And Now Starring…Sandy Hu!

By Sandy Hu

This is so embarrassing to share, but when I was a little girl, I used to pretend to be doing a food demonstration as I washed the dishes, stirring up suds and transferring it from bowl to bowl as I whipped up my pretend food for an imaginary audience. I wasn’t interested in the cooking; I just wanted to be the star!

Growing up in Hilo before the days of the Food Network, a simple aspiration was to be on the stage of the electric company auditorium where free cooking demonstrations were held. It was one of the places where I saw real people performing in front of an audience and I was hooked!

The utility company home economists, along with the University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service clubs for homemakers, played a huge role in disseminating recipes from Hawaii’s rich ethnic culinary cultures. It’s one of the places where my mom learned about recipes from other ethnic groups and replicated them for our family.

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Don’t Let Your Shrimp Dawdle

Shrimp, snow peas and bell pepper: three simple ingredients that cook quickly to create sweet, crunchy, salty, tender goodness. Swap out the vegetables if you prefer. Try zucchini or boy choy.

Keep it simple but be certain not to overcook the shrimp; keep them moving until they just turn tender and pink.

This easy, one-dish meal takes about 20 minutes to make (10 to prep and another 10 to cook) so you can be out of the kitchen in no time.

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Make your Own Vietnamese Sandwiches

By Marilyn Hunter

Years ago when I worked in downtown San Francisco, my friend Thuy and I would often meet for lunch. We would take a $10 cab ride all the way across town to get a $2 sandwich. Sounds crazy, I know, but this sandwich was worth it.

There’s something very addictive about Vietnamese sandwiches (bánh mì) – a crusty baguette filled with sweet and salty pork, pickled vegetables, fresh herbs and slivered jalapeño. Drizzle a little soy sauce over it and it becomes a crave-able masterpiece.

We always ordered two each: one to eat and one to take home. This made us feel like we were getting our money’s worth out of the taxi fare.

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Cooking for the Midweek Blahs

By Lori Powell

Wednesday, midweek, is when my energy wanes a bit. Even though I begin my day with an hour of invigorating and restorative yoga, which helps me jump-start my day, it does begin to lose its effect by 4 p.m.!

If, on top of that, I have to work late, I am just about spent by dinner time but horribly hungry all the same. This is when I need a speedy but homemade delicious, quick-fix dinner.

I find cooking for oneself underrated…like yoga it can be restorative. The process of chopping and the smells of cooking something simple are super-satisfying and blissful. The pure action of it is grounding.

Just bring together some fabulous pantry and fridge staples and, voila! Happy days are here again, or at least another midweek day with a lovely, delicious ending.

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Taming the Wild Fiddlehead Fern

By Katie Barreira

A fiddlehead is the curled tip of a wild ostrich fern leaf in its first weeks of life. This fleeting spring delicacy is in peak season at a farmers’ market near you (psssst – even Fresh Direct is carrying them this year!) and while they may sound (and look) wildly exotic, they have the familiar fresh flavor of verdant veggies and are a cinch to prepare.

A quick scan of fiddlehead fern recipes uncovered an almost unanimous call for blanching the ferns before further cooking, but Pamela Mitchell, a very well-eaten pal and Executive Food Editor of Rachael Ray Mag, told me that she likes to snack on raw fiddleheads, which proved a delectable way to enjoy the fern tips. (Caution: technically speaking, raw fiddleheads are safe to eat, but tummy troubles have been reported. I’ve had no such problem, and it’s a risk along the lines of runny egg yolks and oysters. But if you prefer zero-risk eating, steam or boil fiddleheads 10 minutes before stir-frying.)

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