This is why I shop at the farmers' market

Several weeks ago, I wrote this post about personal responsibility. It goes along with an earlier commitment to buy locally grown and/or organic produce whenever possible. Because we had such a successful shopping trip at Saturday's KCC Farmers' Market, I was motivated to cook dinner on Sunday night.

Here's what we ate:
1) Oven-roasted Molokai Sweet Potato
2) Braised Kale with Soy-Ginger Dressing (garnished with fresh Waimea strawberry)
3) Homemade Vegan Patty


This image was not digitally altered - the colors really were that vibrant. Wifey said it was the best meal I have EVER made for her. Wow. I wish I could say it was all me, but it really comes down to using the freshest ingredients possible.

Next week, I plan to try something a little different by picking up a CSA box from Ma'o Organic Farm (@maoorganicfarms). Stay tuned for posts from that adventure!

Here's the veggie patty recipe I came up with for those who are interested:
• 1 can black bean (pureed in blender)
• 1C cooked Oatmeal
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1/2 package panko
• 1/4 cup soy-based mozzarella
• 2T egg replacement
• 2T shoyu
• 1T garlic
• 1T ginger
• 1t curry powder

Mix all the above in a bowl and form into patties. Brown in a frying pan with extra virgin olive oil.

Thanksgiving Dinner

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was responsible for cooking Thanksgiving dinner for our family. I pretty much stuck with the planned menu - a traditional theme, with local flavor.

The turkey was done kalua style in the oven. Click here for a copy of the recipe.


To make the cranberry relish, I used fresh cranberries, sugar, crushed pineapple, a mixture of pecan and macadamia that I candied myself, and li hing powder. It's garnished with a couple of orange slices.


The yams were baked in sugar and covered with marshmallow. I dusted the top of the whole thing with cinnamon and li hing powder.


Here's a picture of my kim chee cornbread stuffing. It's made of onion, carrot, celery, fresh thyme and sage, butter, beer, kim chee, Zippy's cornbread, vegetable stock, and salt. Garnish is just a few sage leaves.


Instead of mashed potatoes, I went with garlic infused mashed Okinawan Sweet Potato. This is one of the simpler dishes, made with just potato, salt, butter, cream, and garlic.


Here's the picture of the full spread. You'll see some green beans in there. Those were marinated in a garlic-ponzu sauce and pan fried. They aren't much to look at, which is why I skipped the picture.


Here's the far end of the table. I shredded the turkey and served the white and dark meats separately. The gravy was also homemade: turkey gizzards, onion, carrot, celery, crystallized ginger, beer, shoyu, thyme, water, and cornstarch.


For dessert, I made a pumpkin haupia crunch. It's actually a combination of two recipes: pumpkin crunch from a coworker and haupia topping from @konaish.

Kalua Turkey Recipe

KALUA TURKEY

I used this recipe (given to me by my uncle) last year. It's very easy and the turkey tastes amazing - almost as if it came out of an imu. If I were doing a more traditional dinner, I'd brine the turkey for 24 hours and cook it upside down. If anyone's interested, I can post that recipe as well.

Prep the pan:
1. Line an aluminum pan with lots of foil, going from top to bottom and side to side. Make sure you have about two to three feet of foil hanging over the pan on all four sides, which will be used to make a seal.
2. Line banana leaves, if you can get them, in the bottom of the pan. Save some for the top of the turkey.
3. Then line the pan with ti leaves. Save some for the top of the turkey.

Prep the turkey:
1. Rinse the bird inside and out.
2. Take out the neck and the bag of gizzards.
3. Rub Hawaiian rock salt and liquid smoke all over, inside and out. I use Alea Hawaiian rock salt (the red one) and Mesquite smoke flavor.
4. Place the turkey in the pan.
5. Place the remaining ti leaves over the turkey, then the banana leaves.
6. From the sides, wrap and seal the turkey with the aluminum foil. Then do the same with the top/bottom foil. Wrap the foil as airtight as possible.

Bake at 300 degrees for eight (8) hours.