Oh my goodness, it's just about two months since I've last posted. Shame on me as a supposed blogger!! I let life events and work consume much of my energy the past couple months but realized, I really need to keep this up as an outlet that is completely separate from everything else I daily tend to.
So, what have I been up to in the kitchen?? Last week I finally visited the local Korean market here on the island, Palama Market. Like many Asian markets, it's cluttered with all sorts of food and random goods. I completed my task of learning some new Korean recipes other than making bulgogi or jap chae. My cousin in law, who is an incredible cook, shared with me a Korean food blog - Korean Bapsang. I chose two recipes to try last week: Jajangmyun and Dakdoritang.
Dakdoritang
L: Jajangmyun, R: Palama Market finds
I won't go into all the details of how I followed the recipes. I encourage you all to go to the Korean food blog itself and discover recipes yourselves. Just know they turned out savory and tasty. My husband enjoyed not having the Asian-like recipes I sometimes revert to that tend to all taste similar. These two dishes were distinct on their own and broadened our taste buds in the realm of Korean cuisine.
Don't be afraid of your kitchen or afraid to try new recipes outside your current cooking repertoire. Discover what other cultures you can bring into your kitchen and most of all, have fun in the kitchen!
Back in my piano teaching days, I taught three children of a Korean family. It was at their hospitable home, I was introduced to the most authentic Korean food I will ever have. One memorable snack in particular was a fried dough pancake of some sort that was filled with brown sugar. I never knew what it was called until I stumbled upon this Korean cooking website about a month ago. This tasty traditional Korean snack is called Hotteok. Simply put, a yeast dough that was filled with brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon that was then fried. My daughter offered some helping hands in the process filling the dough.
The result: a deliciously crisped pancake with a warm soft dough filled with sweet brown sugar syrup and crunchy pecans. I actually took mine just one extra step and drizzled some honey over it.
If you want to try some Korean cooking in your kitchen, I urge you to watch some of the tutorials on the Maangchi website and try something out! Cheers to new recipes!
Every Valentine's since 2011 or so, I've been making Nutella and fruit crepes with homemade whipped cream. I've mastered the crepe making technique with my pan: pour about 1/3 cup of batter and rotate the pan around quickly until the surface of the pan is covered. If you feel you need to buy an actual crepe pan to make crepes, by all means, go ahead. Just remember, the pan doesn't make the crepe, you do and I really don't think its necessary to buy a single use pan such as a crepe pan to take up space in your cupboard. Speaking of useless kitchen items and kitchen consumerism....that's another blog post.
Fondue Fail and Crepe Success
After our crepe brunch was over, I ran a few errands such as picking up a savignon blanc for the cheese fondue. Oh, and here is the so called "recipe" I used. I slowly added the cheeses of very low heat and whisked constantly before adding a new handful of cheese...the results: clumps of cheese that just clumped together at the end. I'm going to blame half of myself and half the recipe. Next time, I'm going to refer to the professionals at Food Network or at least YouTube a professional chef making fondue. I was incredibly peeved to say the least. Fortunately, the rest of dinner was good; we just couldn't dip any it into the fondue clump. Otherwise, these were the sides: marinated steak bites, roasted broccoli and cauliflower and roasted garlic potatoes.
The plan earlier was to also do chocolate fondue. After having a rich brunch and quite the filling dinner, we just could not see ourselves enjoying rich chocolate fondue. I do have all the ingredients for chocolate fondue and all the sides...maybe tonight. We'll see.
Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine, and by that I mean, enjoyed good food and chocolatey goodness <3.
So if you can't tell, I've been in a baking and...butter mode? Last weekend, it started out with having some spare pastry dough inside a sandwich bag that was saved from Christmas. I opened my pantry and realized I had dark chocolate chips and pecans. What better way to use all three, than to create little pastry puff purses of chocolate and pecans! (picture on the lower half).
This weekend roles around, and there's still a whole unopened box of puff pastry. What's been sitting in my pantry for a month? Dried figs! I reconstituted the figs in simmering water for 45 minutes, added honey, cinnamon and pecans and blended them in my Vitamix blender. Then piped them onto a puff pastry sheet, layered another sheet on top, and cut them into strips. Baked and frosted. Voila! Grown up fig bars (picture top left)
Oh, what's the picture on the top right?? BUTTER! I had too much heavy cream on hand and wanted to make something other then lots of whipped cream. Instead, I looked up how to make butter using my Vitamix. With some caress and questioning of whether I was doing right or not, I ended up with fresh tasty butter. The liquid drained from the butter ended up being buttermilk. Looks like I'll be making some buttermilk blueberry scones.
Puff pastry is fun with work with whether you choose to do something savory or sweet. Be a little adventurous...buy a box of puff pastry and then see what's in your kitchen you can create a filling with. Most importantly, always have fun with food!
Last night's cultural exploration took us to Vietnam. None of us had ever had a Banh Mi Ga Nuong - a Vietnamese Roasted Chicken sandwich. So I made it at home served with a side of pumpkin curry soup.
The sandwich recipe came from a food blog I recently discovered and absolutely love - The Culinary Chronicles. I'm not only a big fan of the eclectic mix of food she creates, but also her beautiful photography.
I had always wondered why the marinade/seasoning to most Vietnamese chicken, pork and beef dishes were distinctive from the soy sauce based marinades for many Japanese and Korean meats. The difference? Using Maggi seasoning with a combination of five spice seasoning. Maggi seasoning is still a very salty sort of sauce like soy sauce....but different in taste I can't exactly put into words.
There was definitely a bit of preparation to the sandwich. I actually made French baguettes from scratch using this recipe. You don't have to of course, but I happened to have a lot of bread flour from the holidays that I need to use up. I julienned a carrot and a daikon radish and then placed them in a pickling solution as described in the recipe. Also made the mayonnaise, thinly sliced cucumbers and chopped cilantro. Marinating the chicken for an hour or two is definitely a must. I used boneless chicken thighs, although the recipe did call for chicken thighs bone-in. The combination of texture and flavor of this simple sandwich was AMAZING. The savory chicken paired well with the pickled veggies, cilantro and cucumber which was then rounded out with the cilantro garlic mayonnaise. The freshly baked French baguette brought it all together to create the most unique sandwich flavors I've experienced. My husband actually composed TWO sandwiches and said I should make it again in the future. Win! Next Vietnamese dish I have yet to master: Vietnamese Curry.
Something new to do this year....Sunday brunches for our household. Today's brunch was banana muffins, bacon and eggs. Nothing special about that one, but it did inspire me to research brunch ideas stemming away from the usual eggs/bacon/whatever starch is around the kitchen. So, I planned out three brunches for the remaining Sundays in January. It would be kind of fun to invite people ever so often for a brunch. It's casual and less stressful than a dinner party. We'll see.
Want to change things up in your normal family cooking routine? Create a month long theme of some sort. For us, it's Brunch Sundays. Maybe next month, every Hump Day Wednesday will be Fancy Sandwich creations. Doing themed cooking activities not only aids in menu planning, but also opens up doors to what is out there along the chosen theme. You know those Pinterest recipes so beautifully displayed you say you're going to make but never do?? Maybe create Pinterest Tuesdays for a month where you only choose Pinterest recipes you've pinned. The ideas are endless!!
Anyway, have a wonderful week. Cheers to new ideas!
Happy New Year!! We celebrated New Year's Eve at home cookin' up some seriously oh-so-tastey-but-not-healthy food. Bacon Tomato Cheese Toast on a garlic loaf slice and fried chicken wings two ways: buffalo and BBQ style. On the side, homemade garlic bleu cheese tip. We then pigged out watching Avatar, drank Eye of the Hawk ale (which made me quite tipsy with just ONE bottle) and then cheered toast with champagne and sparkling apple cider for my daughter at the stroke of midnight.
So tip for next time: don't throw away leftover champagne!! This New Year's morning, I could have made some Mimosas!! Shame on me!
I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve and are having a great New Year's Day. Resolutions anyone? Cheers to new food discoveries and new memories for 2014.
I really enjoyed cooking for this year's Christmas. For Christmas eve (images on the left), we went for a light dinner with "palace food" appetizers (my daughter uses the term palace food to describe what she thinks is fancy food). On the top left, are slices of French bread layered with apple butter, prosciutto and brie cheese that was toasted in the oven. The image on the top right, has skewers of bacon wrapped bleu cheese stuffed dates (a MUST try). Of course, Santa needs sustenance and rolled out sugar cookies to be free form decorated by all of us. The blue mountain cookie definitely won "the diabetic's worst nightmare cookie" if there was such a prize.
Christmas dinner: Beef Wellington, Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Asparagus, Deviled eggs followed by Snow Flake Apple Pie and Chocolate Pecan Pie (all from scratch!). Earlier that day, we had brunch with relatives and I brought homemade cinnamon rolls which were ridiculously yummy. For two straight days, we lounged in Christmas pajamas, watched Christmas movies, ate delicious food and simply lounged around enjoying just being home with each other.
I truly believe the kitchen is the heart of the home. It's where we gather to eat, talk about our day and find vittle excitement even if we had a bad day. The kitchen is always an integral part to our lives and holiday celebration. I hope you all have feasted on lots of food this holiday. You can guess what January posts will be filled with: healthy and fresh recipes to cancel out all the butter rich food consumed over the holidays. :P. Anyways, happy holidays and cheers to good holiday times.
It was a glorious rainy day in Hawaii on Sunday and had our very first Gingerbread Day! My husband suggested this grand idea and I think we'll be making it another yearly Christmas tradition wherever we go. My daughter and I went out in the torrential rain to find a gingerbread house kit. Then shopped for ingredients to make ginger snap cookies. I happened to have gingerbread spice tea already in my pantry. Could I have taken the further step or two to make a gingerbread house from scratch? Maybe, but I just wasn't feeling it last minute. Next year however....Gingerbread day will definitely involve making one from scratch. That's a holiday experience I must say I at least tried and hopefully will not have failed.
This is the ginger snap cookie recipe I used from Allrecipes. I loved the soft and slightly chewy texture of the cookies. The cookie captured the warm flavor of Christmas....if there was such a cookie flavor. The house smelled of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove.
I love this holiday season because of the family traditions I get to help create. Making such memories in the kitchen is something I treasure for my family. Gingerbread day was a success and loved how festive it made all of us feel. The next holiday food tradition we do every year is baking Santa Claus's cookies. My daughter even picked out a snowflake cookie cutter to make his cookies extra special.
If there is anyone reading this at all, other than annoying bots that fill my page view count, I'd love to know of your family holiday food traditions. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!
What better way to remind us of winter than to make a hearty German influenced dish of slow cooked sauerkraut, potatoes, kielbasa and pork ribs [insert sarcasm here]. We live in Hawaii....it's never winter here. But I can pretend it's winter in my kitchen.....*sigh*. German cuisine is one culture I don't cook often. My husband is of German heritage and so I even accompanied dinner with a hefeweizen style beer. Rarely does he say this, but he actually said that the beer made the dish taste better. I found this recipes idea from chowhound.com - Slow Cooker Pork and Sauerkraut. I actually seasoned the ribs with salt, pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Then to complete the dish, I served it with a side of whole grain Dijon mustard. I highly suggest serving it with a hefeweizen beer as it paired well with this hearty dish.
My daughter, as of late, has been quite picky. So she wasn't a big fan of having ribs that weren't BBQ ribs. But rest assured, this dish is a keeper for the family and hopefully she'll grow out of being as picky as she is. I hope some day, we can enjoy this dish in cold weather.
Next food project: planning the Christmas feast :). I'm excited for this. Cheers to winter!
This morning, I made for the first time, coconut flour pumpkin muffins. Using this recipe. Why coconut flour? Well, for those who are gluten sensitive (which I am not), it's a great alternative to any sort of wheat flour. Not only is it higher in fiber than regular flour, it's also low carbohydrate option because you end up using significantly less of it in a baking recipe such as coconut flour muffins. Replacing it in recipes that normally call for all purpose flour, requires an adjustment in liquids and eggs. Google is my best friend and has helped me find out how to successfully and tastefully use coconut flour for muffins and pancakes.
For those of you making a transition to a healthy lifestyle, the focus isn't just cutting out everything that is unhealthy, but more so, finding ways new ways to make delicious food choices that just happen to be healthier. I always like to put a positive outlook on life. I could even count this as a life lesson! Cut out those from your life that are causing you grief and trouble, at the same time, build relationships with those that share and support your life goals.
Your health and life are what you make of it. Cheers to healthier food and life choices!
Gotta love the after eating effects of Thanksgiving. Makes me super motivated to eat clean afterwards. Right now, I'm waiting on my replacement container for my Vitamix. A looong time ago on this blog, I mentioned having a Vitamix. All I want to consume right now, are green smoothies made of all sorts of healthy clean green veggies and fruits.
The day after, I ran 3 miles and surprisingly didn't feel nearly as sluggish like I thought I was. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to increase to 4 miles. I'm really on no set mileage plan..just slowing increasing a couple weeks at a time. No need to get injured.
Back to food talk. I definitely feel a different in my fitness workouts and runs when I eat horribly. I feel lethargic which eventually leads me to being unmotivated which leads me to...NOT working out. Ever have those types of days? We all do. When I'm at my happiest, I'm eating healthy and feeling motivated to maintain a healthy fit lifestyle. Eating healthy and eating well is a lifestyle...not a temporary fad to simply loose weight. I truly believe having healthy eating and fitness habits directly influences our outlook on our personal life. I know for a fact, I feel more motivated to accomplish more at work and at home. I'm more motivated to be a better person overall in all aspect of my life.
Well, good luck to you all recovering from Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a great time with family and of course...food :).
What's nice about having Thanksgiving at a relative's home, is how much I
can relax at home for this holiday and not worry about a kitchen full
of dishes. I am however, bringing two dishes: Okinawan Sweet Potato Haupia Bars with a Macadamia Nut Shortbread Crust. The other is a
traditional green bean casserole. The only one I feel is worthy of
showcasing in the post is the Hawaiian influenced dessert.
As you can see, the purple stuff is whipped Okinawan sweet potato. The taste is entirely different from the sweet potato/yams many of in the states all know of. It doesn't have a squashy taste at all, its sweet taste is unique on its own. After whipping the cooked potatoes, I mixed it with sugar, milk, butter and eggs. Layered it on top of a macadamia nut short bread cookie crust and baked it. After it cooled some bit, I made what is called haupia which is made from coconut milk, sugar and cornstarch. It's pretty much like making a really thick pudding on the stove top. After it thickened, I poured it over the baked portion of the dish. Then let it set over night. The first time I made it last year, I did not have the coconut milk mixture come to a boil. It was an unset, creamy mess...but still tasted good. This time was a success. The directions in the blog were misleading and did not tell me to bring it to a boil over medium heat before turning it down to low.
Lesson when using cornstarch as a thickener (as learned from some Food Network show): mix the cornstarch with cold water. Add cornstarch water to your sauce/mixture while constantly stirring. Bring it to a boil (doesn't necessarily mean high heat, enough heat to get your mixture bubbling)...in this case, I had it set to medium. Immediately turn heat to low after mixture has come to a boil and keep stirring. Your mixture should be properly thickened.
I'll be sure to post more pics of my family Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. Hope you all are having a wonderful and thankful day! Cheers to being surrounded by family and food!
I am going to veer a little off the road a bit for this blog post.
The composition of cuisine and music are quite similar. There is always a theme and a myriad of different ingredients/notes to compose a creation. I know this concept is nothing new, but I really have no other outlet to express this pondering of mine.
Everything in a recipe and in a musical composition has a purpose and a meaning. The chicken may be the star of the roast chicken recipe, but it is bland without a variety of herbs and seasonings. Beethoven created beautiful melodies and such for the piano. Without his genius use of harmonies and phrasing, there would have never developed a sonata but simply a lonely melody.
So, where am I going with this?
Tonight, I guess I felt inspiration in my approach to living life playing the second movement to Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8, aka...Sonata Pathetique. Everything I do and choose in life should be meaningful and purposeful; let nothing be deemed as futile and purposeless. Always have a direction to lead. Let every word I say to my daughter be meaningful in her development. As a person, continue to read books that serve purpose in developing my personal strengths, socialize with those that inspire me, cook with love and inspiration, build others up around me who matter in my life, avoid miserable people, always think about how to improve things at work and be the best in my career field, spend frugally with the goal of saving up for investing in a home in Alaska...make each moment in my life count towards something good. Live intentionally and without hesitation.
Well, that's what I wanted to convey. Cheers to good food, good music and a good life :).
More tasty fall vittle experiences! Pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes with pecans and bacon. First of all, it has bacon...what more else matters? This morning's brunch was like eating a taste of fall rounded out with incredible savoriness of crisped bacon. I love having a variety of textures and tastes on my plate. There was the fluffiness of the buttermilk pancakes, the warm fall taste of pumpkin mixed with cinnamon and nutmeg, the luxuriousness of the slightly melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, the crunchiness of the pecans and slight chewiness of the bacon bits. What brought it all together was the pure maple syrup. However, if you happen to have candied pecans around..that would really bring it over the top!
And to further dive into the world of bacon experiences I've tried:
Dark chocolate drizzled bacon
Bacon wrapped grilled hot dog
My husband and daughter did this: bacon wrapped hot dog, dipped in a batter to be deep fried
Bacon wrapped grilled shrimp
Bacon bits on a spinach salad with pecans and a balsamic reduction dressing
Bacon in a turkey avocado sandwich
Bacon wrapped filet mignon
Brussel sprouts sauteed with garlic and bacon
Bacon in macaroni and cheese
....and I'll end there for now. You get the idea. My family and I love bacon. Who doesn't love bacon?
Another thing I've yet to try, is fresh bacon straight from a farm. I imagine that would be my ultimate bacon experience. Any who....hope you all are having a great fall season!
Apologies to anyone that somehow loves living in Hawaii during this time of year, but I am not a fan of it whatsoever.
One fall activity I have never done, but want to do, is go apple picking
at some farm. Of course I could get apples at the nearest commissary,
but it's the experience I'm looking for. I'd probably end up jarring
apples, making apple sauce and all sorts of apple breads. But I'm here
in Hawaii and there are no apple tree farms. First world problems, I
know, not a big deal. Another thing I miss about being back in the
"mainland" are seasons. The constant same warm weather is boring and is
driving me nuts. Give me cold, give me fall colors, give me snow....and I
will be one happy fall/winter lady.
To compensate the lack of fall season around here. I make dishes with apples. I found a new way to incorporate fall into some yummy turkey meat balls. Here's what I did.
Finely chopped 1/2 an apple, 1/2 of an onion, minced 3 cloves of garlic, grated about 1/2 inch of a ginger root. Roughly chopped some spinach for added nutrients.
Mixed 1 1/4 pound ground turkey with the chopped ingredients, 2 eggs (One whole egg, one egg white) and a 1/3 cup panko. Salt and pepper to taste.
Formed golf sized meat balls, did my best to pan fry them (which caused them to turn into triangle looking meat balls) and ended up finishing them off in the oven for about 12 min at 300 degrees because I was not sure they were cooked through all the way.
In the meant time while they baked, I mixed some Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce in the pan drippings. After the meat balls were done, I mixed them into the sauce.
Well, that's all for today. It's bright, warm and sunny outside...as usual.....*sigh*.
Well, here's my very first tutorial. What better way to get rid of leftovers than to make a Sunday End of the Week Leftover Frittata. What is a frittata? Basically, it's crust free quiche. So for those of you on low carb or Paleo diets, this can work for you. In this case, the leftovers I had were roasted broccoli (seriously, roasted broccoli is amazing!), roasted herb potatoes and a grilled steak. Obviously, don't add the potatoes if it's against your diet.
*Disclaimer: I'm just a person who likes to cook and will not guarantee your success of this recipe. Always be safe when cooking and use oven mitts to handle hot pots and dishes*
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Chop your leftovers. Additionally, I added 1/4 of a large onion, minced two cloves of garlic and chopped a Roma tomato.
In an oven proof heated pan over medium low heat (the dial for mine was about 2/3 of the way between low and medium), add about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive olive and saute the chopped goods until heated through
In a separate bowl, I whisked 2 whole eggs and 5 egg whites. You can very the egg combination any way you like. Use 7 whole eggs if you'd like! At this stage, you can add whatever cheese you desire. I added about 1/4 cup Parmesan. Seriously, add whatever cheese you want. Add 1/2 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper. Then pour the mixed egg mixture evenly into the pan and gently mix it around so that the egg mixed is evenly spread on the bottom of the pan. Let it sit there for 5 min or so to get the bottom set.
Place oven proof pan in the oven for 20-25 min, or until the egg is set. After it has a cooled for a few minutes, you can safely flip the frittata onto a large serving platter (what you're traditionally supposed to do). If you're not comfortable with this, no worries. Just slice and serve.
The world of frittata combinations is endless. You can make it luxurious by adding some heavy cream to it and fresh herbs. I've had it served with a dollop of sun dried tomato pesto before. I've made one that kind of tasted like a pepperoni pizza. Be creative and imaginative with this!
I am a fan of uniquely crafted beer. Thought I'd share this interesting article on what some folks are doing to re-innovate the craft of beer. From the National Public Radio site.
Forget Barley And Hops: Craft Brewers Want A Taste Of Place
by Alastair Bland
Last week, Aaron Kleidon went for a walk in the Illinois woods and
returned with a bag of lotus seeds. The seeds were bound not for his
dinner plate, but for his pint glass. In a few months, Kleidon will have lotus-flavored beer at the small brewpub ,
which he owns with two friends in Ava, Ill. The microbrewery
specializes in beers with seeds, leaves, roots, fruits and fungi foraged
from a nearby wooded property. The brewers have even made a saison from
chanterelle mushrooms.Why, you may ask, would anyone want to
add strange seeds and mushrooms to their beer? The answer is to create a
taste of place. It's a concept long recognized by and winemakers, who call it terroir, but is mostly absent from the craft of brewing.
This approach the placelessness of mainstream brewers, who mostly
use the same ingredients grown in the same places — barley from the
Great Plains and hops from the Pacific Northwest.
"Beer should
have a connection with the landscape," says Portland-based beer lover
Eric Steen. In 2011, Steen started a program called that invites
brewers to go hiking with an eye out for trail-side plants to use in
their beers. Steen's beer walks have involved such major breweries as
Deschutes and New Belgium, and have resulted in oddities like a sour
chokecherry beer, a sage-juniper IPA and a blonde ale brewed with
stinging nettles and salmonberries.
Across the country, in backwoods and backyards, there are others
searching for ingredients to flavor their beer. This summer, brewers
around Washington, D.C., held a called Foraged Cask, which showcased
beers made with unusual additions like mint, mulberries and lavender.
And for several years, Chris Haas, head brewer at in Salt Lake City, has trekked into the local mountains late each summer to collect wild-growing hops.
At
in Santa Cruz, Calif., owner Alec Stefansky brews a red ale using
maple-scented candy cap mushrooms. Stefansky, who has also experimented
with fragrant redwood branches, says using wild, local ingredients in
his beer is a way "to make flavors that are uniquely Northern
Californian."
For his beer — called Rubidus Red, after the
candy cap's Latin name — Stefansky collects the mushrooms himself each
fall and winter. He says that the maple syrup aroma of dried candy caps
is so potent that a single cup will do for seven barrels of the beer.
What's more, if a person drinks just 2 or 3 pints of Rubidus Red, he or
she will begin to smell deliciously like the fungus, according to
Stefansky.
"You'll wake up smelling like breakfast," he says.
Imprinting
beer with the flavor and scent of the South is a focus at Fullsteam
Brewery, in Durham, N.C., founder Sean Lilly Wilson tells The Salt. The
brewery features both wild ingredients and those grown on local farms —
like hickory-smoked barley, sweet potatoes, local corn grits, figs from
neighborhood trees, pawpaw fruits and wild American persimmons.
Brewing
with foraged edibles may seem like another eccentric step forward by
the ever-innovating craft beer industry, but Steen at Beers Made by
Walking says it is actually a step backward.
"Historically,
there were all sorts of herbs with flavor and medicinal qualities used
in beer," he explains. "So, this is nothing new or special. It's really
quite an old tradition."
All I have to say is, what a sultry and almost salacious wine description ;). Don't worry readers, I'm keeping this G rated. Let's get to the tasting. First of all, let me put a disclaimer here: I may love my wine, but I am NOT a wine expert that can smell notes of chocolate bits with a sense of autumn caressing the body of the wine. Are you kidding me? I know what I like and what I don't like. That being said, here we go...
If there is one thing I smell for before tasting, it's wondering if I will immediately smell the ethanol upon first sniff or if I can actually smell grapes. Fortunately, I smelled the sweetness of the grapes. I'm not sure what blend of grapes were used. As for the body, I'd say medium to full body; leaning more on the full body side. This was definitely on the sweet side, regardless what the sample lady said, I didn't trust her wine opinion anyway. I really don't know why she said this was on the dryer side. It is definitely sweet for a red wine blend. Then again, it's a $10 bottle of red wine. My personal opinion: a little too sweet for my red wine taste. The good things about this wine, the taste begins and ends smooth with a noticeable grape aftertaste. However, if you're a beginner and are trying to make your way into liking red wine, this could be a start. I like a little more tannins to my reds, but that's just me. Cheers!
Monkeypod Kitchen is the place my husband, daughter and I went to dine this evening. The name of restaurant is coined from the fact that much of the restaurant's wood structure is made from monkey pod wood. Our waiter summed it up best; that basically a few rich guys got together and decided to make a restaurant out of monkey pod wood. Go figure. Must be nice.
Anyways, sorry I do not have any photos as my phone was taken up by my husband and daughter. The food was fun. I started off with a fun cocktail called the South Shore Sangria. It was refreshing, well balanced in flavors and made me quite tipsy to be honest. Yes, I'm a light weight and one cocktail will get me to the giggly stage. Also, I've never been informed of what city the chicken at the restaurant came from until this place. Honestly, the whole experience of listening to the waiter go on and on and on about the freshness of the food reminded me of an episode from the show Portlandia, "Is the chicken local?" . Lol. I'm re-watching it now and it's making me laugh.
We started off with the pumpkin ravioli as a shared appetizer. In the midst of it, I think I might have seen a couple coworkers entering the restaurant. Anyways, I digress. So back to what we ate. Our main course: daughter had the keiki cheese burger sliders, husband had fish and chips and I had the "Bourgeois Pizza" which had local lobster, local wild mushrooms, provolone cheese, some other cheese and Monkeypod kitchen white sauce. The food was good, but nothing spectacular. The experience was enjoyable to say the least.
Speaking of good food, but it not being spectacular here on the island. We've yet to encounter a restaurant that has truly captured our attention and taste buds like the restaurants on "the mainland". I wish had started this blog while we were in Anchorage, AK. I'd say, that's where my husband and I's food journey began. The restaurants out there are literally diamonds in the rough. There's none here on island that has yet to compare the food experience we've had not only in Alaska, but also on the east coast. We're not being food snobs. No. We've just had better. The one unique thing we can claim is having the freshest sushimi and poke here. My uncle is a fisherman and we've had the delight in consuming fresh ahi tuna the day it was caught.
Anyways, I'm still a little tipsy. In addition to the refreshing cocktail, I also had Maui Brewing Co's Bikini Blonde Lager. One of my husband and I's favorite local island brews. Actually, I'm not tipsy. I'm at the end of feeling sleepy and lazy.
