other side and fill it.

Lay each filled pasta on a pool of sauce in a 9 X 9 pan (this makes two pans full, one for tonight and one for tomorrow, or you can do it all in a larger pan) until the pan is full. Repeat with second pan. Place the pans in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving. 

I served it with a caprese salad with garden fresh heirloom tomoatoes and garlic bread.

For more of my Italian favorites made in Hawaii... check out these links:

A Tale of Two Pies,  Gnocchi in Sage Cream Sauce,  Garlic and Lemon Crabs, 

Chestnut Pasta and Paradise Pesto,  Spaghetti with Gorgonzola Macadamia Nut Sauce or  

Eggplant Rollatini 

The Best Creamed Onion Recipe

The  Best Creamed Onions Ever

These are my take on the traditional Creamed Onion Dish that I started making from Julia Child’s original recipe. I just kept playing with it and I think maybe I have perfected this delicious dish. It is saved for special meals because of the richness of the sauce. I do think you could get by with making the béchamel portion with milk instead of cream and even eliminating the cheese… but I cannot bring myself to do so now that I have ventured beyond that.

Here is my theory on the changes: Boil the onions, and most of the flavor leaches out; roast them, and the flavor is concentrated – mellow, slightly caramelized and sweet. I decided to give them a sauce with some substance. I replaced the milk in my béchamel with dry vermouth and cream, add bay leaf and thyme, and finish it with cheese.

Ingredients:

·         2# fresh pearl onions (yellow ones are best for this recipe)

·         Sauce:

·         2 cups of dry vermouth

·         ½ small onion studded with 4 cloves

·         1 bay leaf

·         6 green pepper corns

·         1 pod of green cardamom

·         1 sprig of fresh thyme

·         A pinch of dry tarragon

·         1 cup of heavy cream

·         3 tablespoons butter

·         3 tablespoons flour

·         2 cups grated Comte Cheese

·         3 tablespoons cognac

·         1 nutmeg pod and a micro plane grater

·         Salt and Pepper to taste

 Method:

Put the onions in a large bowl. Fill the bowl with boiling water. Allow to steep for 3 minutes. Remove the onions and strain. Using a sharp paring knife, start at the top of each onion and remove the peel, trying to only remove the papery part in one or two pieces. Once you have skinned the onion, carefully trim the root end, just cutting off the roots. Remember while you are doing this that this is a gift of love you are giving to your dinner guests. It is somewhat tedious, but well worth the effort. You are giving them something they cannot go out and buy!

Put the peeled onions in a silpat lined roasting pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast them at 350°F for about an hour, until they're soft and nicely caramelized. Shake the pan every 20 minutes to make a more uniform caramelization.

While the onions are roasting, make the sauce in a large sauce pan. Combine the vermouth, onion and spices and simmer (not rambling boil) till the vermouth is reduced by half. This should take about 10-15 minutes. Allow to steep for about 30 minutes, and then strain into a bowl.

In a clean saucepan prepare a basic béchamel, with 2 TBSP butter and 2 TBSP flour, substituting the strained steeped liquid for the milk. Once the sauce is thickened, whisk in the cheese.  Season the sauce very sparingly with salt & pepper (the cheese will have made it somewhat salty already) and a generous grating of nutmeg to taste. I use almost a whole nut, but start tasting after half of it has been added. Nutmeg can be overwhelming, but this sauce can stand up to quite a lot of it. To finish the sauce I add the cognac and simmer for a minute or two.

 Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the onions into the sauce and stir gently to blend. Keep warm till serving time or refrigerate and then gently re-warm the next day. Do not count calories, just enjoy this once or twice a year.