Sonia Tastes Hawaii

Deep Tomato Quiche - Open Pie

Still having a surplus of tomatoes on hand after receiving Richard's bountiful 'care box'...., I decided to use some up and made a deep dish pie with the ripest in the bunch....it turned out delicious!

Quantities are approximate as I didn't really measure anything.
Ingredients are listed in the order in which I added them.

1 deep dish pie shell (*) or your own favorite recipe
1 heaping Tablespoon Dijon Country Rough mustard

Brush mustard over bottom and sides of pie shell and bake until light
golden - I do this while oven is heating up to 350o F

1/4 cup shredded medium sharp Cheddar
One layer ripe tomato slices
Sprinkle chopped garden onions
Sprinkle chopped fresh basil
Sprinkle chopped fresh chives
Dot with little mounds of chevre - about 1/2 teaspoon each (**)
One layer ripe tomato slices
Add another layer of the chopped onions, basil and chives
Top with another 1/4 cup shredded medium sharp Cheddar

Beat 4-5 eggs (depending on size)
Add milk and beat together
A touch of salt & fresh ground pepper

Pour over the pie filling and let it rest a bit so the liquid will go
all the way to the bottom. Add more egg/milk if needed to top it

Bake at 350o F until puffed and golden. Remove from oven, let rest
for a few minutes, slice and enjoy!

It was delicious!

(*) I keep some in the freezer for emergencies ;-)
(**) I used a full small 4 ounce log of chevre (creamy goat cheese)

YIELD: 6 servings for normal people - 4 for us
SOURCE: Sonia

Farm's Bounty & Potato & Onion Soup

I got a call from Richard Ha yesterday to let me know we had 92 recipes entered in the " You say Tomato..." Recipe Contest.   When I drove over to his Hamakua Springs Country Farm to pick up the entries so I can sort them and number them, he asked me if I had time to take a little ride around to the newer greenhouses where they are growing lettuces, watercress and garden onions.  Of course I said yes!

The result of my little trip was a generous "care box" with samplings of the different lettuces, water cress, and an assortment of tomatoes, green onions, cucumber and the cutest little melons I've ever seen.

Pictured above are French Charentais mini-melons;  an assortment of Manoa, Romaine, Butter, Red Oakleaf, Green Oakleaf, Lollo Rosa and Lollo Bionde lettuces; Heirloom tomatoes: Green Zebra, Red brandywine, Yellow Brandywine, Purple Cherokee, Beeef tomatoes, Red and Yellow Cocktail Tomatoes,  and sweet little Grape Tomatoes.; a cucumber; Sweet Granex, green onions, and Sylvan English varietiy of watercress.

I couldn't wait to get them home and start playing with the gorgeous bounty!

After laying them out in a flat basket on the back lanai table and taking a few pictures, I decided to make a soup with the onions.  Actually, Richard gave me the idea when he urged me to smell the roots and made the comment he usually thinks of making soup with them.  Since all of the veggies are grown hydroponically, the onion roots were nice and clean.  All I needed to do was cut them off, rinse them a bit and place them inside a stainless steel mesh tea ball I use for when I cook with woody herbs and don't want to leave any in the food.

I cut up some small potatoes and a bit of green garden onion tips in 3 cups of chicken broth made a couple of months earlier and which I took from the freezer.  I then added the onion roots in the tea ball and let it all simmer until the potatoes were done.  The broth was a bit too concentrated and I ended up adding about 1/2 cup of water to dilute it a bit.

The soup was delicious served with a salad of mixed lettuces, a couple of sprigs of watercress and the sweet grape tomatoes.  I served a few unsalted soda crackers on the side....voila! a filling but light dinner for a coolish evening made in no time at all!

I will be using some of the tomatoes to make some more of the tomato confit like the one I made back in November of last year.  The lettuces, watercress, cucumber and the rest of the tomatoes will be enjoyed in salads and sandwiches.

I'm playing with ideas for the mini-melons and will share them at a later date....stay tuned!

Spiced Pumpkin Dip

One of my foodie friends in California shared the following recipe recently.  I made one little addition.  Besides the ground ginger, I added a "knob" of freshly grated ginger.  It gave it a really nice, zippy kick!

I used a 29 ounce can of pumpkin puree and doubled all the other ingredients to take and share with friends and their other guests on Christmas Day afternoon.  Everyone who tried it liked it!

Spiced Pumpkin Dip

1 - 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 - 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon pure orange extract
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Gingersnaps cookies, apple slices

Blend cream cheese and confectioner's sugar until smooth in food
processor. Remove cover; add pumpkin and remaining ingredients. Blend
thoroughly.

Chill 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Serve with cookies and/or
apple slices.

Yield: 20 servings

Our Christmas Eve Menu

In keeping with the Cuban tradition, we celebrate Noche Buena, or Christmas Eve with our main Christmas dinner served on that evening instead of Christmas Day....but this year we didn't follow a traditional Cuban Noche Buena menu of roast pork, black beans and rice with all the wonderful sides. 

Our dinner was fun and even if just for the two of us, a bit on the elegant side.  We started with our salad when it was still light out and ended with dessert after dark.  Afterwards we opened our gifts and had a great time!

If you click on the highlighted links it will take you to the recipe.

Our Christmas Eve Dinner Menu

The setting on our back lanai - candles from my red candle collection and the flower centerpiece of white phalaenapsis was a Christmas gift from our friend Sue. 

Salad:
Our Own Garden Mixed Greens
Goat Cheese, Poha Berries (from Sue's yard) and Toasted Chopped Macadamia Nuts
Liliko'i (passion fruit) Vinaigrette

Soup:
Roasted Red Bell Pepper Cream

Entrée:
Individual Beef Wellington - With Mini Pate (on the side)
Roasted Mini Butternut Squash –With Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Giuliano's Green Beans - With Macnuts and Cream

Dessert:
Tres Leches Cake served in balloon wine glass

Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My Favorite Flan

Sonia's Favorite Flan

1/2 cup sugar for caramel
A few drops of water

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
5 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put about 1/2 cup sugar in a metal flan mold or baking pan with a few drops of water.   Place mold or pan directly over stove burner and caramelize the sugar until amber and liquid.  Using gloves, hold the mold with the melted sugar at an angle and let the caramel run over all the inside surfaces to coat evenly.  Set it aside.

Mix the two cans of milk together, adding a little bit of the evaporated milk into the sweet condensed milk a little at a time to make sure it is all evenly incorporated.

Beat the eggs and add into the milk mix by stirring it in, do not beat so you don't get air bubbles.  Add the vanilla and stir.  If the egg doesn't dissolve completely (if you see little pieces of solid egg white), strain the mix through a fine mesh sieve directly into your flan mold.

Pour (or strain) mixture into caramel-lined mold (*) and cover mold with tight lid or foil. 

Place mold in a pan (filled with about two inches of boiling-hot) water,

in a preheated 350oF oven for 1-1/2 hours.

(*) You can purchase a mold especially made for flan which comes with a clamp-on lid. You can find them at Cuban Food Market. Search for Flan Molds.
The ones I have are the 2nd and 3rd one on the site.

Sonia's Notes: For the flan in the photo I used 15 eggs, and 3 cans each evaporated and sweet condensed milk.  I used a bundt cake mold which I caramelized directly on the stove.  I covered the mold tightly with foil and placed it in a roasting pan half filled with boiling water.   It baked au bain marie at 350 F for 1 and a half hour. 

Tomato Confit

The word confit [kon-FEE] is derived from an ancient French method of preserving meat (usually goose, duck or pork) where the meat is salted and slowly cooked in its own fat.  The meat is then packed into crocks or ceramic pots and covered with their own cooking fat, which seals and preserves them.  Confit can be refrigerated for at least 6 months.

Fruit confits are fruits or pieces of fruit preserved in quite a bit of sugar.  Think of it as a thick jam.

I still had quite a bit of tomatoes left from the "care box"  Richard gave me last week and I didn't want them to spoil on me, so I took the little ones they call Hamakua Sweet (slightly sweet in taste and sort of pointy-oval in shape) and some of the red and yellow ones that are slightly larger than cherries (cocktail tomatoes) and cut them up, put them in a non-reactive saucepan with some of the vinegar and sugar mix left over from when I made the cukes and Green Zebra tomato pickles the other day.

I added more sugar.....and let them cook down to a glossy red, sweet - sour confit or jam that is delicious with cream cheese and crackers!!!

The cheese I used to serve above is a small log of basil chevre, soft goat cheese.  Serve with plain unsalted soda crackers or any other plain crackers or even thinly sliced Italian or French bread, toasted and topped with the cheese and tomato confit as you would a crostini.

I would be hard pressed to give you the exact quantities, since I just played it by ear, but there were probably

6 cups of cut tomatoes

1 pint of the vinegar-sugar-salt infusion

and I added

3 more cups of sugar

Let the whole thing cook down until the tomatoes are nice and shiny and the jam is to the consistency you prefer.

I took some by the farm for Richard to taste.  Richard, Kimo and Charlotte all thought it was ono!

Sonia's Refrigerator Pickles

One of the advantages of being friends and living close by to a tomato farmer is being the recipient of little care boxes every once in while....  I want to share with you what I have done so far with some of the wonderful things I got from Richard a few days ago.

Cucumbers and Green Zebra tomatoes from the Hamakua Springs Country Farm

I have written about Richard Ha and his wonderful tomatoes before, but I can't stress enough how ono they are....They look and taste like real tomatoes.  The kind you can just munch on as if they were apples.

Richard and his farm are sponsoring a Tomato Recipe Contest in conjunction with Foodland & Sack & Save Supermarkets state-wide.  There are three categories, Entrees, Salads and Condiments & Preserves. 

I was playing around with ideas for quick refrigerator pickles to use up some of the contents of my 'care box' from Richard and combining several recipes, I came up with this one......The sad part is that as good as they turned out...I can't enter the contest because I'm helping with the planning and will be a judge...but the good part is that I will get a front seat for the tasting of all the ono recipes we expect to receive!

I wanted to combine the cucumbers and the Green Zebra tomatoes from the farm with onions and garlic I already had.  I added a few of the little red Hawaiian chile peppers from our garden.

I was always told that before you preserve garlic in oil or use them when making pickles you needed to first blanch them in vinegar so that the natural sulphur will not cause them to turn green and harvest botulism.  Some experts say that you only need to do it when preserving them in oil.  I do it anyway, just to be on the safe side.

For an easy way to peel the garlic without damaging the cloves, I first take apart the whole head and drop the cloves in rapidly boiling water to blanch for about 3 to 5 seconds, stirring them constantly to make sure they just don't float to the top and lay there.  Take them out of the boiling water with a skimmer and plunge them in cold water.  After cutting the root end off, the skins will slip right off, leaving you with clean smelling hands!

Sonia's Refrigerator Pickles

6 cups white vinegar

4-1/2 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons Hawaiian sea salt

White peppercorns

3 large cucumbers, thinly sliced

3 medium onions, thinly sliced

3 medium Green Zebra or other green tomatoes

1 head of garlic, separated and peeled

Hawaiian red chile peppers

Wash your glass containers and lids thoroughly and place them in a large pot of boiling water.  Keep them on boil for a few minutes and turn the heat off but leave them in the hot water until ready to use.  I like to use the canning jars with the glass lids that clamp on.

Process the garlic cloves by blanching them in the boiling water and peeling them.  Set aside.

In a large stainless steel or non-reactive saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar and salt.  Bring to a boil and boil gently for about 1 minute, or until sugar and salt are dissolved.  Remove from heat and add the peeled garlic cloves and stir in the hot vinegar mixture for about 1 minute, then remove them with a skimmer and set aside.

While your jars are still hot, drain and wipe briefly with a clean cloth.  Put a few peppercorns in the bottom and start layering your sliced cucumbers, onions and green tomatoes.  Remember to stick a few of the processed garlic cloves and a few chile peppers here and there as you fill your jars.  Add a few more peppercorns.

Wipe the rims thoroughly and seal them tightly.

When cool, store in refrigerator.  They will keep for several weeks.

The finished pickles!

I'm trying to come up with other ideas for all the other glorious tomatoes and the beautiful Manoa lettuce!

Thank you Richard!

Orange Shells Filled with Poi

Taro (Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum), is a member of the Aracea family which includes such well known plants as philodendrons, dieffenbachia (dumb cane), anthuriums, pothos, caladiums and alocasia, to name just a few.

Its one of the oldest crops known to man and has been cultivated for thousands of years.  It can be found in most tropical and subtropical areas of the world.  Taro, or kalo, as it was known to early Hawaiians, achieved primacy in the Hawaiian Islands as the most important crop and was produced in a large number of cultivated varieties.  Variations of taro grow in the Caribbean islands.  Those of us who lived in Cuba knew them as malanga, ñame and guagui.

The most popular form of preparing taro in Hawaii is poi.  On its own, poi is very bland, but complements the tastes of other, richer foods.

The following recipe is one I developed to serve as a side dish I took for a potluck during Thanksgiving about 12 years ago when we were invited to the home of friends.  Several people were quite skeptical but decided to be brave enough to try it.  I was quite pleased when everyone liked it!

Later, this recipe was incorporated into several menus as part of the cooking classes when we owned the B&B and cooking school at Akaka Falls Inn.

The orange bits and tangy blue cheese make a nice contrast to the smooth taste of poi.  If available, I prefer to use an island produced blue goat cheese, but will resort to a good quality imported blue if the local is not available.

Orange Shells Filled with Poi

4 oranges

2 pounds fresh poi

4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

2 Tablespoons dark soy

Juice and pulp from oranges

 

Preheat oven to 300 F

Slice enough of each end of the oranges so they can sit level on the plate, being careful to not cut into the orange itself so the filling will not seep out when baking.  Cut each orange in half.  Using a curved, serrated knife (grapefruit knife), remove all the pulp from the orange halves leaving a hollow shell.  Reserve pulp and juices in a bowl.

Place poi, soy sauce and cheese in a bowl and mix well.  Remove the membrane from between the orange sections, being careful to leave enough pulp in solid pieces and add pulp and some juice to the poi mix.  Don't add all of the juices at one time as you don't want it to turn too soupy.

Fill orange halves with the poi mix, place on baking sheet and slide into oven just long enough to warm all the way through and give some of the cheese a chance to meld into the poi, about 10 minutes or so.

Place on serving tray.  Each filled half can be decorated with edible flowers and a sprig of parsley or watercress.

Yields 8 servings

Guava Shells in Syrup - Cascos de Guayaba

The skies have taken a deeper shade of blue with streaks of spidery gossamer clouds lazily drifting way above us like long, thin ribbons of white gauze. This time of year, the intoxicating and permeating aroma of fermenting guavas on the sides of the road follow us on trips up and down the Hamakua coastline.

Yes, definitely, fall is in the air... This is the time of year where I start thinking about making guava shells in syrup. 

Guava shells in syrup is a typical and very simple dessert or merienda (mid-afternoon snack)  in my native Cuba and South Florida, where it is usually found already canned.  Since I could not find it here on grocery shelves I decided to experiment and see if I could make them the way I remembered them.   Success!

Combination of both red and white guavas, peeled and seeded - the bowl on right contains the seeds and peels which will be used for maramalade

Guava Shells in Syrup - Cascos de Guayaba

Gather nice, yellow, unblemished guavas.  Wash and trim ends.   Peel, making
sure to peel thinly, since you want as much of the shell as possible.   Cut in
halves and, with a spoon, scoop out the seedy center.   Reserve these centers
and the peelings for later use.

For the syrup:

For every cup of water, use one cup of sugar.

Bring to boil in a large saucepan or pot.   When it starts to boil, drop a few guava
shells in and let them boil, for about 5 to 10 minutes on each side (depends on thickness of the shells), or until they kind of fold into themselves.

 

Guava shells cooking in the syrup

Scoop out with a slotted spoon, and cook another batch of shells until all
shells are cooked.   To preserve:  place  the shells in clean, hot sterilized
jars, cover with the remaining hot syrup and seal.  Syrup will have turned a
beautiful ruby color.

They can be canned in jars following your favorite method, or stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

Serve as is, or better yet, with a slice of cream cheese or a scoop of fresh chevre (soft, creamy goat cheese)  or creme fraiche on the side.

Guava Marmalade
In the spirit of 'waste not', take the reserved peelings and the scooped-out centers of the guavas you prepared for shells, seeds and all.   Place them in a large saucepan or pot with an equal amount of sugar.   Do not add water.

Cook down at medium-low temperature until the mixture forms its own syrup. 
When it boils down to a nice syrupy consistency, place through a food mill, chinois
or medium mesh colander.   Discard the seeds and whatever chunky debris
remains.   If the marmalade is still too thin, you can cook down some more
until it reaches the consistency desired.

Uses for thin marmalade:
*Use as syrup, over pancakes, waffles, pound cake or ice cream.   
*Blend it with minced garlic and brush over chicken or pork to be grilled
or broiled.  This last is a favorite of ours.

These and several other recipes using guavas can be found in my Tropical Taste cookbook

Arroz con Coco - Coconut Rice Pudding

I love arroz con leche!....It has to be one of my all time favorite comfort foods........... 

In fact, one of the first things I ever made in the kitchen by myself  was rice pudding.  The original recipe I have used for many years comes from a cookbook called Cocina Criolla by Nitza Villapol.  Nitza was the Cuban version of Julia Child, back in the 40's and 50's, many years before Julia became an icon in our kitchens.  This old classic cookbook was usually given to most 'damiselas' (young ladies) when they  married.  I got my first copy as a birthday gift from Mama Benita, my Cuban grandmother for my 14th birthday.  It was my first cookbook.

As I said in my last entry, the first recipe that I wanted to try from the new The Three Guys from Miami Celebrate Cuban Cookbook was the very first one in their book, the Coconut Rice Pudding.  We loved it!

The guys banter among themselves:

Glenn: The traditional rice pudding of Cuba, arroz con leche, is a year-round favorite.  Far from a  gourmet dish, it's a true Cuban "soul" food.  Every Cuban grew up eating this dish regularly.

Jorge: Arroz con leche is a geat way to welcome someone to your home.  It's not fancy, but serving it to your guests is like saying, "you're part of the family"

Raul: And who can resist something so sweet, fragrant, and soul satisfying?

Jorge: Are you sure you're not talking about Glenn's first girlfriend?

Glenn: As sweet as my first girlfriend may have been, this recipe takes the dream of the perfect arroz con leche one step further

Jorge: Yes, this one features the great tropical flavor of coconut, a taste that takes the ordinary to those heights of soul-satisfying goodness to which Cuban food fanatics can only dream.

Sonia quips: And that is another reason that Cuban and Hawaiian foods can be so similar.  Cubans love rice and eat it several times a day.  So do people in Hawaii.  Cubans love coconuts.  So do Hawaiians.  Cubans love sweets and guess what?........so do Hawaiians!            

The taste reminds me a little bit of a combination of rice pudding and Hawaii's beloved Haupia, the traditional coconut pudding many visitors get to taste when attending a Lu'au. Anthony suggested serving it with a drizzle of liliko'i syrup (passion fruit) on top.  I will try it next time.  But either way....it is a very satisfying dessert.   Comfort food at its finest!

Arroz con Coco – Coconut Rice Pudding

2 cups uncooked white rice

4 cups water

1 lemon peel

2 cinnamon sticks

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

3 cups whole milk

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 cup cane sugar

2 cups heavy (whipping) cream

Place the rice, water, lemon peel, cinnamon sticks and salt in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cook uncovered until rice is soft, about 25 minutes or so.  Remove the lemon peel and cinnamon sticks.

Add the coconut milk, whole milk, shredded coconut and sugar to the rice and cook over very low heat, uncovered, stirring frequently, until thick, about 1 hour.  At this point the rice should be very sticky with most of the milk absorbed.

TIP: Keeping the heat low will reduce the number of stirrings.

Now, gently stir in the heavy cream and continue cooking over low heat, just long enough to warm the rice completely.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve immediately.

Serves 6 to 8