What is your prediction - Food Trends for 2011

Epicurious has come out with their predictions for the top food trends for 2011.  I guess they have a bit of a leg up on the rest of us as they have access to chefs, suppliers, etc and their new trends before the rest of us.  The trick is to see if the public will follow and embrace these trends.

Let's take a look at the predictions:

Food Halls

Will America follow in the footsteps of the food halls of Harrods of London and Paris' La Grande Épicerie with the opening of Eataly (Mario Bataly and the Bastianich family), Food Hall in the Plaza Hotel (Todd English), and L'Épicerie Market (Thierry Perez)?

Korean Cuisine

The Kogi BBQ truck in L.A is wildly popular. Is Kimchi and Galbi in our near future?  Although this isn't a new trend here in Honolulu, will mainland restaurants jump on this bandwagon too?

Macarons

Have cupcakes seen better days?  Are macarons the next "it" dessert?  I know of at least one macaron shop that has opened near me and of course you can order from Gesine Confectionary.  Considering that they are gluten free and melt-in your-mouth-good I can see this trend catching on.

Meatless Mondays & Tofu Thursdays

First we saw eating snout to tail, and while meat is still king, many people are switching up their menus to bump up vegetable and other non-meat product consumption.  The idea of Meatless Monday's is to encourage U.S. consumers to cut their meat consumption by 15 percent for the betterment of our health and the planet.  Will Meatless Mondays and Tofu Thursdays take off?

Foraging

Mushrooms and truffles were once the items that people foraged for.  Now berries, nuts, and wild greens are being sought after. Will the Philadelphia Food Harvest Map be a precursor to new maps produced by foodies "wild crafting"?

Tiki Bar Cocktails

Well this one is right up my alley, although I can't really say this is a trend for me.  It is more a way of life considering my geographic location.  There are a list of Tiki Bars at Tiki Central.  Will people start falling for tropical juices and rum all over again?

Pop-Up Cafés

It started with food trucks, but now chefs are looking at small, pop-up cafes where they can try out new menus, drum up publicity, and save a little on capital outlay.  Chef Tommy Halvorson's Eat Restaurant hold's monthly dinners in different locals that are very popular.  Are insta-restaurants the thing of the future?

Sweet Potatoes

There is no denying that sweet potatoes are both good for you and very versatile, as they can be used in both sweet and savory dishes.  This falls crop was estimated to be a staggering two billion pounds so it is no wonder that they are appearing more and more on dinner tables, both at home and at restaurants.  Even Costco is selling frozen sweet potato fries.  Are they the next big thing or just a flash in the fry-pan?

Urban Wineries

More and more oenophiles are learning the process of making and then bottling their own wine.  Do you dream of seeing your face on a wine bottle?

Pimentón de La Vera

Although it is a relative of paprika,  Pimentón de La Vera is a smoked paprika and it is a specialty of Spain's La Vera region. It has a sweet heat and can be used when roasting and grilling meats, paellas, sauces, and soups.  Is this the new "must have" spice?

 

It is interesting to compare this to their predictions for 2010:

Dish - Fried Chicken

Dessert - Whoppie Pies

Ingredient - Lamb

Health Trend - Eating an immunity-building diet

Profession - Butcher

Drink - Homemade Beer

City - Vancouver

Entertaining Trend - Potlucks

Sex Symbol - Sam Kass

I was reading the January issue of Food and Wine last night and one thing that popped out at me as a new trend was savory cupcakes.  It will be interesting to see which of these trends take off.  Do you have any predictions for Food Trends in 2011?

Moloka'i Tiramisu Cheesecake

I know, I know another cheesecake.  I do seem to have a thing for them and I have yet to meet one that I didn't like. They are such an impressive dessert to make, and yet they are really not that difficult to make.  I actually made this Moloka'i Tiramisu Cheesecake for a friend to take to a party a few weeks ago.  My friend called me the day after the party to say that everyone raved about how good it was.  I knew that I had to make another one for my family, and since we were keeping the menu simple for Christmas Day, I decided that this would be the perfect make-ahead dessert.

The recipe was adapted from one I found on the Woman's Day website.  I love to incorporate one of the coffees we have at home from Coffees of Hawaii into my recipes when I can.  This time I decided to use the Moloka'i Malulani Estate coffee which is described as "a rich-bodied, medium roast coffee with a mild acidity, complemented with a luscious hint of chocolate." I definitely wanted that hint of chocolate in my cheesecake.

What I loved most about this cheesecake was that not only did it have a base of coffee-soaked ladyfingers, but nestled between the coffee-enhanced creamy center, there was a second layer of ladyfingers. A little chocolate on top and you are in tiramisu heaven. This cheesecake needs to be made at least a day before serving, but I recommend a few days before so that the coffee flavors really have a chance to develop.

Moloka'i Tiramisu Cheesecake
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup triple-strength coffee (reserve 2 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp plus 11⁄4 cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp Kahlúa (coffee-flavor liqueur)
• 1 1⁄2 pkg (7 oz each) imported Italian savoiardi ladyfingers
• 3 bricks (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tub (8 or 8.75 oz) mascarpone cheese (I used the tiramisu flavored mascarpone)
• 1 oz bittersweet chocolate, grated
• Garnish: unsweetened cocoa powder and chocolate curls

Preparation

1. Remove bottom of a 9 x 3-in. springform pan; wrap bottom with plastic wrap. 
2. Stir coffee, 2 Tbsp sugar and the Kahlúa in a shallow bowl until sugar dissolves. Set 1⁄2 the ladyfingers aside. For each of remaining ladyfingers, quickly dip one side into coffee mixture and place wet side up on pan bottom to cover, cutting ladyfingers as needed to fit. Freeze about 15 minutes until firm. Lift plastic wrap, with ladyfingers, off pan bottom and place on a flat plate in freezer.  
3. Heat oven to 325°F.  Reassemble the springform pan and coat with nonstick spray.  
4. Quickly dip one side of reserved ladyfingers into coffee mixture. Place wet side up on pan bottom to cover, cutting ladyfingers to fit and pressing to fill spaces. Freeze until ready to fill.
5. Beat cream cheese, 1 1⁄4 cups sugar,  and the cornstarch in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until smooth. On low speed, beat in eggs, 1 at a time, just until blended. Beat in mascarpone and reserved 2 Tbsp coffee. Pour half the batter (3 cups) into pan; spread evenly.
6. Top with ladyfinger layer from freezer; sprinkle with grated chocolate. Spoon on remaining batter; spread evenly. 
7. Bake 50 minutes, or until center still jiggles slightly when shaken. (Air bubbles may form on surface; they’ll sink as cake cools.) Turn off oven (leave door closed); leave cake in oven 45 minutes. 
8. Carefully run a thin knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake (leave the pan sides on). Cool completely on a wire rack. Cover loosely; refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably 1 day for best flavor. 
9. To serve: Remove pan sides; place cake on a serving plate. Dust with cocoa; top with chocolate curls if desired. 

Santa Came Early to Hawaii with gifts from Tate's Bake Shop

My husband just came in the door with a big box for me.  No, it wasn't from him.  It was from Tate's Bake Shop!  I am so excited.

I was the lucky winner of a giveaway on Kahakai Kitchen just over a week ago.  The prize was  a Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook and three boxes of Tate's Bake Shop cookies - chocolate chip, white chocolate macadamia nut, and oatmeal raisin.

It is all wonderful but the best part was when I open the cookbook to take some photos and found that it was actually signed by Kathleen.  How cool is that?

Thank you so much Deb and Tate's Bake Shop.  Sorry Santa, but these are all mine.

Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past,  courage for the present,  hope for the future.  It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace."  

Wishing you all peace and blessings!

To Try Tuesday - Pumpkin Pineapple Muffins

Wow, can you believe that it is only five more sleeps until Christmas?  I know how chaotic my life has been lately but I take some comfort in knowing that I am not alone in feeling this way. From reading everyone's blogs I think a lot of us are being pulled in many different directions.  Welcome to the silly season (as I like to call it).

Considering the time crunch, and the fact that I had half a cup of leftover pumpkin puree from a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake that I needed to use up,  I chose a recipe for Pumpkin Pineapple Muffins for today's To Try Tuesday.  I found this recipe on the Secret Recipe Forum.  Once you have all of the ingredients measured out this will only take you five minutes to get in the oven.  The only changes I made were to use some Penzeys Baking Spice in place of the cinnamon and nutmeg, and to use raw sugar to sprinkle on top rather than brown sugar. 

Once they were mixed I used a cookie scoop to quickly measure them into the baking cups.  I made them a little smaller than normal and I got 15 muffins from the batter.  I liked the crunch of the raw sugar on the top but the pumpkin totally overwhelmed the pineapple flavor.  If I made these again I would use some finely chopped pineapple rather than crushed pineapple as it would add some texture.

Pumpkin Pineapple Muffins

(printer friendly recipe)
 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 teaspoon Penzeys Baking Spice (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg)
• raw sugar to sprinkle on top, if desired

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. In large bowl combine pumpkin, egg, milk, butter and pineapple and stir well to combine.
3. In another large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices and stir thoroughly.
4. Add to flour mix to pumpkin mix and stir just until moistened.
5. Spoon into muffin tins. 
6. Sprinkle with raw sugar, if desired. 
7. Bake in 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Yields 12-15 muffins

Adapted from a recipe from The Secret Recipe Forum