Malasada Bread Pudding

We’ve all been there (if you live in Hawaii): you go to a party, multiple people bring boxes of malasadas, and at the end of the party there are way too many left over. Throwing them out would be criminal, but they never taste as good as they did when they were fresh and hot.

If you have room temperature malasadas, you can microwave them for ~15 seconds and get something pretty decent. You can also put them in a toaster oven for a while, which turns the sugar into something crisp and creme-brulée-like. But if you have a whole bunch, you may get tired of that too.

I present to you an innovation in malasada-reuse: the malasada bread pudding. It makes sense, since malasadas are eggy, and bread pudding can be made with brioche or other egg-based breads. I had the idea for this, but the recipe is all Yuka. We made some this weekend, and it came out great. With Mardi Gras (aka Malasada Day) coming up, give this recipe a try:

Yuka and Robert’s Malasada Bread Pudding

Ingredients

• 6 leftover malasadas
• 1/2 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips (optional)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup white sugar plus more to sprinkle
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a pinch of nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break malasadas into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan or individual ramekins. Sprinkle with raisins, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips (optional).
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs, add cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Then add milk, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until malasadas are covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

Enjoy! Wasted food is an abomination, and making use of food that would otherwise be wasted reduces your carbon footprint. 🙂

Oreo Cheesecake Pudding Cup Recipe

I got this recipe from a co-worker at LavaNet a few years ago (Hi Tim!). It makes a lot of  cups, and has proven to be a crowd-pleaser. Mahalo to Yuka for transcribing the original version from a printed fax to electrons. Enjoy.

Makes 36 cups

Ingredients:

• 1  box of cook and serve chocolate pudding (5.9 oz box)
• milk for pudding
• 1 package of Oreo cookies
• 2 packages of cream cheese at room temperature (8 oz each)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• chocolate chips (optional)
• Cool Whip/whipped cream (optional)

Equipment:

• 3 muffin tins (if you have less than 3, then you will have to bake in batches)
• 36 paper muffin cups
• Mixer (hand or stand)
• Mixing bowl
• Saucepan

Steps:

1. Cream together sugar and cream cheese in bowl with mixer.
2. Add eggs and vanilla extract.
3. Line muffin tins with muffin cups.
4. Place 1 Oreo cookie at the bottom of each cup. You can put a whole cookie in each cup, or twist them apart and put half a cookie in each. If you have less than 36 Oreos (but more than 18), splitting the Oreos is a good way avoid buying another package.
5. Spoon one heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into each cup on top of the cookie.
6. Bake at 350° F for about 10-12 minutes, or slightly golden brown.
7. In the meantime, make the chocolate pudding as directed on package.
8. Take the muffin tins out of the oven, and let them cool at room temperature.
9. Also allow the chocolate pudding to cool slightly.
10. Spoon the chocolate pudding onto each cup.
11. If using chocolate chips or Cool Whip, add them now. If using whipped cream, add just before serving.
12. Refrigerate until set.

Eating some meat & dairy might reduce environmental footprint

Just saw this article about how eating some meat might reduce one’s overall environmental footprint. The study found that while a vegetarian diet used the least amount of land area, it required all the land area to be high-quality agricultural land. Adding a small amount of meat and dairy to that diet uses more land, but some of that is pasture land, which is more abundant in the New York state area and necessary for crop rotation anyway.

Note that the land required for the typical American diet of lots of meat is much greater than either scenario above. So no surprises there.

December Govinda’s menu

Here’s the December menu for Govinda’s. Note that the UH outpost closes after Friday December 14th.

Mon 3rd
Marrakesh Curried Stew V
Thai Red Curry V

Tues 4th
Fresh Mashed Potatoes w/Sautéed Broccoli & Green Peas
Eggplant and Spinach Curry with Coconut Milk  V

Wed 5th
Thai Yellow Curry  V
Lasagna (served with brown rice or soup)

Thurs 6th
Walnut Dumplings with Mixed Veggies in a Sweet & Sour Sauce V
Palak Paneer (spinach & fresh cheese squares) with Cauliflower

Friday 7th
Roasted Eggplant & Orzo Casserole with Cheddar & Parmesan Cheese
Channa Massala (Organic Chickpeas with Tomatoes, Cauliflower and Organic
Tofu)  V

Mon 10th
Thai Red Curry   V
Enchilada’s

Tues 11th
Shahi Paneer (Braised Tofu with MixedVeggies, Indian style)
Vegetables au gratin

Wed 12th
Eggplant Parmesan
Thai Yellow Curry V

Thurs 13th
Eggplant and Mixed Veggie Curry in lightly spiced cream sauce
Kofta Balls with mixed Veggies & Tofu in Tomato Sauce  V

Friday 14th     (Last Day At UH Manoa)
Baked Ziti Casserole with Spinach & Green Peas (served with soup or brown rice)
Sweet Potato, Organic Tofu & Mixed Veggie Curry in Coconut Milk V

*Fort Street Remains Open:*

Mon 17th
Thai Yellow Curry V
Enchilada’s

Tues 18th
Sauteed Broccoli, Cauliflower, Green Pea & Potatoes in Spiced Cream Sauce
Corn Fritter with Zucchini and Celery in tomato sauce V

Wed 19th
Thai Red Curry V
Lasagna

Thurs 20th
Cauliflower Paneer and Green Peas in Tomato Sauce
Walnut Dumplings in a Sweet & Sour Veggie Sauce V

Friday 21st
Roasted Eggplant & Orzo Casserole with Cheddar & Parmesan Cheese
Cauliflower and Organic Mixed Veggie Curry with Braised Garbanzo’s

Mon 24th    Closed for Holiday

Tues 25th     Merry Christmas!  Closed

Wed 26th
Thai Yellow Curry V
Eggplant Parmesan

Thur 27th
Tuscan Vegetable Sauté   V
Homemade Seitan with Mixed Veggies & Tomato Sauce  V

Friday 28th
Roasted Eggplant & Orzo Casserole with Cheddar & Parmesan Cheese
Falafel Dumplings with Zucchini and Cauliflower in Coconut Milk Sauce  V

Mon 31st
Thai Red Curry
Enchilada’s

Simply Ono menu Nov 26-30

Simply Ono is a catering/lunchwagon business that has set up an outpost in the Biomedical building on the UH campus. They are located in a room that opens onto the makai-diamondhead courtyard. The prices are reasonable, the portions are large, and they have an array of gourmet plate lunch dishes that rotate weekly.

Here is the menu for Nov 26-30 2007:

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
November	26	27	28	29	30
Catch	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Daily Special	Okinawan Shoyu Pork	Jumbo Pork Chop w/Gravy & Onions	Hamburger Steak w/Gravy & Onions	Baked Ham w/Candied Yams	Hawaiian Plate
		Vegetarian Stroganoff	Roasted Pork w/Gravy	New York Steak	Kalua Pig & Cabbage
		Chili with Franks	Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce		Laulau Plate
					Kalua Pig Plate
Sandwich	Chicken Salad Sandwich	Chicken Quesadilla	BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich	Reuben Sandwich	Kalua Pig Sandwich
Chicken	Fried Chicken	Herb Roasted Chicken	Teri-Miso Chicken	Garlic Chicken	Shoyu Chicken
Salad	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Soup	Kickin’ (Spicy) Crab & Sweet Corn Chowder
Dessert	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

Govinda’s menu for October 2007

Govinda’s is a vegetarian place on the UH Manoa campus, in the Sustainability Courtyard near Kuykendall Hall. They email out their monthly menus (often after the month has started 🙂 but don’t post it online anywhere I could find. So here is their menu for October 2007. The items with “V” are vegan.

Week One

Mon 1st
Falafel Dumplings with Zucchini and Cauliflower in Coconut Milk Sauce V
Cauliflower & Mixed Vegetable Subji with Chickpeas V

Tues 2
Sweet and Sour Vegetable Curry with Baked Tofu Squares V
Sautéed Broccoli, Carrot & Fresh Tomatoes in Spiced Cream Sauce

Wed 3
Thai Yellow Curry V
Lasagna (served with brown rice or soup)

Thurs 4th
Marrakesh Curried Stew V
Homemade Seitan with Mixed Veggies & Tomato Sauce V

Friday 5th
Baked Ziti Casserole with Spinach & Green Peas (served with soup or
brownSweet Potato & Mixed Veggie Curry in Coconut Milk V

Week Two

Mon 8th
Mung Bean Dumplings with Mixed Veggies in Karhi sauce (yogurt)
Thai Red Curry V

Tues 9th
Fresh Mashed Potatoes w/Sautéed Broccoli & Green Peas
Eggplant and Spinach Curry with Coconut Milk V

Wed 10th
Thai Yellow Curry V
Roasted Eggplant & Orzo Casserole with Cheddar & Parmesan Cheese
(served with soup or brown rice)

Thurs 11th
Walnut Dumplings with Mixed Veggies in a Sweet & Sour Sauce V
Palak Paneer (spinach & fresh cheese squares) with Cauliflower

Friday 12th
Organic WW Spaghetti with Veggies and Tomato Sauce V
Vegetables au gratin

Week Three

Mon 15th
Thai Red Curry V
Shahi Paneer (Braised Tofu with MixedVeggies, Indian style)

Tues 16th
Mexican Vegetable Sauté with Organic Beans V
Barats (Split Pea Dumplings) with Veggies in Seasoned Tomato Sauce V

Wed 17th
Lasagna (served with brown rice or soup)
Thai Yellow Curry V

Thurs 18th
Eggplant and Mixed Veggie Curry in lightly spiced cream sauce
Tofu Scramble with Mixed Veggies and Chickpeas V

Friday 19th
Enchilada’s
Kofta Balls with mixed Veggies & Tofu in Tomato Sauce V

Week Four

Mon 22nd
Thai Yellow Curry V
Eggplant, Potato & Fresh Tomatoes in lightly spiced cream sauce

Tues 23rd
Sauteed Broccoli, Cauliflower, Green Pea & Potatoes in Spiced Cream Sauce
Corn Fritter with Zucchini and Celery in tomato sauce V

Wed 24th
Thai Red Curry V
Roasted Eggplant & Orzo Casserole with Cheddar & Parmesan Cheese
(served with soup or brown rice)

Thurs 25th
Cauliflower Paneer and Green Peas in Tomato Sauce
Tuscan Vegetable Sauté V

Friday 26th
Eggplant Pakora Subji with Garbanzo’s, Mixed Veggies & Golden Raisins
Walnut Dumplings in a Sweet & Sour VeggieSauce V

Week Five

Mon 29th
Falafel Dumplings with Zucchini and Cauliflower in Coconut Milk Sauce V
Cauliflower & Mixed Vegetable Subji with Chickpeas V

Tues 30th
Sweet and Sour Vegetable Curry with Baked Tofu Squares V
Sautéed Broccoli, Carrot & Fresh Tomatoes in Spiced Cream Sauce

Wed 31st
Thai Yellow Curry V
Lasagna (served with brown rice or soup)

Nihon Noodles = mediocre ramen

Nihon Noodles is a new ramen restaurant that opened in the old Neo Nabe location next to Bunmedio bakery on King St. They boast Hakata, Tokyo, and Sapporo style ramen. Yuka and I both tried the Hakata-style ramen, and I ordered 3 pieces of gyoza. The gyoza came out several minutes before the ramen, which is a bad sign (gyoza almost always takes longer than the ramen at a good place). The gyoza weren’t terrible, but tasted like they were bought frozen and then cooked.

The ramen itself was not very good. The noodles were cooked too long, and there were too many of them for the bowl they were served in. The broth was OK, nothing special. My char siu slice was pretty tough (I could not bite off a piece when holding it with chopsticks).

We were the only customers during the time we were there, and there were more employees than customers. Not a good sign.

We won’t be going back, even if we had a coupon. The problem for a new ramen shop is that Honolulu already has several excellent ramen purveyors. Thus, it’s not enough for a new ramen shop to be OK or good, it has to be as good as or better than the competition. I’m going to call this the incumbent threshold.

Jay Corbett’s Famous Gruel Recipe

While I’m blogging recipes, here’s Jay Corbett’s famous gruel recipe. Jay was a tenured UH ICS faculty member who left Hawaii for the Bay Area, and currently works at Google.

While in graduate school he had some Indian roommates who frequently made curry. Jay took their recipes and adapted them to one that he really loved. At some point, he realized that he liked this dish so much that he would be happy eating it every day, so each week he’d cook up a big batch and eat it for dinner most nights. He’d still eat out for lunch and the occasional dinner, but for home cooking, this was it. He started calling it gruel, which is ironic since it’s very flavorful.

Since he was the only one making it, he didn’t have any written recipe. In the interest of making it myself and preserving it for posterity, I watched him make it one day and took notes. So enjoy the gruel, it goes well with rice.

Mom’s London Broil recipe

Here is my Mom’s recipe for London Broil. It’s actually made using the flank steak cut of beef.

London Broil, serves 4
Equipment:

• broiling rack and pan (comes with most ovens)
• fork
• sharp knife
• cutting board
• oven with broiler

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs flank steak
• garlic powder
• Adolf’s meat tenderizer (found this at Times Supermarket on Oahu)

Steps:

1. Rinse off steak, leaving it wet so powders will stick
2. Place steak on broiling rack
3. Sprinkle first side liberally with garlic powder and tenderizer
4. Stab with fork evenly all over
5. Turn over and repeat sprinkling and stabbing
6. [Can cover and refrigerate at this point if desired]
7. Make sure there an oven rack placed as close to the top broiler element as possible, with room for the broiling rack and steak
8. Set oven broiler to high, allow it to heat up for a minute
9. Broil on each side for 5 minutes, with oven door slightly open. Adjust cooking time for particularly thin or thick steaks or desired doneness
10. Place steak on cutting board
11. Cut steak on bias in thin strips across the grain of the meat (usually perpendicular to the length of the steak)
12. Serve immediately

That’s all there is to it. Thanks Mom!

While writing this up, I happened to stumble upon a flank steak recipe from John C Dvorak. Who calls soy sauce “soya sauce”? 🙂

Kansas: not as boring as people say

We drove through the length of Kansas today, starting in Kansas City MO, eating lunch in Manhattan KS, dinner in Oakley KS, and we have crashed in Denver CO. Many people have told us that Kansas is a very boring drive, but we found it quite nice, definitely more interesting than parts of Texas and Missouri.

The food, on the other hand, was pretty bad. We ate at a Chinese buffet place for lunch that had many dishes, but few good ones. Dinner was also underwhelming (overcooked buffalo burger is tough).

Yuka has organized our pictures into nice albums, but we haven't captioned them or uploaded them yet.