BLOG – AN OLD POT SPEAKS

My friend and classmate, Janice Tajiri Cretton, made the best banana bread in the 70s. I remembered the recipe she used, but I lost that particular Maui Extension Homemakers’ Council Recipe Book—blue cover, ages ago. Several months ago, Rosie Lono sent me her copy of the recipe book, and I finally have the banana bread recipe in my possession. Imagine waiting 40 years for this recipe to reappear! The recipe is found on page 99, just in case you have that copy.

The results of this recipe are especially moist and has an open crumb. The more bananas the better. These photos are of the loaves I made with only three large bananas. I used Harlan’s Kula Mac Nuts—fresh roasted after he picks and shells them himself. Onolicious!

2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
6-7 ripe bananas
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Beat in the mashed bananas.

Sift dry ingredients twice and mix into banana mixture, only until all flour is moistened. Do not over mix. Add the nuts. Bake in two large loaf pans in 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until done.

When was the last time you made tofu burgers? Here is a recipe from the Maui Home Demonstration Council, Red cover recipe book, page 87:

1 block Tofu
1 can Tuna
1 egg
3 stalks green onion finely chopped
Salt and peper

Wrap tofu in a clean dishcloth and squeeze out water. Place ingredients in bowl, and salt and pepper and mix well. Form into patties.

Fry [in deep fat] until browned. Drain on paper towel and serve with any sauce. 

 When was dinner ever so easy and tasted so good? 

Cruising through Instagram a few weeks ago, I came upon this recipe posted by www.cookinghawaiianstyle.com: Brown Rice & Tofu Poke Salad. This poke recipe is mild compared to what’s out there, but surprisingly delicious.

Since I had left over veggies from my last incredible salad, I substituted the broccolini, kale and onions with English Peas, dandelion greens, asparagus, raddichio, beet greens and some romaine. Instead of kukui nuts, I used macadamia nuts from Harlan’s Kula Macnuts and omitted the ogo (since I no mo’ ogo).

I wouldn’t have tried this recipe except that I had just returned from Maui and still hungry for poke raw fish even though we had it practically every night. Masa the Sushi Chef at Cafe O`Lei in Kihei also treated us to a generous portion of poke before sushi. 

The main thing is to use the marinade (ingredients listed below) from the Brown Rice & Tofu Poke Salad at cookinghawaiianstyle.com, and then substitute with whatever veggies or nuts you have in your kitchen or garden.

I approached the recipe this way:

Press the moisture out from a firm tofu block by laying it between paper towels and let it sit for a couple of hours until it felt dry but maintained its firmness. The original recipe calls for 10 minutes with a weight on the tofu, so try that. 

Here is the marinade recipe from cookinghawaiianstyle.com:

1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
1/2 cup finely minced yellow onion
2 tsp minced garlic
3 Tbls olive oil
3 Tbls tamari (organic shoyu)
3 Tbls sesame oil
2 Tbls lemon juice
1/2 tsp Hawaiian salt
Pinch chili flakes (optional)

The recipe called for brown rice, but I cooked wild rice with a pinch of Hawaiian Salt on the stove while the jasmine rice steamed in my rice cooker. Too time consuming. Use the brown rice.

While the rice cooked, I sautéed two sliced cloves of garlic in olive oil and added thinly diagonally-sliced asparagus (about a cup) and stir fried them for less than two minutes; then added some widely chopped radicchio (full cup) to the mixture. I included the dandelion greens (a chopped handful) and stirred them in just before they wilted. Let that stand – off the heat. When dandelion leaves and radicchio are sautéed, they seem to lose their bitterness and color. They blend very well with other vegetables such as romaine, and beet greens.

I parboiled a large handful of English peas for a minute and drained them in a colander. Rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking. (English peas can be eaten raw.) I also thinly sliced some red radish for a bit of thrill and color.

Be sure that your salad has a variety of tastes and color! Try arugula or bitter melon instead of the radicchio and dandelion greens.

The veggies and marinade sat at room temperature until David came in from the barn.To serve, I mixed the two types of rice in a large serving bowl, distributed the sautéed veggies over it, and then sprinkled the English Peas over all. Then I added the marinated tofu on top of everything with the extra marinade, and arranged the radishes around for fanciness.

The experience was velvety firm tofu with a hint of heat in bed with earthy and mildly sweet vegetables and a surprising crunch. Like foreplay with a glass of white wine. 

One last note…I sometimes overlook pertinent directions, and then have to make up for it in the process. I mixed all the nuts, green onions, yellow onion, garlic, olive oil, shoyu (instead of Tamari), sesame oil, lemon juice, Hawaiian Salt and chili flakes into one bowl and marinated the tofu cubes in the entire mix for about three hours at room temperature (I live in a cold climate). That’s not what the recipes says to do. Then I scooped the tofu with extra marinade over the veggies and rice. I was very pleased with the result.

On a cold evening, I’d serve this salad warmer. In the summer, cooler. (I had the leftovers four days later, and it was even more satisfying and delicious then.)

OMG! So ono!!!

Go to their website: cookinghawaiianstyle.com and/or follow them on Instagram. 

Use your own veggies and tell me how your Tofu Poke Salad came out on my blog: www.jackiepiascarlin.com. Follow me on Instagram at jpiascarlin.