Thursday, January 28, 2010

Marcella's Aloha Dinner


Aloha Dinner
Sauteed Opa with Aioli Dijon Sauce
Marcella's Papaya, Pineapple, Mango Pepper Salsa
Coconut Rice
Mixed Local Salad Greens with Papaya Vinaigrette
Jalapeno Cheddar Artisan Bread
Rosemary Foccacia
Fluffy Tapioca with Local Strawberries

One of the highlights of this vacation was visiting with our dear friends and locals Marcella and Joe Ramirez. Marcella is a personal chef and Joe was her sous chef. They happily prepared several meals for us during our vacation. Everything she prepared was delicious. The Opa was a very light and fleshy fish which was lightly breaded and pan fried. The Coconut rice was very rich and Marcella kindly shares her recipe. She credits the recipe to the Hawaiian Cookbook by Roana and Gene Schindler.

Coconut Rice
1 small onion
3 T butter
4 C cooked rice
Coconut Milk
Saute onion in butter until golden and reserve. Cook rice as per recipe for boiled rice substituting coconut milk for water. Care must be taken to simmer the coconut milk, do not boil or it will separate. When the rice is done, add the sauteed onions.
Marcella notes: You can add 1 T of onion soup mix in place of the fresh onions. Also, if you want to cut down on the fat use half water and half coconut milk.

Marcella's Papaya-Pineapple-Pepper Salsa
1 papaya
1 mango or poha berries or any fruit
1 pineapple
1-3 peppers: red, green, yellow, orange or sweet
1 sweet onion, or red or yellow onion
salt and pepper
2-3 T cilantro (or substitute mint)
2-3 T lime juice
1 T olive oil
1-2 T rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar
garlic
jalapeno pepper, minced fine
dash cayenne pepper
green onions
Hot Asian Chili Paste or Hot Sauce, to taste
ginger
Combine all ingredients, allow to marinate, and serve. Yum. This was a colorful accompaniment to the meal. It would be delicious on lettuce or with toasted pita chips too. The flavors danced in your mouth.
Have we mentioned that we were thoroughly spoiled? and that we ate well while on the Island?
Mahalo Marcella and Joe!

3 comments:

Donna and Miss Spenser said...

How fun is this?! You truly have friend all over the world! Lucky you!! (smiles)
Donna (IA)

Marilyn Miller said...

How nice to have someone cook such a special meal for you! What a treat.

Anonymous said...

From the photo, looks like a two-fer...Marcella and Joe