MAMA MAUI!

Last night John and I went to Mama's Fish House to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our blind date. Yep... 10 years. Anyway we won't bore you with that... let's talk about the food!

Mama's is by far one of our top 5 favorite place to eat here on Maui. The atmosphere from the minute you step out of the car at the valet stand is one of serenity and calm and sort of feels like you are stepping back in time. The views are really spectacular. Once you have checked in you can have a seat in the bar, out in the garden area or out by the beach. The open wall design of the building just what you hope for when dining out in Maui... right on the beach no less... why would you want to be trapped inside 4 walls with no view outside? The beach is packed with coconut palms for that extra tropical punch.

The sunsets from here are some of the best... but a little hard to catch in the winter months when the sun sets way to early for us to have dinner. If you happen to make it here, do try to check sunset times and get a table for sunset dining. A few minutes before the sun sets and the sky starts it's colorful transformation, the wait staff stops serving so that everyone can enjoy the show.

The flower arrangements are always dramatic, yet understated. I mean look at the giant column of Pink Ginger, which stood about 4 feet tall. Not a blemish on a single flower.

The mood of this place is unparalleled as far as we are concerned. Usually packed to the thatched roof, this is one of the quiets place we have ever eaten in... it always is. With the open air dining, it was quite chilly last night and we kept wishing we had worn socks. (Maui is experiencing record lows.. just 2 nights ago Kahului was a record low of 55 degrees.... brrrr).

To start we ordered drinks. John opted for a glass of wine while I went for a Relaxer, which is a frozen drink of Creme de Cocoa, Pineapple Juice, Coconut Milk and Vodka. It certainly lives up to it's name.

Uku Ceviche – marinated in lime, cilantro and Maui chili pepper.  

Served with sweet potato and breadfruit (ulu) chips.

Wasabi Crusted Calamari with Kula vegetables and edamame. 

We usually end up getting the same thing every time we make it to MFH, but tonight we broke free of our wickedly delicious ways and tried all new dishes.

John had the Uku Cheviche to start, which is a grey snapper served Tahitian Style in a half coconut. I had the Wasabi Crusted Calamari which is a good 1/4" squid steak rolled in bread crumbs serves on sauteed cabbage, onions and edemame. Both were so soft and tender you really didn't even need to chew.

Poi and John's entree of Deep-water Ahi caught by Leonard Huddy off the east end of Maui served on a sugar cane skewer with Peppercorn,  grilled with Hamakua mushroom sauce, sweet-potato mash and asparagus spears.   

I had the Onaga caught by Layne Nakagawa over deep reefs near Olowalu Sautéed with Haiku tomatoes, garlic butter, white wine and capers. Served with chili zucchini medley and saffron rice.  

The last time we went to MFH, I requested a side order of poi and was told that the poi was reserved only for the Luau Plate. I had the Luau Plate once before and really enjoyed the super clean tasting poi. So last night I was overjoyed to see the word "Complimentary Mama’s fresh Poi upon request." Doused with their homemdae chili water... so ONO!

John said his Ahi was extremely tender and a wonderful grilled flavor. Other than the fact it tasted like super-clean-fresh tuna. The potato mash was very subtle as we believe it was a mix-mash of sweet and regular white potatoes.

My Onaga - a was quite simply the best fish I have ever eaten. EVER. It was moist, tender and for lack of a better description, completely flavorless... meaning no fishiness at all. I could have eaten another piece. I was not too jazzed to see the zucchini turn up on the plate, but once I tasted it I was pleasantly surprised and loved the chili pepper spiciness they cooked it in.

The portions as you can see are very substantial. None of this tiny-food-on-a-giant-pate-with-high-prices crap. You really get your money's worth here.

For dessert we split the Creme Brulee with fresh Liliko’i. We have had all of the desserts here and they are are equally delicious, but we don't make creme brulee at home... soooooooo. It's the perfect size to share at about 5" across.


Too bad the meal had to end. See you next year Mama.




Here are 3 excellent links describing the fish from last night:
Uku
Ahi
Onaga or here

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The electric blue coating that surrounds the dark brown almost black seeds of the Travellers Palm Seeds. We have heard that this is the only true blue that any plant produces. It's almost like a plastic coating around the seed

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Better late than never... but it IS still Tuesday here in Maui.

Immature manila palm seed rack.

Immature seed rack and another about a month older.
These will eventually be about the size of crapes and turn a fiery red.

Two of our 5 manila palms that are just starting to put off seed racks.

STRIPE TEASE

Stripes, stripes and more stripes. Each cover in this latest post has it's own visual language based on stripes. Two of these, Harper's Bazaar and Esquire, were designed by one of my favorite art directors Henry Wolf. The Holiday cover was art directed by Frank Zachary. Interesting note, the caption for the cover credits begins with, "The tasty dish in candy stripes on our cover is Mara Lane..."

I also love how Henry Wolf signed his cover creations. In doing research on Henry Wolf I found that he was only at Bazaar for a few years before joining Show for their launch in October 1961. The Bazaar cover from June of that year (in this post) was one of his last for that publication. I think I sense a future post of all my Henry Wolf covers.

Art Director: Frank Zachary / Photographer: Slim Aarons

Art Director: Henry Wolf / Photographer: Bassman

Art Director: Henry Wolf / Photographer: Ben Somoroff

THANKFUL DAY OFF

Just above Ali'i Kula Lavender with the central valley below and West Maui behind us.

Thanksgiving was a bit different around here this year. No brining of a turkey. No wrapping one in bacon. No drying bread for dressing or mashing potatoes. Nope. This year we took the day off. Off from commissioned work, yard work, house work, cooking and dishes.

We woke up, lounged about and finally headed up to Polipoli Spring Recreation Area for a short hike about 5300 - 6000 feet above sea level. It's just above the Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm... about a 30 minute drive on a on lane pot hole filled and sometimes muddy road. It's one of our favorite places on the island, but we have not been back since 2006 after it was subject to a massive fire in January 2007, which consumed over 4500 acres of this beautiful redwood and eucalyptus forest. It's slowly coming back and we saw tons of new 4-5 trees sprouting up by the thousands.

After a short hike where we got to see some amazing views of the West Maui Mountains and of the Big Island, we headed down to Hali'imaile General Store where we had dinner reservations.

They had a Thanksgiving buffet for $36 per person that we just couldn't resist. The menu consisted of:
Mixed baby greens with wasabi peas, caramelized pineapple and goat cheese wontons to start.  Roast turkey and gravy, prime rib with horseradish sauce, fresh corn chip and salsa crusted monchong (fish), savory chicken and pine nut stuffing, bread pudding with chestnuts and dried cherries, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted vegetable medley, truffle mac and cheese, cranberry sauce, biscuits and pumpkin pie.

After we piled our plates and consumed the massive amounts of food that sat before us, we could not even think about the pie, so they boxed up 2 slices with fresh whipped cream for us to take home. We can't tell you how great it was to not have to do all that cooking and most importantly... the cleaning up. Coming home to a spotless kitchen on a full stomach was a joy.

It's really important to take the time and enjoy your surroundings no matter where you live. We all know to well how easy it is to get caught up in day to day chores and projects. We hope you had as great a day as we did. Here are some pics from a really gorgeous and completely relaxing, carefree Maui day.

ps. Many mahalo's to the staff at Hali'imaille for turning it out for those of us that didn't want to bother.

Top: Rainbow over Kula.
Bottom: View of Ma'alaea Bay, West Maui and the island of Lana'i in the distance... not to mention those enormously heavy clouds.

Top: Charred remains of a majestic pine with a few survivors in the distance and a slew of new trees making their way out of the charred forrest floor.
Bottom: A little higher up is the eucalyptus forest shrouded in fog and cool air which is scented with eucalyptus.

A magical moment as we were walking through the eucalyptus forest.
Step into the light. 

A very Tim Burton or Dr. Suess skeleton of a charred pine tree. 

A detail of the above pine shows gnarled branches still clinging to a few last pinecones, that look as though they are about to grab you as you pass by.

Top: Stellar views of The Big Island.
 Bottom: A few more charred trees and West Maui.

Top: Me with my new phone trying to find our coordinates high above Maui's last lava flow some 500 years ago. It's that black patch of lava down along the shore.
Bottom:A cinder cone from where lava once flowed and views of Maui's central valley. All the bright green way down there are the sugar cane fields.

Um.... John... Did you happen to see that sign back there?

As the day draws to a close over a dormant cinder cone, we make our way back down the mountain through open fields of cattle and a painted sky.

Plate is loaded... then it's not. I ate it all... and managed to go back for a second helping of truffle mac and cheese.

Do we look content or what?

TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE STARS

Star Fruit (carambola) season is in full swing here and I am trying to use them up as quickly as they ripen — which is no easy task. 

The loaded star fruit tree.

I swear there are over 1000 on this tree. The sad part is when the ground is littered with rotting fruit.
But the birds and geckos are happy... not to mention the gnats.

Saturday night I made a full size star fruit - upside-down cake for our friend Abraham and last night I made these Mini Shooting Star Fruit Upside - Down  Cakes to take to our friend Liz's house for dinner. These mini cakes were inspired by the Hali’imaile Pineapple Upside-Down Cake at Hali'imaile General Store.... Where we will be having Thanksgiving dinner this year. NO COOKING HERE. 

Mini Shooting Star Fruit Upside - Down Cakes.
Arrange on a serving platter in a star pattern.
This one is perfect for the holidays as it looks like a snowflake.

Topping
3-6 medium star fruit

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

4 tablespoons ( 1/2 stick) butter

12 teaspoons dark brown sugar

Cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon orange, lemon or lime zest

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sour cream



1. Wash and trim the outer ribs on your star fruit then slice  3/8" thick. Remove any seeds.


2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the butter into 12 pieces and place in the bottom of each muffin cup.

3. Place the tins in the oven while it is pre-heating to melt the butter. KEEP AN EYE ON IT AS NOT TO BURN THE BUTTER.

4. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and citrus zest in a small bowl. At this point you should be able to remove muffin tin(s) from oven

5.  Beat one-half cup softened butter and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in egg yolks one at a time.  Next beat in half the flour mixture, then half of the sour cream,repeat with the remaining flour mixture and sour cream. Beat until smooth. If you are using a stand mixer like a KitchenAid, then transfer this batter to a new bowl. Clean your stand mixer bowl and beat egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites into batter.


6. Place 1 teaspoon of the brown sugar into each muffin cup and top with one slice of starfruit.

7. Pour approximately 1 heaping tablespoon of the batter into each cup.

7. Place muffin tins on a cookie sheet to prevent any over bubbling from hitting the bottom of your oven. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until the a toothpick comes out clean. I like to let them go just a tad longer to make the visible tops a bit crispy. 


8. Remove from oven and slide a cake icing knife around the edges to loosen them. Place a cookie sheet on top of the muffin tins and Immediately turn out onto the cookie sheet. Serve warm or room temperature. 


* You can also reheat in the oven on on the stovetop in a cover skillet with a little butter for 5 minutes on low flame.


** You can also use just about any fruit for this you like: apple, mango, pineapple, peaches, berries, banana, pear, even orange slices with the rind removed...hmmm// now i want to try the orange version.

Melted butter and brown sugar in tins. I thought I took a pic of the star fruit on the brown sugar — but iI didn't.

Pour batter over star fruit, butter and brown sugar. Bake and remove when golden bubbly and crisp.

Slice a cake icing knife around the edges. I like this knife because it's thin and flexible enough to get under the cakes as well as the sides.

Golden crispy goodness.

Turn out onto cookie sheet and cool.

Place on serving platter and garnish with sliced star fruit and banana leaf sections with the ends cut into dovetails. If you don't have banana leaves, use paper or wired ribbon. Any color will do.
Also, allow the  star fruit slices to drain a few minutes on a paper towel before placing on platter to avoid starfruit juice puddles under your crispy cakes.

ON KANAHA POND

A few weeks back we finally stopped by the Kanaha Pond Wildlife Sanctuary. Once a royal fishpond, this bird sanctuary is home to two endangered Hawaiian species of waterfowl, the black-necked stilt (ae'o) and the Hawaiian coot ('alae ke'oke'o) and is only open to the public from August to May.

I love these beautiful tufts of grass amongst the cracked almost claylike silt.

Here you can see the viewing platform. There is also another entrance on the back side of the pond near Kanaha Beach Park. The 143-acre preserve has looping paths that circle the perimeter of the wetland sanctuary through a shaded forest with native plants. There are numerous abandoned concrete World War II bunkers along the trails. Click here for more in depth reading on the ponds and how they came to be and how one was filled in and destroyed.

Due to the continued destruction of many of Hawai'i's wetland areas Kanaha Pond was designated a registered natural landmark in late 1971 by the Department of the Interior, one of only two such sites registered at the time.

(here is the text taken from one of the signs at the sanctuary.)

Naturally occurring freshwater marshes, ponds, and other wetlands may have always been supply on the Hawaiian Island. Wetlands such as fishponds and taro fields were created by the early Hawaiians, and wetland birds utilized these habitats. But in recent history, many wetlands were filed for land development or degraded by agricultural practices. Many remaining wetlands are vulnerable to water diversions, pollution, and invasive species.

Today, five native waterbirds breed on most of the main Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian coot ('alae ke'oke'o), common moorhen ('alae 'ula), black-necked stilt (ae'o), and Hawaiian duck (koloa) are in serious trouble and have been listed as endangered. These waterbirds nest on the ground, making them vulnerable to introduced predators such as mongoose, dogs, cats, and rats. The tree-nesting black-crowned night-herron ('auku'u) is holding it's own.

A number of watrefowl and shorebirds over-winter in Hawai'i or pas through on their annual migrations. The best known and most commonly seen in grassy fields is the Pacific golden-plover (kōlea). Individual birds return to the same areas every year. Along the shoreline, ruddy turnstones ('akekeke), wandering tattlers ('ulili), and sanderlings (hunakai) are a common winter sight. The pond is sometimes filled with canadian geese in the winter. 

I'll be posting more about the Pacific golden-plover (kōlea) that makes our yard it's winter home. I've been taming pics of it over that last few months so that I can hopefully share it's change in color from light golden tan to almost black by the end of the season. 

Black-necked stilt (ae'o)

Look at those gams will ya!

Another close up detail of the black-necked stilt (ae'o) 

We sat and watched them wade through the water quite slowly, then all of a sudden they would flap their wings in an apparent attempt to get the small fish to dart about so they could feed on then. It must be pretty tough to find food in this murky pond. 

Black-necked stilt (ae'o)  in flight and rustling up some grub. You can actually see where a fish jumped out of the water and made a small splash only to be devoured a second later. I guess the wing flapping system works.

Looking east towards Haleakala.

The Hawaiian coot ('alae ke'oke'o)

The Hawaiian coot ('alae ke'oke'o)

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Fading Traveller Palm Leaf

HOW TO STUFF A HAWAIIAN BIKINI

On the eve of a week long gig assisting on a swimsuit photo shoot, I thought this post might be appropriate.

The process of setting up the office means restacking all my old magazines. Some of which are just too good not to post... take this issue of Holiday from June 1955. The model on the cover was photographed at the legendary Kalapana black sand beach on the Big Island. In 1990, a lava flow from Kilauea, slowly wiped out the majestic, coco-palm lined beach and the nearby village. I found a good photo of it here showing the vapor and steam as the lava hit the water. The photo spread inside the magazine featured resident beauties modeling the latest in swimwear from all over the state. I love the saturated color of these old magazines. Holiday was especially great because of all the sunny, richly colored places they'd feature. Also, notice how spare and clean the cover is. The coverlines don't need to scream out at you when the photo is this stunning.

June, 1955 Kalapana Beach, Big Island.

Opening spread shows a model on Kauai, left, and the cover girl on the very exotic Kalapana beach, right.

This spread was shot on Maui, Kaanapali Resort on the left, and Oheo Gulch (7 Sacred Pools) on the right

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Where has the time gone? It's been pretty busy here at CFC headquarters these last few weeks and we short business threw a trip to Oahu in last week as well. In lieu of missing 2 TT post, here are 2 textures today. We look to be back in full swing next week.

Sprinkle cookies from Leonard's Bakery on our recent trip to Oahu.

Moss on the North East side of the trunk of our Royal Palm. Most trees and structures collect moss/mold on the NE side due to trade winds and lack of sun, especially in the winter.