Cary, Karin, and Will at Your Service

Maui Prime has clearly established itself as the best place in West Maui to procure gourmet foods. The wide selection of gourmet pantry items, wines, prime meats and seafood, and super customer service are only some of the elements that make shopping at Maui Prime a pleasure. Working behind the counters are two honest-to-goodness chefs, Cary Buttons and Will Hawkins. Both are eager to help customers in any way they can; from choosing the best cuts of meat and seafood, to sharing insights on the best methods of preparing everything they sell.

Beluga, Oesetra, Maui Prime has it all

Karin is the wine and cheese expert and can introduce you to all the imported cheeses and other delicious items shipped in daily, along with great value wines.

After placing my holiday Turducken and Free Range Organic Turkey order, I asked Chef Will if he would share his favorite holiday side dish recipe with What’s Cooking Maui readers. Knowing you would want something simple but special, he offered the following method of preparing Potatoes Dauphinoise. The famous dish was purportedly created to coaxed young “Dauphine,” later known as King Henry II, to eat his vegetables. As if we’d ever need coaxing to eat potatoes!

Chef Will’s Potatoes Dauphinoise Fit for a King

6-7 peeled potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold
2 pints cream
Salt
One clove crushed garlic

Peel  potatoes then slice 1/8 inch thick using a mandoline, if available. It’s important to keep the slices uniform for even cooking.

Do not rinse the potatoes after slicing, although many recipes suggest doing so. This keeps the starch on the potatoes and helps to set the dish.

Pour cream into a bowl and salt to taste. This is your only chance to season the dish so just put in a little salt at a time, tasting after each addition. What’s important- don’t over or under salt.

Crush a clove of garlic and rub it on the bottom and sides of the 9 x 13 baking pan.

Layer the potato slices in the pan evenly and up the sides. Pour the salted cream over the top.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees, 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes to brown. Let stand 15 minutes prior to serving for dish to set-up.

Creative add-ons for the dish include sprinkling with Gruyere Cheese before final browning, adding some grated nutmeg to the cream mixture, or including thinly sliced onion with the potatoes. Here’s your chance to be creative.  Just be sure to follow the basic instructions for a simple but delicious addition to your holiday table!

If you have any questions, call Maui Prime at 661-4912 and ask one of the knowledgeable team members for tips on everything from which wine to serve with Turducken to which grade caviar to order for New Year’s Eve!

Maui Prime
142 Kupuohi St # F7
Lahaina, HI 96761-2711
(808) 661-4912

Hot pepers can cool you down

Lacking the initiative lately to do much more than sip something cool very slowly while staring into the steamy space rising over the crystal blue ocean, I’ve decided to indulge myself in the a/c for a moment and pen an off the cuff entry about Foods That Keep You Cool When It’s Roasting, Baking, Simmering and COOKING Out There.

This lack of initiative and subsequent burst of creativity arrives on the heels of the summer doldrums gracing our island. Instead of the much ballyhooed hurricane, it having petered out into a pathetic whimper without ever having blessed the citizens of Hawaii with a good dousing and break from the infernal dead calm, we got humidity instead! What’s to become of us? ‘Tis the absence of humidity on Maui that has always given me such an air of superiority when chatting about the weather with people from Florida, Chicago or Texas. Now we’re in the same sticky weather boat.

Not typically one to defy Mother Nature or ask for unnecessary trouble, (okay, okay, I do oft ask for trouble but Mother Nature I leave pretty much to herself) I don’t mind admitting a good swift wind and sideways rain might have been welcome about now. Secretly many people were hoping for the ‘cane and were a wee bit disappointed it didn’t do it’s thang. Now we’re not only hot, we’re bored. After all, drama is the spice of life!

But in boredom I get to thinking… We don’t grow peaches on Maui either, and since they have humidity and peaches in Atlanta, could that mean if it’s hot and humid in Maui maybe I should adopt one of those little peach trees. With proper nurturing and more hot and humid summers like the one we’re having now, I could harvest about 500 pounds of truly delicious, juice-dripping-off-your-chin delectable fruits every year. Then, local chefs could use them in fabulous dishes that would keep us cool when it’s hot and humid! If I sell them at $2 pound, it would pay for the adoption as well as the cost of my server for a year. Something to think about…

One good thing about the heat, it sets your mind to wandering. I’m finding myself lately feeling as if I’ve been transported to some exotic sub-tropical destination like Casablanca or Tonga where languages other than English and pidgin are spoken. In my wanderlustig state, I subsequently long for exotic Foods That Keep You Cool When It’s RBS & C Out There. After doing a google search and perusing a few other food websites, I’ve come up with these suggestions.

In Hot Weather, Eat Foods with High Water Content, Don’t Cook,Spice It Up and Have a Cool Drink

• Watermelon! Nearly 90% water, no fat and always refreshing on a hot summer day
• Any juicy fruit (not the gum) such as peaches, oranges, apples, grapes, starfruit, dragonfruit
• Vegetables such as cucumber, radishes, lettuce, and leafy greens such as spinach and arugula, or fresh herbs such as mint and basil contain a high amount of water. Beside that they actually thin the blood, assist the body in releasing heat, which in turn cools you off.
• Spices, such as fresh ginger, red chili, cayenne, wasabi, or black pepper, warm you up at first, but actually help cool you down after you sweat a little in reaction to the flavors.
• Don’t cook! Keep the heat down in your household and your body by conserving energy and eating either raw or Pulehu (cooked over open flame) outdoors. However…
• Limit meat consumption in hot weather. It’s too hard for your body to digest.

Here are some recipes using the above suggestions and ingredients for staying cool in the heat and humidity. Make this salad of arugula, grilled ricotta and watermelon which I pilfered from Babette’s Feast website. Although Babette didn’t recommend it I’d drizzle with lavender dressing from the Ali`I Lavender Farm found at many local outlets including the Kapalua Spa Gift Shop.

Delightfully refreshing salad of watermelon, arugula, ricotta

Another option would be to toss cubes of watermelon with crumbled feta, a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of fresh basil leaves for an equally refreshing salad. If you aren’t up to carving a melon, use the more typical tomatoes.

Next, you might whip together a nice cold soup or liquid salad, like gazpacho. This tasty dish covers the full gamut of cool-down ingredients using cukes, bell peppers, onion, celery, cilantro, hot pepper and tomato juice. I’m cooling off just thinking about it! The last time I made it, Cary Buttons, from Maui Prime, suggested I add teeny little bay shrimp to the mix, which he happens to sell in his store.

For a heat battling main course whatever you do don’t cook! Pick up some fresh ahi or other fish from Maui Prime and enjoy with lots of wasabi and ginger, which will heat you up then cool you down.

For dessert I suggest dishing up a little lemon, mango or pineapple sorbet with fresh juicy fruits in season. (Try the homemade hand swirled gelatos from `Aina Gourmet Market at the Honua Kai.)

Sip slowly nice Sangria. I like this super fruity version and my guests do, too:

1 Bottle of your favorite white wine (or red if you choose)
1 Lemon cut into wedges
1 Orange cut into wedges
1 Lime cut into wedges
1 Peach cut into wedges
1 Cup sliced strawberries
1/2 Cup lemonade or limeade
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 shots of apricot, peach or “berry” flavored brandy  - or use Cointreau
2 cups ginger ale
One Maui Gold pineapple cut into pieces with juice

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sliced peaches, strawberries limeade/lemonade, sugar and brandy. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale and ice just before serving.

Another nice pour with this light and refreshing repast would be mojito. (Sorry, Mary!) We actually like the premixed version sold by Barcardi which the great chef Cary Button, turned us on to, enhanced further by putting into a blender with some ice and fresh mint, whirling ever so briefly, then enjoying fully. The mint will cool you down and the liquor will help you ignore the heat.

If all that fails, go to Alaska and hang out with the glaciers. Or just stare at this photo and cool down.

Be cool and enjoy!!

Plantation Days - Buy a Brick and Restore the Smokestack

Lahaina Plantation Days, July 31^st- August 1st
This new event begins July 31st on the former Pioneer Mill site (near the smokestack off Lahainaluna Road) and runs for three exciting days. The event, sponsored by Lahaina Restoration Foundation, pays tribute to Maui’s plantation heritage and should be a ton of fun with all that’s planned.  Pioneer Days will feature entertainment by cultural groups and popular musicians, restaurant food booths, coffee garden, beer tent, a Kid’s Zone with nostalgic activities, historical displays and exhibits, a “Camp Reunion Tent” honoring those who lived and worked in the West Maui plantation camps, and a preview of the proposed Pu‘ukoli‘i Village project by Kaanapali Land Management Corp. Hours are 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm on July 30, and 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm on July 31 and Aug. 1 Admission on all three nights of the event is $3, seniors are $2 and keiki 12 and under are free. A special three day pass is available for $5.

11^th Annual Keiki Hula Festival, July 25 and 26th
One of my favorite simple pleasures in Maui is watching keiki dance the hula. This weekend Lahaina Cannery Mall celebrates the talent and grace of Maui’s keiki dancers at the 11th Annual Keiki Hula Festival. One of the best free things to do in Maui, the two-day affair will feature performances from the island’s most talented youth as well as Hawaiian artisans and crafters demonstrating lei making, wood carving and other traditional skills. For more information, call (808) 661-5304, or visit www.lahainacannery.com.

Coral Spawning at Maui Ocean Center, Friday, July 24,  6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
For something really new and different, sign up for the Coral Spawning Spectacle at the Maui Ocean Center this weekend. Under the light of a new moon, guests will have the rare chance to witness live coral spawning in the Discovery Pool, Hawaiians and the Sea, Surge Zone, and candlelit Living Reef, where rice coral will be illuminated by special red lights. There will also be complimentary desserts, coffee, and cash bar available.

Sounds like a great thing to do on Maui and definitely something you wouldn’t be able to do anywhere else!  Call (808)270-7088 to reserve. Admission is $27 for adults, $22 for children 3 through 12, with special discounts for kama’aina and aquarium members

Maui Calls, August 14^th, 6-10 p.m. Reserve Now!!
Maui Calls is the premiere annual fund-raiser in Maui. Top chefs and restaurateurs from all over the island are on hand to prepare signature dishes, some devised especially for the events. It works like this – you gather a group of friends together, meet at the event, nab a table, and make your way around the many food booths while sharing tips and critiques of what you’re eating.  There are so many choices you won’t be able to try them all, so comparing notes is a very important aspect of this event. Which of course encourages mingling with friends, old and new, who have gathered from all across the island to spend an evening together and raise funds for the Maui Arts and Cultural Center’s many programs and initiatives  A “must do” for residents and visitors alike. For more information and to reserve see www.mauiarts.org, or call 808-242-2787. Tickets are $175/pp.

Food News

Basil Tomato Italian Trattoria in Kaanapali, Maui, HI

Basil Tomatoes in Kaanapali is now open for lunch! Plus, they serve the award-winning burger that used to be available only at Johnny’s (which closed about a year ago). A sweet little restaurant that actually feels like an Italian tratorria with views overlooking Kaanapali golf course, it’s tucked away on the road leading to the Royal Lahaina Resort.

China Boat has completed their remodel and is now serving lunch and family style early bird specials.

Buzz Wharf now sells their world-famous prawns, grown in the family farm in New Caledonia! Available by the case starting July 29^th, you can pre-order now by calling 661-4600 or emailing Michelle at buzz.michelle@gmail.com. Cost is $88 plus tax for 8.8 lbs., including shells and heads. After cleaning you’ll end up with about 80-120 prawns, Learn everything you want to know about the prawns at www.markeaprawns.com.

Maui Prime offers a similar deal by flying in live Maine Lobster for about $10/lb. Call Cary http://www.mauiprime.com/contact.html at least two days in advance for delivery on Tuesday or Fridays.

Panda Express Now Open in Lahaina, HI

Panda Express is now open across from the new Lahaina Center. The drive-thru convenience lane offers on-the-go meal options when you’re sick and tired of sandwiches and burgers but got no time to sit and dine.

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Maui Prime Gourmet Cheese and Wine

Maui Prime owners, Karin and Cary Buttons, are successfully luring customers these days by offering live lobsters flown in from Maine twice a week. The going market rate is between $10-$11/per pound. You’ll need to place your order 2 days in advance for delivery on either Tuesday or Friday. I don’t know of any other gourmet shop offering such a deal, so get on it!

Although Maui Prime is the number one purveyor of prime meats, seafood, cheese and other gourmet food items, they aren’t above offering occasional deals that blow chain stores and other competitors out of the water. If you foolishly failed to seize the opportunity to take advantage of the recent filet/lobster combo deal for $20.95, I recommend you turn over a new leaf by snagging the most succulent rack of lamb this side of New Zealand at prices you’ll not believe! Cary assures me his racks are so large one can feed 2-3 people for less than $20, which is incentive enough to finally invite your boss over for dinner.

Maui Prime -- Best Seafood on Maui

Karin tells me the bright green Sicilian olives she’s recently added to her chilled gourmet choices are flying out the door, while a sample of the new Little Boy Blue cheese (so delicate yet flavorful!) reveals why it’s taken over as customer favorite, but the biggest news may be the french fries.

Forget everything you knew about frozen fries! Most home prepared versions of the fast food favorite are barely worth their salt and rarely worth the calories, but these fries are a true gourmet treat. The secret is that the fries are made from fresh cut whole potatoes (skins and all), which are first soaked in ice water,then  fried, before flash freezing. Whenever you’re ready you can bake or fry  to suit your needs and present perfectly tender, crispy, flavorful potato sticks that rival the best pommes frite served in the finest establishments.  The potatoes are shipped in five pound bags but Cary will sell you whatever amount you need. Try them! They are fabulous!

There’s always something new to sample at Maui Prime so stop in soon and visit often. You’ll be surprised at the great deals on prime meats and seafood, and often better prices on gourmet items than you’ll typically finds in nearby chain stores. The Buttons are also very adept at picking great bottles of wine selling for reasonable prices so be sure to check out their wine selection, too.

Cary Cares - and Can He Cook!

Maui Prime is located in the Emerald Plaza business park across from the Cannery Mall.  Call 808-661-4912 for more information, hours and to order your live lobsters.