Kabocha Ginger Scones

What a week!

I was hoping to start cleaning the house in preparation for D1's homecoming, but my movement was hampered by a late-week accident at work.  Or at least that's what I'm using as my excuse.

I took two friends out for brunch yesterday as a belated celebration for a milestone birthday.  By the time I got home, it was late in the afternoon and I had tons of crap to put away (Costco trip).

All the brunch pigging out rendered me unable to cook dinner.  The Help graciously offered to get dinner for himself.  While he was gone, I discovered a small package of pureed kabocha.  Imagine The Help's surprise when he came back to me actually baking something. . .too full to eat, too sore to clean. . .but not too tired to bake!

When I came across the small package of frozen pureed kabocha, I remember wondering a few weeks ago if it was even worth saving such a small amount.  I guess I got my answer.  The scone recipe doesn't use a whole lot, and I think it's more for the color than anything else.

What I love most about these scones is the strong, bold ginger flavor.  I also love the flavor surprise when the candied ginger isn't processed too fine.  I've made this with expensive candied ginger nuggets as well as with the candied ginger sold in the asian preserves section.  Both types of ginger will work with this recipe.  Buy the cheaper one.

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Kabocha Ginger Scones

     1/4 c sour cream
     1/4 c pureed kabocha (or any type of winter squash)
     1 egg
     6 tbsp sugar
     1/4 c coarsely chopped candied ginger
     2 c flour
     1/2 tsp salt
     2 tsp baking powder
     1/4 tsp baking soda
     1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
     1/2 tsp ground ginger
     1/2 tsp cinnamon
     4 tbsp cold butter
     1/2 tbsp butter, melted
     1/2-1 tsp turbinado (coarse) sugar (may use granulated sugar if turbinado sugar isn't available)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, kabocha and egg.  Set aside.  Pulse sugar and candied ginger together in a food processor until ginger is finely chopped.  Add flour.  Sift salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices into bowl of food processor.  Pulse until spices are evenly distributed.  Add cold butter, and pulse until butter pieces are thoroughly incorporated into dry ingredients.  Add to sour cream mixture.  Stir only until mixture clumps together.  Turn onto floured board and knead a few times.  Pat into an 8" circle.  Cut into 8 wedges.  Place on parchment paper, leaving 1/4" space between wedges.  Bake for 18 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

THFM's Satojoyu Hot Dogs

I had a big treat this weekend.  My friend Wi (I referred to her in a previous post as a "generational friend") called me a few weeks ago and offered me her lunch reservation at Takenoko Sushi.  Takenoko Sushi is probably THE most exclusive sushi establishment on the Big Island.  They are completely booked for the remainder of 2016.  While they will do take-out, even that is hit-or-miss too, and there are stringent, regimented pick-up times.

Instead of ordering the omakase (chef's choice) like The Help, I ordered just the pieces I felt like eating.  I got my mirugai (geoduck) fix for a while.  The Help said the highlight of his assortment was the otoro (fatty tuna).  He said it was like butter.

After all that feasting, there was no way we could have anything for dinner which would come close to the decadence of that meal.  So we went totally opposite. . .I got to eat my monster taco and curly fries!

Searching for a middle ground, we eventually ate one of the most humble dinners imaginable last night.  Neither The Help nor myself was in any mood to cook, and any attempt at a fancy meal would fall far short of Takenoko Sushi, which was still fresh in our minds.  We settled on satojoyu hot dogs.

Today's post is primarily for D1 and any other college student who is yearning for "local" food.  Please pardon the simplistic nature of the recipe, but it is kid-tested and approved!

I mentioned shoyu-sugar hot dogs in a previous post (the same post where I mentioned Wi).  I seriously did not eat shoyu-sugar hot dogs while growing up.  Perhaps I was only one of two kids in Hilo who didn't.  The Help learned how to make shoyu-sugar hot dogs from the Japan-born mother of some high school friends, and because he learned it as "satojoyu hot dog", that is what he continues to call it.  I have NEVER made this; it is The Help, not me, who makes these for us.

Knowing very little about regional dialects, I can only guess that "satojoyu" must be some kind of regional way to describe foods made with shoyu and sugar.  My minimal Japanese language skills can at least identify "sato" as sugar, and any fool can hear the similarities between "joyu" and shoyu.  I cannot ever recall either of my parents using the word "satojoyu".

After stuffing my face with what would probably be a half pound of these hot dogs over a mound of rice (and some kim chee on the side. . .really, who could forget the kim chee), I thought about the last time we had these.  I had sent D1 a picture and she texted back, saying how much she missed these, how good they looked, and how she was got a little homesick when she saw the pic.  Even though this was not something I missed when I was in college (how could I since it wasn't something I grew up eating), I guess D1 grew up eating this.  I told her they seemed simple to make and I would be sure to ask The Help how to make it and get her a recipe.  Unfortunately, they probably don't sell red hot dogs where she is!  Oops!

In the event she is able to locate red hot dogs from a Hawaii source within the next few weeks, she can make these for nourishment while studying for finals (D1, here's your recipe).  And D1, if you're reading this, The Help said he will make these for you when you get home.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Satojoyu Hot Dog

     1 pkg (about 1 pound) hot dogs, preferably red ones from Hawaii
     2 tsp oil
     1/4 c sugar
     1/4 c shoyu

Slice hot dogs on the bias (about 5 pieces per hot dog).  Heat oil in a skillet.  Add sliced hot dogs and saute until brown (areas of char).  Add sugar and shoyu.  Cook until sauce is thickened.

Shredded Mango

I am completely exhausted.  I cannot even think how I got through the week, but I must have because here I am.  I'm hoping this week will be kind.

My weekend was quite busy.  I worked on Friday night at a game.  Since it was late, I ended up with my favorite fast food dinner. . . monster taco and curly fries from Jack In The Box.  Yummm.

The Help and I sped off to Kona on Saturday afternoon, hoping to beat the closing time of a lighting store near Costco.  We made it, but the store did not have what we needed.  Now I need to decide what I'm going to do about my dining room lights.  Currently, the lights I have are unusable.

I felt a little guilty about dragging The Help to Kona on his birthday, but he was nice about it.  We ended up buying food for his birthday dinner.  Costco is the only place I know of on the Big Island where you can buy prime beef.  Costco parking lot was crazy, and the inside was just as bad.  For the second trip in a row, I was unable to locate beef brisket.  With the warm weather, I'd like to smoke a brisket soon.  I meant to go back to the seafood kiosk for giant prawns, but by the time I remembered, I was out of the store and didn't have the gumption to brave the masses once again.  Next time I will remember.  I need to get my fill of crab, lobster, and shrimp before D1 gets home.  I don't want to be party to tempting fate.

One thing which paid off this week was having leftover ham from the weekend.  It was nice to come home, knowing dinner was gonna be easy.  You can do lots of things with ham.  I made chowder, quiche, and, of course b-f-d.  I didn't bother cooking much this past weekend (remember the craft projects needed to be finished) so I won't be as lucky this week.  I'm hoping Aloha Mondays will have something I can eat (no mustard or wasabi).

During the first part of spring break, I ordered a handful of craft books.  Only 2 have arrived, so I've been diligently reminding The Help to stop off at the mailboxes daily.  On one of the stops (I make him get the mail while D2 and I look for our friend the green anole), I noticed a bunch of small, unripe fruit on the mango tree in the backyard of the corner house.  Later, when I looked at fb, I saw that a friend had posted a pic of pickled mango.  I guess GREEN mango season is here.

I love green mango season even more than ripe mango season.  While pickled mango makes a kick ass snack, my favorite mango snack is shredded mango.  Making shredded mango is a bit more labor-intensive than pickled mango, but the results are definitely worth it.  And with all the publicity about the shit that people find in imported preserves, making your own is the way to go.

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Shredded Mango

     10-12 green mangoes, peel and slice in 1/4" thick strips

     4 tbsp rock salt, divided

     1 1/4 c turbinado (raw) sugar

     1 lb brown sugar

     1 tsp grated orange rind

     1/4 tsp red gel food coloring

     1 tsp 5-spice

In a large bowl, sprinkle mango strips with 2 tbsp rock salt.  Toss gently.  Cover and let sit overnight.  Rinse mango strips and drain well.  Place mango strips in large pot and add 2 tbsp rock salt, turbinado sugar, brown sugar, orange rind, food coloring, and 5-spice.  Bring to a boil.  Cook for 30 minutes on medium heat (gentle boil).  Cool completely before packing.

Pesto Tortellini Salad

It's finally warming up.  I actually went to work without a jacket several times this past week.  I was even tempted to go for a swim.  Tempted.  But it was also windy and I really didn't feel like skimming leaves.

In spite of the Merrie Monarch Festival happening in town this past week, I had a very non-festive week.  Work, which should've been nice since it was a short week, was just blecchhhh.

I supposed teenagers will always be teenagers.  The after-prom shenanigans included the pilferage of the table decorations (kids were explicitly told, in no uncertain terms, that decorations were not to be removed from the tables) and defacement of linens.  Dealing with the aftermath, including tracking down the perps, makes for a pretty shitty week.

The culminating activity of the year, Commencement, was another source of shittiness.  Every year, I discover more adults "on the spectrum" (or at least I swear they are).  And students who are in the running for (and have hopes to win) a class award. . .not pono!  Being pono includes abiding by the direction of adults.  It does not include stirring up trouble by sparking "he said, she said" controversy.  I'm still pissed.

And since I'm on the shitty bus, here's another suck ass thing which happened.  My car repairs are gonna cost big buck$.  Dang!  I got that bit of bad news when I went to Kona this weekend.

In trying to end this post on a positive note, I'm gonna dig deep.  The Kona trip this weekend did yield something good. . .a jar of pesto from Costco.  OllieMama told me a while ago that Costco makes awesome pesto.  I'm glad I listened because she is right. 

We usually mix spoonfuls of pesto into cooked pasta, but in looking for something different, I tried this salad.  The original recipe called for half the pesto, but I wanted a more punched-up pesto flavor.  I also decided to toast the pine nuts because I like the extra-nutty flavor.  Like the crimes of theft and vandalism (the acts committed by irresponsible kids), this salad is so good it should be illegal.

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Pesto Tortellini Salad

     1 pkg. (8-9 oz) refrigerated, ready-to-cook cheese tortellini

     1/2 c pine nuts

     1 small zucchini, sliced into thin strips

     1 c grape or cherry tomatoes

     1/4 c pesto

     1/3 c mayonnaise

    

Cook tortellini according to package directions.  Drain and cool.  Line a shallow baking pan with foil.  Place pine nuts in a single layer and bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.  Remove pine nuts from pan and cool.  Halve grape tomatoes or quarter cherry tomatoes.  Remove seeds.  Combine pesto and mayonnaise in a medium mixing bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and toss gently.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.