More Salsa—Hawaiian Style!

This is my second of two salsa recipes.

Today I’m sharing a great recipe for Mango/Avocado Salsa. Again, we ate this with chips. I’ve never tried it, but this spicy concoction could also be used over meat such as chicken, pork, or salmon. We like it HOT, so if you’re not into the fiery burn, substitute another kind of pepper for the habanero.

Mango/Avocado Salsa

Ingredients:

1 avocado cubed

1 mango, cubed

½ red onion, diced fine

1 small, finely minced habanero pepper—I use the entire thing, seeds and all, to get the best burn! (Don’t forget to use food prep gloves when chopping hot peppers! I also try to handle the pepper only by the stem. The oils in the skin as well as the insides can irritate your skin. Wash your hands, cutting board and knives well after this project. And don’t touch your eyes!!) My family loves things HOT!! If you don’t like it hot, put in some red and/or green pepper, or another type of pepper you like, and leave out the habanero.

Juice from one small lime

1-2 Tbl chopped cilantro. You could do 1 Tbl of parsley and 1 Tbl cilantro if you’d like (The cilantro and parsley can be adjusted according to your personal taste and/or how large the mango and avocado are. Love cilantro?? Use more of it and less of the parsley.)

Mango/Avocado HOT Salsa!

Salt to taste

Combine all chopped ingredients in a bowl. Add the lime juice and mix. Salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

My husband and son-in-law ate nearly the entire bowl between them! But, remember, we’re used to eating HOT and LOVE it!

See you in October for some interesting information on some of the creatures Hawaiians don’t want to see invading their islands, some “Extreme Hawaii” and some more recipes using Hawaiian fruit—how do stuffed/baked papayas sound?? Hint: They’re yuuuuuuumy!

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Salsa—Hawaiian Style!

This week I am going to feature two salsa recipes.

Today I’m sharing a great recipe for Pineapple Salsa. Use this salsa with chips. I’ve never tried it, but this sweet, spicy salsa could also be used over meat such as chicken, pork, or salmon.

Pineapple Salsa

Sweet and Hot Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups finely chopped fresh pineapple

¼ cup finely chopped red pepper

¼ cup finely chopped green pepper

¼ cup finely chopped red onion

2 tsp minced jalapeño (don’t forget to use food prep gloves when chopping hot peppers! The oils in the skin as well as the insides can irritate your skin. Wash your hands, cutting board and knives well after this project. And don’t touch your eyes!!) I used more than the 2 tsp of jalapeño because my family loves things HOT!! If you don’t like it hot, put in more red and green pepper and leave out the jalapeño.

Juice from ½ of a small lime

1-2 Tbl chopped parsley

1-2 Tbl chopped cilantro (The cilantro and parsley can be adjusted according to your personal taste. Love cilantro?? Use more of it and less of the parsley.)

salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

I actually doubled the recipe and my family devoured it with chips! None left to use with a meat dish.

Join me on Thursday for another salsa—this one will be even hotter! For those of you who don’t do hot—substitute red or green pepper.)

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Mango and Bar-B-Q Sauce on Pizza??

Served With A Salad

Tired of the same old pepperoni pizza? Try this crazy pizza using wonderful fresh mango!

This recipe was created by my daughter and her friend. It may sound insane, but it is amazing and my family devoured every piece of pizza.

Mango, Bar-B-Q Chicken Pizza

After Cooking The Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza crusts or pita bread if you want to make individual pizzas

Boneless, skinless chicken breast (approx ½ breast per person) cubed and cooked

Your favorite bar-b-q sauce

1 small jar of jalapeño peppers

Cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

2 sliced avocados

1 or 2 sliced mangoes

Spread sauce on crusts (or pita bread)

Place cooked chicken chunks on sauce

Add extra sauce if desired

Add jalapeños, cheese, avocado slices, and more cheese

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

Remove and add sliced mango on top

After Adding Fresh Mango On Top

Oh yum!! This recipe is amazing! Let me know if you try this one. I think I need to go buy some more ingredients and make this one again soon.

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Ohi’a ‘ai

The Mountain Apple (Ohi’a ‘ai) is native to Malaysia. It is a canoe fruit, as it was brought to Hawaii by early Polynesians.

The Mountain Apple (Ohi’a ‘ai) 

This lovely red fruit, shaped like a pear, grows wild in areas away from the coastline on all the islands. You can purchase Mountain Apple in open-air markets, mostly on the Big Island (Hawaii.)

I’ve never had the opportunity to try one of these, but they are supposed to have a refreshing, watery-sweet flavor. It has been described as similar to an apple, but very juicy.

The color of the fruit can range from pale pink to deep red. The skin is edible, but not the seeds near the center of the fruit.

Ancient Hawaiians used the trees for building, and extracted dyes from the fruit to make designs in their tapa cloth. The bark had medicinal qualities.

The fresh fruit sounds great, but pickled mountain apple is also very popular.

Something new for me to try when I get a chance to travel to the islands again!

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Fruit For Dessert!

Time for another recipe! This one is simple to make and yummy as a refreshing dessert.

Hawaiian Fruit Dessert

Hawaiian Fruit and Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

Frozen tropical fruit mix (I used this for ease, but fresh would be even better! It included mango, papaya, pineapple, and strawberries)

Any berries you’d like to add

Vanilla pudding mix

Whipped Cream (I used the frozen whipped topping for ease, but the real stuff is best!)

Shredded coconut

Sprinkle the pudding mix over the fruit and stir. The juices will become thick and flavorful from the pudding mix. Use as much or as little of the pudding mix as you’d like—for your personal taste.

Layer the fruit and whipped cream in glasses.

Top off with coconut and enjoy! Yummy!!

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Halakahiki

Pineapple! Of course I have a bias toward the wonderful pineapple. After all, my first book of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club is entitled Pineapples in Peril.

Cheryl's Pineapple Glasses--Waaaaay Cool, Dude!

Do you like my Pineapple Glasses??? I plan to wear these cuties when I am a guest instructor at kid's summer and holiday camps. 'Course I guess I need to get a publishing contract first, huh? Working on it!!

The pineapple is native to Brazil and Paraguay, introduced by the Spanish in the early 19^th century. Remember how I mentioned the Hawaiian native fruit, Hala, in an earlier post? The Hawaiians who first saw the pineapple noticed how it resembled their native Hala, so they gave it the name, Halakahiki, which means Foreign Hala.

Did you know a pineapple is not a single fruit, but many berries all pressed together? Another interesting fact (one that I mention in my book) is that it takes eighteen months to grow a mature pineapple.

There are three types of pineapples found in Hawaii: Smooth Cayenne, Hilo, and Kona Sugarloaf. The Smooth Cayenne is what we generally find in the grocery store and the Hilo is a Hawaiian variant of the Smooth Cayenne. The Kona Sugarloaf has no woodiness in the center of the fruit and can be found on the Big Island (Hawaii) in farmers’ markets.

Me, Ian, Ashley, and Shane at Dole Plantation

Here’s a photo of me and my kids scarfing down some pineapple sorbet and fresh pineapple at the Dole Plantation on Oahu. James Dole started his first plantation in Wahiawa in 1900. The Maui Pineapple Company, Hawaii’s biggest producer started on Maui in 1909. Del Monte began on Oahu in 1917.

If you missed any of my series on Hawaiian Fruit, check my posts beginning August 1.

And I’ll be sure to announce when I finally get a publishing contract for Pineapples in Peril, Book One of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club!

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

A Passionate Fruit?

Passion Fruit

Ahh . . . the passion fruit! Invasive in native Hawaiian ecosystems, passionfruit is called lilikoi. The fruit’s outside appearance is very much like a guava, but the inside is very different.

The skin of the hard-shelled, baseball-sized lilikoi is yellow when ripe. Inside you’ll find a tart, orange pulp used to make syrups, butters, jellies, glazes, sauces, juice, and shave ice flavoring.

Passion Fruit Flower

The lilikoi vine is perennial, grows fast, and climbs, which makes it a bit of a pest in certain areas. But the most striking thing about the plant is the flower. They grow all over the vine and can be up to three inches wide. I’ve never seen one, but hear they are beautiful. Something maybe you could be passionate about?

Although the seeds are edible, usually only the mature fruit’s pulp and juice are used.

Lilikoi can be found on all of the major Hawaiian islands, but is native to South America.

Join me all month for more fun with fruit! Visit my past August posts and continue all month to read about Hawaiian fruit.

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Pau Hana!

The title phrase means Work is Done. Happy Labor Day! How are you going to celebrate this holiday? Are you off work or are you making “big bucks” working today?

My family and I are at a family camp in the mountains. A fun time of relaxing and being with family and friends.

In Hawaii they celebrate the holiday much like any other state would.

The following information on Honolulu’s 29^th Okinawan Festival in Kapiolani Park, September 3^rd and 4^th, 2011 is found at this link:

http://www.okinawanfestival.com/

The Okinawan Festival incorporated the normal events you’d find at most festivals like dance (Matsuri), food, kids’ activities, photo contests, cultural events, and music, but they also have some unusual happenings as well.

Check out the Tsunahiki Tournament (Tug of War) for grades 5, 6-8, and 9-12. They even had team photos and weigh-ins! What a hoot, huh?

The other unique event is a Texting Contest. The contestants had to text a phrase containing information and facts about Okinawa. Sprint provided the same phone to all participants. If someone had mentioned this contest when I lived in Hawaii, it would have been in terms of a fantasy or sci-fi novel!

While writing this post, I wanted to stop and buy a ticket for Honolulu!

’Course by the time you read my blog, the festival will be over. Next year?

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

My Brother’s Trip to Hawaii

Okay, so I’m taking another detour from my fruit blogs! Today is my brother’s birthday. Hau`oli Lā Hānau, Rob!

In honor of his special day, I talked to him about his family’s spring trip to Hawaii. It was a first-time visit for all of them except Rob. He experienced Hawaii back in the 70’s when he served in the navy.

They hunkered down on Oahu for their entire stay. The best part of the trip for the three kids was Boogie Boarding! They’d get up early and spend most of the day in the water. The place they rented was right on the beach, just steps from the ocean.

My Kona Sunrise Coffee and Mugs

They also drove around the island and visited lots of other beaches and sites. I guess they never found the location we loved (near Haleiwa) where we swam with the giant turtles. But they did find lots of other fun things, including good shopping. They brought me back some Kona Coffee and two black mugs (decorated with gold) from Maui Divers Jewelry. I drink my coffee from those mugs every morning!

During their shopping excursions they also found some great jewelry (I do love those turtle necklaces!) and T-shirts.

I still love and wear my T-shirt from Pipeline—I really need to go back and get a new one! Where’s my checkbook????

Join me again next Thursday for more fun with fruit! But first, on Monday, my blog will be entitled Pau Hana. Any idea what that phrase means?

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com