One of my all-time favorite Top Chef contestants is Sheldon Simeon. He is such a wonderful ambassador for local Hawaii cooking, bringing together his Filipino heritage and the multiple ethnic influences represented in our islands. I couldn't wait to get my hands on...
As we came out of our post-holiday food coma, we found ourselves assessing the leftovers. Ham bones and turkey carcasses were used for stock. Roast beef and potatoes were turned into shepherd's pie. Roast vegetables were used in a frittata. There is little in the...
A good friend, who shares an appreciation for spam, found a recipe on the Three Hungry Bellies blog for spam buns. In this evolution of the hot dog buns commonly found in Chinese and Japanese bakeries, a slice of spam is encased in a soft, fluffy bread. I...
We always have some form of cheese in our refrigerator - sliced cheese for sandwiches, string cheese and cheese wedges for snacking, and lots of other cheeses that sounded interesting and delicious. One of the ever-present cheeses you will find is feta. It is great...
For many, many years, when I lived in Boston, I spent my Thanksgiving holidays with my extended family in Seattle. It was an easier trip to make (half the time it took to fly from Boston to Hawaii) especially when I knew I would be in Hawaii a few weeks later. Among...
Happy National Dumpling Day! Although this is an artificial holiday created as a marketing campaign by a food company, I can't help but celebrate one of my favorite types of foods. From pierogi to empanadas to gyoza to madombi, most cuisines have some form of a...
or la tentation de Bramafam One thing I miss about my life in Boston is Moveable Feasts. I miss the meals that lasted for hours, my friends that made me laugh and cry and laugh until I cried, and the delicious food. Over the years, Julia Child's recipes featured...
When we were young, a cheap and easy snack was a package of dried ramen noodles, crushed into little bite-sized pieces, tossed with a little of the seasoning packet. Later when we got to college, packaged ramen was the go-to cheap meal that could be zhushed up...
“Eat your vegetables” was a commonly heard phrase when I was growing up. I don’t remember outright refusing to eat something (did I have that option?) but there were times when it was a struggle to finish what was in front of me. I was a typical kid, veggies did not...
I’ve made different versions of stuffed mushrooms, but these are the easiest, combining three ingredients into a delicious little bite. They are simple enough to make on a weeknight if you’re craving a little indulgence. They can also be assembled in advance for a...
To wrap up this month of soups I am sharing a local Hawaii favorite, Portuguese Bean Soup. Hawaii is a melting pot of cultures and cuisines as a result of families immigrating to the islands to work on the plantations. In addition to several Asian groups like Japanese...
The weather has been cool in Hawaii (my friends in Boston and Nebraska are laughing now because by cool I mean mid-60s) so I am sharing another favorite soup recipe. Filled with mini meatballs, hearty kale, and a healthy sprinkling of Parmesan, this soup makes a...
It seems I'm on a soup kick right now so let me share another one of our favorites - sausage, kale, and cauliflower soup. We often make a version of Zuppa Toscana, a sausage, kale, and potato soup. Since we love cauliflower so much we decided to try replacing the...
Even in Hawaii we enjoy a good bowl of soup. Some of the more popular soups you'll find are ox tail soup and Portuguese bean soup, and, of course, all different varieties of ramen. We recently added a curried kabocha squash soup to our repertoire and we really enjoy...
New Year’s Eve in Hawaii usually means a big gathering of family and friends and a pot luck with foods representing all kinds of cuisine – sashimi, fried noodles, siu ji yuk, sushi. Our family’s contributions are often fried mundoo and Okinawan sweet potato and haupia...
Last summer David Lebovitz posted a recipe for Green Salad with Peas, Green Beans, and Buttermilk Ranch Dressing and it changed my salad eating days. In general I prefer to make my own dressing but have stuck to simple vinaigrettes. I almost never made a...