The 5th Annual Mango Fest was celebrated this past Saturday, July 20th on the Hawaiian Lawn of the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay...when you click on the hotel link and look at the overall photo, the Hawaiian Lawn is the green semicircle you see in the middle of the grounds... the perfect location for the festival!
The mango fest as well as the avocado fest held earlier in April this year are annual events conceived and organized by Randyl Rupar, founder of the Sanctuary of Mana Ke'a Gardens to promote the bounty of our island.
Besides many vendors, lots of music and several workshops or demonstrations, there was an amateur Cooking Contest...Following are the winning recipes in each of three categories; Salads/Side Dishes, Entrées and Desserts.
The judges follow certain guidelines and criteria while tasting and judging: Best use of the main ingredient (in this case, mango), Taste, Presentation, Originality and Healthy Ingredients. Each criteria can be awarded from 0 to 5 points. The entries with the most points in each category are selected as winners. The entry with the most amount of points overal is selected as the Best Overall winning recipe.
Recipe Contest Winner in Dessert Category: Renn Giblin – Ohana Farm Orchards - Captain Cook
Mango-Blueberry and Mac Nut Clafoutis (Kla-foo-tee)
A Clafoutis is a baked custard type cake with pudding-like consistency
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ground macadamia nuts
2 Tablespoons flour
7 Tablespoons Crème Fraîche *(see note)
7 Tablespoons milk
2 cups (2 large) mangoes - sliced
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Preheat hove to 350 degrees F
Butter and flour an 8” springform pan or 6-8 single ramekins
Whisk the eggs with the sugar and salt until thick and pale yellow.
Sift together the ground macadamia nuts and flour, then fold into egg mixture.
Stir in the crème fraîche and milk until blended.
Spread or arrange the sliced mangoes and blueberries in the bottom of the prepared pan or ramekins.
Pour the batter over the fruit.
Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes; it should be golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Ramekins should take 15-20 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes and loosen the springform pan. Place on serving dish. Serve warm or cold
Serving suggestions: serve with a scoop of vanilla macnut ice cream or a side of mango-pineapple-blueberry fruit relish.
* (Note) - If no Crème Fraîche available you can substitute with 7 tablespoons heavy cream with 2 teaspoons lemon juice added
Recipe Contest Winner in Salad/Side DishCategory: Sandra Mattli – Maryland and Kailua-Kona
Mango – Passion Fruit Yams
2 large yams or Molokai sweet potatoes
2 large mangoes
3 Tablespoons light olive oil
1/2 medium sized passion fruit
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup water
1/2 Organic Blue Agave
Peel yams and cut into 1/4 thick slices. Place into a pot with enough water to cover and boil until slightly softened. Remove from heat.
Peel mangoes , remove seed and slice.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Add olive oil to the bottom of a foil pan then pour 1/4 cup of the Agave. Place yam slices, mango and passion fruit into the pan. Add nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. Stir and add water. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup of agave over the top.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 at 375 degrees or place on top of rack of grill, close top of grill and cook for 45 minutes at 375 degrees; stir every 15 minutes.
For the last 10 minutes, take the foil off the top to complete cooking.
Top with dry roasted macadamia nuts with Sea Salt or a slice of Dragon Fruit. Serve hot as a side dish for steak or fish.
Recipe Contest Winner in Entrée Category: Renn Giblin – Ohana Farm Orchards - Captain Cook
This recipe was also the Best Overall Cooking Contest Winner
Fish Tacos with Mango Pineapple Salsa
For the Salsa:
2 cups mangoes – small diced
1/4 cup pineapple – small diced
5-6 stalks green onions – small chopped
2 Tablespoons red onion – small chopped
1/2 cup cucumbers – peeled, seeded and small chopped
2 Tablespoon cilantro – small chopped
3-4 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Mince the mango, pineapple, green onion, red onion, cucumber and cilantro and toss together in a bowl. If desired, chopped Hawaiian chile peppers can be added for a bit of heat. Add fresh squeezed lime juice, brown sugar and salt and blend well.
Can be stored, covered, in refrigerator for several days. Serve with corn chips or as a relish on fish tacos
For the Fish Tacos:
Mahi mahi filets
Spice Hunter’s Seafood Grill Shaker
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
Corn or flour tortillas
Shredded cabbage
Lime wedges
Sprinkle both sides of each filet with ready-made Spice Hunter’s Seafood Grill Shaker.
Heat a non-stick sauté pan on high until olive oil is ‘shimmery’. Place the filets in the pan and turn heat down to medium. Sauté filets on each side for 2-3 minutes or until golden-brown. Cook to desired doneness. Use forks to pull the filets apart and serve on warm tortillas with shredded cabbage, mango-pineapple salsa and lime wedges on the side.
The Winners...Sandra Mattli on left and Renn Gibbin on right
Mahalo to everyone that entered...the judges and the friends who donated of their time and effort to help during the contest!
