Lately I've been a bad blogger, but I've had good reason. Last week as part of my fundraising for my Team in Training event and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society I threw a Hawaiian Feast. I spent a fairly sizable amount of time menu planning, finding door prize donors, creating gift certificates, coordinating volunteers, making signs, etc. It was more work than I imagined (but in the end it was totally worth it). This left me with little energy for cooking much less blogging.
The menu for the feast consisted of lots of yummy traditional Hawaiian food. Here's what I prepared (with the help of some great volunteers):
Spam Musubi (think sushi but with fried spam instead of fish)
Ahi Poke (pronounced po-kay)
Kalua Pork
Chicken Luau
White Rice
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad (trust me, it's different from mainland macaroni salad)
Tropical Fruit
Cupcakes (from New York Cupcakes, delicious)
I also made Haupia which is a coconut milk pudding/gelatin concoction, but it never set so I couldn't serve it.
My favorites from the night were the Kalua Pork and the Ahi Poke. I thought I would pass along the recipes.
Traditionally at a luau the Kalua Pork would be a whole pig, cooked all day in an underground imu. Obviously that is not practical for most cooks. I used pork shoulder which is not only cheap, but also very tasty. This recipe is from Epicurious.
Kalua Pork
5 pound boneless pork butt roast
2 Tablespoon Hawaiian sea salt or course sea salt
3 frozen banana leaves, thawed
4 cup Water
-Sauce
2 cup water
2 teaspoon Hawaiian sea salt or course sea salt
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350°F. Using small sharp knife, cut 1/4-inch-deep slits 1 inch apart all over pork roast. Rub 2 tablespoons sea salt all over pork. Unfold 1 banana leaf on work surface and place pork roast atop leaf. Fold up leaf around pork, enclosing completely. Repeat wrapping pork in remaining 2 banana leaves, 1 at a time.
Tie with kitchen string to secure, then wrap roast in foil. Place pork in roasting pan; pour 4 cups water into pan.
Roast pork in oven until very tender when pierced with fork, about 5 hours. Unwrap pork and cool slightly. Shred pork and place in large bowl.
Bring remaining 2 cups water and remaining 2 teaspoons salt to boil in small saucepan. Add liquid smoke; pour over pork and stir to blend. Let stand 10 minutes to allow liquid to flavor pork. Serve.
Ingredient tip: Hawaiian alaea sea salt is available at specialty foods stores and online from Hawaii Specialty Salt Company at hawaiisalt.com. Banana leaves are available at Asian markets and Latin markets. Liquid smoke is a smoke-flavored liquid seasoning available at many supermarkets and specialty foods stores.
My other favorite from the night was the Ahi Poke. There are lots of different recipes around for Poke, but the one I used came from a blog called Chaos in the Kitchen. Click the link to see her beautiful poke photo (which in the end was a large part of the reason I chose that recipe). I used frozen Ahi Tuna (QFC had donated a gift card for me to use for the event and frozen was all they had) and it actually turned out great (and was substantially less expensive than fresh would have been). I cut the tuna into 1/2 squares while it was still partially frozen which made it really easy to do. My version of the recipe makes 12-16 appetizer size servings.
Hawaiian Poke
16 ounce sushi-grade tuna
1/2 sweet or red onion, julienned
2 green onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 clove garlic, minced
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoon black sesame seeds (or toasted)
Combine onion, green onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame seeds and oil in a bowl.
Add bite sized pieces of tuna, mix well.
Chill the mixture for 15 minutes before serving so flavors can mix. Check for salt before serving, the soy sauce can be pretty salty without needing any additional salt.
Now that my event is in the books I can get back to blogging. I picked up my CSA box yesterday and I've already got some ideas brewing about what to make. A new entry will be coming soon, I promise.
P.S. I raised $706 for LLS with the Hawaiian Feast. A little less than I was hoping for, but not too bad. The thing that really touched me was the willingness of my friends to give of their time and talents to help make my event a success. Some friends gave amazing door prizes, others spent hours in the kitchen helping me prep and serve, another spent the evening as our DJ (setting an awesome tropical mood) and a few helped collect money at the door, sell raffle tickets and bar tend. I could not have had a successful event without all of their help.
Labels: Asian, pork, seafood, TNT
Mussels may be the husband's favorite food. This always seems a little weird to me because he despises fish (although he will eat tilapia or halibut if coerced) and doesn't like clams or oysters. He, like me, is a big fan of escargot though, so maybe it's a texture thing (they always seems similar to me).When I got fennel in the box I immediately thought of using it with mussels because I think fennel matches nicely with seafood (but, as mentioned, the husband doesn't like other seafood). Then I started to think about what matches with fennel. Here's what I came up with.
2 tablespoon butter1 head fennel, trimmed, core removed and diced1 bunch red scallion, diced (any other sweet onion or even leeks would work instead)1 clove garlic, minced1/3 cup white wine1/3 cup orange juice1 sprig thyme, leaves removed2 pounds mussels, beards removed1 loaf of crusty bread (to sop up the delicious broth)I started by melting the butter over medium heat in a saucier (a stock pot would work just fine). I added the fennel, onion and garlic with a pinch of salt and let it all sweat until fennel and onion were cooked through. Next I added the wine, orange juice and thyme and brought the mixture to a boil.
Then I added the mussels to the pan. Gave it a stir.
Then put the lid on and let them cook. After six minutes I checked them and decided they needed a little more time (they were still slimy in the middle). Three minutes later I dished them up.
The husband enjoyed the dish immensely. I always like it when I make a dish he really enjoys (he is just so picky). I enjoyed the mussels well enough, but the broth was definitely my favorite part of the dish (it always is). Yummy bread, sweet, tangy broth. What could be wrong with that?Labels: seafood, the husband
Holy smokes, it is hot outside. Gonna need something cool for dinner tonight.
The other day, I was watching the Today Show. Martha Stewart was on demonstrating shrimp and corn salad and I thought it was an interesting idea, but that I could make it better (don't shoot me Martha fanatics). Now I haven't tried Martha's recipe, so it may be a good thing (and I'll admit that bibb lettuce would have been way better than the way too bitter dandelion greens).
Here's the ingredients:
1 pound of shrimp
1/3 pound shell pasta
2 ears corn
1/2 Walla Walla sweet onion, diced
a whole mess of basil, julienned
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 bunch of dandelion greens (but as I said, a milder lettuce would have been way better)
1/2 cucumber, sliced
I started by cooking the pasta in salted water and grilling the corn until is was nicely charred. When the pasta was done I cooled it down with cold water right away than left it to drain. When the corn was cool enough to handle I cut it off of the cobs.
Meanwhile I boiled the shrimp in water seasoned with salt and a bit of cider vinegar for three minutes, then immediately plunged them into an ice bath to cool.
While everything was cooking, I made a creamy vinaigrette with the garlic, mustard, sherry vinegar and mayonnaise. Then I simply stirred together the shrimp, corn, pasta, basil and onion.
To plate I made a bed of greens and cucumber, then topped it with a generous scoop of the salad.
How was it? Delicious. Seriously, the only mis-step here was the dandelion greens (they were just way too strong for the delicate flavor of the pasta salad). The cucumbers, however, were a lovely accompaniment. It was nice to have a cool, tasty meal on a day that was way too hot. The husband really liked it too (and he's not even a big fan of shrimp). The best part? Plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow (it's still supposed to be way to hot then too).
Labels: pasta, salad, seafood, summer
Lately I have had a craving for shrimp tacos. There is a local taco place that makes a pretty fair version, but since I am trying to cook more at home I have resisted the urge to get them.So, when I saw that I would be getting cabbage in my box this week, I decided that this would be a good opportunity to make my own.Here's the ingredients.
2 limes, juiced, divided1 tablespoon adobo sauce30 or so smallish shrimp1 cup shredded cabbage1/2 red bell pepper, julienned1 mango, juliennedcreme fraichewhite corn tortillasI started by marinating the shrimp in half of the lime juice and the adobo sauce (whenever I open a can of chipotles I stick whatever I have left in the can in the freezer, so I almost always have adobo on hand). I set this aside for about 20 minutes.While the shrimp marinated I worked on the cabbage slaw. I combined the cabbage, red bell pepper and mango along with the juice of 1/2 a lime and a little salt and black pepper, then set it aside.
To grill the shrimp, I skewered them the long way through the entire shrimp so that they would be a bit straighter when they were done. 
I sprinkled the shrimp with a little salt then grilled the skewers for about 3 minutes on each side. While the shrimp cooked I warmed the tortillas, wrapped in wet paper towels, in the microwave for 30 seconds.When everything was ready I created tacos by spreading each tortilla with about a Tablespoon of creme fraiche, a bit of the cabbage slaw and a few shrimp.
How was it? Well, these were quite good. The slaw was maybe a tiny bit too limey but overall really tasty. With a couple of tweaks (less lime, a little more spice) I could see these going on the permanent repertoire.Labels: grill, Mexican, seafood
Then I added the mussels to the pan. Gave it a stir.
Then put the lid on and let them cook. After six minutes I checked them and decided they needed a little more time (they were still slimy in the middle). Three minutes later I dished them up.
The husband enjoyed the dish immensely. I always like it when I make a dish he really enjoys (he is just so picky). I enjoyed the mussels well enough, but the broth was definitely my favorite part of the dish (it always is). Yummy bread, sweet, tangy broth. What could be wrong with that?
6 ounces white albacore tuna
Best. Lunch. Ever. Nuff said.
1 pound of shrimp
How was it? Delicious. Seriously, the only mis-step here was the dandelion greens (they were just way too strong for the delicate flavor of the pasta salad). The cucumbers, however, were a lovely accompaniment. It was nice to have a cool, tasty meal on a day that was way too hot. The husband really liked it too (and he's not even a big fan of shrimp). The best part? Plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow (it's still supposed to be way to hot then too).
2 limes, juiced, divided
To grill the shrimp, I skewered them the long way through the entire shrimp so that they would be a bit straighter when they were done. 
I sprinkled the shrimp with a little salt then grilled the skewers for about 3 minutes on each side. While the shrimp cooked I warmed the tortillas, wrapped in wet paper towels, in the microwave for 30 seconds.
How was it? Well, these were quite good. The slaw was maybe a tiny bit too limey but overall really tasty. With a couple of tweaks (less lime, a little more spice) I could see these going on the permanent repertoire.
10 slices sourdough bread (because that is what I had in my pantry, white bread would probably be better) with the crusts cut off
Then formed the mixture into patties, laying them in the bread crumbs as I finished each one.
Once they were all done, I poured the remaining bread crumbs on top, covered the dish and then stashed it in the fridge until I was ready to cook (it needs to sit for at least one hour).
When I was ready to complete the meal I melted a bit of butter with some olive oil in a pan. I added three of the crab cakes (I didn't want to crowd the pan so the cakes would brown well) and browned them on each side, then I put them on a cookie sheet while I browned the remaining cakes. I popped the pan into a preheated 400 degree oven and let them cook for 12 minutes.
Now, I tried the crab when I opened the can and to be honest, I was not impressed. It had a weird texture and wasn't super tasty. However, in crab cake form, it was quite good, maybe not fresh-picked crab good, but good. The husband and the mother-in-law both liked it too. The green salad was just meh. but the mango salad was delicious and really good with the slightly spicy crab cakes. If I was to see canned crab at the Costco again, I might just buy it again.
