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Showing posts from 2011

A Few Food Shots

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Here are a couple of food shots we took from our main dinner restaurant. Although our original food photographer canceled last minute, we were able to bring in another photographer. He had no experience in food photography, so we didn't know what we were in for. I am happy with the results. The above image is a renovated version of the house smoked salmon appetizer. It includes a nest of Molokai sweet purple potatoes, mango pico de gallo, cilantro-kaffir lime leaf puree, guajillo salt and pomegranate "caviar". Our Lobster salad also uses the Molokai purple sweet potato, which it is wrapped in and fried. The salad also has fresh mache, blueberries, edamame, avocado, tomatoes, mango and aquaponic baby lettuces wrapped in fresh cucumber. The big island honey with vanilla-citrus vinaigrette finishes the dish nicely. Our lamb entree consists of an ancho braised lamb shank and seared rack of Australian lamb. The parsnip puree serves as the starch on the dish and the grape d

A Few Squash From The Garden

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I went to harvest a few squash, thinking I may have 3 or 4 ready to go. If fact I was wrong. This picture really does not do justice. I pulled out what you can see here which includes kabocha pumpkins, butter gords, and some other Goliath squash. I also was able to harvest some round, japanese and green eggplants. Red okra, as it does every day, came in strong. I pulled about a dozen nice baby crookneck squash with the blossoms still attached, a few potatoes and a couple peppers. Its nice to see that we are consistently able to harvest things other than the never-ending supplies of basils, mints and oreganos.

Red Okra is going Berserk

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The last photo of the red okra on my blog showed the 2" sprout of the plant just beginning to grow. Just a short time later, it is going berserk! With only 6 or so plants growing, it is currently producing enough red okra to run it as a menu item every day of the week. I am able to clip, almost daily, enough red okra for a couple nights service for our main restaurant. Whether it will produce like this year round is yet to be determined, but for now its okra city. In addition to the okra, we are producing enough herbs to sell outside the resort if we choose to do so. I have an abundance of basil, lemon basil, cinnamon basil, lime basil, African spice basil, Thai basil, Kafro basil, Opal basil, African blue basil, ginger mint, apple mint, pineapple mint, chocolate mint, orange mint, grapefruit mint, spearmint, mojito mint, Mexican oregano, stick oregano, lemongrass, pineapple sage, regular sage, lemon thyme, rosemary, gold dust rosemary, and the list goes on and on. We hav

Ginger Marinated Grilled Ahi With Stuffed Squash Blossoms

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As the garden matures, delicate squash blossoms have appeared. I used them on tonight's dinner special. I made ginger marinated ahi medallions , with mushroom and roasted hearts of palm stuffed squash blossoms that I partially tempura fried. The sauces consist of truffle oil, tomato oil, Asian oil, and the highlight was a opal basil gastrique . The dish was served with steamed brown rice and garnished with Thai basil. This is a very simple dish that has very fresh flavors that compliment each other well.

Our Vegetable/Herb Garden: Just the Beginning

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As a start to a very beautiful garden, here are some photos of the young vegetation being utilized in our restaurants. I know I have spent much time away from Blogspot , but it has been productive time. In addition to the photos below, we have many other items planted. Some of them include: pomegranite trees, lime trees, tangerine trees, orange trees, bronze fennel, green fennel, grapefruit mint, chocolate mint, mojito mint, Vietnamese coriander, tomatoes, bay tree (bay leaves), apple banana trees and papaya trees to name a few. Much, Much more is to come. We will begin garden tours soon as well, and each week we hope to have noticeable improvements and additions. Apple Mint Asparagus Asparagus Basil Green Head Cabbage Cuban Oregano Dasheen Eggplant Ginger Root Bell Pepper Green Onions Holy Basil Jalapeno Peppers Lavender Leeks Lemongrass Lime Basil Opal Basil Opal Basil Oregano Portuguese Oregano Pumpkin Purple Sweet Potatoes Red Okra Round Chives Serrano Peppers Soy Beans Thai Bas

Taste Hawaii Weekend Culinary Event

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We have an upcoming event, scheduled for one long weekend in September that will give guests a great sense of Hawaiian influenced cuisine. With several Maui's top chefs providing daily demonstrations along with many wine, beer and cordial pairings, its sure to be a hit. For more information, visit the following link: http://www.tastehawaiionline.com/invitation-to-foodies

Entree Sampler Trio

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This is the entree sampler platter that we ran as a special recently. It sold very well, and gave our guests a taste of not one, but 3 of our entrees. First, there is our South Maui ribs, which are a St. Louis cut with Maui onion BBQ. On the right we have roasted Australian rack of lamb with Pohaberry demi . Last is our signature Mahi Mahi entree. It is a macadamia nut and cilantro crusted Mahi , with red quinoa risotto and lemongrass butter sauce. This sampler entree is a well rounded and well portioned dish that left several happy, and full guests.

Hawaiian Currant Tomatoes

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With 1800 acres of land, our property has many fun surprises . Today I stumbled on to a whole crop of Hawaiian Currant Tomatoes. These tomatoes are sweet, and incredibly fresh tasting. They are pictured here with an already small Kamuela tomato. The Hawaiian Currant Tomatoes we have are only the size of peas, or slightly larger. They make a delicate addition to many dishes. Again, since they are grown on property , naturally, there is no cost for me, but they enhance plates appearance and flavors tremendously .

Mango-Chicken Sausage Flatbread Pizza

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This flatbread pizza appetizer is made with grilled caramelized Maui onion flatbread , chicken and mango sausage, duck confit , midnight moon cheese, molasses onion BBQ , tropical salsa fresca and micro chervil.

Seared Opakapaka with Maui Onion and Mango Chutney

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Last nights fish special was a seared Opakapaka , with red curry cous cous croquette, Maui onion and mango chutney and steamed baby bok choy . The idea came when a guest had inquired on how to make a mango chutney. I decided to put one on the dinner special and add the recipe to my blog. The red curry cous cous croquette, turned out pretty nice. I breaded it in a mixture of panko bread crumbs and fresh cilantro. The breading complimented the red curry really well and gave the dish nice eye appeal. I topped the dish off with a hearts of palm micro green salad which I tossed in shallot vinaigrette. The dish was finished with an Asian herb oil and mango gastrique . The flavors were really bold and complimented each other well. Opakapaka is such a nice fish anyways, its hard to go wrong. Check back soon for the link to my Maui Onion and Mango Chutney recipe, as it will be added in the next couple days.

Ocean Side Dining for Two

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We began offering our Ocean Side Dining recently, and found Valentines Day to be the first of many. We had two couples decide to enjoy their evening eating our 7 course wine paired dinner just feet away from the ocean. Tiki torches are the romantic lighting as the sun sinks into the water, and the food keeps coming. Nestled into a cozy ocean side grass roofed huts, our couples or small groups enjoy an intimate culinary experience. With both couples wishing for the night to never end, and one of the couples buzzing from the excitement of becoming engaged during their special evening, I see the popularity of this dinner choice growing quickly. I have attached the menu below, giving a glimpse of what the ocean side dining offers.

Mongolian Ribs

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Here is our Mongolian ribs happy hour dish. Hawaii is expensive. $6 pupus are a steal out here, and we have a decent selection to choose from. These ribs are braised with the ginger, citrus, chile flavors absorbing into the meat as it begins to fall off the bone. Once we are ready to serve the dish, we add the Mongolian BBQ which has hoisin , sweet Thai chili, teriyaki and cilantro to please your palette . The dish is lightened up with pineapple coleslaw and garnished with some green onion.

Crab and Bacon Stuffed Molokai Prawns

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These 13/15 prawns come from the island of Molokai. I stuffed them with a mixture of snow crab, bacon, bell pepper and fresh chives. I then poached the prawns in white wine, butter, garlic and shallots, finishing them in the salamander to give the stuffing some color. A small salad of a blend of micro greens grown in Kula , Kamuela tomatoes grown in Haiku, and a nice shallot vinaigrette accompany the four prawns. The dish is finished with lemongrass buerre blanc , made with lemongrass we have in our (currently small) hotel garden. This appetizer will be our special for the next couple nights, giving the Valentine weekend goers a nice local start to their dinners.

House Smoked Salmon

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We are looking to bring in some new dishes to the resort menus, and here is one we are currently working on. It is our house smoked salmon app. This one is a flavorful, colorful, and light appetizer. It has well rounded flavors, and great eye apeal. Our salmon is cured over night in a pretty standard sugar, salt and spice blend. After it has been rinsed thoroughly the following day, we cold smoke it with nice kiawe (light mesquite). It is served with a fresh mango pico de gallo, kaffir lime cilantro puree, chile Hawaiian rock salt, and Molokai Purple Sweet potato chips. Although it may change some before hitting the menu, this is not a bad starting point.

Maui Aquaponics Video Link

Check out the video on Maui Aquaponics above, or follow the Maui Aquaponics link for a larger version.

Farm to Table

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Here are the local, organically grown lettuces that were grown here on Maui ( Kapalua ) specifically for our hotel. These photos were taken Thursday and were being served in our restaurants Friday morning. These are the same lettuces from the previous post, now being harvested. I believe its about every 4-6 weeks that the lettuces are ready to harvest, and with virtually no travel time to get here, its as fresh as you are going to find.