Tags: Business, Food, Food truck, gourmet food trucks, mobile food trucks, Oahu's North Shore, OMG! Yummy, Shrimp Trucks, Wordless Wednesday
I’ve never thought of myself as a recipe developer, more of a recipe modifier or follower. With so many years of following under my belt now (I’m not talking about my girth people, it’s just an expression), I’ve gained weight the confidence to alter ingredients or methods and still end up with a yummy result.
So when faced with two fabulous granola recipes last Saturday and unwilling (incapable??) of choosing one over the other, I combined the two – one from Melissa Clark, NY Times food writer and cookbook author and the other from Cheryl Sternman Rule, award-winning food blogger of 5secondrule and author of a beautiful cookbook about fruits and vegetables called RIPE.
Melissa Clark’s granola recipe originally appeared in the NY Times (and was modified in her cookbook Cook This Now). Cheryl Sternman Rule’s recipe appeared in her blog 5secondrule.
Granola is one of those creations that with a few practice runs, you’ll find yourself preparing in your own style, likely without even glancing at a recipe. But to understand the technique and figure out your family’s sweetness quotient and love for nuts or dried fruit mix-ins, you’ve got to start somewhere, then take notes on the raves and criticisms and adjust it to your own style.
adapted from a recipe by Melissa Clark and a recipe by Cheryl Sternman Rule
Cheryl’s recipe relies on agave nectar to sweeten it, while Melissa’s uses maple syrup and a little brown sugar. Agave has a lower glycemic index than other sweeteners and packs a sweeter punch, so you use a bit less. I’ve made granola with maple syrup, though, with wonderful results. For the oil, Cheryl uses canola, while Melissa uses olive oil in the NY Times version and coconut oil (an expensive but healthy alternative) in her Cook This Now version. Both also use dried coconut, in addition to the oats and other seeds, nuts, and dried fruit. I’ve made granola with and without coconut – satisfying either way – depends on your personal relationship with the multi-talented tropical fruit. But be careful about using sweetened vs. unsweetened. If you use sweetened coconut, you’ll need to cut down on the sweetener in the granola.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees, or 300 convect.
Have two sheet pans ready, lined with silicone mats or parchment paper (optional).
In a large bowl, stir together the first six ingredients – oats, coconut, pumpkin seeds, nuts, cinnamon, and salt
In a smaller bowl, stir together the oil, agave nectar, vanilla and almond extract. Add this mixture to the larger bowl and combine well.
Spread in an even layer on the two sheet pans. Bake for approx. 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Note the color before you place them in the oven – it’s done when it has noticeably darkened. It will be soft when you first take it out. Let it cool on the sheet pans. It will harden as it does. Store in a glass jar, cereal holder, or Ziploc bag. (Remember to add the dried fruit as soon as it comes out of the oven if you are using any.)
Eat alone as a snack, top your favorite yogurt, add bananas, strawberries, and milk or sprinkle on your favorite frozen yogurt or ice cream.
Tags: 5secondrule, Cook This Now, Granola, Melissa Clark, NY Times, OMG! Yummy
The fabled (and frequently forgotten) North Shore of Oahu is known for its waves and beaches, not its cuisine. But surfing swells your appetite (or so I’m told) and many locals and visitors feed that hunger with a visit to Ted’s Bakery in Sunset Beach.
Last week, I talked story about Waialua Bakery in Haleiwa serving up home-grown and homemade baked goods, sandwiches, and smoothies.
Ted’s, on the other hand, serves up local traditional food like our family favorite: Portuguese sausage, rice, and eggs. This is such a staple for kama’aina (local residents) that McDonald’s even offers it on their menu.
Ted’s Bakery draws in many visitors for their Chocolate Haupia Pie (haupia is a gelatinous Hawaiian dessert made with coconut milk) but we found much more to love than their version of chocolate cream pie. We stopped in for breakfast on the way to Haleiwa, hoping their Portuguese sausage, rice, and eggs would live up to our high expectations. But not knowing if we’d have time to stop in again, we had to sample their baked goods as well: a malasada (a Portuguese version of a donut), a slice of chocolate haupia pie, and a macadamia nut danish.
I am not a big donut fan but you can ask my kids how many times I marveled at the texture and flavor of their heavenly malasadas. They say Leonard’s in Honolulu has the best malasadas, but I don’t know how they could be better.
After tempting our taste buds with the pastries, the main course arrived. Luckily, my daughter and I decided to share because clearly Ted expects just that:
When we prepare this meal at home, we always use steamed rice but Ted’s offers a fried rice option that @dormantchef chose to sample. It was outstanding – not only is the portion ample but the flavors and texture are expert – still moist but the grains were separated and had soaked up the ingredients nicely.
Portuguese sausage, if you’re not familiar, is similar to linguica but according to Hawaii Magazine: “What’s now called Portuguese sausage here (Hawaii) is a larger, slightly sweeter and softer sausage than the original linguiça. You can buy it in both mild and hot versions, the latter having a dash of red pepper.” We prefer the spicy version but many restaurants only offer the mild. Ted’s, though mild, met our expectations – pan-fried with a crisp bite on the outside and smoky flavor on the inside. Only thing missing was the hot kick. But I guess you can’t have it all, all the time.
At home, we always make our favorite soy sauce eggs to accompany the portuguese sausage, a simple twist on classic scrambled eggs that you should add to your BFD (breakfast for dinner) repertoire.
-Broiling is the healthier approach, allowing some of the fat to drain off and is an easy way to cook a large batch fairly easily. Watch closely because it goes from perfect to burnt quickly. I would guess about 5 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second side.
Tags: Haleʻiwa Hawaiʻi, Hawaii, Honolulu, Linguiça, McDonald, North Shore, OMG! Yummy, portuguese sausage, Sunset Beach, Ted's Bakery
As you’ve come to expect, my Saturday edition of French Fridays with Dorie…
Yes, it’s “friands” – not a misspelling of “friends”. But these little pastries will surely become your best buddies once you taste them. They are a French pastry, explains Dorie in Around My French Table, closely related to “financiers”. Financiers are a nut-based pastry created in Paris for busy financial business people on the run. The friand is a close relative but uses unsweetened coconut, rather than the ground nuts. Don’t worry, I didn’t know what financiers or friands were either. See what you can learn if you buy Dorie’s book?
And my inspiration for the lime addition? Well it came from the coconut – you know the old Harry Nilsson song: You put de lime in de coconut, drink ‘em all up. It was Harry Nilsson’s second hit single – a catchy calypso tune that even Kermit the Frog found a reason to perform. I figure if it was a good enough combo for a hit song, it might catch on in a baked good too.
And the chocolate – do I have to justify adding chocolate? I didnt think so.
Friands are so simple to make with just a few ingredients – egg whites, unsweetened coconut (some used sweetened and just cut down on the sugar), sugar, flour, vanilla extract, salt, and butter. I added the zest of one lime to the sugar, rubbing it in using the same technique I described in these Orange Thyme Cocktail Cookies. And lastly, I made a quick chocolate ganache to drizzle on top. And happily, the batter can be made ahead and left in the fridge for up to 3 days – a huge check in the plus column for me.
So what did I think of these lovely little coconut pastries? At first bite, the butter seemed a bit overpowering. I can see why Dorie suggests a variation with a bite of fresh fruit added such as a raspberry. It would counteract the richness. I also cooked them a little longer than the 17 – 20 minutes called for, adding a little extra browning and crispness. Once I topped them with a dollop of bittersweet chocolate and a sprinkling of toasted coconut, unsweetened coconut and a bit of lime zest, their loveliness started shining through. One other note, I should have used the zest of two limes with the sugar – the zest of one wasn’t a strong enough essence for the batter.
Ah, but @techsavvyteen, a coconut lover, just gave them the thumbs up. They won’t last long… Stop by soon if you want a taste!
As always, I learned much from her recipe and playing along with this wonderful group. To read more renditions of this recipe, check out the French Fridays with Dorie web site and buy Dorie Greenspan’s award-winning cookbook Around My French Table. You will cherish the purchase and learn from each recipe and story that she shares.
Tags: Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, Coconut, Dorie Greenspan, French Fridays with Dorie, OMG! Yummy, Paris
Really – what can I say except to assure you that this is not a photoshopped trick! It was for sale at the Honolulu Airport! True story.
(photo captured amidst gasps of shock and laughter by @dormantchef via iPhone)
Tags: Hawaii, macadamia nuts, OMG! Yummy, spam, Wordless Wednesday
We just returned from a magical week on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. From a four-generation family gathering to a beachfront hotel used as the set for two recent Hollywood movies to a chance encounter with the Dalai Lama (really!), it was a wet, wild, wacky, wonderful seven days.
Of course we were constantly on the hunt for enticing local fare but even more satisfying were the adventures, stories, and friendships that developed while seeking out this tasty nourishment.
So in the spirit of Aloha, I am kicking off an occasional series called “Talking Story”. In the Hawaiian creole dialect of Pidgin, “talking story” means chatting amongst friends but more deeply, it implies storytelling to express yourself, a deep-rooted tradition in Hawaii. I am so enamored of this phrase, especially when it comes to food stories that I purchased the painting you see below entitled “Talking Story”, by Juno Galang in the Tabora Gallery in Haleiwa, Oahu.
"Talking Story" painting by Juno Galang that we purchased in Tabora Gallery in Haleiwa
We spent the first five days of the trip on the fabled, frequently forgotten, fabulous north shore of Oahu, considered the surfing capital of the world. It is a quiet, uncrowded, undervisited strip of coastline that I’m almost hesitant to share with you. But twist my arm a little and I’ll tell you more.
Ok , ok. Near our ocean front hotel, The Turtle Bay Resort, was the small town of Haleiwa (pronounce every letter and the “w” is a “v” sound – Ha Lay E Va). On our first trip into town, we found an eclectic mix of surfer shops, art galleries, and fascinating local eateries including the Waialua Bakery.
We happened upon this little restaurant with the old-time Hawaiian storefront just beckoning us to drop in. Turned out to be a locally-sourced bakery, sandwich, and smoothie shop. They proudly display their history and philosophy on a surfboard sign when you enter:
We are a family run café, and in the 12 years we’ve been here, we found that the best way to ensure top-notch quality is to grow it ourselves! The family farm out in Mokuleia provides papaya, banana, mango, avocado, sprouts, basil, lettuce, tomato, eggplant, carrot, pepper, lime, lemon, and wheatgrass.
Here at the bakery everything is homemade and FRESH! We make our own bread, cookies, granola, ice cream, lemonade, veggie burgers, pesto and hummus from scratch daily, as well as roast our own turkey and deep-fry our own bacon. Made with love and passed from our hands to yours – Enjoy!
Though still full from our morning stop at Ted’s Bakery, we just had to order something. Look at this kitchen and the homemade bread she is kneading. How could we pass this up? We could even hear the chickens in the back yard who surely supplied the eggs used in their baking.
As we shared a sandwich stuffed with their own roasted turkey, fried bacon, homegrown greens all on a fresh baked roll and downed our smoothies, a woman saw @techsavvyteen checking in on FourSquare and asked him if this was a recommended food stop and if he had other suggestions. We all started chatting and soon discovered that these two families live in a neighboring town to San Jose, that one of the daughters knows friends from @techsavvyteen’s high school, and one of the mom’s was born and raised in the same small town I was in Massachusetts. We all became fast friends and continued to hang out and talk story the whole week, including as it turned out, on the shared plane ride home!
The world is a very small place indeed.
Have you run into people you know in far off places or met people far away that turn out to be practically your neighbors back home? Please talk story in the comments below and share your favorite “small world” travel adventure.
Stay tuned for the next Talking Story when we’ll likely be heading up the road to Ted’s Bakery for some malasadas, portuguese sausage, and chocolate haupia pie!
Mahalo and Aloha Nui Loa!
Thanks to @techsavvyteen, @dormantchef and cake-baking teen for many of the photos snapped on this Hawaiian adventure.
Tags: Dalai Lama, FourSquare, Haleʻiwa Hawaiʻi, Hawaii, North Shore, Oahu, OMG! Yummy, Talking Story, Turtle Bay Resort, Waialua Bakery
What is this unique, colorful, beautiful tropical fruit? Leave your answer in the comments below. Happy Wednesday!
Tags: fruit, Hawaii, OMG! Yummy, tropical, Wordless Wednesday
