JAMES KUDLICH Teddy's Bigger Burgers

James "Da Foodie" Kudlich and I went into Teddy's and James ate a huge ass Western Burger, and then he went home to sleep. Hank Telles the owner serves up some of the best grilled all beef burgers in Lahaina, a knock off of In N Out, Teddy's is actually one of my favorite burgers in town, located at the Lahaina Gateway Shopping Center just minutes from Kaanapali, Kahana, and Kapalua.

BROKE DA MOUTH 2012

This past summer's food fest in Lahaina Maui. 

Broke Da Mouth 2012 by Chris Mahon, it was a good first time event despite losing numbers according to Chris, it was a benefit event. Lahaina used to be the home of THE TASTE OF LAHAINA which no longer exists. Last week Lahaina had its PLANTATION DAYS event which featured local eateries, and top local entertainers.  

FOOD GOT BETTER AT L&L LAHAINA CANNERY MALL

In the not so distant past in the Lahaina Cannery Mall, the L&L Drive Inn began to serve some really crappy food, I mean the chicken katsu was always dried out and hard, their noodles was very tasteless. So about 7 months ago, I met Chucky, the new owner of the L&L in the Lahaina Cannery Mall, and from day one he told me, "Ron I make food bettah, I make it fresh, I even cook Filipino foods too." Really? Chucky sounds like that confident general that will overtake the enemy at the border, he'll carryout his blitzkrieg, and run over the enemy, this dude has all the confidence in the world, I saw it in his eyes, I saw it in the way he wiped down the counter, because the last Bozos did not even bother to clean anything, not even the soda dispensers. But Chucky, this dude knows how to make food fresh!

One day I get there I ordered the pancit noodles (Filipino Chow Mein), some kau yuk (Chinese braised pork), and some sweet and sour spareribs. Man it was great, not gourmet plates but for the everyday plate lunch lover, Chucky was batting 1000. I mean when a line starts to form, and bus drivers run to get there, hey Chucky is doin something right. Okay I ate that before my gout attacks I don't eat that anymore. But, Chucky the friendly guy that he is tells me, "Ron try the chicken chow mein." Okay so I ordered it, and when I got it, I was surprised because the plate weighed like 3 pounds! I opened it, and there was fresh veggies, pieces of marinated chicken korean style, and lots of noodles, now this is chow mein. And the steam came streaming out of the closed plate, yes, it was heaven, finally an L&L that made good food again.

Also the bbq chicken is good, better than before, the chicken katsu is better, in fact if you get the mini katsu plate, it'll fill you up, for 5.95, 1 scoop of rice, 1 macaroni salad, and a lot of chicken. Now, unless Chucky starts flaking out, I do suggest L&L at the Lahaina Cannery Mall. On a recent visit Chucky sold me their chicken chow fun, and it was kind of on the sweeter side, not really my kind of chow fun, it was a little too sweet, but it was still good, really I wasn't disappointed, it was just a tad sweet that's all, no worries, still hot and fresh, much better than the last moron that owned the dig.

Chicken Chow Fun L&L Drive Inn @ the Lahaina Cannery Mall.

Chow Fun should be made fresh, it should never sit in a hotel pan in a warming apparatus.

LOW SODIUM SAMOSAS W/ MANGO CHUTNEY

I love deep fried finger foods, I used to maul all the won tons my sisters would fry up during family dinners, I just couldn't wait for it to come out of the frying pan, we weren't sophisticated in having an electric deep fryer all we had was deep stainless steel pans or heavy cast iron woks. No matter, my sisters rocked when it came to making won tons, however the purists would claim that they didn't make it 100% from scratch because won tons are a Chinese staple and there are those foodies that'll claim, "Yeah but she didn't make those won ton wrappers she bought them from Foodland." Okay true that, but still it was delicious and I couldn't give a rat's ___ about that, to me if a store sold an excellent product why not use it to your time consuming life as leverage?

As time went on, I was introduced to Indian cooking by some talented chefs in a health food store I worked in, and one dish I loved was similar to the Chinese won tons, and that was the Indian Samosa, and it is relatively easy to make. It's hard to find a samosa wrapper on the market, some chefs will cheat and use a Thai spring roll wrapper, that was a "Nay" vote by the house. "Ron make em from scratch," one of the chefs instructed me, it's easy.

So here is the ingredients to make a Samosa dough for the wrappings.

SAMOSA WRAPPER
3 cups of AP Flour
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. curry powder
1 stick unsalted butter clarified
1 cup of very iced cold water, more if needed

1. Add clarified butter, sea salt to flour, and mix it well like any dough mix. Add the iced water very slowly and mix with a ladle, or your hands or a standing mixer, just keep on going until a nice soft dough is formed and workable.

2. Knead dough for about 5-10 minutes, let it rest in a stainless steel bowl, that has some olive oil wiped inside, cover it with a large plate or plastic wrap until you are ready to deep fry them.

3. When you are ready to start to make the filling, roll out about a golf ball size of dough into a circle about 5-6 inches in diameter (possibly smaller depending on the structure of your finished dough). Slice this in half forming a half circle, continue with the rest of the dough until all is done.

SAMOSA FILLING
1 large organic potato, peeled, cubed and cooked until softened
1 cup of black organic beans from a can
7 oz. of firm organic tofu, grounded drained of all water content
1 small green organic bell chopped
1 small sweet round organic onion chopped
1 red chili chopped
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. minced ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. turmeric
3/4 tsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup cilantro rough chopped
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (Bragg)
Sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat up 2 tbsp. of vegetable oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat, add the mustard, fennel, and cumin seeds, once you see them pop, then add in the garlic and ginger cook a few seconds until you smell it, add in the chopped onion cook it until softened.

2. Now add in the potatoes, black beans, and tofu, bell pepper, red chili, turmeric, chili powder, the sea salt and pepper. Cook it until the potatoes and tofu and beans have been coated by all the spices.

3. Add in the lemon juice and cook it until the juice dissolves. Mix in the chopped cilantro and vinegar, cook 1 minute and let rest. Then using a masher, mash all of the ingredients together let it rest.

TO MAKE SAMOSAS

Take a half circle of the dough, spoon filling in the lower center, and begin to fold into triangles, or heck whatever shape you want, it doesn't matter.

TO COOK

Heat up a deep fry pan with about 3 inches of oil, over high heat when oil is sizzling, add in a few Samosas at a time, and fry until golden. Because this dish is without animal meats (Vegetarian) because we did use butter, it can cook rather quickly.

MANGO CHUTNEY (I buy mines)  PATAK'S SWEET MANGO CHUTNEY get em in most health food stores or online like Amazon.com this product does have sodium 310 Mg per 1 tbsp, but if you just dip the samosas in it in a small ramekin, you should be fine. If you treat yourself once in a while, it isn't going to really do you harm, however please ask your doctor or dietician for advice before trying this recipe.

Diabetic Teriyaki Sauce Made with Agave Nectar

Just a brush up on Diabetic Cooking, using refined sweeteners is a No No. You want to use a sweetener that raises your blood glucose level slowly, and because this Agave plant has a low glycemic index than sugar or other sweeteners, it makes a good addition to sauces.

I am not a registered dietician, but I have worked in a natural food store as a cook on Maui, and learned from the best chefs at that time. So when I do a personal chef gig for someone with diabetes, and they want something sweet to eat, I'll first have them sign a waiver that states they are allowing me to use certain ingredients, and that they should inform their health care provider, doctor or nutritionist that I'm going to use agave nectar so as if not to harm them if it may do so, just to protect client and myself.

I come from an Asian/Pacific Islander culture as well as American; so my cooking roots is rooted as such. One client had diabetes, and wanted me to make her and her husband a teriyaki steak with a salad. Well I informed them that if I used agave nectar it would be safer for them, but all the while stating that they should eat it sparingly.

So I did make them a nice New York steak grilled it for them, and made a teriyaki sauce that was drizzled over the steak, to their surprise it tasted great. I did not use any starches to thicken this sauce, however I utilized come culinary training I got from great chefs, one was my brother Harold God rest his soul. Instead of thickening it with a roux, or slurry, I reduced the sauce in a pan.

VOLCANIC AGAVE NECTAR ORGANIC, NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS LIKE CORN SYRUP, MALTOSE AND OTHER BAD STUFF.







THE AGAVE PLANT

The Agave Plant pictured here is what tequila is made from just for your info. 








GRILLED NEW YORK STEAK W/ AGAVE TERI SAUCE

1 lb. New York steak bone in or off, seasoned with onion powder and fresh ground black pepper, let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix these four ingredients well, heat up a small saucepan over medium heat and simmer, reduce to about half.

1 cup low sodium Bragg liquid amino
1/3 cup Volcano Agave Nectar1/4 tsp. minced ginger
1/4 tsp. minced garlic

Heat up (in my case) a cast iron grill pan on the stove top

This pan is an Emerilware pan that is great if you don't have an outside grill, makes a good addition to your kitchen. 














Directions:

Once the grill pan is hot, place the steak on it and sear it, cooking it for about 4 minutes and then flipping it to cook another 4 minutes, this should produce a medium steak, slightly reddish, if you have a thermometer, get it to about 145 deg. F. Remove steak and tent with foil to keep it warm.

Go back to the saucepan and, if the Agave Teriyaki Sauce is still reducing heat it up by intensifying the heat higher, and bring it to a boil and finish reducing sauce.

Once reduced, remove from heat.

Slice steak so that two can share on one platter, and then drizzle the Agave Teriyaki Sauce over the sliced steak and serve.

For diabetics, I try to cook them straight up grains such as Quinoa (Kee- Wah), a staple of South America, it is gluten free, and has somewhat of a nutty flavor but is filled with all the essential amino acids your body needs as well as packed with protein. This makes a safe side instead of white rice or even brown rice to keep the glycemic levels down.

  Directions on cooking quinoa.

Tips: 1 cup of uncooked quinoa yields about 3 cups of cooked product. Also quinoa can have a bitter aftertaste, to omit this, the outer layers can be removed. To add flavor to quinoa, when cooking use 2 cups of vegetable broth instead of straight up water, and put in a bay leaf and some salt and pepper or other favorite herb or spice.

1. Heat up a pot of 2 cups broth or water.
2. Add 1 cup of quinoa, and bring to a boil and immediately turn heat down to a simmer.
3. Cook for approximately 20 minutes, it will rise and become fluffy,  that's when it's done. Remove from heat and plate, garnish with fresh parsley or other nice herb leaves.


Happy eating and or cooking for you loved ones with diabetes. Go to my group DA FOODIE BOODIES on Facebook and join, and share your stories on healthy cooking.

ALOHA DELI ROCK THE HOT DOGS

Rocking hot dogs, smoothies, coffees, pastries, sandwiches, wraps, check out owners the father and son team of Howard and Steve Canastra, and the friendly and fast Justine. Aloha Deli is located top level Harbor Shops Maalaea, right off of HWY 30, just 15 minutes from Kahului airport, and just minutes from Kihei and Lahaina

CELERIAC CELERY ROOT

Celeriac or Celery Root, can be julienne and tossed into salads, or blended into sauces like a homemade mayonnaise. If you look at the picture to the left it is brownish on the outside, looks like someone's brain was split in half and the innards are whitish. 

To prep these, cut off the top part which is green, and take the bulb part, using a paring knife, trim off the outer parts (brownish skin), try to not cut into the flesh (whitish) parts.

Then begin to julienne the bulb, and toss them into your favorite salads. Okay let's create something with this root.

CRAB SALAD W/ CELERIAC

2 servings

6 oz. of chopped Romaine lettuce
1/2 cup of sliced sweet round onions
3 oz. of fresh spinach leaves rinsed
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes sliced thin
1 cup of julienne Celeriac

1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup tamari
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ginger powder
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. raw sugar

1 can crab meat

Directions:

Toss the Romaine to the Celeriac in a chilled bowl, cover and keep chilled.

Mix the lemon juice to the raw sugar with a whisk or fork.

Remove salad from chiller, and divide into two portions in salad bowls, drizzle dressing over and then sprinkle crab meat over the salad, garnish with more dressing.

* Canned crab meat is used for its convenience, I have no problem with it at times, however if you dislike anything canned, by all means utilize fresh crab meat.