Surfing Goat Cheese and Beet Salad

4 large beets ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 bay leaves 2 tblspn Maui raw sugar
1 tblspn chopped fresh ginger 2 tblspn rice wine vinegar
2 chopped fresh garlic cloves 1 teaspn anise seeds
1 teaspn fennel seeds 1 teaspn fennel seeds
1 fennel bulb with lots of green ¼ cup finely chopped Maui onion
4 whole “Broken Heart” cheeses Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Wash beets; place them on a roasting rack in a casserole. Fill up with cold water so that ¼ of the beets is in the water. Add chopped garlic, 2 bay leaves, 1 teasp. fennel seeds and the chopped ginger. Cover casserole with lid or foil and roast beets in the oven for about 2 hours. To check if they are done, poke a skewer into one of the beets. If it slides through easily, they are done. Remove beets from the casserole, let them cool off on a baking sheet, peel them (wear gloves!) and cover them with food foil so that they don’t dry out. Wash the fennel and julienne half of the bulb. Pick lots of the fennel green for the dressing.
Dressing: Roast fennel and anise seeds in a very hot pan with a drop of olive oil for 30 seconds. Then crush them in a mortar. Mix olive oil, vinegar, finely chopped onion and fennel greens, honey, sugar, the crushed seeds and season with fresh ground black pepper.
Serving: Cut beets and the cheeses in thin slices, arrange them on a white plate, sprinkle the fennel julienne over the beets, pour the dressing all over it and let it sit for 1 hour in the fridge. Decorate with fennel green.
Bon appetite

Beer Makes Everything Better

Tenderloin of Beef Cooked with Guinness

We thought you’d enjoy this recipe which popped into our inbox, courtesy Chef Mark Poulton-Smy, Guinness Storehouse Pub – Dublin as featured on Follow That Food, Episode 14-6F.

Ingredients:

8 ounces prime Irish beef
2 tablespoons butter, plus 6 tablespoons
1/2 cup diced onion
4 baby carrots
1 cup sliced wild mushrooms
1/2 cup Guinness stout
1/2 cup beef stock
4 baby onions
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions:

1. Heat a large saute pan over high heat.
2. When the pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon of the butter and the beef and sear on both sides until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. To the same pan, add the diced onion and carrots and saute until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the wild mushrooms and cook lightly to release the flavors of the vegetables.
5. Add the Guinness and bring to a boil. Add in the stock and bring to a boil.
6. Place the baby onions into the sauce. Bring to a simmer and reduce by half.
7. Return the beef to the pan and cook to desired doneness.

To serve, first remove the mushrooms and vegetables from the sauce and arrange in the middle of a large dish. Place the beef on top of the vegetables in the middle of the plate. Arrange the onions around the plate. Bring the sauce back to the boil and add the rest of the butter to the pan. Mix until it is all blended in, then add the chopped parsley into the sauce, and pour as much sauce over the beef as you want.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Fine Living chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, cannot make any representation as to the results. Disclaimer by Fine Living Network.

The perfect island alternative to corned beef and cabbage, try this ultra upscale seafood dish created by the chefs at the Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin and featured on Follow That Food on the Fine Living Network.

Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time:
Cook Time: 3-5 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 12 hours
Ease of preparation: easy

Recipe courtesy Terry White, Four Seasons Hotel-Dublin

Ingredients:

Salad Dressing:

2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Guinness Soaked Tuna:

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup salt
1 1/4 cups Guinness
3 sea scallops
3 oysters
1 (8-inch x 2-inch by 3/4-inch thick) piece blue fin tuna
4 cups favorite salad greens, cleaned

Instructions:

1. To make the Salad Dressing, combine sherry vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, lemon juice and sesame seeds in a jar, shake well and place aside.
2. Combine sugar, salt and Guinness to make a brine. Stir well, until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add tuna and brine for 12 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Remove tuna, wash under cold water and dry with a clean towel.
4. Slice 4-inch long and 1/4-inch thick ribbons off the tuna and wrap one around each of the scallops and oysters.
5. Gently sear oysters and scallops in a very hot fry pan, until the tuna cooks on the outside and the scallops and oysters just lose their translucence. Remove from heat.

To serve, place 3 scallops on each plate. Toss oysters with salad greens and 2 teaspoons of the dressing and place in between the scallops. Drizzle extra dressing around the plate and serve.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. Fine Living has not tested this recipe in the proportions indicated and therefore cannot make any representation as to the results.

Irish Mashed Potatoes

Colcannon is an Irish mainstay – mashed potatoes that has an extra vegetable hidden inside the mixture. I’ve seen it made with onions but most of the time cabbage is the mystery ingredient. Amazingly, when you cook the cabbage and potatoes together and mash them you won’t even know the cabbage is there except that the potatoes taste more flavorful. Of course, they are more nutritious, too!

I learned how to make Colcannon from Tommy Nevin’s Pub in Evanston, Illinois back when I lived there many years ago. Try this variation on the classic and then scroll further for ideas on how to use the leftover mash in wonderful ways.

1 lb green cabbage
6 potatoes (Yukon Gold preferably)
1/4 lb butter
dollop of sour cream
1/2 c milk
1/2 slab cream cheese
(no one said it was low-cal, simply nutritious)
salt
pepper

Peel spuds, wedge cabbage, getting rid of core and unsightly outer leaves first, boil in salted water until very tender. Drain and mash a little then add milk, butter, cream cheese and sour cream and mash until very smooth. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!!

To use up all the leftover Colcannon, ladle Irish Stew, chili, or similar over the mixture. Or try this delicious day after brunch treat suggested by the Irish Food Board.

Colcannon Eggs Benedict

To Cook

Yum Yum Beer Cupcakes

Preparation

Parmesan Crisps

Whole Foods fan, Barbara E., baked grated Parmigiano Reggiano with chopped almonds into round crisps and then dipped them in melted chocolate for an incredible sweet-savory combo made from just five ingredients. This innovative recipe can be served as an appetizer or dessert with a glass of red wine or prosecco. Barbara’s recipe stood out from more than 1,000 entries submitted. Looks just fabulous!

Ingredients

2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano

6 tablespoons finely chopped dry roasted whole almonds (skins on)

4 ounces good quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate, finely chopped

1 scant teaspoon vegetable oil

Sea salt for sprinkling

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Toss cheese and almonds together in a bowl. Form 12 mounds of cheese mixture on each lined baking sheet, spacing them 3 inches apart. Using the back of a spoon, press down on each mound to form a 1/4-inch thick circle. Place one baking sheet at a time on middle oven rack. Bake rounds 6 to 8 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and let crisps cool on baking sheets.

Once crisps are cooled completely, line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Toss chocolate with vegetable oil in a small bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Dip about one-third to one-half of each crisp into melted chocolate, hold a few seconds above chocolate, then place on the lined baking sheet. Immediately scatter a tiny bit of sea salt over chocolate. Let chocolate set before serving. You can put crisps in refrigerator or freezer to speed setting.

Stuffed Eggplant

We found this recipe at another Food blog site – this one located in chilly Toronto, Canada posted by The Messy Cook. Mahalo! This dish incorporates at least half of my favorite ingredients in one of my other favorite ingredients – Eggplant.

Lamb-Stuffed Baby Eggplants

4 baby eggplants, about 3-4″ long each
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 lb lean ground lamb
3 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch hot pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
3 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 375F.
Cut eggplants in half lengthwise. Using a grapefruit spoon, gently scoop out pulp from eggplant halves, leaving 1/2″ thick shells. Roughly chop the scooped-out pulp and set aside. Sprinkle inside surfaces of eggplant shells with salt, and place face down on a paper towel to drain for 15-30 minutes.
Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper, and continue sauteeing until onion is golden and peppers are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ground lamb and chopped eggplant, and cook until lamb is browned and eggplant is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cinnamon and red pepper flakes, stirring until just warmed through.
Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and lots of black pepper, then stir in the tomatoes, pine nuts and fresh mint.
Pat the shells dry with paper towels, removing any excess salt remaining on the surface. Brush with remaining 1 tbsp oil and arrange in a baking dish, cut side up. Divide the lamb mixture among the eggplant shells, mounding the filling slightly, the top with crumbled feta cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the eggplant shells are tender and filling is bubbling and golden.

Joseph Acquino of Lahaina Produce

It’s a family venture, with all seven Aquino offspring pitching in for the effort while mom, Lisa, manages the business aspect of the company. “We are committed to providing access for  all people to quality fresh fruits and veggies. We get our produce from our farm, other local farms, and fresh off the plane domestic farms. Quality is our number one priority,” explains Lisa on the company website. In Lisa’s own words, her motivation for starting the business was her “personal quest to improve my overall health, I found that the grocery stores on Maui did not provide suitable access to fruits and veggies, in either quality or price. I was simply unable to afford providing my family with daily fruits and veggies. If it was affordable the quality was horrible.” So she took matters into her own hands and voila! We all benefit.

We stopped by the Farm Stand twice last week and netted shiny eggplant, red bell peppers, Maui onions, snapping fresh green beans, and the world’s largest and sweetest potato I’ve ever seen. That night we grilled it all up for supper and finished it off with mango, banana and pineapple medley also procured from Joseph’s produce stand. We felt so healthy the next day I played tennis for the first time in a decade. So there you go! There’s magic in them thar home grown vegetables.

Lahaina Produce Selection

Our second shopping trip netted sweet corn, butternut squash, rambutan, a beautiful perfectly ripe mango, locally grown jicama (rare to find on Maui), silver white perfect mushrooms, baby bok choy, surprisingly crispy snow peas and beautiful tomatoes. Oh, and a package of fresh mint for our juleps. All that came to only $10.25! Besides having easily procured the essentials for a healthy stir-fry dinner (and then some!), I avoided the parking lot madness and temptations of impulse purchases at the grocery store.

To ensure that every man woman and child on Maui has access to Lahaina Produce’s nutritious selection of produce, Lahaina Produce also offers a convenient delivery service! Here’s how it works – log on to www.lahainaproduce.com.

1. Fill out order form on ORDER HERE page.

2. Decide if you would like to have your produce delivered or pick it up.

3. Decide on which produce package you to order.

4. Order by Sunday 10:00 p.m. for the following Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.

5. Enjoy the benefits of eating fresh fruits and veggies.

6. Repeat weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly.

7. They accept credit cards via paypal–  all packages must be prepaid before delivery.

(Be sure to tell them What’s Cooking Maui sent you!)

Lahaina Produce Veggies

Ordering online and enjoying front door delivery makes it so easy to eat well, you have no choice but to keep your New Year’s Resolution — the one where you promised to eat better and spend less money on anything that’s bad for you.

For added incentive and to make good use of that gorgeous Butternut Squash currently available currently at Lahaina Produce, here is a recipe from the Oregon Bounty Cookbook for Squash Soup. Perfect for those gloriously cooler nights we are being graced with on Maui lately.

Dine well; be hearty!

Butternut and Acorn Squash Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1 carrot, diced (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 celery stalk, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups cubed butternut squash
• 1 cup cubed acorn squash
• 1/2 yellow potato, peeled and diced
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon honey

Directions

Heat the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender and translucent, 5-6 minutes.

Add the broth, squashes and potato. Bring the broth to a simmer and cook until the squashes are tender enough to mash easily with a fork, about 20 minutes.

Strain the soup through a sieve, reserving the liquid. Puree the solids and return them to the pot. Add enough of the reserved liquid to achieve a soup consistency. Blend well. Return and simmer. Add the cream and seasonings to taste.

Molten Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Melted

Even here in overheated Maui, I’ve sensed the teeniest nip of fall in the air lately which has set off instinctive triggers including the desire to order a Pumpkin Latte and sip it contentedly while perusing my favorite butter stained, dog-eared copy of Menus for Entertaining.

It was that book which first urged me to dip banana chunks in sour cream then roll them in flaked coconut. Talk about a simple taste sensation that adds major WOW factor to a fare-to-middling fruit plate!

With that suggestion the writers earned my trust and further enticed me to bake a Flourless Chocolate Cake to cap off a Mexican Fiesta I was over-ambitiously hosting twenty years ago. It was the first and only Flourless Chocolate Cake I’d ever tasted and since it was flavored with Cinnamon and Nutmeg – a heady combination when mixed with the dark rich chocolate – I’ve never forgotten that first taste sensation.

Most molten or flourless chocolate cakes are flavored with nothing more than vanilla which is a letdown after you’ve started out with the spiced version. Try the recipe below with caution; you may develop an felicitous sense of well-being triggered by the olfactory stimulation emitted by the spices and chocolate, resulting in the urge to invite people over for dinner, wrap gifts feverishly into the night, and generally feel jollier than usual.

The recipe comes from the cinnamon and spice producer, Mc Cormick. It requires a little flour, though fewer  eggs than the flour-free versions, so its’ a trade-off for people with dietary restrictions.

It’s perfect for entertaining since you can prepare the batter ahead of time, pour into individual muffin or popover pans, slip it into the oven after you’ve taken out the bird, and have an elegant dessert ready to serve your guests.

Molten Spiced Chocolate Cabernet Cakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
4 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 tablespoon Cabernet Sauvignon or other red wine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon Saigon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Butter 4 (6-ounce) custard cups or soufflé dishes. Place on baking sheet.
2. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 1 minute or until butter is melted. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in wine, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and yolk. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour batter evenly into prepared custard cups.
3. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 minute. Carefully loosen edges with small knife. Invert cakes onto serving plates. Sprinkle with additional confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately.

Make Ahead: The chocolate mixture can be prepared up to 10 hours ahead of time. Pour the batter into prepared custard cups; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.