The third annual Hawaii Honey Festival on Sept. 26 included a cooking contest. The winners were:
The third annual Hawaii Honey Festival on Sept. 26 included a cooking contest. The winners were:
First place as well as Best of Show went to Peggy Kilkenny of Kailua-Kona with her Luscious Local Liquid Honey Sunshine Coconut Chicken Skewers.
Luscious Local Liquid Honey Sunshine Coconut Chicken Skewers
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 cup local honey
1 cup soy sauce
1 can (13.5 ounce) coconut milk
1/2 cup rice vinegar
4 cloves minced garlic
3 teaspoons fresh ginger, grates (which is 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
1 tablespoon sriracha sauce (optional)
Place the chicken in a large bowl or gallon Ziploc bag. In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey, coconut milk, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, pepper, sesame oil and sriracha sauce. Pour over chicken, cover or seal bag and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Preheat grill to medium high and lightly oil grates. Thread chicken onto metal skewers. Grill chicken until no longer pink in center (five to 10 minutes).
Serve with rice.
Notes: Can add seasoned vegetables to the chicken skewers
• Second place in the entrees and sauces/dressings categories was Elaine Partlow of Pahoa with her Honey Salmon Cakes with Tequila Honey Lime Sauce.
Honey Salmon Cakes with Tequila Honey Lime Sauce
Three (7-ounce) cans salmon, drained, reserve liquid
20 Ritz crackers, crushed
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons honey
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Add reserved salmon liquid until the mixture holds together. Shape into 3-inch patties and fry in olive oil until golden brown.
Sauce:
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup tequila
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
Dash of salt
Place all ingredients into a small saucepan. Heat, stirring often, until thickened and smooth. Spoon over salmon patties or crab cakes.
In the dessert category, first place went to Papa‘aloa Country Store with its Hawaiian Mac Nut Honey Baklava.
Hawaiian Mac Nut Honey Baklava
1 box filo sheets
1 pound butter
4 cups macadamia nuts, ground
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons lemon zest (or lemon extract)
Melt butter in microwave and set aside.
Grind nuts to small size, then combine with the sugar and spices, toss. Using a half-sheet pan, paint butter generously over the whole pan, sides included.
Take a full sheet of filo and lay on the bottom of pan, paint with butter. Repeat process with 4-5 sheets, spread a layer of nut mixture over filo. Repeat process until all sheets of filo, butter and nut mix are used. The top layer should be four filo sheets. If you have any torn or ripped filo, just crumble them on top before baking. If you have any leftover butter, pour it over the whole surface of baklava, as well.
Pierce the baklava here and there with a knife so steam can escape during baking.
Bake at 325 degrees, in convection oven, for 45 minutes. (A regular oven might require longer baking. Check after 50 minutes).
While the baklava bakes, make the sauce, because both must be warm when you pour sauce over the pastry.
Mac Nut Honey and Lemon Sauce
3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon lemon zest (or lemon extract)
Place all ingredients in saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and simmer for 10 minutes.
Cut baklava in 5-by-8 inch squares and then diagonally in half.
You will have 80 pieces. Pour warm sauce evenly over all, let set and cool before serving.
Notes: We found it easier to cut turning it out on a cutting board, cutting, then placing the pan over all and flipping it back into the pan before saucing.
Mac Nut Honey and Lemon Sauce can be drizzled on your pancakes in the morning, over fruit salad, ice cream or even to spice up a piece of pound cake.
• Second place winner in the dessert category was Brian Weiss of San Pedro, Calif., and Kapulena, with his Mac Nut Baklava. Third place went to Ron Hanson of the Honey Bee Company of Hilo with his Extreme Honey Bars.
First place in sauces/dressings went to Alice Weiss of San Pedro with her Chili-Honey sauce.
Chili-Honey Sauce
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup orange or lemon juice
4 medium summer squash or zucchini
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 cup chevre (creamy goat cheese)
Heat oil and chili flakes approximately two minutes.
Add the next three ingredients and whisk. Let it sit overnight or at least two hours.
Cut the squash or zucchini into thin, long ribbons and grill until soft.
Place 1/4 teaspoon of the chevre on each slice and roll up. Place on serving platter and drizzle with the Chili-Honey Sauce.
• Third place in the sauces/dressings category went to Peggy Kilkenny with her Dreamy Honey Garlic Basil Walnut Dressing.
Foodie bites
Sriracha, used in the Best of the Show recipe, has a wonderful story that started in Vietnam, when David Tran started making sriracha hot sauce.
In 1978, Tran was one of 3,000 refugees on the freighter Huey Fong to Hong Kong, fleeing their country.
He was granted asylum in the United States, and started making sriricha for the Vietnamese restaurants. The rest is history.
Email me at audreywilson 808@gmail.com if you have questions.