BLACK DOG FOR DINNER FACT OR FICTION?

Have you ever had a black dog for dinner? Is this true that some Asian countries eat black dogs? Hmm, let's try and see if this writer can convince you with a story, a story that I want you to make that decision if it is fact or fiction. 

Back when I was a little lad, of about 10 years of age, I found a black Labrador roaming around the neighborhood, he was rather thirsty, a juvie for sure, not a puppy, he took to me immediately because I had some beef jerky on my person. I took him by the collar, to see if there was a home he belonged to, but to my utter surprise, I did not find any address or phone number, keep in mind this was many years ago, there were no cell phones, or emails, no info for little buddy the black dog.

I walked him home, my father Joe was not much of a pet keeper, in fact he didn't like dogs, or cats, because of the poop they left behind. Nonetheless I took this dog home, when my mother and father saw me, they were not too happy.

"Where you think you going with that dog?" said mom.

"I'm going to take care of him until we can find a home for him."

"Bullshit," said dad.
But I pleaded, like a wrongly convicted murderer to the judge, "Please father, just for a few days until someone takes him, honestly father please."

"Okay, you clean his shit up understand boy?"

"Yes father, I shall."
For over a week, my doggy buddy stayed in the back yard, leashed and fed well, he ate sausage and eggs for breakfast, and for lunch he had salmon with fresh herbs, or tuna salad with toast, for dinners he ate prime rib, ham hocks, and pizzas. Well, a week is what I pleaded for, unfortunately there were no takers for this poor dog.

One day I came home, I saw that the rope was not attached to the dog, I was worried. And then my dad came by and told me, "Son, a friend of mine took your doggy friend."

"Really?"

"Yes, in fact, he's inviting us for dinner."

"Really doggy has a home?"

"Yes, now get your ass in the shower, get cleaned up we are leaving soon for his house for dinner."

"I get to see doggy?"

"Ah... yeah, in fact, never mind get cleaned up."
So I did, I got cleaned up and went to this man's house for dinner, when I got there I asked him where the dog was, he said... "Boy don't worry, he's in a better place."

"Oh in your back yard?"

"Oh don't worry, let's eat first, then, we'll discuss your doggy friend, I want to thank you for the dog, it's just what I was looking for, tender meat, his eyes were bright telling me he was a fresh dog, a good piece of meat."

"Oh yeah anytime, so sir, after we eat I get to see the doggy?"

"Ah, yeah what ever you want boy, eat."
So he went to the stove and brought over a huge pot of soup, he said it was just fresh meat, it had a nice rich broth, the meat was tender, and it was spiced and herbed, he had a side of rice too. I scooped a huge bowl of that meat soup, and ate it all. And then, my mom and dad and that man was laughing at me.

"Why are you laughing at me?"

"Because you stupid kid, you just ate your doggy friend!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

So you be the judge was this fact or fiction?

The answer is: FICTION.

CORNBREAD MUFFINS & A SURPRISE TWIST

You love Cornbread Muffins? I do, or just Cornbread in general, yup I do. Cornbread Muffins are very tasty, the basic kinds you find in bake shops, or supermarkets are great for breakfast, and great for dipping into stews, or in Hawaii we love cornbread with Portuguese Beans Soup, it's a perfect pairing with the savory flavors coming from the stewed ham hocks, potatoes, tomatoes, herbs and spices, the richness, and oh the Portuguese Sausage chunks that is in there, and that fresh cornbread goes together with it like Simon and Garfunkel, Batman and Robin, Obama and what's his name, Bush and Quayle. You get the picture. So in this bloggy post, I'll give you a different twist on Cornbread Muffins, we'll make a basic recipe and add in some awesome stuff, it'll be a savory muffin for sure, it'll be so Yay Yay that you'll eat this non stop, you'll not eat only one my cornbread junky friends, for certain, I'm telling you, you won't eat just one. Okay here we go, the basic cornbread muffin recipe.

BASIC CORNBREAD MUFFIN MIX

1 1/2 c. of fat free buttermilk
1/4 c. safflower oil
1 egg large organic beaten
1 c. A.P. flour
3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
1 tbsp. raw brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. chili powder
4 oz. chopped Portuguese Sausage
3 tbsp. minced sweet Maui onion
Pam cooking spray

PREP

1. Preheat oven to 400 deg.
2. Combine the first 3 ingredients well
3. Mix the A.P. flour really well with the yellow cornmeal, raw brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, chili powder, making a well in the center of the mixture. Stir in the milk mixture until moist.
4. Stir in 1/2 cup of the Portuguese sausage, and 2 tablespoons of minced onions. Spoon into 12 muffin cups, and then sprinkle the remaining Portuguese sausage, and remaining minced onions over every muffin.

Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when you stick it in the center of each muffin. Remove, let cool on a wire rack, enjoy it for breakfast or lunch or whenever.

EBI CEVICHE

Japanese for shrimp is ebi. In this post I'll give you a recipe for Ebi Ceviche. It's very east to make. Ceviche is usually raw seafood that is cooked by the acids of citrus fruits such as limes mostly, or vinegars, and seasoned with herbs and spices. There's all kinds of ceviche influenced by chefs from all over the world. There's Mexican Ceviche, Italian Ceviche, all kinds.

So for this recipe I will be doing a Japanese style ceviche. You'll need some of these ingredients.


1 lb. of shrimp (ebi) medium size is good, remove the shells, and devein them, rinse under cold water. Set aside

1 cup of tomato sauce
1/2 cup of diced fresh tomatoes
1 tbsp. minced ginger
1/4 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup of lime juice fresh
1 cup of sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

In a nonreactive bowl, place the shrimp (ebi) on the bottom, add in the tomato sauce, diced fresh tomatoes, ginger, miring, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, and mix by tossing with clean hands. Refrigerate overnight.

Add in the green onions and cilantro, slice a few limes into wedges for garnish and to use to squeeze more juice on to the ebi.

MATTAR PANEER

In 2003 I was introduced to Vegetarian and Vegan cooking at a natural foods store in Lahaina, Maui. I got a part-time gig as a kitchen hand and learned that vegetarian and vegan foods can be filling and delicious, and above all definitely exceeds better health than eating animal meats over all. I've noticed that a lot of vegetarian and vegan cooking that was done at that time was influenced in the Indian style, as well as different regions of Asia. In this recipe called Mattar Paneer, I'll go over the simple things in life. Paneer is a cheese made from curdling milk with an acidic such as lemon juice or vinegar. I won't get into the making of paneer, but it is a very popular vegetarian cheese. Now if you are a vegan, this won't work, because vegans are not into any saturated animal fats, and milk that is, milk from cows is totally omitted from a vegan's diet. Vegetarians that intake dairy are Lacto Ovo, and eggs are also part of their diets.

Here is the recipe for Mattar Paneer.

20 oz. of cubed paneer
2 1/2 tbsp. of ghee (clarified butter)
1/4 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 round sweet Maui onion (or any onion) chopped.
1/2 tsp. minced fine ginger root
4 garlic cloves
2 organic Roma tomatoes
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
Sea salt to taste
3/4 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. cumin grounded
A cup of filtered water to use as needed first 1/4 cup
1 1/4 cup green peas, fresh or frozen (stay away from canned ones)
1/4 cup heavy organic cream
2 tbsp. chopped organic cilantro

1. In a hot skillet with some ghee, fry the cubed paneer until browned and set aside.

2. In another pot large enough, heat more ghee over medium high heat, and cook mustard and cumin seeds until they sizzle.

3. Add in the chopped onion, ginger and garlic, cook until the onions soften and caramelize.

4. Add the Roma tomatoes, brown sugar, and sea salt, cook until the tomatoes soften.

5. Add in the garam masala, chili powder, turmeric, cumin.
* Garam (Hot) Masala (Mixture), You can purchase Garam Masala at any natural foods store, a typical Indian Mixture consists of these spices, black & white pepper corns, cinnamon, black & white cumin seeds, black, brown & green cardamom pods. 

6. Add some water and cook for a few minutes, don't worry if the tomato is really soft, that's what you want, the water is to keep the dish from becoming too dry.

7. Add the peas.

8. Keep an eye on this part, you just want to cook the peas until it is slightly softened.

9. Pour in the heavy cream and mix, then add in the fried paneer, lower heat to simmer, the trick is to cook this until all of the flavors are settled into the paneer cubes.

10. Remove from heat, divide into serving bowls, garnish with cilantro or any plant herb or spice, serve with jasmine rice or your favorite bread toasted and buttered.

SALMON WITH CHIPOTLE CORN SALSA RECIPE

*First prepare the Chipotle Corn Salsa, if you don't have a grill or gas stove to char the corn, use a pan without oil.

The Salmon

2 Salmon Filets 5 oz. each patted dry

2 tbsp. of unsalted butter divide in half

1 tbsp. fresh chopped rosemary divided in half

Fresh ground salt to your specs 

Fresh ground pepper corns to your specs

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

2. Place the salmon on a baking sheet with some Pam sprayed

3. Bake the salmon for 10 minutes, remove let it rest covered lightly with foil

Chipotle Corn Salsa Recipe

6 Ears Sweet Yellow Corn
2 Poblano Chilies
1/2 Red Onion
2  Jalapenos
1/2 Cup Chopped Cilantro
2 Tablespoon Lime Juice

1 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Roast the corn and Poblano chilies on a grill or BBQ (or pan heat it) let cool. Cut off the corn from the cob, and then dice the Poblano chilies, onion,  jalapenos. Combine all the ingredients and season to taste.

Now bake your salmon, when salmon filets are done, get out two plates, scoop some Chipotle Corn Salsa on each plate divided, and place a salmon filet on top, garnish with lime wedges, serve with a Corona or a nice white wine.

FLAVORING MAYONNAISE

Let's face it, we sandwich lovers and mayonnaise lovers understand that a sandwich with mayonnaise adds richness to each and every bite. With the whole world fusing their culinary influences, we got flavors marrying each other all of the time, go to any gourmet market, and you'll find a myriad of flavored oils and vinegars, go to any fine liquor store, you'll find flavored vodkas and even beer infused with lime, who would have thought that? Even SPAM, the canned meat has different flavors. So in this blog post, I'll do some simple flavorings of my favorite condiment for anything that is stuck in between two pieces of bread, and I'm talking about that egg and oil infused invention MAYONNAISE!

Here's the first spread I'll call simply Korean Mayo

2 1/2 cups real mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
3 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. minced ginger
1/2 tsp . minced garlic
1/2 tsp. kochujang (Korean hot chili paste)
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. lime juice

Using a whisk or fork, hand blend it all together.

This next mayonnaise is a Curry Mayo

2 1/2 cups real mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. lime juice

Using a whisk or fork, hand blend it all together

This is my simple and favorite for a teriyaki beef or pork sandwich Teri Mayo

2 1/2 cups real mayonnaise
3 tsp. soy sauce
3 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. finely minced scallions
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Using a whisk or fork, hand blend it all together

This is one for your burrito or soft taco, an old buddy from Mexico made this one day in the kitchen where I worked, he buttered some tortillas, and filled it with sautéed Mahi Mahi, I'll rip him off, "Sorry Alex." Taco Mayo

2 1/2 cups of real mayonnaise
2 tsp. ketchup
1 tsp. finely minced jalapeño peppers
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. lime juice
1 1/2 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. finely chopped cilantro
1 tsp. olive oil

Using a whisk or fork, hand blend it all together

This next one I ripped off from one of my Chinese Chef friends from the mainland, I'll call thisChina Girl Mayo

2 1/2 cups of real mayonnaise
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. Chinese Five Spice
1/2 tsp. finely chopped fermented black beans (first soaked in warm water drained, and then finely chopped)
1 tsp. oyster sauce
1/4 tsp. pepper flakes
Pinch of minced ginger
Pinch of minced garlic
Pinch of sesame seeds
Pinch of minced scallions

Using a whisk or fork, hand blend it all together

Tips: For the Korean Mayo, use it by grilling some Kalbi Ribs, remove the bone, toast whatever bread that you love. Butter the both sides of the bread with the Korean Mayo, and put whatever else you want, lettuce, tomatoes, onions etc. even some cheese.

Tips: For the Curry Mayo, what I like to use this sauce with, is when I got left over beef curry from the diner, I'll take some hoagie buns, slice them in half, and toast them on a pan with some butter, stick the left over curry in the microwave, and then butter both sides of the toasted hoagies with the Curry Mayo, and put the hot leftover beef curry with veggies and all in between the bread, and it's all YAY YAY.

Tips: For the Teri Mayo, I think you know where I'm heading with this, when you got your back yard cookout going on, take a few slabs of that grilled Teri Beef, and stick in in between your favorite bread, toasted or not, spread that Teri Mayo on both sides of the bread, and that sandwich will be totally awesome!

Tips: For the Taco Mayo, when you and your family are making tacos, mix up a batch of this blended mayonnaise, and butter some tortillas before you add in your fillings, man this is totally numero uno!

Tips: For the China Girl Mayo, I used to like putting some roasted Peking Duck in between some toasted buns, buttered with this concoction, man a Peking Duck sandwich to die for, no veggies with this, the richness of both duck and mayonnaise makes this a juicy marriage.

I like to use Best Foods Real Mayonnaise for this, or you can use a vegan one like Vegenaise, or make your own mayonnaise. Most people will fuse mustard with mayonnaise, or wasabe with mayonnaise, that's a no brainer, most of us did that already, so this is just a few more ideas for you guys on Foodie Isle.

Keep on experimenting and keep it Ono.

VEGANISM

I'm starting to think of becoming a 100% Vegetarian and Vegan Chef. It's so much cleaner, the chances of cross contamination is zero, I mean I remember cooking at Down To Earth Natural Foods, and I could just use one cutting board and not even wash my knife the whole shift, where as, working with meats, man you gotta sterilize it all the time under hot soapy water, that's what I'm talking about.

So today, as I also watch my diet, but I do partake in chicken because I can't eat soy based foods like tofu which is one of my Yay Yay Faves!, but now I'm just gonna eat some lean chicken, or some fish, but most of my stuff, well, it's all gonna be natural plant based foods, as I get older I can't hold down a huge ass plate lunch, but if it's all natural stuff all the better.

I must read, and learn what's going on in vegetarian and vegan cooking, I mean there's so many great creative chefs out there doing this kind of thing it's insane. The creations with eggplant, I mean you could make a roasted eggplant pizza, an eggplant soup, dips like Baba Ganoush, or a Chinese or Japanese influenced braised eggplant. Yeah, gotta love just working with veggies and fruits.

With that said, it's time for me to hit the road in a few minutes, and trek it on out of town for a few hours, get some shit done. Okay I'm on my way. Aloha

BROKE DA MOUTH 2012

The Broke Da Mouth Food Festival held on August 17 and 18, 2012 had some good restaurants representing, some fun foods that everyone could enjoy and did. Chris Mahon and Luis Fuente the organizers did a good job, staging an event of this size is not an easy task, making sure who's going to show up and who is not, and even then things go awry.

Live music from hot local acts graced the stage, from Hawaiian style reggae, to rock and roll, the two evenings featured great local music, the sound system was perfect for that setting, and a large monitor was set up on the side of the stage to help people see that were standing in the rear. For the entertainment, the adults could purchase wine or beer in a designated area.

Kids were outside the adult areas and bouncing in castles, or playing games, and eating hot dogs from the Crater Dog guys, or pizzas from my friends at Pulehu Pizza, their pizzas are grilled and they use fresh ingredients, it's awesome. Burgers were on the grill as both Cool Cat Cafe and Teddy's Bigger Burger were there also, and Bubba Bump Shrimp, Bentos and Banquets, Papa Toad's Broke da Mouth Cookies, and many others.

The setting in the Lahaina Gateway Shopping Center was perfect, the parking  lot is set up nice for an event like this one. This event raised money for locals Sina Kahaialii who passed away and little Olivia Bianco, according to Chris Mahon, their Make My Day nonprofit is to raise money for children's medical expenses, a very good cause. Maui is a small community and people know each other from the shores of Hana on the east side to Napili on the west side, Chris is a local guy that did good.

In the past Lahaina was home to another well known foodie event called The Taste of Lahaina, but it packed up and was never seen again. But Chris and Luis I think got some fun foods in their for their first ever culinary event. And I hope they stage this one again, and of course if Broke Da Mouth 2 is something I'd want to see it. For seven dollars, you get to see some of the island's best musicians, and let me tell you, our musicians can hold their own live on stage with the best the world has to offer, we got it Maui, support this.

FOOD FESTIVAL GEARING UP LAHAINA MAUI

Lahaina, Maui the sight for the first BROKE DA MOUTH FOOD FESTIVAL held at the Lahaina Gateway Shopping Center, look for Outback Steakhouse, Office Max, Maui Dive Shop, it's right off of highway 30, 3 miles from Kaanapali, 15 minutes from Kapalua, 40 minutes from the central side, if you got nothing to do, Lahaina is the place to be, something festive before Halloween in a couple of months.

The crews set up tents and portable potties, and fences. Stores at the center will remain open for normal hours, so if you'll be enjoying the food and music, and there's a cooking competition Maui's version of Chopped, go and buy a book at Barnes & Noble, or get a ream of copy paper at Office Max or something. What will be interesting will be Cool Cat Cafe and Teddy's Bigger Burgers dishing out their best hamburgers in the same parking lot. Well, let's see if there's going to be any kind of burger bashing.

This works out as a win win situation for the event as well as the shopping center, the proprietors of the businesses really need more traffic in there, and a few more likable shops, whatever that means. In the past The Hat Shack closed down, a sunglass shop packed up, a Baskin Robbins closed down, a sandal shop also split the scene. So this is a good thing..at the very least, people who never stepped onto the Lahaina Gateway's grounds will see it.

BOOST SMOOTHIES IN KAHANA MAUI

Jonathan Duncan partner in BOOST SMOOTHIES in the Sports Club Kahana building has the best smoothies, and other items, fresh and organic. And Kombucha On Tap, it's totally da bomb folks.

Okay so you're a local, or a visitor, you wanna work out? Go to Sports Club Kahana, or if you do outdoor workouts and you're in the vicinity, stop by and check out the boys.

When I stopped by to check on my friend Jonathan, he hooked me up with a free smoothie, it had all the good stuff in there, I requested acai Berries and apples. My first sip was euphoric baby! Euphoric! As in... mind blowing delicious. Okay guys, you guys who know me, I eat like a junk food junkie sometimes...well most of the times. Okay I'll shut up but man, if anyone wants a local smoothie, with lots of fresh fruits, man this little secret of a place should not be a secret, why? Jonathan and his partners, they keep it small and simple man, I mean I remember those old mom and pops back in the old days in Lahaina, selling shave ice, burgers and pop. This is a small kinda like a mom and pop operation which I dig to the max man, because you get your smoothie, and you get to talk story (converse) with the owners, how cool is that?

Nowadays you got corporate smoothies, you know Jamba what's his name? Oh yeah.. Juice. I'm sick of corporate Americana, I love these small operations man, I think you will too. So if you are in the Kahana area, heck if you are in North Kaanapali, Honokowai, Kahana, Napili, or Kapalua, BOOST SMOOTHIES is your smoothie destination man. I'll say this.... okay? "It is F......ing Great!"

Look for the sign

Coming from the south, or from Lahaina, Kaanapali, Honokwai, on Lower Honoapiilani Hwy, it's on the left, right before the Shell station. If you are coming on the upper highway from either north or south turn at the Mc Donald's and turn down the street, then a quick left, and a quick right, and bamm! You're there.

BROKE DA MOUTH FOOD FESTIVAL

Lahaina hasn't seen a food festival in a few years since the Taste of Lahaina packed it up and left town never to bee seen again! But wait, I had no idea that there was another one coming this weekend August 17 and 18th, in the parking lot of the Lahaina Gateway Shopping Center, right across the street of the Lahaina Cannery Mall. Looks like there's going to be good fun kinds of food, Sonora Taco's they got a truck parked daily on Lahainaluna Road. Gil the owner, is hard working, this will be good for him. Pulehu, Teddy's Bigger Burgers, and Cool Cat Cafe, and a few more, plus music, can't go wrong if you live right in Lahaina, and this thing is right down the street from my house, might be lots of cars all over the place. Good, gotta get that festiveness back in Lahaina Town. Although the shopping center itself does suck, not much good shops in there, but the parking lot is huge so it's perfect for a festival. If you go there, drive safely.

EATING RIGHT WITH KIDNEY FAILURE

Last week I was informed that I have Level 3 Kidney Failure, my lab work concluded my kidneys is not functioning at its optimal level. At age 48, I know I'm not getting younger. So with that, I guess my organs start to slow down, in my case it's somewhat damaged from causes related to hypertension, gout, and who knows if it runs in the family. My father lived with one kidney and lived life to the maximum until the very end. My niece is suffering from severe kidney failure, she does daily dialysis at the house.

So the doctor has me on a strict low sodium diet, as I write this I still need to see a certified dietician to tell me what foods I really should be or not be eating. Foods are either good for you or bad for you. Imagine all those $1.00 Mc Doubles I chowed down because it was cheap, when all I had to do was go to the market and buy an apple. A good organic apple can fill you up, and it is clean food. Who said when you're hungry you need to nail meat? Besides all of that sodium I induced of the years. And the saturated fatty proteins from certain animals and seafoods that caused me gout, and all those years pounding the medication to stop the gout, it all adds up to why my kidneys are at Level 3 Kidney Failure.

So what have I been doing since I found out about my condition? I been reading up on Level 3, and exactly what my doctor said to do is to just watch my weight and sodium intake, to keep my blood pressure low. A good pressure for me is right around the 130/70 or so range. Since it was sky high, I got it as low as 117/77.

Instead of high sodium potato chips and other snacks that's bad for me, I been using organic vegetables and fruits to satisfy my hunger, instead of buying a sack of Lay's chips, I opted for some crispy and fresh organic cucumbers, sliced and soaked in Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar, with garlic and fresh ground black peppers. The tang of vinegar actually feels similar to that of salt without the bad side effects that salt can produce like hypertension.

1 large organic cucumber sliced thin
2 cloves of garlic smashed or minced
1 cup of Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

1. In a bowl (non reactive) add the vinegar, garlic and fresh ground black peppers, and mix well.
2. Pat dry each piece of cucumber, and place it in the bowl, mix it up so the vinegar can penetrate each piece, soak it and refrigerate it. This can last a long time.

* Also just eating 4-5 pieces can fill you up where as a bag of can have you craving more, not good folks.

RON'S END OF SUMMER FOODIE BOOK

Okay my foodie friends, let the master book reviewer tell ya alls what I just read through at Barnes & Noble down there in Lahaina, and by the by, if you're down there, you better buy something from the cafe, and don't bring any outside food, like noodles from Panda Express, or a Mc Donald's hamburger, or a bucket of KFC. The managers will get in your face! I remember this one time the manager tossed out an elderly lady around 80 years old out into the parking lot because she busted out a DQ hot dog. "Hey old hag! Git outta here!" BOOM! Okay we got the protocol outta the way, now it's time for drum roll please... darrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

My end of summer foodie book pick is VEGAN COOKING FOR CARNIVORES by Roberto Martin. The book is really nice, my last book I picked about a year ago was from Tal Ronnen, and both these chefs had something to do with cooking for celebrities. Martin a meat cooking master got a gig cooking for Ellen Degeneres and her spouse. Great book, I mean it's well put together, great pictures, great little stories. The book has a forward and an afterward by Ellen and her spouse, and there's the typical funny story of the chef, you know, "I wasn't a vegan cook, but I got the gig and I just fried up some eggplant and wow! They loved it." Yeah whatever, same stuff. But the meals are simple that anybody can make, in fact I worked with some young talented vegan chefs before that could actually create better stuff. But... as far as a marketable new book for the foodies, especially if you want to stay away from animal byproducts, this is a great looking book. Would I buy it? Yeah if I had like 25 to 30 bucks. I'd highly recommend this book.

Here are some of the pages that tickled my fancy, whatever that means. 

Page 27, TOFU BENEDICT WITH CHIPOTLE CREAM.

Now look at that picture, this looks freeking ono, delicious, tasty, orgasmic, totally. Hmm, that picture tells a story, what story? I don't know, when you figure it out, call me up. So this is a page for breakfast that tickles my fancy.

PAGE 39 AVOCADO REUBEN a vegan sandwich, this is all looking Yay Yay if you know what I mean. Now keep in mind, Chef Roberto Martin probably just slapped it together, because for this project, there was an award winning food photographer that did the shoot. You could have made a tuna sandwich the guy would make look terrific.

PAGE 63 BELUGA LENTIL CAVIAR ON BLINI Vegan caviar, nuts guys, looks great and looks tasty too.











So the pictures are really beautiful, the presentations are éclat, the stories are cool, I'd rate this book a good purchase for any vegan out there, or food book collectors. Of course there's only one chef/author I really dig and that's Anthony Bourdain. I mean c'mon, no one can touch Bourdain, no one. But this book is really nice, great simplistic meals that anyone can prepare. Now if you got some kind of ailments, this is a good book, vegan cooking is good for the health. I mean you don't need meat to survive, and when a trained and talented chef can create meals that looks this great without meat, it has to be good. Sorry no spareribs, no briskets, no ham hocks, no gizzards, no pigs' feet, no ox tails, no mahi mahi, no roasted duck, no animals in this book for food. Sorry, so go out and get my end of summer pick, cook me something from the book, and I'll come over and eat it. No, make that cook it, and deliver it to me, thanks.

VEGAN COOKING FOR CARNIVORES Roberto Martin 15.00 to 25.00 dollars, shop online or head to your nearest Barnes & Noble Book Sellers.

RON'S OVERALL RATING FOR THIS BOOK IS 5 LAVA ROCKS OUT OF 5 

FAVORITE PLATES SURVEY

Here it is folks, it is August 9, 2012 and I did my little survey for this time of the year. After talking to our visitors, that's right, not the locals, but talking to our visitors from around the world, I asked them what is their favorite plate lunch?

And here is what I came up with, now I got a life I won't question a thousand peeps, so one day I was cruising Lahaina town, and just started talking to people, I had my Android to log down the answers. I went for 20 people.

So the question was, "What is your favorite local plate lunch?"

10 out of 20 said "Loco Moco." No shit? Wow!

03 out of 20 said "Hamburger Steak, messy." Messy hmmm, who's teaching them our lingo? By the way messy is with gravy all over the plate even over the mac salad

03 out of 20 said, "Chicken Katsu."

04 out of 20 said, "Chow Fun."

Okay, so out of 20, Loco Moco ruled. So if anybody wants to cash in on doing plate lunches, just build a Loco Moco stand and that's all you sell till you run out of food.

SCRAMBLED EGGS & PORTUGUESE SAUSAGE

If it's not a Portuguese sausage omelet, how about a 3 Egg scramble with 5 oz. of Portuguese sausage sliced, and a hefty amount of toasted and buttered bread?

I love cooking breakfast, some chefs or cooks don't like it, they'd pass that task on to someone else, well I love that first meals of the morning, it's the best.

Locals in Hawaii love eggs and sausage of any kind really, and when they wanna get real down and dirty, there are now stops. They'll cook eggs by the dozens, and fry up SPAM, grill Korean style chicken, heat up leftover kalua pork, beef stew, luau squid, luau stew, fried chicken, you name it, t-bone steaks, anything. Parrot fish Uhu, ahi, mahi, ono, lobsters, crabs, the list goes on and on.

Don't be surprised if you see a local in Hawaii eating huge meals for breakfast, and do not be surprised by what he may put on the food. You might see him dousing his white rice with soy sauce and Tabasco. You may see his wife scooping or squirting mayonnaise all over the plate, just to let you novice to the Hawaiian islands know, one of the most favorite condiments any local stocks up on is mayonnaise. So when you think food and locals eating in Hawaii, mayonnaise is one of the tops, as well as soy sauce and Tabasco.

THE LOCAL HAWAIIAN STYLE EGG CREATION!

One of my favorite dishes to make for friends in the morning is the simple stuff, like this kick ass Portuguese Sausage Omelet, filled to the max with the best ingredients.

3 large local eggs, over 5 oz. of diced Portuguese sausage, diced sweet Maui onions, mushrooms, herbs, a blend of grated cheddar and mozzarella cheeses all melted to perfection. Served with some toasted and buttered bread, fresh cut potatoes, fruit, coffee. Can it get better than this? 

When is this omelet called for? It is called for the morning after that wild wedding party, or that party with the strippers, or the morning after you guys lost the county softball tournament, despite it being a division 3 and all you guys are out of shape the loss hurts! So this is another good time for a 3 egg Portuguese sausage omelet.

SPRUCING UP MAYONNAISE

Mayo, it has to be one of my favorite condiments, I mean I wouldn't put that on anything, actually it's kind of rich, and too much mayo can be rather... well, gross. But just enough of it can add richness to a lot of foods that tend to be without juice, or well, dried. Now I would not put mayonnaise over a juicy fried chicken, that's not making sense at all. But there's people who probably do that.

Now, mayonnaise can be spruced up by adding something to it, like if you want a hot Mexican mayonnaise, try adding some cayenne peppers, or hot sauce to it. Or if you want that umami Japanese thing, add some soy sauce, and some wasabe to it.

Here's a tip, try deep frying some mahi mahi, breaded of course, and instead of using a tartar sauce, try using some of these.

11/2 cups of real mayonnaise
1 tsp. of onion powder
2 tsp. of garlic powder
1 tsp. minced onions
1/2 tsp. minced dill
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. honey
dash of salt and pepper

Put in a stainless steel bowl and mix well.

Spoon some of this on to your deep fried breaded mahi.

STOVES THAT F......G SUCK!

Do you love cooking? If you are that foodie that loves to spend time not just visiting new local digs to eat what is in, but are one that loves to cook new meals, you are the maestro behind the counter, at the stove cooking up a storm, for whoever. Now this picture to the right is a glass top stove from Frigidaire, it's a Gallery. So let me google this stove and see what's it made of, because I been using this stove off and on for cooking gigs, and I really don't like it one bit, because of the glass top surface, you need to be gentle, and the grease builds up and you need to clean it with a certain kind of cleaner/polish, and really it is too time consuming, can't stand these types of stoves, give me the gas ones, or the old school electric stoves with the coils, and some Fantastic or 409 to wipe it down. Yay for the old school stoves, Nay for this sucker from Frigidaire!


FRIGIDAIRE GALLERY
Exterior Aluminum with stainless steel finish
Cooktop finish Black Porcelain
Door finish stainless steel
Door handle stainless steel


Here's the pain in the butt for this type of stove, the stove top is made of Black Ceramic Glass and when grease gets on there, and if you don't tackle the cleaning duties ASAP, that crap stays on there like gunk. And the only thing to shine this piece a crap stove is this....

WEIMAN GLASS COOK TOP Heavy Duty Cleaner and Polish 15 fl oz.; and a soft scouring pad.


If you don't clean your stove top soon, it takes some sweat and time to clean it, and I really don't find life enjoyable after cooking an awesome meal, only to spend f........g lots of time f......g cleaning a stupid stove. Call me a little bit Pig Penn from Peanuts, or Oscar Madison  from the Odd Couple, maybe not as bad, but man, to clean this crappy stove and make it shine all the time when done cooking? No way Jose that sucks!


Most of my cooking gigs are in someone else's condo and I'd say 90 % of people have this type of electric stove set up in their kitchens. 


Don't like it, though Frigidaire does make fine kitchen tools and equipment, I'd settle for a professional style gas stove hooked up in my home, well if I did own my own home. But I really don't like this stove, just because you gotta put elbow grease in there. Now I think when they invented this piece of crap, they were in cahoots with Weiman, you know, the more glass stove tops Frigidaire sells, the more Weiman cleaners they sell, a win-win situation.


THE VOTING


OLD SCHOOL COIL ELECTRIC STOVES               YAY!
OLD SCHOOL GAS STOVES                                     YAY!
GLAS TOP COOKING...................................................NAY!

There you have it, old school wins!

SEAFOOD OMELET for BREAKFAST

Seafood Omelet today's breakfast, 3 eggs, mahi mahi, shrimp, grape tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, herbs, fresh limes, cheddar and mozzarella cheese.


Toasted lightly oiled bread.


One of my favorite times to cook and create using food is the mornings, love the mornings, the best meals are the ones that start the day. These meals we made working at the old Kaanapali Beach Club Restaurant back in the day, seafood omelets are the bomb, there's nothing like the flavors of mahi mahi, and shrimp, with herbs, and fresh limes, and melted cheeses, and of course a good beverage to go with it, this is a huge omelet, 3 large eggs, there's actually over 1/2 a pound of mahi and shrimp in this bugger. All the natural juices from all of the ingredients makes this wonderfully tasty, especially the little grape tomatoes with lots of flavors.