Maui, Morimoto, Malasadas

Morimoto at the Andaz on Maui is known for its upscale Japanese cuisine. After your meal, make sure to leave room for dessert. The malasadas here are perfect. Fluffy and moist on the inside, lightly fried on the outside, and evenly coated with sugar. Three exquisite dipping sauces, apple banana cheesecake, sake caramel, and Waialua chocolate, transform the dessert to a black tie event, even though when you look down, you’re still wearing shorts and flip flops. 
 

EAT: Blistered Shishiyto Peppers, Sushi, Uni Carbonara, Sushi, Snapper, Malasadas

Recipe: Homemade Bolognese Pasta Sauce

We made our first batch of homemade pasta sauce using fresh San Marzano and Roma tomatoes from our garden. We fell in love with this simple recipe from Marcella Hazan and tweaked it with our own little flourishes. It was delicious — enjoy!

Recipe: Homemade Bolognese Sauce

3 pounds of fresh tomatoes (we used a mix of San Marzano and Roma tomatoes)

5 tablespoons of butter (we used Plugra European butter)

1 medium yellow onion, sliced in quarters

1 pound of ground beef

1 tablespoon of chili flakes

1 sprig of basil

1. Plunge the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or less. Drain and place in cold ice water bath, skin and cut into coarse pieces.

2. Place tomatoes, butter, onion and chili flakes in a sauce pan and cook uncovered at a slow, steady simmer for 1 hour, or until thickened to your liking.

3. While the sauce is simmering, cook ground beef in a skillet under med-high heat. Drain and set aside.

5. After tomato sauce is thickened to your liking, stir in the ground beef and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

6. Serve with al dente pasta and top with fresh basil. 

Don't These Look Good? Do'Nuggets

Recipe:

1 package of store bought biscuits (Trader Joe's or Pillsbury)

Vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons finely crushed peanuts

Directions:

Divide each  biscuit into 4 pieces, roll into balls. Add to hot oil and fry and until golden. After frying remove place the nuggets on paper towels to soak up the extra oil. Mix sugar and crushed peanuts. Roll the fried nuggets until evenly coated. Serve immediately. 

Acai

Okay, I admit it.
I am addicted to coffee.
A day without coffee is a headache. Literally.

I was chatting with a friend about my coffee addiction woes and she said, “Cut out the coffee and drink acai juice. You’ll feel more energy without the crash. Also, it’ll make your hair, skin, and nails look great! I have some in my car. Take some.” She gave me two bottles and said, “In two weeks, you’ll be begging for more! You can buy a box off me then.” Then with a sly wink, she hustled off to meet her friends for coffee. Ironic don’t you think? I’ve been drinking acai juice for a few days now and it tastes amazing. Looking forward to trying out this delicious acai bowl next!

Photo credit @hotforfood

In-Season

With carrots starting to peek out of the dirt, we're excited to try out a few new recipes. Raw carrots are fine in the summer, but the cold weather is calling for a more exciting serving.

Simple Roasted Carrots With Sage Butter

Ingredients:

1 bunch of carrots

4 tablespoons of butter

1/4 bunch of chopped sage 

salt/pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees and then lower temperature to 325 degrees. Clean, peel, and slice carrots into quarters. In roasting pan toss carrots with butter, chopped sage, salt and pepper under medium heat until the carrots are coated. Place oven-proof pan into oven and roast for 25 minutes until the carrots are tender, tossing occasionally. Serve with roasted chicken and brown rice for a complete meal. 

Sunday Bake

When it's cold and rainy outside, what else is there to do besides bake a chicken? We concocted a rosemary and lemon chicken today and it turned out pretty good. Finish the meal with brown rice and kale salad for a satisfying Sunday dinner.

Recipe: Rosemary Baked Chicken

Ingredients:

Whole chicken

Fresh rosemary sprigs

Lemon Slices

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Thoroughly clean chicken inside and out, pat dry. Fill the chicken cavity with rosemary bundle and 5 lemon slices. Brush 1 to 2 tablespoons of room-temperature butter on outside of chicken, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary leaves. Bake for 40 - 55 minutes, depending on size of bird. Pair with brown rice and kale salad for a satisfying meal.

When Life Gives You Lemons . . .

What do you make? Our Eureka lemons are coming in fast and furious so I'm looking for new ways to utilize them. Lemon pasta, lemon water, lemon pancakes, lemon zest, lemon chicken, lemon curd . . . what else?

Cooking More

I used to love cooking — until I moved to NYC. Now that we're back in California, getting back into the habit of cooking has been a challenge. Until today. Franny's Simple Seasonal Italian cookbook just inspired me to cook for the first time in over six months!The recipes written by Andrew Feinberg and Francine Stephens – the famous husband-and-wife duo behind the much-loved Franny's eatery in Brooklyn — are simple, delicious and easy to recreate. We made the Farro Spaghetti with Anchovies and it was really tasty. Nutty, fresh and perfect for a cold winter day.

Recipe: Farro Spaghetti with Anchovies, Chilies and Garlic Serves 4

Ingredients: 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed 10 anchovy fillets 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes 1 pound farro spaghetti (or use whole wheat) 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 to 3 tablespoons finely grated Percorino Romano

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over med-high heat. Stir in garlic and anchovies until the anchovies are dissolved, 2 to 3 mins. Add the chili flake and cook for another 30 seconds. Take off heat and add 2 tablespoons water to the pan.

Cook pasta according to package instructions, taking out two minutes shy of al dente; drain.

Toss spaghetti into the skillet with the garlic-anchovy mixture, parsley and cracked pepper. Cook over medium heat for 1 to 2 mins. Stir in lemon juice and a little more water if pasta is dry.

Divide the pasta into bowls and finish each serving with a sprinkle of finely grated Percorino Romano and a drizzle of olive oil.

The Vietnamese Sandwich

The vietnamese sandwich: delicious, refreshing, well-balanced — and easily one of my favorite foods. The weekend would not be complete without one of these (and an iced vietnamese coffee) from Ba Le, a local deli we frequent every weekend when we're in town.

Chicken Pot Pie Doesn't Get Enough Cred.

Making savory pot pies from scratch can be a little intimidating and time consuming, so over the holiday break, my sister and I decided to tweak Ina Garten's famous chicken pot pie recipe so it's a lot easier to make — but just as DELICIOUS! Our secret? Instead of cooking the chicken and pie dough from scratch, we bought a rotisserie chicken from the deli and purchased a high-quality puff pastry dough from our local grocery store. Here's the recipe, enjoy!

1 rotisserie chicken (roughly shredded) Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 5 cups chicken stock, --> Imagine Foods Organic Free Range Chicken Broth Low Sodium 2 chicken bouillon cubes --> Better Than Bouillon Organic chicken base 3/4 stick of butter 1 cup of shallots; 1 cup of chopped celery 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup heavy cream 2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups) 1 cup of fingerling potatoes 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

for the pastry: high-quality store bought pastry dough (like Dufour) 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper (to sprinkle on top of the pie crust)

*makes six individual pot pies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.

Divide the filling equally among 6 ovenproof ramekin bowls. Divide the pre-made dough into six 8 inch circles. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.