We recently took Emmet on his first airplane ride to Maui as an experiment, a thankfully largely uneventful experience. We had no idea how he’d react, and in general he handled it pretty well. He really enjoyed the warmer weather, and the fact he could be in just his onesie most of time rather than all bundled up for the San Francisco winter.

While there, we stayed in Lahaina, renting a small condo near the center of town (which I highly recommend if you need a place to stay). It had a great kitchen, and with access to lots of fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables, we cooked in as much as we ate out. At the time, strawberry papayas were particularly great, as well as some wonderful-smelling tangelos that I juiced together with a passion fruit for breakfast.

Some good places we went I’ve highlighted below, as well as a gallery of our photos:

• Miyaki Fish Market
  Very fresh fish (though a limited selection) and a great Mahi Mahi ceviche.
• Honokowai Okazuya
  we only tried a few of the recommended dishes, but the Eggplant Szechwan, the macaroni salad, and the triple-chocolate cake certainly lived up to expectations.
• Alexander’s Fish & Chips:
  Admittedly, the fish was pretty good, but the best thing we had was the organic purple potatoes dipped in tempura batter and then fried. I’d drive out of my way for those again.
• Battle of the Kalua Pig
  We tried both Da Kitchen (renowned as one of the best on the island), and also a very small place in Lahaina called Local Food. Da Kitchen’s pork was very finely shredded, and incredibly moist, with little cabbage. Local Food had larger chunks of pork, with nice crunchy bits of cabbage lacing the meat. It’s a bit of what you like best, but both were excellent.
• Maui Brewing Company Toasted Coconut Porter
  An awesome beer by the Maui Brewing Company. If you go to Maui, get it at Longs Drugs, as it’s at least several dollars a six pack cheaper there. It tastes exactly like if you mixed toasted coconut into a good porter, and the result is great. Evidently you can buy the beer in California too, though I’ve not tried that yet.

We unfortunately did not make it to Sansei sushi this trip. Dining out was a bit difficult with Emmet, but we hope to eat there on a future trip. Please let us know if there were some great finds you made while staying in Hawaii.

 

“I don’t like carrot purée,” says Jane. “Why not?” I say. “I just don’t.” “Okay. I’ll make some for myself and regular carrots for you”. I go off and cook dinner. I’m determined to make a carrot purée she’ll like. Rosemary chicken, with roast asparagus and the carrot purée on the side. “So how’s the carrot purée?” I ask. Jane concedes, blushing, “It’s pretty good. Are you going to publish the recipe?” Admittedly, this isn’t just carrot purée, but it’s mostly carrots. Adjust the amount of butter and cream to …

Rich and chewy, this gelato is incredibly easy to make. Use really ripe bananas and a good-quality dark rum for the best results. Once the gelato has frozen, place in an airtight container and freeze for an hour to firm it up a bit.

While in Maui recently, we were excited about the types of fresh seafood available, but had to exercise caution, as Jane is still nursing Emmet, and she must carefully watch her seafood intake due to mercury contamination in most large fish. Fortunately, shrimp are generally considered “safe to eat” for nursing mothers if wild-caught, and we found a store that had a large selection. We considered making Shrimp Scampi, but I was out of garlic. Fortunately, I had some sweet Maui onions and created this variation. We both agreed it …

I really like the chocolate sorbet by Double Rainbow ice cream (a San Francisco company, by the way), but as I was hovering over the freezer case at Trader Joe’s, I thought to myself–I can make this at home. I had a chocolate sorbet recipe that came with my ice cream machine that I liked, but it was only good, not great, so I went hunting for a new one. Ans then I came across this one in David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop. It uses both chopped chocolate and cocoa …

This recipe was discovered after a search for something to cook in a brand-new Staub cast-iron pan I picked up at a steal from Amazon. The little recipe booklet that comes with the pan has a great many photos of whole chickens being roasted inside, but the recipes all in the end called for chicken parts. Staged photos indeed! Fortunately, I ran across this fantastic recipe from the site Meathenge for “Wet Roast Chicken” perfect for my cast iron pot. Here is the recipe with minor modifications, and many thanks …

It’s been a while since I made sodas at home, and the first one I tried was inspired by some fresh ripe organic fruit picked up at the Alemany Farmer’s market. It’s a cross between a regular cream soda and a pear soda. We drank four liters of it in less than a week. The directions here are somewhat terse. For more complete information on equipment used, try the book Homemade Root Beer, Soda & Pop by Stephen Cresswell.

As part of our bi-weekly box of farm-fresh produce from Mariquita Farms, we ended up getting a significant amount of red peppers. Unsure exactly what to do with this bounty, I did a little research ad came up with this recipe. It’s incredibly quick, and the results are very delicious.