Not Quite a Manapua, But Still Delicious

My husband loves Manapuas, the steamed buns filled with pork. While eating one the other day, he noticed on the packet that the company also sells them filled with chicken and mushroom or a sweet potato variety. We thought those varieties sounded delicious but we'd never seen them where we lived. A quick call to the company confirmed what often happens in our area - they don't sell them here.

We couldn't get the thought of bread filled with chicken and mushroom out of our minds, so we decided to make a version of them. I made a batch of french bread dough and rolled out small circles.

Combining mushroom soup, cooked chicken, and veggies in a bowl, we used a cookie dough scooper to put small amounts into the circles of dough.
We carefully folded the balls up, making sure the filling was securely inside and left them to rise for thirty minutes. The recipe made about 25 balls of dough, but I only took a photo of one tray.
After twenty minutes in the oven at 400 degrees, they came out looking and smelling delicious.
And voila, chicken and veggies in mushroom sauce, inside a ball of french bread.
It was a nice meal for the hubby and I to make together as we usually don't cook at the same time. The only downside to this creation was that the bread rolls were too good. So good that we kept eating and only when we realized we had eaten nearly a whole batch of french bread that usually lasts us several days, we were already beyond stuffed.

Japanese Food

I'm headed to Japan next month *insert squee!* and I'm very excited for several reasons, one of them being the food. It's no surprise that I love Japanese food and I am so grateful to my friend Alisha for pointing out places to see in Tokyo and great delicacies to try.

This will be my first trip to Japan and I've purposely budgeted on hotels so that we could spend money on food. I often choose Japanese food over any other type of food and on our trip to Hilo last year, I was delighted with our find of Miyos - a fantastic Japanese restaurant overlooking the water.

I chose the dinner special of Shrimp and Veggie Tempura, Sesame Chicken, Agedashi Tofu, and Sashimi
And the hubby had the Chicken Terriaki Don Buri.
Both dishes were excellent!

Just thinking of the meal makes me excited for my trip to Japan. I already know there will be lots of pictures and lots of stories. The only thing I hesitate about trying is blowfish (Fugu). I really want to try it, but if it's not prepared right, it can cause death. A little scary but supposedly it's really delicious. Rather a tough decision. Hmm... I guess I'll let you guys know in March if I actually tried it!

Lime Curd Crepe with Raspberry

The picture above captures the perfect finale to an awesome evening. Three friends from college, tons of sushi and wine, and a lot of laughter, topped off by a trip to the local creperie, Cafe Des Amis. We thought the evening couldn't get any better, but there on the little white chalkboard was the daily special - crepes filled with lime curd and raspberry. *falls over*

I don't think I have ever tasted such a delectable treat. A soft crepe filled with tangy yet sweet lime curd and topped with a thick raspberry sauce. The flavor combination was absolutely divine and even now my mouth is watering as I type this.

Although we were full from dinner, together we finished off four crepes, leaving not even the slightest remnant at the end. Wait, there were only three girls and you ordered four crepes? My friends and I love to eat and we can truly appreciate a great dessert, especially one as amazing as this. :)

Christmas Dinner - Island Style

I was raised in an English family and Christmas Day dinner was a big event - turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc. It was like a Thanksgiving part deux and my mum would spend several hours on Christmas day preparing and cooking the amazing meal.

But this year the hubby and I had three large turkey meals around Thanksgiving over the course of two weeks and well, by Christmas, we were pretty turkeyed out.

Since we live in the islands, we decided to change it up and make it a seafood Christmas dinner. I was a little worried in case the meal didn't feel like Christmas, but I have to admit, it was a blast.
We dined on a macadamia nut crusted Mahi Mahi, stuffed with Alaskan crab and served with grilled shrimp and a lemon coconut sauce.
The recipe for the Mahi Mahi was a loose interpretation/combination of three recipes I found on the web and the lemon coconut sauce was my own creation.

Personally the best part was that it was only an hour from prep to table. I didn't have to spend the whole day preparing the feast. Instead I was able to enjoy Christmas day, only spend an hour in the kitchen, and we still had a wonderful Christmas dinner.

I let the hubby relax while I prepared most of the meal but I did ask him for help on two parts: crushing the macadamia nuts and removing the crab from the hard shell of the legs.

Because the meal was such a success, I have a feeling those large turkey dinners might be a Thanksgiving-only meal in the future.

Mixed Berry & Apple Pie

This pie is amazing. And I'm not just saying that cause I made it. The combination of the mixed berries and the apple is divine - especially hot from the oven!

The recipe is originally from Martha Stewart but I feel she often makes things a little more complicated than they need to be. So I adjusted it and also added my mom's pie crust recipe. :)

PASTRY (makes enough for a pie base and top cover)
2 cups flour - sift into bowl
2 tsp baking powder (omit if you are using self-rising flour)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup solid Crisco (not the oil in the bottle)
1/3 cup butter
4-5 Tablespoons ice cold water

Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into bowl.
Add the Crisco and butter (or 2/3 cup butter or 2/3 cup Crisco if you are out of one of them) and rub into the flour with your fingers until all blended.
Add the ice water.

You can also do this in the food processor. Put the dry ingredients in and add the Crisco/butter. Pulse till they are blended, then add the ice water through the funnel while you pulse.

Split into two balls - one for pie base and one for the cover. Make sure to have lots of flour on the board and rolling pin when rolling.

PIE
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large granny smith apple, peeled and sliced into very thin slices
3 cups of mixed berries (I used a bag of frozen berries, defrosted)
1 ounce (2 Tablespoons) cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 375.
Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add apple slices and berries and toss to coat. Pour filling into piecrust. Dot the filling with the cut up butter. Place top of pie crust over the mixture. (I like to do strips cause it looks pretty). Sprinkle a little more sugar over the top.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until brown.

Enjoy!

A Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

This week we stocked up on all the items we would need for our Thanksgiving. I know what you're thinking - we must be super efficient or super excited. Well, possibly a little of both but mainly it was because we live on an island, and once an item is gone, it's gone. We didn't want to risk having our turkey without cranberry sauce or that green bean casserole without french fried onions.

We had to go to a few different stores to get everything and while at our final stop, there was a deal for a $4 turkey if you spent over $20. Glancing at our cart, we had over $20 worth of ingredients so we picked up another turkey. We'd already bought one earlier that day, but we couldn't pass up the deal. Two turkeys... and a week to go till Thanksgiving. What would you do?

We had a pre-Thanksgiving meal. Yep, we cooked a full turkey dinner complete with stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, candied yams, Molokai sweet potatoes and apple pie. I don't think of this as detracting from next Thursday - I consider it more an extension of the holiday. :)

My favorite part - the apple pie. I love making desserts but this was my first time making a pie. It came out great!
And even though it was my first time making a pie, I decided to be adventurous and do a fancy top. Next time I know to space the strips out a bit more so they are all even. I'm kinda missing one on the end there but not bad for a first run.

The pastry recipe was from my mom and the apple pie was courtesy of the hubby's grandmother. I was a little concerned when I called her for the recipe as she just said it was a bit of this and a bit of that. She does it all by eye and doesn't measure anything anymore. But I must have done pretty good cause the pie was delicious. I just have to remember what I did for next time!

Are you going to eat that?

Other title choices for this post were: "I'm no Andrew Zimmern, but...," "How fresh is your fish?" and "Why is my dinner staring at me?"

I've never considered myself a very adventurous eater. In fact, I've been pretty picky throughout my life, turning down pasta if it was slightly overcooked, or the wrong macaroni shape (I know, I know. I've finally moved past that one). But recently, I've decided to step outside my comfort level and try new foods. There are limits to this of course, but I'm slowly getting there.

On a trip to Hilo a few weeks ago, we stopped at The Seaside Restaurant, known for its fresh fish. And how right the reputation was - the fish was caught no more than five feet from where we sat at our table. How could I turn down the opportunity to have the freshest fish I'd ever have in my life? I couldn't. And I didn't. :)

When the whole fish arrived, I found myself actually excited - unlike a fish meal I had a few years ago... Well, I didn't exactly have it. I ordered it and couldn't bring myself to eat it because it was staring at me. (they didn't tell me that was going to happen when I read the menu)

But my how things have changed. When my meal of pan-fried crispy Aholehole served with daikon-suri arrived at the table, I couldn't wait to dig in.
It was fantastic. The small round dish was filled daikon-suri and per the waiter's suggestion, I added soy sauce and dipped portions of the fish into it. Amazing!

I tried to be polite, as it was a nice restaurant, and use a fork and knife, but after a few minutes it was clear that the easiest way was just to eat with my hands. No one around seemed to mind and at the end of the night, only bones were left on my plate. I give the whole experience an A+.

Yep, I've come a long way from the Pokemon shaped macaroni I refused to eat ten years ago :)