The Holidays seem to bring out the creativeness in me. Even though I use to be quite traditional about Thanksgiving and Christmas menus I always liked to experiment with at least one dish each year. Through the years, this led to our menu growing out of proportion since many of the participants would complain if they didn’t see a favorite from the previous year added to the current year’s menu.
Following are a couple of recipes appropriate for the upcoming holiday season. They both have an unusual twist on the traditional recipe to give them that 'Tropical Taste'
Hawaiian Style Sweet Potato Soufflé
I lived in Georgia, North and South Carolina for many years. This is my local version of the traditional sweet potato or southern yam soufflé.
4 cups cooked and mashed purple sweet potatoes
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut milk
3 Tsp melted butter
Combine all above ingredients and beat at medium speed with a hand mixer or in a food processor until smooth. You will notice something weird; the eggs will make the purple sweet potatoes turn green at first. Don’t let this throw you…, it will turn purple again as you continue to mix. Pour into a buttered 11 x 7 x 1-1/2 baking dish. Set aside.
Topping:
3 Tsp melted or softened butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped and roasted unsalted macadamia nuts
1 cup flaked coconut
Combine all above ingredients, stirring with a fork; sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.
Bake at 350 F for 35 minutes.
Orange Shells Stuffed with Poi
Everyone who has tried this loved it . . . including local kine!
4 oranges
2 lbs fresh poi, fairly thick (we call it one-finger poi)
4 oz Stilton Cheese or Hamakua Goat Blue Cheese (*)
Juice and pulp bits of orange
2 Tsp Dark soy sauce
Fresh cilantro, parsley or cress leaves
Edible flowers for garnish
Slice enough off each end of the oranges so they can sit flat on the plate. Cut each orange in half. Using a grapefruit knife (serrated curved blade), remove all pulp from the orange halves, leaving a hollow shell. Reserve the pulp and juice.
Place poi and cheese in bowl of food processor or blender - or you can mix the crumbled cheese into warm poi in a bowl. Add the soy sauce, all of the saved orange pulp bits and pieces and enough of the orange juice to soften the mix, but not enough to make it too liquid.
Fill orange halves with poi mixture. It can be placed in a 350 F oven for about 15 or 20 minutes before serving.
You can garnish with cilantro, parsley or cress leaves and small edible flowers. The small individual geranium buds resemble little roses and look very pretty.
Line a plate, or tray with ti leaves and place filled orange halves on it for serving. Serves 8.
The photo doesn't really do them justice...This is a very tasty dish!
