Hawaii plays huge role in Tupelo transplant's cooking
Nov. 16—TUPELO — Laura Caldwell has Hawaii to thank for making her the cook she is today.
Caldwell, a native of Florida, went to Auburn University to study speech pathology. While walking across the quad one day, she caught the attention of a handsome young man.
"Our eyes met, and the rest is history," said Caldwell, 58. "Rob and I married in March 1986. He went through ROTC at Auburn, and was commissioned on March 18. We married March 22, and six weeks later, we moved to Hawaii. A week after that, he deployed to Alaska."
Caldwell was left alone at the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu to set up housekeeping while Rob was gone for six months.
"Our furniture hadn't arrived yet, so we had loner furniture, loner dishes," she said. "That's how I started life as a Navy wife. Hawaii holds such fond memories for me because it made me the cook I am. You talk about getting thrown in the deep end."
Caldwell soon met other Navy wives and they began getting together to cook and eat and share recipes.
"That's where I got out of the college hotpot cooking phase and started trying new things," she said. "Portuguese cooking is a big influence there. Sugar cane farmers came to Hawaii in the late 1800s, and stayed. At McDonald's in Hawaii, Portuguese sausage and rice is the bestseller on the breakfast menu."
Rob's career took them several places to live — Virginia, Washington, D.C., Japan, California, Florida, Maryland and Tennessee — before he retired in 2013.
"Everywhere we lived, I made an effort to learn those dishes," Caldwell said. "But Hawaii has my heart because it was my first attempt at homemaking. I want people to realize Hawaii isn't all hula skirts and Mai Tais. There's so much more depth because of all the influences of Filipinos, Portuguese, Chinese. My most important advice to anyone traveling to Hawaii is to get out of Waikiki, and see all the local places."
The couple moved to Tupelo in September after the deaths of both of Caldwell's parents. They chose Tupelo because Rob's parents — Adrian and the late Robert Caldwell — had relocated here in 1985.
Caldwell, who works as an editor for Deloitte Consulting, still likes to cook the exotic dishes she's learned over the years, and often prepares them for family gatherings. But she's not above trying new things and new experiences.
"I love to go off the beaten path — buy a share in a local CSA, buy a whole pig, support fisherman in Alaska," she said. "It's like Girl Scout cookies on a really, really big scale."
DO YOU KNOW A GOOD COOK? Send your nominations to Ginna Parsons, Cook of the Week, P.O. Box 909, Tupelo, MS 38802. Or you can call (662) 678-1581 or email them to ginna.parsons@journalinc.com.
PORTUGUESE BEAN SOUP
2 pounds smoked ham hocks
1 tablespoon neutral oil
3/4 pound chorizo smoked sausage, sliced
1 large sweet onion, medium dice
1 large carrot, sliced
3 stalks celery, medium dice
3 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, undrained
3/4 cup elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 medium green cabbage, cored and chopped, or 1 bunch kale, trimmed and chopped
In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine ham hocks and 3 quarts water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently, covered but with lid askew, until the hocks start to fall apart when poked with a spoon, 2 to 3 hours.
Remove hocks from the pot and pour the broth into a separate container. The broth should have reduced to about 2 quarts; add water if necessary to get this amount. (If desired, save the meat from the ham hocks for another use.)
Wipe out the Dutch oven, add the oil and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add sausage and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 12 minutes.
Add the 2 quarts of reserved broth, the potato, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, kidney beans with liquid, macaroni, sugar, salt, pepper and pumpkin pie spice and stir. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
Stir in the cabbage or kale and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let the soup sit, covered, at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours before serving. Good served with Portuguese Sweet Rolls. Serves 8.
Recipe adapted from "Cook Real Hawaii" by Sheldon Simeon.
PORTUGUESE SWEET ROLLS
1/2 cup milk
4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packages)
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 cup evaporated milk or half-and-half
5 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature, plus more for brushing
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Pinch of nutmeg
3 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 cup instant mashed potato flakes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
In a small saucepan or in the microwave, gently warm the milk until it's between 100 and 110 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together the warmed milk, yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar. Let the mixture sit until the yeast has bloomed and tiny bubbles form, about 10 minutes.
Add the evaporated milk, the rest of the sugar, the butter, 3 eggs, lemon zest and nutmeg. Separate the remaining egg and add the yolk to the bowl. Set the white aside. Stir the milk and egg mixture until thoroughly combined.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, potato flakes and salt and pour this into the liquid ingredients. Mix with a spatula until a cohesive dough forms. It'll be soft and sticky at first.
Dust a work surface with flour and turn the dough onto it. Knead until smooth and elastic, 6 to 8 minutes. Grease a bowl and place the dough in it, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Gently punch down to deflate the dough and tip it onto a work surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, rolling each piece into a ball and placing it in the prepared pan. Cover the pan lightly with plastic wrap and set aside to double again, about 1 hour, until the rolls are nearly peeking out of the baking pan.
Near the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the reserved egg white with 1 tablespoon cold water and brush some onto the surface of the rolls; this will give them a glossy sheen.
Bake the rolls until puffy and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the rolls from the oven and let cool slightly, then turn them out onto a wire rack. Brush the tops with salted butter and serve warm. Leftovers can be stored in a sealable container at room temperature for several days, or frozen for longer storage. Makes 16 rolls.
Recipe from "Cook Real Hawaii" by Sheldon Simeon.
MAUI KALE SALAD WITH SWEET ONION DRESSING
SWEET ONION DRESSING
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 medium sweet onion, quartered
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup neutral oil
SALAD
2 large bunches kale, roughly chopped (remove midribs and stems if tough)
1/2 medium green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
Pinch of kosher salt
For the dressing, in a blender, combine vinegar, sugar, onion, celery salt, mustard and black pepper and process until smooth. With the blender on its lowest speed, gradually add the oil in a steady stream until the dressing is thickened. Transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Makes 2 cups.
For the salad, in a large bowl, combine the kale, cabbage, cranberries and 1/2 cup sweet onion dressing (reserve rest of dressing for another use). Toss to coat and mix thoroughly, using your hands if desired. Transfer to the fridge and let chill for at least 15 minutes. Season with salt if desired. Serves 4 to 6.
Recipe adapted from "Cook Real Hawaii" by Sheldon Simeon.
HULI HULI CHICKEN
1 whole (3- to 4-pound) chicken, spatchcocked—
1/2 cup shio koji paste or plain yogurt
3 cups chicken stock
1 stick salted butter
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 ounces ginger, sliced and crushed
6 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
12 scallions, white and green parts separated, greens roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Garlic salt
Oil, for the grill
Place the chicken on a large sheet pan and rub all over with the shio koji or yogurt. Cover loosely with parchment paper and refrigerate overnight.
In a saucepan, combine the chicken stock, butter, oyster sauce, pineapple juice, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and sesame oil. Crush the white parts of the scallions with the butt of a knife and add those, too. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the liquid has reduced by about half. Remove the ginger, scallions and garlic using a slotted spoon or sieve.
In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water to make a slurry. Stir it into the sauce and increase the heat to bring back to a boil before removing from the heat.
An hour before you're ready to cook, remove the chicken from the fridge and let it come to room temperature. When you're ready to cook the chicken, rinse off the shio koji or yogurt and pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Season the chicken lightly and evenly with garlic salt.
Preheat a grill to medium-hot. Using tongs, oil the grates of the grill with an oiled rag or paper towels. Set up the grill for two-zone cooking: If using coals, push them off to one side of the grill so you have direct and indirect heat. If using gas, reduce the heat to low on one side of the grill.
Place the chicken, breast-side up, on the cooler side of the grill. Cover and grill for 10 minutes. Uncover, brush the chicken with sauce, cover and grill another 10 minutes. Uncover, glaze the chicken again, then flip the chicken breast-side down onto the hotter part of the grill. Cook over direct heat, uncovered, until the skin begins to brown and char slightly, about 10 minutes, then brush with sauce and flip the chicken breast-side up, still over direct heat. Brush the breasts with sauce and continue cooking the chicken over direct heat until the juices run clear, or a thermometer inserted into the breast reads 160 degrees (plan for about 40 minutes total cook time). Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring any remaining sauce to a boil (if the sauce is broken, don't worry, it will emulsify when it boils). Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Slice the chicken and serve topped with some more sauce and the chopped scallion greens.
—Note: To spatchcock a chicken, use a sharp pair of kitchen shears to cut along both sides of the chicken's backbone (spine), separating it from the ribs. With the backbone removed, turn the bird over so the breast is facing up. Splay out the legs and breasts until they lie flat and give the bird a firm press in the center of the breast; you may hear a crack and it should lie flat on its own.
Recipe from "Cook Real Hawaii" by Sheldon Simeon.
FOUR-INGREDIENT HAM AND CHEESE PIE
1 package Pillsbury Crescent Roll Dough Sheet
2 cups diced ham
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese or Cheddar mix
1 egg
Salt and pepper
Unroll the crescent roll dough sheet and press into the bottom of an 8x8-inch baking dish or a pie plate. Reserve some of the dough for a lattice or other decorative design for the top.
In a medium bowl, combine ham, cheese, and egg and mix until well blended. Season as desired with salt and pepper.
Spread the cheese mixture evenly over the dough, adding a decorative design on top with leftover dough as desired.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Check the dish at 20 minutes; you may need to put a piece of foil over the top to prevent too much browning.
Serve at breakfast with fresh fruit, muffins, or mimosas; at lunch with a side salad; or for dinner with vegetables on the side.
