Our fun adventure this week was to participate in a progresive brunch as we toured three beautiful and completely different homes in three completely different settings on the Kona side of the Big Island.
Home Tours Hawaii is the innovative enterprise of friends Executive Chef Ann Sutherland and Patricia Peterson. The food served is made with as much of the local fresh ingredients as possible.
We were picked up at the King Kamehameha Hotel promptly at 8 am as promised (to be able to meet the scheduled time we got up at 4 am and left our house at 5:30 am for the two hour drive to Kailua-Kona. I always try to allow myself a little window of time for delays). There was another couple waiting there. From the King Kam we were driven to pick up several other people at the Keauhou Outrigger Resort (same hotel where I attended the Mango Festival a few weeks ago)
The nine passengers in the van introduced ourselves while we were being driven by Pat and Chef Ann told entertaining and funny 'really happened' stories and sharing points of interests as we passed them.
We were soon arriving at our first destination, a beachfront house with the neatest nook nestled between bedrooms on the second floor. The nook is the ideal place for relaxing, reading or looking at the sea through a telescope. This house also featured a man-made tidal pool with sandy bottom, which unfortunately was empty during our visit.
1st course: at a beachfront property on Ali'i Drive in Kailua-Kona
Fresh homemade guava juice
100% Kona coffee served with choice of liqueur and/or homemade whipped cream
White pineapple wedges served on pineapple boat
Taro malasada - a type of Portuguese donut made with taro instead of AP flour
Cappuccino bread with chocolate nibs
Banana-macadamia bread
Homemade sausage OR Malabar spinach with goat cheese palmier
The next stop took us climbing up to the Holualoa area on the flanks of the Hualalai Volcano. Definitely coffee country as we passed several coffee plantings before taking an almost hidden entrance that brought us down on a narrow and steep road through acres of organic coffee, mangoes, avocadoes, guava trees and liliko'i vines to a house almost completely built with recycled materials supported on pillars made from ohia tree trunks.
The beautiful kitchen island and cabinets were made with monkey pod wood harvested in the area. This house fit perfectly into it's rustic setting.
Our second course was served on the large and comfortable lanai overlooking the coffee orchards and the sea beyond.
2nd course: in the middle of a coffee plantation in Holualoa
Mango gazpacho (recipe below)
Creamy guacamole
Fresh salsa
Mixture of taro, purple sweet potato and ulu (breadfruit) chips
Bottled water
Chef Ann's Mangospacho
8 cups peeled and diced mangoes
1 cup water
1 cup Ginger Ale
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
Salt & freshly ground pepper - to taste
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
3/4 cup chopped cilantro (or to taste)
In a blender, give a whirl to 3/4 of the mango with water, ginger ale, vinegar,
oil and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a non-reactive bowl
and chill.
Dice small remainder of 1/4 mangoes and place in a bowl with the diced
cucumbers, onions and 1/2 cup of the cilantro. Chill.
To serve, pour mango soup into chilled bowls or stemmed wine glasses. Top with
a generous spoonful of the mango-cucumber-cilantro mix and a sprig of the
leftover cilantro for garnish
Serve and enjoy!
Waving goodbye to our hostess, we all loaded back into the van for the drive further up the volcano to our next stop... a fabulous home decorated with South East Asian imports and built around an open U plan with a center courtyard and wide open sides everywhere, including bathrooms and views that never quit!
3rd course: Luxury Estate up in Holualoa w/ocean views below
Lomi salmon salad stuffed avocado
Chicken-macadamia nut salad in papaya slice
Shrimp salad of organic greens, wonton chips, diced pineapple and macadamia nuts seved with sesame dressing
Liliko'i iced tea w/starfruit garnish
4th course: same Luxury Estate
Liliko'i mousse served in porcelain Chinese soup spoon
Liliko'i Cheesecake with Hawaiian chocolate and macadamia nut crust
At the end of the tour you're dropped off where you were picked up and given a small gift bag containing little bags of 100% Kona coffee, tropical jam jar, macadamia nuts and fruit soda plus recipes for several of the dishes served.
