Utah Mecca Of Hawaiian Food

Utah is known for many things - great skiing, the Great Salt Lake and great Hawaiian food. It's true. This landlocked state is now famous for producing  island treats It's like a taste of a sunny paradise in the middle of the mountains.

Priya Krishna, a regular contributor and author of Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks, wrote this unique and interesting article for today's New York Times Food section.She interviewed the force behind the Hawaiian food movement, brothers Kalani and Kimo Mack. Their restaurant , Mo Bettahs (it means the best in  local  Creole Pidgin dialect) is in Salt Lake City and it's one of the most popular out there How did the food get there in the first place? Thank the Mormons. The first missionaries went to the islands in the 1840's , trying to convert islanders to their religion.It is why now Polynesia is rife with them.The islands host six temples and several church sponsored schools. Many modern missionaries are sent there for two or three years and develop a taste for Hawaiian food.They miss the variety and different flavors. Mo Bettahs satisfies that culinary  itch  The brothers came into it by happy accident. Mormons themselves, they moved to Salt Lake City in 2008 because the cost of living was cheaper than the islands along with being Mormon. There were no job prospects and the brothers were more beach bums than academics. They brainstormed coming up with ten ideas, including selling tents and  creating kiosks for people to download Ipod songs.

The third idea - running a restaurant resonated with them. There was only one problem - the Mack had no clue on how to run a restaurant but knew they wanted to make their favorite foods. Fortunately they had their Hawaiian - Korean mother's recipes and their work experience at the exclusively Hawaiian chain, Zippy's  One menu must have was the  popular plate lunch , consisting of a multicultural meal of meat, rice and macaroni salad!It was a staple of the 19th century sugar plantations, Other dishes offered are chicken katsu, a kind of fried chicken with a panko crumb coating.and kahlua pork, shredded pork  butt  seasoned with liquid smoke and Hawaiian sea salt.There's also the more familiar shrimp tempura and pulehu steak, a strip rubbed, again, with Hawaiian sea salt, garlic and sugar. What's surprisingly is there is no shaved ice - the cool treat the Obamas made popular and haupia, a kind of custard made with coconut  milk,cornstarch, sugar  and waterMaybe the brothers will expand their menu to include these in the future or even set up a separate but connected stand  Still Utahans love the food, thanks to Kalani's campaign on Facebook and the missionaries longing for Hawaiian food. There will be six more branches opening up in Utah and one in Idaho. Nevada and Missouri are also on their radar too.

Utah seems like an unlikely place for katsu chicken and pulehu steak,. Yet the Mack brothers are making sure it's a standard  in a landlocked state.It's a chance to enjoy paradise in the Beehive State.

Pereg Flours - A New Way Of Baking

Using an old fashioned recipe is sweet. Using old fashioned white flour isn't. It can lead to bad allergic reactions along with gluten based stomach problems. Luckily, there is Pereg Flours that allows home  bakers to bake without any worries or doubts.

Pereg is known as an alternative flour company, even though they also sell soups , bread crumbs and pasta among other healthier foods.It's one of the oldest , starting by the Pereg family in 1906. The company has a full range of gluten free, carb free, allergy free flours. These are perfect for those dealing with all sort of wheat related problems. The flours range from the ancient grains such as teff and quinoa to plaintain, coconut and banana. Old standby's like buckwheat are also sold along with the trendier almond and chickpea. I thought I'd give Pereg Flours a try and got the quinoa. This doesn't have the carbs of regular wheat and it's healthier.I thought  why not pancakes.I took the Lazy Cat Kitchen recipe and tweaked it a bit.

This is the quinoa flour. It has a custardy yellow hue and a silkier texture than regular flour.

A teaspoon of baking powder was needed as was a teaspoon of baking soda/

They were sifted together to look like this

Now it's time for the liquids. The Lazy Cat recommended a plant milk. I chose coconut milk, for both the low calories and creaminess. 

Two teaspoons of lemon juice were added to create a catalyst with the baking powder and baking soda. This creates a leavening effect that gives the pancakes lift.

Four teaspoons of maple sytup (actual maple syrup not the watered down version) gives the batter a subtle sweetness.

Vegan butter , made from coconut oil but tastes exactly like the real thing was used for frying.

The pancakes came out  OK not as robust as regular pancakes.

The taste was green and plantlike, Imagine the scent of freshly cut grass as a taste and you have quinoa. Before frying I added a sprinkle of Celtic sea salt to bring out the other ingredients' flavors.Of course I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and more maple syrup were poured over them.

 Next time I'll try Pereg's Buckwheat to maybe whip up a batch of blinis.

Pereg's Flours bring in a whole new era of baking. They'll help home bakers wean their families away from traditional wheat flours and embrace a healthier diet. Try their flours in any baking recipe and see the difference.

All Foods British

Today is a double day of celebration in England. It's not only St. George's Day, he of  dragon slaying but also celebrating the soon to be named prince, William and Kate's third child.Celebrate with tasty British food - and no  - that's not a joke. British  food has been transformed to rival that on the other side of the Channel.

One quintessentially British food is clotted cream. It's sometimes called Devonshire or Cornish cream and it's essentially cow's milk heated in a warm bath. Creamy curds then appear and these can be spread on scones and muffins.Amazon sells it but it can also be made at home by cooking whole cream i a very cool oven  175 degrees Farenheit for twelve hours. It's delicious on crumpets which is where our English muffins come from. Mixed with mustard it makes an excellent sauce for steak. It's also a part of a cream tea, Brits piled it onto scones along with a thick layer of strawberry or plum jams. Teas themselves are a lovely way to celebrate a new baby or as a light afternoon meal with friends. Start with a variety of teas for a lovely light beverage to wash down those scones , petit fours and some savory sandwiches such as egg salad and watercress.Another big English favorite is the picnic. It's not the dinky, wrapped sandwiches and a bag of chips. This is an elegant affair with a wicker hamper and china. The utensils are not plastic but actual metal. Food is usually a cold chicken with sausage rolls and potted shrimp on the side. The last is spiced shrimp, laced with paprika and a mix of ground ginger, mace and nutmeg.It's sealed with butter and served with crusty brown bread.

Our Sunday dinners of roast beef and ham originated with the early and wealthy English colonists. The big Sunday dinner still holds sway over most families.It's ususually roast beef served with the buttery yummy Yorkshire pudding,a kind of popover baked with the juices from the roast.along with eggs, flour and milk. A green vegetable such as broccoli or peas is also served with it to round out the meal. Dessert could be fresh strawberries in season or a Victoria sponge rich with strawberry preserves and whipped cream..Another well beloved British meal is breakfast  A breakfast fry up is usually bacon, sausages and blood  pudding, a type of sausage made with oatmeal and pig's blood. There are eggs with it, usually fried, poached or scrambled White bread also is fried in the bacon grease , although grilled  oatcakes replace it in the Midlands. Baked beans are also included along endless cups of milky tea.The countries of the former British Empire has impacted their diet as well. The most popular takeout or take -away is Indian food. A Friday or Sunday night treat might be curry or samosas with a cool lasse to drink. Chinese food is also a popular choice as well in the UK.

Celebrate Saint George's Day and the birth of Baby Cambridge with a cream tea or a Yorkshire pudding.The British know how to cook and produce delicious food.  Try a recipe  and enjoy the flavor of Britian.

How Green Is Your Kitchen

Earth Day is tomorrow and people all over the world will be evaluating what they can do to reduce their  carbon footprints. It's also time for home chefs to examine their kitchens and see if they need to make any "green" adjustments.

One of the most used resources in any kitchen is water. We need it to wash fruits and vegetables , along with our plates and utensils.It quenches our thirst  when we're thirsty and is often an ingredient in both savory and sweet recipes. Yet do we respect it? How many times do we just let it run as we seek the exact temperature? This is one of our worst habits. If you're hand washing dishes, use a small plastic basin like what you'd use for leftovers to wash the dishes. Then do a quick rinse to get the soap off. Don't let the water run. As for dealing with a parched throat, the best bet is put ice cubes in a glass before you fill it with tap water.  The ice will instantly chill it. and that way  you're not wasting water.As for cooking , get the exact measurements - not that you're throwing away any overage. washing fruits and vegetables are always a must however this also creates water waste. Use a large bowl for any kind of produce washing however scrimp on the water. Due to the pesticides used, you can't repurpose the water. It does have to be dumped down the drain.Another idea is using vinegar to clean skins and even rinds.Wipe down with a towel afterwards.

Paper and plastic are big components of a home kitchen. Our food comes in both. What to do with those boxes and containers afterwards? Any box should be put in the recycling paper bin or bags.This includes cereal and microwave foods boxes along with any cookie paper bags or pie boxes. Those paper bags from the grocery can be repurposed to hold the flattened boxes along with newspapers. Milk and ice cream cartons, made of wax coated paper do need to be thrown out with the regular trash. The plastics lids, however ,can be put into the plastics. As for plastics, whether they're bottles or cupcake holders, they all belong in the plastic recycling bins. You can repurpose  your water bottles by refilling them with tap water. Any straws can also be used for a second and even third time.. Just wash and dry them. What about those cracked plastic and glass containers? Do you just toss them or use them for a different purpose? Small ice cream bowls can hold dry snacks such as nuts pretzels or potato chips. The larger ones can be used as fruit bowls or even to hold rolls for dinner.The same principle goes for cracked glass , although this last does come with a caveat. If there are sharp edges, then you'll have to throw it out. A jagged edge can produce a nasty cut on the fingers.Just remember to toss the glass into the plastic bin. Many towns recycle the two together.

Is your kitchen as green as you want it? Use this Earth Day weekend to re-valuate your family's habits. Changing them may help save the planet in a small but very important way.

Hi Mountain Jerky The Perfect Snack

Now that the weather is finally warming up, it's time to head out on hikes and picnics. What goes with these? Beef jerky, especially Hi Mountain'seasonings'tasty  bits of dried beef. They're the perfect take along for any trail blazer.

I like Hi Mountain' Seasoning's products. They're primarily known for their rubs but they also have a line of jerky that makes for a nice nosh or can even be added to dishes for some zing. The company originally had jerky curing kits where home chefs can make their own. Now the company has a new line of ready made strips.

Above is the pepper, coated with a ground black pepper. This is an eye opener that reminds me of the Italian cacciatore with its' heat. It may be jerky but I can imaging frying this up with eggs for a take on bacon.I can also seeing it cut up into tiny bits for a spinach salad.

The hickory flavor is  mild, perfect for pairing with veggies .It could even go with a sourdough bread and a chunk of cheddar for a quick meal during a hike or day at the beach. I like the mild flavor and it hickory flavor.

The mesquite flavor is a sweet , smoky treat and again it's the perfect bite for a hike. It has the mesquite's sweet  earthy flavor, heightened by the addition of sugar.

Of course,there's the original.

It has the beef's strong mineral flavor without all the bells and whistles.It's a nice garlic-y flavor  thanks to the addition of the spice and again I could see adding this to any egg dish or even topping burgers with it  for a chewy, meat lover's meal.

Hi Mountain Seasonings' jerkys are the perfect take along for hiking. They're also fun to incorporate into classic recipes. Try the flavors today for some chewy, tasty fun!

Calm Yourself With Risotto

Kitchen work is soothing work to some. There's something zen about stirring polenta or grating chocolate. The same is true with risotto. The constant stirring, usually in a figure eight  is both calming and comforting.It's one of the most relaxing tasks for a home chef.

Melissa Clark wrote about this in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Her A Good Appetite column was devoted to it and the woman who inspired the piece.  Ruth Rogers, chef and owner of the River Cafe in London loves to stir her rice.The motions and rhythms soothe anxiety - and Ms Clark was anxious about creating Chef Rogers' recipe for nettles risotto. The recipe is part of a brand new cookbook River Cafe London which salutes the restaurant's thirtieth anniversary. It also celebrates the eatery's classic recipes updated for a new generation of home chefs.The nettles risotto is one of the trickiest to make. nettles are those sharp stingers that hurt when touched with bare hands. Dealing with them in a home kitchen means the rubber gloves have to come out. Luckily spinach can be subbed in  They have a rich mineral taste  like the other and taste wise they can easily be interchanged. No one will know the difference.

Ms. Clark's accompanying recipe reflects this change. There are eight packed cups of spinach involved. These are stemless because it could make the risotto stringy.Another reason why she wanted to make the rice dish is the taleggio. This is a creamy, sharp cheese from the Alpine region of Lombardy that's added last to the dish. Like most arborio dishes this one is also labor intensive. The spinach has to be placed in a colander and has to have boiling hot water poured over it to wilt the leaves.Then the water has to be squeezed out with a dishtowel before the leaves are being transferred to a food processor.There is also celery , onion and garlic that need to be cooked too.The rice is added to this as is three quarters of a cup of dry white wine and either vegetable or chicken stock.It will take fifteen to twenty minutes for it to be ready. The spinach puree and taleggio chunks are them added and stirred into it.If you want it a bit simpler then cut out the cheese and serve it with a sprinkling of Parmesan.Just remember to keep stirring or the rice will stick.

If you're looking for good food and relaxation then go for spinach risotto with taleggio. It's a soothing dish to make if you;re stressed. Even if you'e not , it's still a great dish to make on a cool Spring night.

Recipes From A Potato's Birthplace

We tend to think of potato recipes as being North American,cooked with a European influence.There's fries and scalloped style, mashed and latkes. yet there were recipes for them long before , in the tuber's birthplace - Peru. These have been around forever and are still an integral part of the area's cuisine.

It was a fascinating article along with recipes in today's New York Times Food section, Madhur Jaffrey, an award winning actress for her part in Shakespeare Wallah, and now a food writer wrote this after visiting Peru and observing the different potatoes grown there. They come in every color and texture, from reds, blues, and purples to yellows and pinks. What is really interesting is that the interior textures can change just by putting them out in the sun. This turns them softer and silkier. Their shapes vary, they're not those elongated , lumpy ovals. Some are shaped like a puma
's paw while other are in the form of an alpaca's nose or a cat's claw. There are new varieties being discovered all the time. There are even potato banks, that store seeds for 1,300 (!) varieties .Peruvian chefs are always on the hunt to find new strains , the more to experiment with along with new ,indigenous herbs and plants to cook them into. The potatoes are not the bland tasting ones we're used to. They even have their own aromas, smelling sometimes like funky bean curds or cheese.

Ms. Jaffrey got to try the potatoes in a variety of dishes. At the Sumaq Hotel in the quaint southern Peruvian town of Aguas Calientes where Machu Pichu is she samples a potato cake The  spuds are cut mandoline thin and layered with bacon and cheese. There is also Papa a la Huancaina, which many consider the country's national dish  Potatoes are boiled, sliced and put with sliced, hard boiled eggs on lettuce leaves . Olives spike up the dish and then dressed with a Huancaina sauce. This last has the native long pepper , aji amarillo. Huancaina sauce can easily be made here too, if you go to a South American grocery store. It contains the pepper along with garlic and onion blended with mozzarella and hard boiled eggs.. Ms. Jaffrey also includes a recipe for a Peruvian cheesy potato soup that has two kinds of potatoes, chufos , the dried variety and russets.if you can't find chufos, just add more of the other These's also celery , carrots and squash along with feta cheese.it's served with a dollop of uchucuta sauce which is a kind of salsa verde. Peanut butter and  more feta give it a smooth, creamy texture ,perfect for blending into individual bowls of soup.

Potatoes in their original dishes are not only a taste of history but a treat. Get away from the European influences and try them in a variety of Peruvian dishes. it's a great way to bring out their mild flavor and silky texture.