Hoku's

We went to Hoku's tonight as a belated Valentine's dinner (we don't like to go out on the actual night - too crowded!)

We love Hoku's but we haven't been there in awhile. Partly because they stopped serving lunch.

(note: I took these pics with my new camera phone so the resolution isn't as great as my point-and-shoot)

I love the ahi dip and ciabatta rolls that come out nice and warm.



Next they brought out more complimentary stuff - this was a cracker with baba ganoush.



We ordered an "innovative" sashimi platter as an appetizer. The platter had hamachi with avocado and grapefruit, ahi tataki with jalapeno and yuzu, hirame with pickled onions and apples, and salmon gravlax with soy almonds and fried chiso.



I love how they do a simple 'nalo greens with heirloom tomatoes, hearts of palm, persimmons and a balsamic dressing that's really light.



For our main entree we had a Kilauea salt rubbed prime rib eye (for 2), carved tableside and served with potato risotto, roasted beets and a red wine sauce.



Dessert was the coco loco, which was milk chocolate mousse, haupia cream in coconut sponge, and coconut-macadamia gelato.



Finally, they brought out three complimentary truffle lollipops.



Yum! Wish we could afford to eat there more often!!

Roast duck whole wheat pizza

Nam Fong is a popular shop in Chinatown that sells cooked meats like roast duck, char siu, roast pork, etc. Yesterday we walked into Chinatown, so I stopped at Nam Fong and picked up some duck to make pizza. I also picked up some green onions and plum sauce.

First I made the whole wheat crust, which was Mitch's Pizza Dough Recipe, halved and substituting whole wheat flour for white flour. While the pizza stone was heating, I let the dough rise and mixed together some hoisin and plum sauce. Then I deboned the duck and sliced it into small pieces. After precooking the crust for two minutes, I covered the crust with sauce. Normally I would precook the crust for only a minute, but because the hoisin/plum sauce has so much sugar, I didn't want it to burn. So because I'd have to cook the topped pizza shorter, I wanted to make sure the crust was crispy by precooking it a tad longer. Next I added the duck and covered it with shredded mozzarella. After I took it out, I topped with sliced green onions.

L said that the wheat crust really didn't taste much different from the white ones I usually make.