Food – Page 9 – Hālau 'Aha Hui Lānākila

Recipe: Puff Pastry, Four Ways

May 31, 2016 Hālau ʻĀha Hūi LanakilaLeave a comment

Cream Cheese Filling

INGREDIENTS
1 8-oz block cream cheese
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract

PREPARATION
In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
Strawberry Pastry Diamond
Makes 9 pastries

Filled Puff Pastries

INGREDIENTS
1 sheet thawed puff pastry
5 strawberries, halved with stems removed
9 Tbsp. cream cheese filling, recipe above
powdered sugar

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut the puff pastry into 9 equal squares.
Taking one of the squares, fold one of the edges to the opposite edge.
Leaving a ½-centimeter border, cut about ¾ of the way from the bottom of the triangle to the tip on both sides, making sure the cuts do not touch.
Unfold the square.
Taking the top flap, fold it toward the 2 cuts near the bottom.
Take the bottom flap and fold it toward the top edge.
Place about a tablespoon of the cream cheese filling in the middle, then place a strawberry half on top.
Repeat with the remaining pastry squares.
Bake for 15–20 minutes until pastry is golden brown and puffed.
Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar!
Raspberry Pastry Flower
Makes 4 pastries

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INGREDIENTS
1 sheet thawed puff pastry
20 raspberries
4 Tbsp. cream cheese filling, recipe above
Powdered sugar

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut the puff pastry into 4 equal squares.
Leaving a ½-centimeter border, make 8 total cuts along the edges of the square, with each cut going about ⅓ of the way through the length of the edge. Make sure the cuts do not touch.
Place a tablespoon of the cream cheese filling in the middle of the square, then top with 4 raspberries.
Take one of the edge flaps and fold it toward the center, looping over the raspberry. Repeat with the other flaps. Place a raspberry in the center, on top of where all the flaps overlap.
Repeat with the remaining pastry squares.
Bake for 15–20 minutes until pastry is golden brown and puffed.
Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar!
Blueberry Pastry Pinwheel
Makes 9 pastries

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INGREDIENTS
1 sheet thawed puff pastry
36 blueberries
9 Tbsp. cream cheese filling, recipe above
Powdered sugar

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut the puff pastry into 9 equal squares.
Make 4 cuts on each square, with each cut starting from the outside corners of the square and stopping just short of the center.
Take one of the flaps and fold it toward the center. Fold every other flap toward the center until you have created a pinwheel shape.
Place about a tablespoon of the cream cheese filling in the middle, then place 4 blueberries on top.
Repeat with the remaining pastry squares.
Bake for 15–20 minutes until pastry is golden brown and puffed.
Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar!

Mom’s Recipe – Pinakbet (Bitter Melon Stew)

May 24, 2016 Hālau ʻĀha Hūi LanakilaLeave a comment

ampalaya

RECIPE: PINAKBET (Bitter Melon Stew)

A few friends who are diabetic were asking me how to eat bitter melon because they heard that bitter melon (we call it “ampalaya”) is a natural insulin … that is, it lowers blood glucose and A1c levels immediately upon consumption. Trouble is, these folks barely knew about bitter melon, let alone ever tasted or cooked with it. So, I shared Mom’s recipe, which my Dad dearly loved.

First, take a trip to the Asian food aisle or the local Asian Market, like Ranch 99, Island Pacific or Seafood City, and pick up a couple of ampalaya, one bunch of Chinese Yard-Long Beans, a small Kambocha squash, a pound of pork shoulder and a small bottle each of Fish sauce (Filipinos call this amber-colored condiment “Patis” and it is also widely used in Thai and Vietnamese cooking) and shrimp paste (we call it Bagoong). An additional veggie you might want to add is Chinese eggplant. An additional ingredient you might want to add is half-pound fresh shrimp. These are ingredients that are integral to Filipino and Southeast Asian cooking, so enjoy the experience!

Over medium heat, saute in 1 TB coconut oil 1/2 chopped medium-sized onion, 1 large tomato (the more tomato, the less bitter the dish becomes), 2 cloves minced garlic and saute’ until the onion is transparent. Then, add small cut-up chunks of pork and saute’ until meat is tender and just cooked through. Season with 1 tsp. of Fish Sauce. Stir in Chinese long beans snapped in 2″ pieces, Kambocha squash (peeled and cut into 1″ chunks), shrimp, eggplant and 1 TB of shrimp paste with 1/2 to 3/4 cup water. Put the lid on the pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Open the lid and add 1/2 cup of bitter melon cut into 1″ pieces (remove the seeds) on top of the stew, then close the lid and allow the veggies to steam and gently cook into this stew for about 5 minutes. Uncover and gently incorporate the bitter melon pieces into the stew and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Don’t overcook, or your dish will become too bitter. (This is the secret to making the dish tasty, but not overly bitter … lots of tomato and cooking the bitter melon on top and mixing it in towards the end of the cooking time.) Serve with hot Jasmine rice. This is a very popular aromatic dish in the Philippines. Enjoy!