A Zesty Souvenir

So, there is this fantastic cafe in Kailua Kona on Alii Drive called Island Lava Java. Jen and I ate breakfast there every morning that we were in Kona, except for the two mornings that we ate papaya at our condo. My objective, pretty much every day in Hawai'i was to eat a papaya half, try a local specialty, and enjoy a tropical cocktail oceanside. I excelled at these goals. 

Waipi'o Stack Breakfast with 1/2 papaya and a 20 oz. Kona coffee - heaven...

Island Lava Java's fantastic menu

One of the most delicious things on the Lava Java menu (besides their 20-oz. cups of Kona Coffee) was the Waipi'o Stack Breakfast, which I've been attempting to re-create. It was a stack of goodness, starting with toasted homemade wheat bread, slathered with chipotle aioli, sliced tomatoes, spicy rocket (arugula), smoky bacon, over-easy eggs, and ripe avocado. Pure brilliance. I think I've finally got the chipotle aioli down... There's a chance that I may move on to their ginormous cinnamon roll recipe next (they're so popular, they let you reserve them ahead of time).  

Best Cinnamon Roll on the island... they sell out early. We paid for this one the day before, planning to pick it up on our way to Hilo the next morning. We picked it up and decided to stay for breakfast. Mmm... good choice.

Katrina's Chipotle Aioli for a Waipi'o Stack Breakfast at home... 
(makes enough to share with a friend)

1.5 c. good light mayonnaise 

4 whole chipotle chiles (canned in adobo sauce from the Mexican section of the grocery)

Juice from one medium lime
1-2 Tbs. honey or agave (to taste - I used one)

2 cloves crushed garlic (or two cubes of frozen crushed Dorot from TJ's)

1/4-1/2 tsp. Hawai'ian sea salt (I did slightly less than a 1/2 tsp) 

Whiz this all up in your food processor (or Magic Bullet like I did) and enjoy!! Add more chiles for more kick (or a little more of the adobo sauce from the can), or use full-fat mayo if you want (or regular sea salt, I just have some from Hawai'i). Heck, you could even make your own mayo, but I just don't have the time for that... 

This was pretty good tonight on top of my cooked potato with a dollop of Greek Yogurt and a tablespoon on this zesty goodness. I'm totally giving a little jar to Jen ASAP!! 

Right on Alii Drive... ocean-view with live music everyday - hard to beat!

*Sigh* Kona Coffee Perfection with a side of Aloha!

Perfect Autumn Dinner

Our sunny skies abruptly changed to drizzly, sprinkly, gray and chilly, misty then downright rainy in the blink of an eye on Friday. Thursday people were in shorts, and Friday? Break out the Gortex folks, the rainy season is upon us!

But, lucky for me, I love the Pacific Northwest, and adore Autumn a fraction more than the other seasons, so I am ready. And, what better way to kick off the season than to cook up a staggeringly delicious pot of green chile bisque? Well, if you have our friend Vincent's recipe, get yourself some chiles, pronto because you need to get roasting!

Vincent's Green Chile Bisque
(adapted slightly by me, because I always tweak things)

1 lb Italian sausage (sweet, mild or hot, depending on taste)
2 cloves minced/chopped garlic
1 medium, chopped yellow or sweet onion
2 medium chopped tomatoes (heirloom taste the best)
1/2 cup chopped NM green chile (medium to hot, roasted and peeled)
32 oz. chicken broth (divided)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup flour
1 cup heavy cream (or half-and-half, or whole milk with cornstarch, or *not Vince-approved* pureed Silken tofu) 
Salt & Pepper to taste 

Brown and drain 1 lb Italian sausage (sweet, mild or hot, depending on taste), and add 2 cloves minced/chopped garlic near the end; cook about 2 more mins. At this point, I dumped the cooked sausage into a bowl and cooked the rest in the pan separately, knowing that I was going to use my immersion blender to blend all the cooked onions, tomatoes and peppers (all of which Erik would turn his nose up at) into a pretty green-yellow soup of unidentifiable as veggies) 
Add 1 medium, chopped yellow onion to pan (I used a Walla Walla Sweet). Cook for 5 minutes or until onions are transparent, then add 
2 medium chopped tomatoes (heirloom taste the best) 
and 1/2 cup chopped NM green chile (medium to hot, roasted and peeled). To be honest, I couldn't wait to drive over to Whole Foods in Bellevue to get NM Hatch Chiles, so I grabbed three banana peppers and two gorgeous pablanos from the fruit market. I simply roasted until the broiler, then peeled and de-seeded when cool enough to touch. Add 16 oz. chicken broth to pot (slowly) and blend with immersion blender. 

While this is cooking, melt 1/4 cup butter and whisk in 1/4 flour to make a roux. 
Cook 1-2 minutes, then slowly add an additional 16 oz chicken broth while whisking. 
Add roux and broth mixture to meat mixture. Cook to thicken, then add 1 cup heavy cream. So, I also couldn't do the heavy cream. I planned on subbing 1 cup of pureed silken tofu (which doesn't curdle when hot, and would cut fat and boost protein) but couldn't find it, so went with half-and-half instead. I think whole milk and a bit of cornstarch would work well too...  

Simmer 10 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with warm tortillas and good beer and/or wine.