Recipe: Flapjacks

Idly flipping through the pages of the March Bon Appetit, I happened upon this recipe for British Flapjacks, a cookie vaguely resembling Rice Krispie Treats in technique and granola bars in results. But don’t mistake me, they’re the most delicious granola bars I can imagine–and I don’t even like granola bars. Since butter, sugar, and quick-cook oats are things we always have on hand, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try Flapjacks. We expected to pick up some golden syrup at the Woodstock Safeway (which actually has a British aisle), but that didn’t happen. Instead, I substituted molasses with dark corn syrup to thin it slightly (if you go all-molasses, be careful: the cookies will be much, much harder; corn syrup keeps them somewhat soft by preventing the sugar from crystallizing). For a more interesting texture, you can sub half the quick-cook oats for regular old-fashioned oats.

Malia’s Hawaii Food Recommendations

Eli and I were superlucky in that for our honeymoon, we got to go stay in a family condo on O’ahu for over a week, visiting family and seeing places where I grew up. And eating like pigs. Since I moved from home, I’ve only been back once before, during Christmas of 2005. My sister Malia (aka DJ Miss Martini) visits at least once a year, so she made sure to arm us with recommendations for place to be sure to hit up. We’re sharing those with you, because they’re too good not to.

1. Diamond Head Grill – this is the place for the best plate lunch. They go “healthy” by offering brown rice and green salad, but don’t be turned off by that. A little pricier, but you are paying for quality, brah! Suggest: teri-beef sandwich or plate, Plantation iced tes – the best EVER, the Chinese Chicken Salad – the one of your dreams; why don’t other places make it like this??? They also have a deli/market that has to-go and boxed stuff and it’s all good. I swear.

2. Shimizu’s Shave Ice: they’re on School Street. And ohmygawd you will die Schatzi when you see all the awesome kine flavors they get! Shave Ice of your motherfucking dreams, dude!

Waimea Bay at sunset

we’re on Slashfood!

We love a nice surprise, and finding one of our pictures from Eli’s birthday dinner at BEAST on Slashfood in celebration of National Bouillabaisse Day was a very nice surprise indeed!

the bouillabaisse in question

Validation is swell, isn’t it? Happy holidays!

Recipe: Not-Mincemeat Pie (Spicy Apple & Dried Fruit Pie)

The combination of sweet, savory, and above all, spicy found in mincemeat hearkens back to the pre-modern kitchen. Finely chopping (mincing!) meat and mixing it with suet, fruits, and spices not only used up leftover, odd bits of meat but stretched the available protein. The use of late apples and dried fruits made it a perfect winter dish, and it was a Christmas specialty by the sixteenth century. Gradually, less actual minced meat was included in the recipe (though suet is still commonly used), and by the mid-nineteenth century, mincemeat in both England and the Americas was what we would recognize today.

I didn’t grow up with it, but I sure do love me some mincemeat. I don’t think it’s common in Hawai’i at all, but every Christmas when we were shopping at Kahala or Pearlridge, Mom and I would stop by See’s Candy for mincemeat and marzipan chocolates (they have since discontinued their mincemeat candies, due to the lack of a reputable supplier. Jerks.). I loved them; they were so foreign, so exotic, and yet so quaint, something out of a Louisa May Alcott or L.M. Montgomery novel. I didn’t get to try a mincemeat pie until I was twenty-one, and visiting my relatives in Western New York (Buffalo). My Cousin Johnny Stevenson’s Quebecois then-wife baked one for my little sister and I, and it was a revelation (she also introduced me to turnips and rutabagas–oh, my!). I was in love at the first bite, and have often been baffled that mincemeat pies are so unpopular in the Pacific Northwest. After all, they use some of our finest ingredients, such as apples and dried berries. When I found this pie in November’s Sunset Magazine, I knew I had to make it for Thanksgiving.

For my pie, I used half Calville Blanc and half Newtown Pippin apples, both heirloom varieties I picked up at the Portland Nursery Apple Tasting Festival this year. They made for a phenomenal pie, with perfect taste and texture. This is a very messy, bubbly pie, so be sure to either place a foil-lined cookie sheet on the rack beneath your pie, or line the floor of your oven. This is a very rich, intensely-flavored pie, not for the faint of heart or full of stomach.

Recipe: Apple Crumb Pie with Nut Crust

After the Apple Tasting Festival at Portland Nursery, I found myself in need of some apple pie–amazing how that works out. I couldn’t find the recipe my sister Maiya gave me last year, so I looked for a patty-pan crust and nice crumb topped recipe to try. The first one I came across that looked delicious and trustworthy was Martha Stewart’s Apple Crumb Pie with Almond Crumb Crust. This worked out nicely since I had some walnuts I wanted to use up before they got rancid, and well, apples and walnuts go really well together. This also gave me the perfect opportunity to use my little nut grinder, which I so dearly love. I used a few Newtown Pippins and  two Spitzenberg apples; you’ll remember the latter from last year’s Apple Tasting, but the Newtown was a runner up, only picked because they were out of Cox’s Orange Pippin and all the new heirlooms I wanted to try (save the Calville Blanc, which is excellent). They were fantastic in the pie, with a complex sweet-tart flavor.

I must say, this was not only the best apple pie I have baked, it might be one of the best I have ever tasted. I don’t know whether it was the perfect combination of apples, nuts, and recipe, or what, but everything came together marvelously. The filling was almost custard-like in its rich smoothness, but the apples retained their bite. The crust was like a nutty shortbread, and not at all soggy. The only improvement I would try would be to use brown sugar, but I was out of it. Guess I’ll just have to make it again! I wanted to try a hazelnut crust, or even the original almond, anyways ….