CHEF SAMBRANO: July 2015

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

FRIDA'S BEACH HOUSE WITH CHEF NICK CLEVELAND CUTTING AHI

Frida's Beach House Maui, authentic Mexican food, located on Front Street behind the Lahaina Cannery Mall.

The dish is an Ahi Agua Chile Leche de Tigre

Enjoy

WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER COSTCO CHICKEN

Photo from Google Images, Uncle Jason's Blog

That Costco run from Lahaina to Kahului here on Maui. What a run. I'm not a member, I used to be, but for myself there's no need for pallets of toilet paper, or laundry detergent. However, I'll follow a couple of friends that have families, and they always pick up Costco roasted chicken, those are huge birds no doubt GMO'd. But who cares? That's some tasty chicken. Some of my friends will always have leftover chicken, and they just let it sit in the fridge. I get on their case because I hate to see food go to waste.

Here's what I'd do with leftovers from Costco.

Take whatever meat and skin that's left over, and toss it in the wok for a quick stir fry with veggies. The meat is already seasoned, maybe toss in some chow mein noodles and some green onions.

I'd take the carcass and boil it with some water to make chicken soup, again the meat's already flavored and the bones have been roasted, it will lend a pretty good soup or broth for gravy.

Or if there's quite a bit of meat leftover, I'd mince in up, and make some chicken salad for a sandwich. There's a lot of things to do with this tasty bird from Costco. Can't go wrong with this, it's always at a reasonable price as well. So there you have it, that's what I'd do with Costco roasted chicken.

Until next time. :)

Monday, July 27, 2015

WHAT I EXPECT FROM DINING OUT

YOURS TRULY DINING OUT© 2015

What do I expect when I'm dining out? For one thing, please keep the menu in plain English. I mean, if there's some cultural thing going on when naming a dish, I'd respect that immensely, however, if I've never been to Vietnam before, please have an English name for the dish and a brief on what is in it in parenthesis. Simple. Though I'm getting more educated in dining out, still I don't care, please label the stuff.

And I hate it when a waiter goes, "Is that an iPhone? Well just google search it." It's like F >>>> you! You work here, if you want a tip, you bladdy better tell me what this s..t is! That's all.

But the biggest gripe I have is this, most of us live in an English speaking locale, so it would be good for biz, if these so called chefs with their big ass egos to lighten up a bit, and give us their fancy name for the dish as well as a simple term for it. If it's a salmon with wine sauce, I don't give a blank what you call it in French, or I can respect that, but at least put it in print on your f....ing menus, "Hey non speaking French dip shit, this here is a salmon in wine sauce!" Boom, I'm good to go! See what I mean?

I like Texans, they don't take shit, it's like if it's steak your eating, just print steak. If it's a fricking whale you're eating, write down whale, no monikers, no a.k.a. just the name of it. If we are served frogs, just say frogs. If it's a pig, just say pig. And if it's a prime Japanese pork chop, just say, "Prime Japanese Pork Chop" and we'll get the big ass picture. But NOOOO, these anal heads need to be fancy and shit! Okay enough of my griping, have a nice foodie day.

WATCH GIANT TUNA AND WAHOO GETTING FILLETED WITH THE BUBBA BLADE

Watch the pros break down a large Ahi Tuna, from removing the head, to breaking down the loin sections and more!

This is how your sushi gets processed. These fish cutters are highly skilled professionals, without them forget buying your fish from any market. So the next time you see your local fish cutter, buy him a coffee, tell him or her, "Hey thanks for cutting that fish." It will make him or her very happy and loved. After all, we all need to show love to our fish cutters. Why? Because we love to eat fish.

video copyright Bubba Blade

CUTTING AHI PORTIONS VIDEO

Here's a You Tube video on cutting and slicing of Ahi (Yellow Fin Tuna).

Enjoy this quick tutorial.

(The video is copyrighted by the video producers)

KONA CRAB FISHING OFF OF NORTH SHORE MAUI VIDEO

Here's a video from YouTube to show you all about Kona Crab Fishing. Ben and his guests will teach you about the Kona Crab, that sweet meat we locals love to savor.

Come to Hawaii, and sample Kona Crab, if you come from the eastern seaboard and love Blue Crab, you'll love our Kona Crab.

(The video is copyrighted by the producers of that video, I have now ownership of that property)

THE WAY I DO FRIED RICE

"Hey Ron! My F_______! fried rice is too f_____ing! mushy!"

This is a problem for some of you inexperienced rice fryers. Okay let's start with some basics.

- Water makes things soggy, hence too much of it will make rice mushy.

I use a medium grained white rice.
Hinode is one brands I use, or just go to your market and find medium grained white rice, that needs to be rinsed to remove the powdery stuff.

You need to pre-ccok your white rice first. Follow instructions. Now for fried rice, you want to cook it with less water.

Trick. Whatever pot you are using to cook your rice in, fill the water up to about just half an inch over the top of the rice. If using an automatic cooker, just turn it on, and let it cook. If you are stove topping it, cook it on simmer for about 20 minutes.

Now once the rice is cooked, you want to fluff it up, and really loosen it up, and cool if off really well. Once it cools or even gets cold, it is easier to fry up a nice product, and it will be less mushy.

Now you are ready to fry up whatever you want with your rice. Let's take Shrimp because for the love of God, every Mother _____er wants Shrimp Fried Rice. And don't kill me if you hate my recipe, this is just a general way to do it.

Now that you have about 2-3 cups of cooked white medium grained rice at the ready for the wok, let's get our ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

STEP 1
1 lb. shelled and vein removed medium shrimp, tails on or off.

1 clove garlic minced

1/4 tsp. minced ginger

1 tsp. minced chives

2 tbsp. cooking oil
----------

Heat up wok over high heat to bring oil to smoking, then lower to medium high, immediately add in the garlic and ginger, and quickly add in the shrimp, and cook until the color changes to pink, then add in the chives. Then remove to a platter to hold.

STEP 2
1/4 cup chopped red onions

1/2 cup chopped bell peppers

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

Heat up wok again over medium high heat with about 2 tbsp of cooking oil, sauté the veggies until slightly soft. Then remove on to another platter to hold.

STEP 3
Heat up about 1/4 cup of cooking oil with 2 tbsp. of sesame oil into the wok over medium high heat. Add in the pre-cooked white rice and stir fry it, fluffing it cup constantly until it is heated through.

Now add in the pre-cooked shrimp, and stir fry in concert with rice for about 1 1/2 minutes. Then add in the pre-cooked veggies, and cook stir frying for about 1 1/2 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, or soy sauce, or whatever you want.

TIPS: You can add in pre-cooked anything, scrambled eggs, fish cakes, you name it, anything pre-cooked.

As far as sauces, you don't want too much sauces, it will make the rice mushy, and that's not what you want. However, sometimes a chef will add in a sauce, maybe too much, but the stuff tastes great, in that case I'll take a slightly mushy fried rice any day.

Good Luck Foodies!

Monday, July 20, 2015

SOUP BONE with WATERCRESS

How to cook Soup Bone with Watercress

This simple method can be made in one pot, Filipino plantation style. Now listen up, these bones come from the shank of the cattle. The bones are filled with marrow, it's like a fatty substance, kind of gelatin like... and it is surrounded by meat. See pics at the bottom.

When you make soup bone, there's two ways we can do this. One is we can salt the soup bones, and roast them in an oven at about 400 degrees F, for 20 minutes, and place them in water enough to cover, and simmer them for about 2-3 hours to soften up the meat and marrow, and the flavors from the bones and meat will add not only flavor but a texture from the fats. The cons? The marrow will fall out of the bones, producing something awful for the marrow aficionados.

The other way is to just simmer the soup bones in water, 20-30 minutes will cook the marrow. And the water becomes the broth. Okay then let's get to the cooking shall we?

Go to your butcher shop, and get about 2 lbs. of beef bone marrow, and about 2-3 lbs. of beef shank with the bone/marrow. If he can, trim the bones with marrow to about 3 inches. You don't want too long marrows... why? Shorter ones cook faster.

Also, for the shanks, keep the meat on.

Get about 4 inches of ginger, trim them into some discs

Get about 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, for cooking the soup bones.

The First Boil

For the first boil, get about 3 cups to 4 cups of water, or enough to cover he bones by half an inch.

DIRECTIONS: First Boil.

1. use a 6-8 quart stock pot, preferably a stainless steel one, try and not to use a nonstick one, because the stainless provides a sticky surface for the fond when cooking, that's the flavor from the beef.

2. Place the soup bones inside the pot, with water just covering. Over high heat, boil the bones for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and empty out the water, this what I call the cleansing boil, to remove some of the grit from the product.

DIRECTIONS: Making the soup.

1. Remove the soup bones and shanks to another plate.

2. Return pot to high heat on stove, add the oil, and ginger, cook ginger until the aroma is present, return soup bones and shank to pot, sear the bones and shanks until brown.

3. Add water to cover bones by about 4 inches, bring to a boil, and then lower to simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then remove the marrow bones, the ones without the meat. Reason is you don't want the marrow falling out of the bones. Keep it on the side for now.

4. Continue to simmer the shanks for about 2-3 hours, the meat should be soft, fork tender. If the marrow from the shanks with meat fall out that's alright. If some water (broth evaporated), add a little more water, and simmer for another 10 minutes or so...

5. Skim the top of the soup that's in the pot with a slotted spoon, and remove any impurities or scum/foam and discard it by scooping it out.

WATERCRESS (Use a bunch, tops trimmed off, and stems cut into short inch lengths.) Keep at the ready, I'll tell you when to put em in.

Season the soup with some fish sauce, try patis the Filipino version, use a ladle full, stir it in, and taste. If more is needed add, if not stop!

Season with some apple cider vinegar, try a ladle full, this adds tartness. Add more or less.

Keep simmering. Then add in a couple of bay leaves for aroma, and some peppercorns. Simmer for a few minutes to release the aromas.

Now that you got the soup flavored, add salt if you need to at the end, but now is the time to add in your watercress. Remember green veggies wilt quickly, so as soon as you add in the watercress, off the heat. Return the marrow bones to the soup, let it settle.

Serve with hot rice, or veggies.

These are bone marrow, it takes about 20 minutes to cook these, just remember to remove them and set them aside after the first boil with the shanks. You'll return them for about 15 minutes to begin the soup making process but you'll remove them and let the shanks cook for the soup, the reason is you want these babies to have the marrow stay in the bones, it is a delicacy to slurp out the marrow or to spoon them out, that's the gold, the rubies!

These are the shanks, with the meat on and more marrow in the center, this will be the main source of the beef broth process, as its sister marrow bones will be removed, the shanks will do the nasty work, the meat will add flavor and richness to the broth, and after cooking will be soft to eat.

This is just one way to do it, mom did it this way, and I'm sure other cooks will do something different, but yet similar. Mom cooked with simple ingredients, as you can gather, this recipe does not have many ingredients, the ginger adds flavor and aroma, the bay leaves and pepper corns toward the end, but at the start of the broth process, the meat is melting away as well as the bones, more natural flavors from the beef is what we are after, other flavorings is to make stars of the shanks and marrow bones.

If you can't get watercress, cabbage will do, kale will do, spinach will do, or leave it out. If you want to put carrots and potatoes in there, cut them bite size, and toss them in towards the end, simmer until softened, and you are good to go.

On the table, have some ramekins of apple cider vinegar as well as some fish sauce too, diners may want more of those in their soup bowls. Good luck!

Ron Sambrano

CHEF KRYSTLE COOK

Watch this video of Chef Krystle Cook, cooking a bacon wrapped chicken breast, stuffed with some goodies and a Diane sauce, very good food from this Australian surfer girl/chef.

DA FOODIE BOODIES

Hey hey hey, I'm Fat Albert! That's Bill Cosby's creation, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids cartoon long time ago... but Bill what are you doing? You going to jail bro!

Sorry for getting into the Cosby trending thing, but any hoo, let me all tell you that we got a Facebook Group/Page called DA FOODIE BOODIES, go on that page and share with us, your foodie experiences, write a short comment, share a photo, a short video, anything, we want more foodies to participate big time okay? Okay! So go to DA FOODIE BOODIES on Facebook, just click that link.

What else. Oh yeah, make sure if you like any of these posts on my blog, to share it on Twitter or Facebook too, I really appreciate that... I can't pay you a dime, but I'll give you all my spiritual blessings.. for now anyhow, until my shares in Nutella goes off the charts, spiritual blessings will do.

Until next post, have a great day as July hits the home stretch and August comes rolling in like a freight train without brakes. Cook, make love... got it? Okay then, be cool to each other!

Ron Sambrano

Sunday, July 19, 2015

KALE & TOMATO GRUMBLE IT'S BREAKFAST TIME

Wake up Maui! Eggs for breakfast, the cost of eggs going up, but WTF, who cares! It's a soft scramble time for all of you lovers of creamy scrambled eggs.

Today I'll twist this one up a bit, and for you breakfast connoisseurs, and breakfast chefs out there you know how to make a good moist scramble, but some of you out there when a person asks you to please cook their scramble eggs soft, you still kill the bitch!

I like to call my scrambled eggs Grumbles. So today I'll give to you my KALE and TOMATO GRUMBLE, with WHOLE GRAIN TOAST, and PORTUGUESE SAUSAGE.

The trick to good soft scrambles is to not make your pan too hot, that's a big ass NAY! You want to use a non stick pan of course, and you'll need some fat to cook the eggs in, a good vegetable oil, or even butter. Sometimes I'll use Safflower oil, it's a soft oil and great for soft scrambles. Also test out the heat all the time, once you pour the beaten eggs into the pan, you'll need a spatula to keep stirring the eggs to fluff them up. If the pan is too hot, pull it off of the heat and finish cooking off the heat, you'll end up with perfect soft not overcooked scrambles, or in my kitchen a Grumble.

This is a plated 3 eggs, Kale & Tomato Grumble, with Portuguese Sausage, and whole grain toast.

The ingredients are simple.

1 bunch of curly kale: I like these because of the jagged and curvy texture, you will need to peel the leaves off of the spine by hand, and just shred the leaves with your fingers, or chop them with a veggie cleaver.

1 package of plum or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half: These make good mixers for Grumbles or omelets.

1 dozen large eggs: Each Grumble gets (3) beaten eggs, beat them and add a dash of sea salt to it, and pepper if you so choose.

Sour Cream: You will put a good tablespoon dollop of sour cream into the scramble, in the pan right before it is done cooking, the sour cream adds a nice flavor, and makes the Grumble creamy.

Vegetable oil for cooking.

10 oz. mild Portuguese sausage, cut into diagonal slices, and cooked on a hot stainless steel pan, do this before the eggs, and keep it warm with covered foil.

Whole grain bread: Toast these and slice in half.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre cook the cherry or plum tomatoes, then set them aside in a bowl, you will add them together after the next step which is to cook and soften up the kale.

2. Once the kale wilts a bit, return the cooked tomatoes to the pan, and heat up for about 30 seconds.

3. Add the beaten eggs to the pan over medium high heat, and immediately with a spatula stir it up, let it Grumble.

4. Keep stirring so the eggs does not burn, if heat is too high, turn it down and continue to stir.

5. As the eggs begin to finalize its cooking process, immediately stir in a good tablespoon dollop of sour cream, and continue to stir it in completely.

6. Once the sour cream is in concert with the eggs, remove it quickly so it doesn't over cook and become a well done scramble. You want it soft and fluffy. Hint guys, lots of women love fluffy eggs for breakfast. No pun intended!

YAY! The finished Grumble with toast and Portuguese Sausage!!!!

Monday, July 13, 2015

DOWN TO EARTH MAUI

Yesterday was a mellow Sunday, meeting a buddy I've never seen in like two years. So we decided to meet up at Down To Earth Natural Foods for lunch, since he bought lunch I didn't complain, I like vegetarian food too. I had myself a vegan lasagna and an organic Maui grown coffee with some brown sugar in it. It filled me up big time, and no beef or pork, sometimes I can overdose on animal meat and that is not good. Too much saturated fats will kill you, it makes me sluggish.

Anyway if you are on Maui and want to eat vegetarian, or vegan Down To Earth on Dairy Road in Kahului, near the airport is a very nice place to have lunch or even dinner, the foods always fresh, and they have all natural Maui grown produce as well.

DOWN TO EARTH NATURAL FOODS

Saturday, July 11, 2015

CAFE O LEI AT THE DUNES GOLF COURSE MAUI LANI

Golfers know this, the range is where we can find peace of mind, and also bloody frustration! I got to food blog Cafe O Lei at the Dunes the other day, and it's a golf course number one, so I decided to bring my clubs so after I eat a meal to blog about, I'll go and hit some range golf balls.

I walked inside the club house, and I see the lunch crowd dwindling, I asked the bartender, "Hey brah can I get some lunch I'm a food blogger?" He said sure, and they would take care of everything. Cool!

So this is how I rate the places I check out. There's a scale from 1-5 YAYS! 5 being tops. And if any category goes below a 1 YAY!, I'll give it a NAY! if anyone gets this they might as well close up shop and stop being in the food biz.

Okay the Heineken 5 YAYS!

The Bill Eby Local ground beef Burger with fries, was delicious, cooked just right the way I wanted it, medium. And it was tasty!!! Damned good burger so huge if you look at the last pic, I couldn't really finish it, and I can eat me a good burger junior. This is how I'll rate CAFE O LEI's Bill Eby Burger. 5 YAYS!

It's made with Kula rancher Bill Eby's premium local beef, grilled onions, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato on a sesame bun, shoestring fries 8.99 what a deal!!!!

"I could not finish this burger, the beer blame the beer!"

My experience at Cafe O Lei at the Dunes in Maui Lani was a definite 5 YAYS! Then I visited Lani, who works in the Pro Shop to talk about old times, and then I hit the range. Focused primarily on my wedge play, and my 7 iron. I had to find my groove before I buss out the big stick.... Ladies.... did you hear me? hahahahahaha, just joking. Until next time have a YAY YAY DAY!!!

TORTUGA'S MAUI MALL

Authentic Mexican Restaurant, on Maui. Tortuga's Mexican Restaurant is a counter service eatery located in the Maui Mall in Kahului, Maui, across from Whole Foods. Blogging yesterday about foods I've never tried from new restaurants I gave these guys a try. Here's my report card. And instead of thumbs ups I'll rate the categories by YAYS, 5 is tops.

The decor, ambience, cleanliness of the establishment was excellent 5 YAYS!

Courtesy of the staff, excellent 5 YAYS!

Menu and information on food, excellent, 5 YAYS!

I was in there at around one in the afternoon, I guess the business and summer vay cay lunch crowd came in earlier, when I asked the girl at the counter if it was very busy earlier she said, "Yes very." I did not know if she was telling the ultimate truth, or it was to make them look good, because in the past I'd walk by there and I've never really seen it slammed busy. However this is a clean dig, a very clean and friendly spot. The menu is pretty good. Tacos and Tortas (Mexican sandwiches are their specialty). Visit their website for more info or on social media Instagram. www.tortugasmaui.com

Okay so far they are clicking on all the YAYS cylinder, now if something goes below a 1 YAY, I'll hit the NAY button. If there's any NAYS, you might as well close up shop. So I decided to let them turn me on to a tortas because I was in the mood for a sandwich style meal. So I decided to go with the Machaca and Eggs Tortas, if I was to pay for it it cost 7.99; but I blog baby so hey, I eat for free most of the time hahahahahaha. So where were we? Oh yeah, the Machaca with Eggs comes with bread that's totally soft and spongy, and the filling is made up of shredded sautéed beef, peppers, chipotle beans, Oaxaca cheese, tomatoes, chipotle mayo, and some small potato chips.

Machaca & Eggs Tortas

Hot Sauce was needed

The report card on the meal itself.

PRICE: Affordable 5 YAYS!

PRESENTATION: Casual for what it was 5 YAYS!

AROMA OF FOOD: I had some issues because of the humidity outside that day, N/A.

FRESHNESS OF FOOD: From what I saw and felt on the first bite, 5 YAYS!

FLAVOR OF FILLING: Because of the humidity outside that screwed with my taste and smell perceptions, it is unfair for me to give this dish any bad ratings. I couldn't taste any flavors really, but the food when trying to savor it as I ate it was good. I just couldn't get that bite from a Mexican dish like I usually get, but like I said, it would be unfair for me to give this any bad ratings. So this is what I did.

I asked a friend if he ate there, and he said yes. Upon this I asked him if he tried the Machaca and Eggs, he said yes. He also said it was very good. Hey I'm being honest guys, that humidity ruined my foodie perception. But as you can see, it looks very tasty, and the establishment is very clean, the staff is friendly. Sorry my taste buds weren't there, but I'll tell you this much, based on a friend telling me it was good, and my personal experience that that place is clean and friendly. YAY! Go and visit Tortuga's in the Maui Mall. I'll go again later when the humidity is a non factor. So wrapping up this blog, Tortuga's is at least in the YAY category, and nothing's NAY about this place.

"Damned humidity screwed my sense of smell and taste!"

Thursday, July 9, 2015

YO MAMA'S BAR & GRILL New Orleans

Man I'm on a roll talking with foodies from all over the foodie planet "Yay!"

Just met another couple from Louisiana, and they told me "Ron if you want good hamburgers go to Yo Mama's Bar & Grill." OK, they too like to ramble on about the food, but like I always say, I'd rather get the name of the establishment and go Google or Yelp it. So it's Yo Mama's Bar & Grill. Located at 727 St. Peter St. New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: 504-522-1125 YO MAMA'S BAR AND GRILL

YELP Reports it at 4 stars! Wow! Click on the website, you'll see the menu. If I was there this is what I'd want to try, since all of their burgers are at 1/2 pounds, and dressed with lettuce, tomato, onions and mayonnaise. Just simple and good the way I love it.

I'd try the 3. Mushroom Burger with baked potato, and mushrooms touched by the Gods for $10.50, not bad prices.

Or the 5. Chili Cheddar Cheese Burger with baked potato for $10.50

Heck just look at the pics and go visit their website.

THE ROYAL MOUNTED BURGER WIH HAM

"MAN THIS IS THE BOMB!"