If you caught up with my favorite Maui eats last week, you’ll have an inkling that I loves me some spicy raw fish. I wanted to re-create some of the excellent ahi poke I had there, which turned out to be super easy and maika’i nui loa.* It’s important that you have really good quality fish for this (duh.) So you should ask for sushi-grade tuna at the counter of your local supermarket. PSYCH! The whole “sushi-grade” thing is total BS, and is not a meaningful or regulated term, you know, like when they call meat “Prime” or say things are “All-Natural,” or that time they spent 10 million bucks trying to re-brand prunes as dried plums so you wouldn’t realize they were prunes. (OK, it’s not really like that last one, but I remember thinking that was incredibly stupid.)

So here is what you actually need to do if you’re going to buy raw fish and eat it: buy it from a reputable person/place, preferably someone who specializes in selling fish and has been doing so for a long time. The closer you are to the guy/gal who caught the fish, the better. Perform a little inspection on the fish (here are good things to look for.) Then, look the person in the eye and tell them you’re planning to eat it raw. Ask them if that’s a good idea. If they say yes, Then go home and eat it right away. For a slightly different take on how to source fish to eat raw, you can see what this guy has to say, but I must warn you that one of his suggestions is to catch it your freakin’ self. Seriously. I have to say that I don’t see myself catching a giant tuna anytime in the near future… but I like his spirited commitment to excellence.

A note: I am not scared of eating raw fish (probably because I’m in denial about a lot of stuff that I don’t want to know about) but if you’re wondering about the risks, feel free to read this and freak yourself out. I’m also not scared of mercury because I don’t eat fish very often.

I am, however, scared of overfishing and ruining our oceans, so I try to choose sustainable seafood. Monterey Bay Aquarium has helpful guides with a green/yellow/red coding system that you can download for your region to help you choose fish wisely. I carry one in my purse so I can use it in the grocery store or when I’m at a restaurant. In this case, troll or pole caught ahi (also known as yellowfin) is something the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch calls a “good alternative” and marks it in the yellow category. I try to stick to the green when possible and since I feel incredibly guilty eating off the red list, I don’t really do it anymore.

Oh! One more thing. Sharpen your knife before you cut the fish, or it might turn out all raggedy and nasty. If your knives suck (or if YOU suck- just kidding, if you sucked you wouldn’t be reading this awesome blog!), ask them to cut it into 3/4 inch cubes for you at the place you buy the fish.

Ginger Sesame Ahi Poke

serves 3-4. If you have more or less tuna you can adjust the amounts in the recipe to accommodate how much tuna you’re making.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. raw ahi, cut in 3/4 inch cubes
• 6 green onions, white and light green part finely chopped
• 1 large or 2 small shallots, finely chopped
• 2 Tblsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2 inch piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 1 Tblsp sesame oil
• 5 Tblsp soy sauce
• Sriracha or other Asian hot sauce to taste

Method:

• Mix everything in a bowl and toss with the tuna. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours before eating.
• Pour on a plate and drizzle with Sriracha or other hot sauce to taste. Serve with extra hot sauce on the side for those who like it spicy.

*According to Google, that’s how you say “great” in Hawaiian. Hawaiians, feel free to chime in on my poor language skills.

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Homemade dressing is the final piece in the perfect salad puzzle. The Smitten Kitchen recipe is my favorite. It’s easy to make and tastes divine, without any of the funky multisyllabic ingredients that store-bought dressing is full of.

Get the recipe here!

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• super easy
• gluten-free
• dairy-free
• eaten up in mere moments
• good for passover, as they are not leavened (I’m not Jewish, but I know how that stuff works)

Lately, you can’t escape food lovers and cooks waxing poetic about the latest baking craze: macarons. I get it. They are oh so lovely to look at. They are small and colorful. They are so de rigeur. But I actually don’t think they taste that great. I think they taste meh. Even the really really really good ones. I’m just not into them. There, I said it. My name is Karen and I don’t think macarons taste that great.

So let me dispel your confusion: this recipe is not for macarons with one o, it is for macaroons with two os. I have always (rightly or wrongly? who knows) thought of the one-o macarons as being a French thing, and the two-o macaroon as being an American thing. Anyone know if that’s true? And two-os are not adorable little sandwiches of prettily colored, perfectly round discs, they are blobs of coconutty goodness.

Maybe it was the one-o vs. two-o inferiority complex, maybe it’s because they looked like albino McDonald’s fry guys, or maybe it’s just because I am frickin’ fancy- but I put gold leaf on them. It was Tuesday. No one expects gold leaf on a Tuesday.

Pillowy Coconut Macaroons

makes 16… unless you make them freakishly small or freakishly large, in which case it will make a different amount

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites (as with one-o macarons, using old egg whites is acceptable/encouraged)
• large pinch of salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups sweetened coconut (I use the “angel flake” kind, but maybe it’s just good marketing)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a baking sheet with a silpat, parchment, or cooking spray.
• Put egg whites and salt in a mixer with a whisk attachment and beat until the whites form very soft peaks.
• Add sugar and continue beating until the whites form stiff peaks.
• Gently fold the vanilla and coconut (the vanilla part will be awkward and streaky at first, but it will all work out in the end.)
• Use your hands to gently grab a wad of dough and form it into a circular mound shape.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until macaroons are lightly browned but still soft inside. Remove to a wire rack for cooling. Unlike most cookies, these don’t taste that great when they’re hot- they are better at room temperature.

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My mom taught me this trick to transform a boring ol’ block of feta into a somewhat shmancy-seeming appetizer in like 10 seconds. All you do is take a block of good quality brined feta out of the brine. Put it on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Drizzle it with good olive oil and sprinkle it with chopped herbs (oregano or mint are my two favorites.) Sprinkle coarse salt on top (I used black salt from Hawaii but any salt will do) and a cracking of pepper. Serve it with a baguette, crackers, or pita chips. People will not realize how little work you put into this, because it looks good and tastes even better!

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You can do lots of things with this simple pesto. To serve, I made a warm pasta salad by tossing it with fusilli and some additional chopped arugula, green onions, and toasted pine nuts. Delicious!

Arugula Feta Pesto

Makes about a cup of pesto

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, with a bit of the oil
• 2 large handfuls arugula leaves
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta

Method:

• Put sundried tomatoes and arugula in blender or food processor to chop.
• Add remaining ingredients and pulse to desired texture. Taste and add salt if necessary. (Depending on how salty the feta is, you may not need any.)
• Serve over hot or cold pasta, or as a spread on crusty bread.

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I’m happy to report that my worries were totally unfounded. This is a case where the sum of the parts greatly exceeds the parts on their own. This is a fantastic crisp recipe- perfectly balanced sweetness, a nice contrast of textures, and easy as heck to put together. And in case you were wondering, pairing it with Bi-Rite Creamery’s brown sugar ice cream with a ginger caramel swirl is not the worst idea, either.

You can get the recipe here (posted in the New York Times.)

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If done well, Tortellini in Brodo is like a super delicious, rich, hearty, filling version of chicken soup. It’s a classic Italian dish, but the way I make it is far simpler than other recipes I’ve seen. After describing it to Ross he decided he wanted some too, so tonight I made it for dinner. It’s just the thing after a long day at work! Plus, it’s so simple I’d bet even your kids will eat it. Since the recipe is so simple, the quality of ingredients is extra important.

• Put broth and oil in a pot and bring to a boil.
• Add tortellini and cook as directed. When cooked, remove tortellini to serving bowls with a slotted spoon.
• Continue cooking broth until reduced by 2/3 to 1/2 of volume. Pour over tortellini.
• Top with a few shavings of parmigiano and serve immediately.
• Note: if your chicken broth is not as flavorful as you wish, you can add 1-2 small packets of liquid chicken broth concentrate (you can get it at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.)

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I added mint leaves and various sesame products to the soybeans, because I thought it was too boring without. Some people think you should remove the thin outer covering from the soybeans before pureeing them. Those people a) care more about the smoothness of their dips than me, and b) are not as lazy as me. If that describes you, knock yourself out. But I would say it’s highly unnecessary and I like texture in my dip anyway. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Edamame Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1 small clove garlic
• 2 cups cooked, shelled soybeans
• 1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves
• juice of 2 lemons
• 2 Tblsp sesame tahini
• 1 Tblsp sesame oil plus more for garnish
• salt to taste

Method:

• Put garlic in food processor and pulse to chop finely. Add soybeans, mint, 1/2 tsp salt, and  lemon juice and puree to roughly chop the soybeans.
• Add tahini, 1 Tblsp sesame oil, and 1/2 cup water and continue to puree until it reaches desired consistency. You might need to add more water. Taste and add salt if necessary.
• Remove to bowl. Make a well with a spoon and garnish with a small amount of sesame oil (not too much as it can be overwhelming.) Serve with pita or pita chips.

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I think this would be great with pita or pita chips as well. I didn’t give any amounts in the recipe, because it’s not an exact science and should be put together to taste. I guarantee you won’t mess it up! I like to use a milder feta and a tangy yogurt like Fage or another Greek or Persian yogurt. If you want to make this lower fat you can use lowfat or nonfat yogurt, but it won’t be quite as rich and creamy.

Feta Yogurt Dip

Ingredients:
1 part feta
2 parts plain yogurt
fresh oregano leaves, roughly chopped (can use a different herb like thyme, mint, cilantro, or marjoram if preferred.)
fresh cracked pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Method:

• Crumble up the feta and combine with yogurt.
• Mix in herbs. Add pepper and a bit of the oil- just so it gets to be dippy consistency.
• Taste and add salt if necessary. You probably won’t need to as most feta is pretty salty already.

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For this occasion, I bought a soft loaf of Semifreddi’s cinnamon twist bread and made an orange zest-infused vanilla brulee mix, then dotted it all with dark chocolate chunks. It took about 5 minutes to put together and tasted like a million bucks. With a scoop of Bi-Rite Creamery’s salted caramel ice cream, it was almost transcendent.

Orange-Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chunks

serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• zest from 1/2 orange
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 T sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 loaf cinnamon bread (1-2 days stale is better than fresh but it will work either way)
• large handful semi-sweet or dark chocolate chunks (can use chocolate chips)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 250.
• Heat cream in saucepan until hot but not bubbling. Turn off heat and add zest. Set aside.
• If bread is a few days old and a bit stale and hard, just use it as is. If it’s fresh soft bread, toast in a 350 degree oven or toaster to dry out a bit before using. Cut bread into 1 inch cubes.
• Whisk yolks, sugar, and vanilla into cream until fully incorporated.
• In a loaf pan or half-size casserole pan, arrange half the bread in the bottom and pour half the cream mixture over. Sprinkle with half the chocolate. Repeat with remaining bread, cream, and chocolate. Press mixture down with the back of a large spoon or your hands, so it’s tightly packed in and all bread is moistened.
• Bake at 250 for about 20-30 minutes, until custard is set but wobbly. Serve warm with ice cream.

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