Our Cooking Show will go full force on YOUTUBE in 2012

2012 our cooking show will be elevated with more creative editing, more up to date dishes and information, more outside of the studio shoots, and more people.


For those of you who are interested in sponsoring the show, leave us a message, we'll put your business logo somewhere to be seen.


We'll also Tweet your business and blog it too.


We did some low end shoots, to to Youtube channel CHEFBOYMAUI. right now we just have a couple of cooking videos on there, COOKING FOR TAMA parts one and two, and MAKING KIM CHEE with In sun Fukuyama.

How To Correctly Use a Wok

Here's a tip on using a wok, let's take you the home cook into consideration, you will do well with at least a 10-12 inch flat bottom wok, if you have a carbon steel, or cast iron one, it may form rust, the trick is to store it oiled. If you have a nonstick wok, those are alright.


Now Asian cooking isn't the only kind of cooking that utilizes a wok, it's common to see Italian, Mexican, or American chefs woking it. But the way to use a wok is to use the right amount of fats to stir fry, I like to use vegetable oil because it sizzles the proteins well enough.


What ever you are cooking, you want that oil to be hot hot, and your cooking items to be sliced thin for quick cooking, you see the art of stir frying is all about getting your meal out quickly. So slice your veggies thin, slice your meats thin and across the grain, make sure your sauces are at room temperature so you don't cool the wok when the sauces hits the bottom, a common mistake novice make is tossing in cold items that reduces that heat of the oil.


You want the meats to sit and brown before you start tossing it or stirring it around, add in the veggies, and let it cook together with the meats, then add in the sauce. Don't over cook the veggies, crisp nearly cook ones offers more nutrients.


Happy Woking :)

German Sweet Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 (1 ounce) squares German sweet chocolate
• 1/2 or a little more cup water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsatled butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup raw brown sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk (to make buttermilk, add 2 tbs. of vinegar to a cup of whole milk, and let it curdle)
• 4 large egg whites
• 
  
• Frosting
• 12 fluid ounces evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8 ounce) package flaked coconut
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line bottom of 9x13 pan with baking paper.
2. Heat up chocolate and water on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Stir halfway through. Stir until all of it is melted softened and smooth.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Add the 4 egg yolks one at a time, beating well after adding each one. Stir in chocolate and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Beat well after each addition until it becomes smooth.
5. In another bowl, beat egg whites on high until soft peaks form, and then carefully fold it into the batter. Pour into 9x13 inch pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.  Let it cool completely, then frost with coconut-pecan frosting.
7. Combine evaporated milk, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup butter, 4 egg yolks and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla in large saucepan. Cook and stir on medium heat for about 10-12 minutes, or until thick and golden brown. Remove from heat. Stir in coconut and pecans. Cool to room temperature, and spreading consistency over the cake.

*Note if you are using a convection oven, check the cake as it rises, sometimes a convection oven will bake a little faster than a regular oven, there have been stories of people's cakes baking about 5 minutes faster developing a over baked cake. Just a tip. I'm sure it'll be fine, maybe it's some malfunction on their ovens, but with stories like that, just keep an eye on your baking.

HAWAIIAN PLATE LUNCHES CONT. 2011

Orite I'm back in the saddle, just got into the office, so we left off talking about what locals love to eat here in Hawaii. Here is what plate lunches consist of most of the time, the standard is 2 scoops of white rice, but as the healthy eating movement moves forward, digs are more than likely to offer their customers brown rice instead, and of course macaroni salad, and the entree which is usually a beef, pork, chicken or seafood item. Now if you see on the menu "Combination Plate", or "Mixed Plate", it simply means that you can add one or  two more entrees to that plate.


Example: You're at some plate lunch dig, and you see the menu like this.


Plates 6.95 Combination Plates 8.59 (2 entrees) 10.99 (3 entrees)


Shoyu Chicken
Roast Pork
Kau Yuk
Chow Fun
Kalbi Ribs
Chopped Steak
Loco Moco
Hamburger Steak
Breaded Mahi Mahi
Miso Ahi.


Let's say you want to mix up some of these entrees, you decide you want a combination plate of Kalbi Ribs and Miso Ahi. You would ask for it like this, "Can I have the combination plate with Kabli and Miso Ahi?"


If you just ordered Miso Ahi, you'd probably get 2 4 oz. of ahi filets with a miso dressing, plus the rice and mac salad. If you just ordered the Kabli ribs, you'd probably get 3 strips of short ribs.


Now with the combination, you'd get one miso ahi, and two strips of ribs, depending on the dig you're at, some places are really generous, they'll nail 2 fish and 3 ribs on your plate, if you look at the way they mark up their food, sometimes you wonder about the logic. But that's the animal you'll deal with when visiting a plate lunch dig. Some places will kinda of seem like their ripping you off, while some places seem like their losing money giving you a lot of food. 


Oh well, that's the nature of business, the pricing sometimes don't make sense, but when we are hungry who cares?

HAWAIIAN PLATE LUNCHES

If you come to Maui, or any of the Hawaiian islands, and if you are a foodie, seek out where the locals get their munchies fixed. Any island, the best way to find these places is to ask a local person, "Hey where do you guys eat? Where's the best local plate lunches?"


You are bound to get the right or best answer, locals in the islands know how food is to be prepared, their taste buds are like sonar, or radar, they'll seek out the best food and value for the buck.


Look for these dishes, LOCO MOCO. This is usually two hamburger steaks, grilled, over two scoops of rice, and 2 eggs cooked to your liking, with lots of brown gravy smothered all over it, with a very rich macaroni salad, the base of it is mayonnaise. Locals and mayo go hand in hand.


Chopped Steak, this is a piece of steak that is prepared differently by different digs. One way is when a chef takes about 6 oz. of flank steak, slice it somewhat thin across the grain, and then tosses it in a hot wok or pan with oil and some garlic, sears it fast, then adds in some onions, cook it until it's somewhat soft, and then add in their sauce. Again, this sauce can be a simple concoction of soy sauce, some hot sauce, some sugar and that's it. Some chefs will get Chinese with it and add a little black beans in there with oyster sauce.


Now this method I like better. It is when the chef sears the flank steak in one piece cooked medium well, and then slice it after it is cooked, and then just put some salt and pepper on it, and then saute the onions after in the same pan, and then smother the onions of the steak, and then I'd douse it with some Kikoman soy sauce, and some Tabasco. Mmmmmmm!:)


Okay that's only 2 dishes, I gotta go catch my bus now, I'll write more later.

Hawaiian Fish

Ono or Wahoo, is a menacing looking fish, it weighs around 15 to 60 plus pounds, not found much during the Hawaiian winters, December through March. Ono is a rather long fish, averaging in lengths up to 6 feet, and they have some razor sharp teeth, you don't want these guys chomping at you. And they are fast, they can swim up to 50 miles per hour.

The Ono hits lures very quickly, and is a favorite among deep sea fishermen, and according to the experts, Ono are loners, mostly on their own, but at times in groups of 3 or so fish.

What do they feed on? Ono feed on other fish and squid for sustenance, and if you ever get a chance to eat Ono, the meat is on the firm side, white, it has a rather sweet taste. 

Here is my Ono recipe for the day:

2 Ono steaks about 6 oz. each

marinate it in one cup of olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 basil leaf chopped, 1/2 can of tomato sauce, 3 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar, some cracked pepper corns. Let it sit for about 2 hours. Save marinade.

Heat up a grill, and over medium heat grill each steak for about 3 minutes each side, I don't like over cooked Ono. Ono by the way means delicious in Hawaiian.

When done, plate it with some rice or potatoes, return marinade to a saucepan, heat it up to make warm, pour some over the steaks and sprinkle some salt to taste.

Maui's Local Eating

This is a notice to all of you foodies that are looking for a place to eat that is local, not confined to your hotel or condo. I don't have any pictures today, but I'll list some excellent local places to go and eat. And here we go folks, Holidays or not, these places do rock.


HOMEMAID BAKERY- This business bakes some of the best pastries, and they do offer plate lunches too, a real grown up mom and pop. Shops are located in Kahului, Kihei, Wailuku.


DA KITCHEN- Plate lunches at its finest, try their chicken katsu and their Hawaiian plate. Lahaiana in the Wharf Cinema Center, in the Triangle Square in Kahului near the airport, and in Kihei in the Rainbow Mall.


SAM SATO's- A mom and pop from long ago, try the noodle dishes, the hamburger steak plate, located in the Mill Yard in Wailuku.


WEI WEI NOODLES- Chinese style, with a local twist, great noodles and then some. In the Mill Yard in Wailuku.


TASTY CRUST- Chopped Steak plate, pancakes, saimin. Popular, you have to try it. Located on Lower Main St. in Wailuku town.


KOMODA BAKERY- Located in the cowboy town of Makawao (Mah kah wow), home of the best cream puffs, and donuts. On Baldwin Avenue.


PAIA FISH MARKET- On the corner of Hana and Baldwin in Paia town, great fresh Ahi, Ono, Mahi Mahi, fresh huge salads and sandwiches, really really good.


FLATBREADS PIZZA- Located in Paia town, at the beginning of the town left hand side, best fresh pizzas out of a stone oven. Great vegetarian pizzas too.


TAKAMIYA MARKET- Wailuku's Happy Valley, famous for their local style grab and go meals, find anything from lay lay, teri chicken, roast pork, it's the place to go.


PARADISE- Located on Wakea Ave. Kahului, awesome Filipino food, and fresh items to take home, if you love Thai or Vietnamese, you'll love Filipino food. The pork adobo, stir fries are all good stuff, and they don't skimp on their portions.


MINIT STOP- Famous for their Maui Fried Chicken and other great plate lunches to go. Located in Wailuku, Kahului, Kihei, and Pukalani. Their friend chicken is so good, Magic Johnson was said to have purchased a ton of it before heading to the airport on his way back home to the mainland.


PUKALANI SUPERETTE- Delicious local hot foods to go, if you can get some pork, and chow fun, get it before it sells out, it's a local market too, so if you need a beer or soda, that's the place to shop, a totally mom and pop outfit that's very popular worldwide, on the slopes of Haleakala.


MIKE'S HONG KONG BISTRO- Wailuku town, Chinese/Hawaiian local foods, he has a hot section where you take your pick of stir fries, or order foods cooked to order, the soups are great.


KOHOs- A sports bar with great local food, burgers, sandwiches, plate lunches. Located in the Queen Kaahumanu Shopping Center.


BALE- Vietnamese food at a great price, located in Kahului, Kihei, and Lahaina, very good sandwiches, noodles, seafood, spring rolls.


L&L- Just plain simple plate lunches, nothing fancy, just good to go and fill you up. Kihei, Kahului, Lahaina, Wailuku.


PIZZA MADNESS- Kihei, awesome pizzas local style.


SHAKAs PIZZA- Kihei, great pizzas and sandwiches, been around a long time.


SPORTS PAGE- Kihei, local food, beers, and the game of the day on the many screens that surround this dig, a favorite for many years, shoot pool at nights, listen to local bands.


MULLIGAN's- Wailea at the Blue Course, Irish style food and drink, live music.


LULUs- Local food, bar, sports on the tube, pool, live local music, Kihei and Lahaina.


MALA OCEAN TAVERN & HONU- Awesome fresh seafood, steaks and more. Wailea, Lahaina.


FU LINs- Chinese food that's very good, in Lahaina.


NO KA OI DELI- Open for lunch only, say hello to Alton, the best local comfort food around.


NAGASAKO OKAZU YA- This is very simple foods put together with love, nothing fancy, but the food is tasty, a mom and pop institution. 


LINs KITCHEN- Located in Honokowai, north of Kaanapali, Filipino food at its finest.


LEODA's- off of Highway 30 7 miles out of Lahaina, great baked items, from the owners of the Old Lahaina Luau.


FOUR SISTERS- Wailuku town, more local food for you, home made stuff that'll warm you up and fill you up.


FRED's MEXICAN- Kihei, great Mexican style breakfast. Across the street of Kamaole Beach 2, can't get any better than this place, take a dip, watch the whales, hit Fred's for some food and drink!


There's many other places to go, but I don't have all day guys:)

CHRISTMAS COOKIES PART 2 (Maui)

Almond Strawberry Xmas Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups of real non salted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups raw brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 teaspoons almond extract
• 4 cups of flour used for baking, plus some for dusting
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until nice and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla and almond extracts and blend it well. In separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds. Add the flour mixture to sugar mixture and blend well. Fold in the almonds. Roll out the dough onto a flour dusted work surface and cut into desired shapes. Place cookies onto baking sheet lined cookie pan and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The Topping

1 cup of strawberries, pulsed in a food processor, then add in 3 tbsp. of brown sugar, 1 tbsp. of lime juice, 1/4 cup of apple juice, and then pulse again. Place this mixture in a sauce pan and heat over medium high heat. As it simmers, in a small bowl, mix 3 tbsp. of cornstarch with 6 tbsp. of water, then add this to the sauce pan to thicken up the mixture. When cooled slightly, spoon a little over each cookie, then put the cookies in the chiller until the topping sets nice and firm.

Making Kim Chee Part 2 Fukuyama

Part 2 In sun and Alan Fukuyama's Making Kim Chee
Producer Ron Sambrano

PLATE LUNCHES in Lahaina MAUI

Here are some tips on where to eat when on Maui, what locals love.


No Ka Oi Deli- Lahaina, across Mc Donald's on Wainee and Papalaua Streets, local food, they make their own bread, comfort food, sandwiches, open for lunch only.


Star Noodles- Owed by the Old Lahaina Luau, tasty noodle dishes and them some. Located near the Barnes and Noble head straight up the hill.


Nobu's lunch wagon- look for that pink old mail truck, Nobu is near the Pizza Hut in Lahaina, the best lunches.


No. 1 BBQ, Korean/Asian/Local plates, located at the Lahaina Square.


Zushi- Japanese take out, great tempuras, and chicken teri, at the Lahaina Square.


Mala Ocean Tavern/Honu Seafood and Pizza- great food, touch of Hawaii, Mediterranean, great fresh food, located backside of the Safeway at Lahaina Cannery Mall.


Fu Lin- Chinese, located across Mala Ocean Tavern


Aloha Mixed Plate- Close to Mala Ocean Tavern, local plates, owned by Old Lahaina Luau.


L&L Drive Inn- Local plate lunches, Chopstix Express- Located in the Lahaina Cannery Mall.


Teddy's Bigger Burgers- very good fresh hamburgers, grilled and juicy! Located at the Lahaina Gateway.


Cool Cat's- another great local burger joint, fresh burgers, located in the Wharf Cinema Center near the Lahaina Harbor.

Making Kim Chee Part 1 Fukuyama

In sun Fukuyama demonstrates with her husband Alan Fukuyama how to make Kim Chee from scratch in your own home. This is just Part 1, Part 2 will be uploaded soon.

A Reasonable Prime Rib Dinner- Las Vegas

Market Street Cafe, California Hotel and Casino is a favorite spot for local Las Veganites, and local Hawaiians. For less than ten bucks, you can get a good slice of prime rib, with green beans, horse radish and your choice of white rice, baked potato, mashed potato, or fries. And comes with a vanilla ice cream with cherries on the bottom, with a wafer and topped with whipped cream, can't go wrong.

With less than 12 hours left on my trip, that was my dinner, it was really juicy, I washed it down with a Pepsi and was on my way. Just remember if you're in the Downtown area of Vegas, checkout the Market Street Cafe in the California Hotel and Casino and nail yourself a prime rib.
www.thecal.com

COOKING FOR TAMA (YouTube)

COOKING FOR A STAFFY NAMED TAMA, HE ATE THE STEAK IN SECONDS!

COOKING FOR TAMA (YouTube) Part 2

COOKING FOR A STAFFY NAMED TAMA, HE ATE ALL THE STEAK IN SECONDS!

Makino Las Vegas- Seafood Buffet Restaurant

Makino Seafood Buffet in Las Vegas is pretty good. Located in the Premium Outlet Mall is a perfect fit for hungry Holiday shoppers, located in the Downtown area, and suitable for all the traveling Hawaiians that frequent Vegas, Makino boasts a pretty good selection of popular sushi rolls, Asian soups, and hot dishes, salads, even some cool desserts.


I'm not much of a sushi man, but I do love raw fish at times, I went for a variety of fresh sushi, and some clean crisp salad, including kim chee. For about 14.99 per person, all you can eat, this place is very busy when my girlfriend and our 10 year old eating machine went inside, hungry shoppers toting their shopping bags, couples, families, all converging in all you can eat Asian cuisine. Our boy Scotty loved the noodles, and a few sushi, but what he really nailed was the marshmallows and chocolate that was running down a machine, he coated lots of marshmallows with the chocolate. My girl Wayla whacked soup, tempuras, and some sushi as well. The chicken and teri beef was killer!


Anyone wanting to go all out on sushi and miso soup, tempuras, and noodles, Makino is not bad. I mean it is a buffet, so if you're a sushi aficionado you may notice some of the tuna may not be the tuna (ahi) you're accustomed too, but heck, a buffet that has at least decent sushi is good by many, so Makino may not be a Sansei in Hawaii, it is alright to me, for the price and all you can eat, it's okay, it really is.


www.makinolasvegas.com

Seattle's Kick Ass Asian Market; Uwajimaya Market

I always watch sports, I love football and baseball, love it, with a fucking passion! Okay, I'm a Dodger, a Los Angeles Dodger. And for football, I like the Chargers. I am not a fan of the Seattle Mariners, or a fan of the Sea Pigeons. Oops, I meant the Seahawks. So on my first official visit to the port city, I was amazed that right behind where the Mariners and Seahawks calls home, is a kick fucking ass Asian market, complete with every item an Asian like myself needs to satisfy my taste buds. 


My sister and husband took me cruising, it was foggy, cold around 30 degrees in the daytime, cloudy, just fucking ass cold. I wore two jackets, and I still froze. My friend Amy Geisler Facebooked me and laughed, "Try Wisconsin." she typed. Sorry she's from cheese country, Badger country apparently 30 fucking degrees is too warm for Amy.


Anyhow, we walk inside this huge ass Asian supermarket, it is called Uwajimaya, in biz since 1928, and I wasn't even born, my mom was like 8 years old. So this business is old, and it's been around, it is always packed, well I thought it was, but from what my sister said, it wasn't even packed, could have fooled me, she said on the weekends or when there's a game in town, forget finding parking. Okay, sorry what do I know I'm from good ol Lahaina.
Safeco Field-Seattle from Uwajimaya Market

Back to the story, inside it is busy, if you need noodles for your Pad Thai, chow fun, chow mein, pansit, cake noodles, Uwajimaya is the place to go. Do you need lots of rice, bags of it? Uwajimaya is the place. Fresh fish? Are you a sushi chef? Yep this is the place. You need sauces? Yeah, this place has it. Hoisin, black beans fermented, veggies, all those Asian ones, this is the place, forget the Albertson's, or Smith's, or whatever, if you're an Asian foodie, man this is the place to be.


They have cooked foods ready for you to purchase and take home, shrimp tempura, katsu, Asian stews, noodles, all smellin goooood! Oh man, I had my Droid out taking pictures, and this cute little Japanese woman looks at me and gives me the "don't take picture" look. I felt a cold chill run down my spine, I am not messin with her, who knows, she might know Kung Fu and hurt my ass.
Uwajimaya Food Display, cooked food:)

And they have this marinated chicken they sell that's a clear winner, XOXO Chicken, it's really good. You buy it, take it home and then fry it up, grill it up, bake it, any cooking method you want, you go ahead and do, it is great! Chef John, my brother in-law says it may have miso in there, chili sauce, garlic and ginger. I figure he's right, it's good, they can put spit in there, it tastes great, who cares what's in there. John cooked it up, and he had my sister steam veggies, and we had kim chee with it. Man it was a winner. Local style food in Seattle, fucking orite! And they have these 5x3 cards with recipes on there for free, I took a whole bunch for my chick in Vegas coz she's a good cook, she can cook, so if I give her these recipe cards she can figure this shit out EZ. The recipes include the basics, Kabli (Korean), Adobo (Philippines), BBQ Pork (Chinese), Sukiyaki (Japanese) and others, shit loads of others.


And the people going in there are totally a mixed breed of peeps, you can see Indian peeps, Euros, African Americans, Hispanics, the whole world is represented there, so I know for sure that the Asian thang is thriving in Seattle! Remember this name, Uwajimaya. Find them on the web at www.uwajimaya.com
Uwajimaya Asian Food & Gift Market Seattle, WA

MAXIMILIEN FRENCH RESTAURANT PIKES PLACE

Whenever people would go to Seattle, they'd come back and go, "Hey Ron, man you're a cook, and you love food, if you ever go to Seattle, go to Pike's Place and check out all the good shit there, it's awesome!" Okay I always thought one of these days before I croaked on pork rinds, I'd be in Seatlte, in fact I drove into Seattle a few years back but just drove in and  drove back to Portland, it was a cool drive close to summer, but that Seattle visit... well that didn't really count.


Fast forward, to 2011, December 6. I had to visit my sister and her husband who live about 3 hours east of Seattle, and where was the first place we went? Pikes! It was so huge, that whole area, I need like a whole day to check that place out, and the fish market, I had to see those guys fly a salmon across the counter just to see it. I mean people travel thousands of miles to Maui where I currently live to see a luau, I had to go just as far to watch the mongers throw fish, cool! And the mongers gave us samples of salmon, smoked, peppered, with herbs, and the guy even spoke Pidgin English, "Broke da mouth brah!" Wow, nuts!


But I was traveling with my sister, Esther, and her husband John McKivor, and if there's any two foodies that knows their shit, it's Ess and John. John's a trained chef, and my sister worked in restaurants handling the books, in fact my sister, John and my late brother Harold were partners in a restaurant on Maui, a 9 year success in a dig called the Honokowai Okazu Ya, their star dishes were Mahi with Capers, Chow Fun w Black Beans, and all kinds of other dishes that well, Broke da Mouth!


As we were getting a tad hungry, John and my sister ran upon a little French food place called Maximilien, overlooking the pier, despite it being foggy I was thinking, "Nah this is cool, fog, nice, not bad, at least I'm not on Maui driving a shuttle full of tourists around being bummed out the whole day."


We were greeted by some dude with a French accent, "Elloo, how meny?" We sat down on a nice shiny wooden table, it was very small, in fact I started to stretch, I almost gave the lady next to me a freekin black eye. Nice though.


As I glanced on their small menu for lunch, I noticed Coq Au Vin, chicken in wine, but I went on to get the Northwest Pacific Salad, minus the crab meat, crab gives me gout, so I asked for extra salmon, salmon was the other meat so I doubled up on salmon. And it was killer! Every bite was flavored, with a nice vinaigrette, it had avocado, crisp greens, it was fantasic, and the small pieces of garlic bread made it filling.


John had the grilled salmon with a nice gourmet type of sauce, being a chef he reacted like it was the best thing, so I figured if you're ever at Maximilien, go eat the grilled salmon. My sister ate the Chicken Croissant with Brie. She raved over that too.


Then we  went walking around, it was cool, and it was F...... KING COLD!!!!!
Pacific Northwest Salad extra Salmon, no crab
Maximilien French Restaurant Pikes Place, Seattle, WA

Photo: Ron Sambrano copyright 2011

CHRISTMAS COOKIES PART 1

Christmas cookies Part 1; in this bloggie, I'll give you a simple recipe for some Tiny Tarts, a simple cookie for Xmas concoction. Ready? Here we go folks, my foodies.


1/2 cup softened unsalted real butter
1 pack of cream cheese
1 cup flour
1 whole large egg
3/4 cup of brown sugar to 1 cup
2 tbsp. of safflower oil
2/3 cup of chopped pecans or macadamia nuts


Preheat oven to about 325-350 degrees F


1. In a medium mixing bowl, add in the butter and cream cheese, and mix it together keeping it from melting totally. Slowly add in the flour and mix  it well.


2. Grease a 24 cup mini-muffin pan (see bottom), about 1 3/4 inch size, use the oil to grease it so the dough will not stick when it's baked. Spoon a tablespoon of the dough into it making sure that the dough is pressed gently on the bottom and side of each cup.


3. Make the filling by mixing the egg, sugar, and oil. and the chopped nuts.


4. Fill each cup with 1 teaspoon of the filling, and then bake it for about 30 minutes, remove and let it cool and a wire rack.

This is what a 24 mini-muffin pan looks like this is from www.lionsdeal.com and sells for around 10.79 it's nonstick.


Note: when making the dough fit inside the cup compartments, make a lip towards the sides so the filling stays inside if not your filling will ooze out towards the sides.

CHRISTMAS CAKES

Alright foodies, it's a few days before December 2011, so it's time for lots of baking, pies, cookies, and my favorite, Christmas cakes. Man there's nothing like eating a  Christmas cake that a friend baked. In fact, I know several of my foodie friends that can really kick fucking ass in the baking department, I'm not included in that department, I suck at baking really, though at times I can pull off a baking task which is rarely.


My friend Jaime Navarro is an excellent home baker, my niece Tamara same thing, it's the love they put into baking. So then what am I going to write about today as Christmas lurks a few weeks ahead? I'll be looking at some Christmas cakes, from today on until Christmas day, I'll be talking about Christmas cakes, and pies, and cookies, sharing what was shared to me. Here goes.


EGGNOG BUNDT CAKE WITH RUM FROSTING


1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup eggnog
1 pack instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2  filtered water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla


Frosting:
5 tbsp. rum
1 1/8 cup powdered sugar


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 deg.


Mix all of the cake mixture ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.


Prepare the bundt pan with nonstick spray.


Pour into pan, and bake for about 50 minutes. (Cool at least 20 minutes before removing from pan).


Make the frosting, add more rum if you want it thinner, then drizzle over the cake, then serve with a nice cup of hot coffee.




The pan you'll need looks like this, it's a deep pan, when you're done baking, you  flip it and the cake comes out with the rounded part as the top.

Okay, now you know what a bundt cake pan looks like, it's time you get off of your freeking ass and bake some serious ass Eggnog Bundt Cake w/ Rum Frosting. I may have some Hana Bay Rum around here somewhere, shit, what if I used beer?


Anyhow, Happy baking this Holiday season, and if you fuck up your cake who really gives a fuck? Happy Christmas and if you are Jewish, Happy Hanukkah. Ho Ho Ho, where's the Ho? Is she still on the street? Tell her to go wash up! 

In sun Fukuyama, wife of Alan Fukuyama was kind enough to be on the show, teaching us the finer points of making kim chee. Both In sun and Alan were on the set in Wahikui, and I had a great time, as Alan provided the play by play from behind the scenes, In sun demonstrated the real way to make this Korean staple. 


Growing up in Lahaina, kim chee was a staple in the fridge, next to the Best Foods Mayonnaise, and next to the tub of miso paste, most locals can relate. 


What In sun talked about was that the cabbage (close to 2 lbs Napa), had to be sliced down the center only a tad by the whitish part of the bottom of the cabbage, not all the way down. As Alan commented as his wife was plucking the cabbage apart, "You never slice it all the way, because for one thing, the leaves in the center gets messed up, when you pull it apart, you have more leaves to work with." Then she sliced the cabbage in quarters, and then into bite-sized pieces. Then she sprinkled some salt over the cabbage that was resting in the bowl, this had to sit overnight or longer, but she had one prepped for the taping.


After that she boiled some water with cornstarch to make something of a roux, or slurry, she got it over the heat and it got thicker, then she cooled it down considerably. After the thickened water cooled down, she added some garlic and ginger, and some chili powder (not the fine one), it had texture, and then some shrimp paste, and green onions, and some Hawaiian chili peppers. This technique she claims makes the sauce hotter. "When you heat up the peppers, it loses heat, you heat the water and thicken it first, then you add in the ingredients when it is cooled down." Alan explained,  "When we make chili pepper water, we never heat the chilis first, we add it in the water raw, it retains the heat longer. I learned that from a Japanese man."


Then she tossed the cabbage leaves together with the kim chee sauce, it was better than eating the bottled ones I buy at the supermarket, there's nothing like fresh kim chee, it was a great short segment that needs to be edited for Akaku TV and to be on YouTube, so I got some work to do. 
In sun and Alan Fukuyama on the set

COOKING FOR TAMA (YouTube)

RD Lick em Up! Our cooking show, not made for prime time, but we don't care really. This is part 1 of "Cooking for Tama" Tama is our families' Staffy, we cooked him a 12 oz. New York steak, and he mauled it in less than 30 seconds.

Our show is based on Ron (me) cooking, and Danny Agdeppa behind the camera and while he films, he commentates on what's happening. We also pick up on current events, and we try not to be so serious in the whole show. Mistakes are common, but that's the beauty of life, its imperfections.

Also will be doing more shows, will be on You Tube see (Chefboy Maui). And AKAKU Television Maui.