Category Archives: Tomatoes

Contest, Tomatoes

Hamakua Style Tomato Pie

Our second annual Tomato Recipe contest is coming up! Stay tuned for details on how to enter.

Last year, the Overall Grand Prize went to Candace Ames of Hilo for her “Hamakua Style Tomato Pie.” The recipe follows if you’d like to try it.

HAMAKUA STYLE TOMATO PIE

4 firm, meaty Hamakua Springs tomatoes
1 9-inch pre-baked, deep-dish pie shell
2 stalks of green onions
salt

1 bunch of fresh parsley
2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 small Hawaiian red chili pepper, seeded and deveined

Topping:
1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 scant cup mayonnaise
3 green onions

1. Slice tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick and sprinkle lightly with salt. Let drain in a colander for about 10 minutes.

2. Finely chop your two stalks of green onion.

3. Combine parsley, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and small, red Hawaiian chili pepper (seeded and deveined) in a small handichopper or food processor. Process for about 30 seconds or until you get a pesto-like consistency.

4. Sprinkle about 1/4+ cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese evenly on the bottom of your pie shell. Spread a little of your parsley mixture. Sprinkle a little of your finely chopped green onions. Top with your sliced tomatoes. Spread tomatoes with a little more of your parsley mixture and the rest of your finely chopped green onions.

5. Prepare topping: Finely chop just the white bulbs of the 3 green onions. Add to your shredded mozzarella cheese, shredded cheddar cheese and mayonnaise. Mix until well blended. Spread topping evenly over tomato filling.

6. Bake in a preheated, 350 degrees Fahrenheit, oven for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned. Let cool, but serve warm and enjoy.

The Good Life, Tomatoes, Travel

Tomato Fest

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Here it is, Tomato Fest time again in Carmel.

We stayed in Monterey. That’s where, as a second lieutenant stationed at Ft. Ord, I spent some time bottom-fishing with fellow rookie officers for ling cod and yellow tail from charters on the Fisherman’s Wharf.

This is our second time at the Tomato Fest, and we’re veterans now. Take Highway One south from Monterey. Turn into Carmel Valley Road and turn right past the Quail Lodge, down to the golf course to park. We catch the shuttle and we’re there in a few minutes.

We go to the special section where we get a head start on tasting more than 200 varieties of tomatoes. This time we recognize a lot of the varieties. And we do find some very special ones. One grape variety, in particular, we found because a little girl maybe eight years old kept coming back to eat more of them. I counted nine tomatoes that she ate. So we made sure to find out why. Sure enough, it was spectacularly good tasting. We’re going to grow that variety for sure.

We walk over to chat with Dagma and Gary Ibsen, founders of the Tomato Fest. I introduce myself and Dagma says, Of course I remember you, Richard and June. Thanks for coming all the way over from Hawai‘i. We tell them to please come to visit us when they are on the Big Island. Very nice folks.

We walk past a television crew filming and a lady comes over and says, You’re Richard and June, I recognize you from your blog.

You must be Mary-Anne, I say. Back home Sonia Martinez had introduced us (online) to her friend Mary-Anne Durkee who was going to film the event for iFood TV online.

She says, Let me interview you. Tell me a bit of your history, what you do, what products you grow, the chefs you work with. O.K. ready? You’re on!

 

One take and it’s over and then she has to rush over to interview a famous chef before the music started. Boy, she is efficient, I think to myself. Very impressive. Maybe we’ll be on TV. Sonia says she’ll let us know if and when it airs.

We head for the chefs’ tent and try the different sample dishes. And again, we are amazed with the imagination the chefs exhibit. We try a micro-sample. Instead of a cracker, the chef cuts out tiny rounds from a flat sheet that looks like a crepe. On top of that he places goat cheese and places the tiniest tomato with a leaf of basil. Something about this tiny taste made it stand out. And there are various shooters, tomato soups, won ton for crackers and all kinds of tomato with cheese and basil or other herbs. All very beautiful to look at, and very tasty.

Toward the end of the event, June found herself holding a Bloody Mary and sampling a tomato sorbet while the band plays the song Johnny B. Goode.

Lots of fun and very contagious. Last year we decided this is an annual trek for us. It was a good decision.

Recipes, Tomatoes

Tomato Cake

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Macario’s mom Blanche used to make a Tomato Cake. I knew her before she passed away suddenly a couple years back, but somehow I never tasted her Tomato Cake and I regret that.

This is the same woman who made an absolutely unparalleled Avocado Pie, which people are still talking about (in a good way). Maybe I’ll tell you about that another time.

But about that Tomato Cake. I poked around on the web looking for Tomato Cake recipes but only found recipes for spice cakes made with tomatoes, and Macario says no, no, no.

Blanche used a white cake recipe, but she substituted tomato juice for the liquid. She topped it with a white butter frosting that she mixed peach chunks into.

Macario looks hungry when he describes it and says the combination went together really well. I told him he could make me one for my upcoming birthday, and we both liked that idea.

What other interesting tomato recipes are floating around out there?

Food and Drink, The Good Life, Tomatoes

Tomato Revelry

Melissa Clark has a delicious article in today’s New York Times about cooking with tomatoes. After I read it, I actually had to go in the kitchen and prepare a snack.

Her summary:

“After purchasing bags of summer tomatoes from the farmer’s market, I spent the next week in decadent tomato revelry. Here’s a chronicle of my grand tomato tour.”

My summary:

Ummm. Pan con tomate (trust me; it sounds great); baked stuffed tomatoes with goat cheese fondue; multicolored tomato tartlets; instant tomato-ricotta “soup” with capers; red and yellow cherry tomato confit; gazpacho with watermelon and avocado; and green tomato and lemon marmalade.

My conclusion:

Tomorrow I am going to make gazpacho with watermelon and avocado. Or maybe I’ll roast some tomatoes, which “condenses and caramelizes the juices, turning a juicy, salad-worthy fruit into syrupy tomato candy.”

Community, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Tomatoes

Sidewalk Sale

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June and I participated in a sidewalk sale at KTA this past Saturday, and it was awesome. From 7 a.m. until noon, people did not stop coming. Most came for the summer fruit and yet even though we were not the focus of attention, we sold approximately 200 bunches of green onions, 15 boxes of cucumbers and a lot more.

We are big fans of KTA Superstores. KTA has been instrumental in easing this island’s transition from a sugar plantation economy to what it is today. The company has helped local farmers become economically stable by offering them the opportunity to sell their products under the Mountain Apple Brand label.

As for us, KTA has been willing to work with us on new items, new packaging and generally operating “outside of the box.” It is because of this help that we’ve been able to bring so many new products to market.

We sold our heirloom tomatoes. Heirlooms are generally varieties older than 50 years. When disease resistance, attractiveness and shelf life are primary considerations, heirlooms are not the most desirable. But chefs love them because heirlooms are noted for their good taste. We grow them because we like to eat them.

The Striped German is interesting. If you turn the tomato upside down, you see a red color radiating outward. That two-toned red and yellow color is what you see when the tomato is sliced. It’s very pretty and interesting. This tomato has a taste combination that leans toward sweetness with just a hint of acidity. People who like sweetness in their tomatoes might like this one best.

The Purple Cherokee has a nice balance of sweetness to acid. The seeds don’t tend to fall out and the tomato has a consistent texture throughout.  It is, well, “meaty.”  The description “beefy” comes to mind. I wonder if that’s where the name beefsteak tomato comes from? I like it simple—chilled and sliced with a little Hawaiian salt and ground black pepper. Very nice! People who like a balanced acid to sweetness ratio might choose this as their favorite.

 

In the clamshell containers are our living lettuce. They are called “living lettuce” because the roots are on and they have the ability to breathe oxygen. One of the reasons we like this is because we can ship these using less cooling energy. Also, the lettuce lasts longer than conventionally grown lettuces.

Our green onions are grown hydroponically. Mainland green onions have the tops cut off, but we like to leave the tops on so we can show them off. It’s hard to grow green onions that have green tips, but we do it. We also leave the tips on for food safety reasons—we feel that there is less chance for contamination if we don’t cut off them off.

We have finally learned how to grow crispy, crunchy Japanese cucumbers. It’s interesting to talk to customers as they decide whether to buy or not. As they carry on a conversation, they go through the cucumbers, carefully checking out each one. I think people really touch and feel the cucumber for confirmation that it will be crunchy and crispy. So we know what our job is. It’s more than just slapping on a pretty label.

Also, we don’t like waxed produce. So we don’t do it.

We are really proud of our green onions. But we feel that they are still too thin and leggy. In a couple of weeks we will have them where we want them—green from tip to bottom, a little bit shorter and more stout. They will be stronger looking and flawless, and all without harsh chemicals.

Community, Eating Locally, Tomatoes

More on the ‘Island-Grown Market’

I want to tell you, and show you, a little more about that food event at the Pukalani Foodland last week because I think it’s so significant that Foodland is demonstrating its strong commitment to locally grown produce.

People are increasingly concerned that we live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and that we depend on 70 percent of our food being imported. It’s eye-opening to learn that there is only a week to 10 days’ worth of food in the pipeline. Interrupt that shipping and we run out.

This is why I’m so impressed with Foodland’s commitment to supporting local farmers.

And it isn’t only us here at Hamakua Springs that benefit from their support. At this Pukalani event, there were growers and producers from all over Hawai‘i. All of us are doing the same thing—producing, locally, the food people here eat. Fresh, Island-grown, delicious food.

And not only produce. Armstrong Produce & Kula Produce employees are an important part of the team that makes all this happen.

 

It is delicious to break out of old food habits and plan meals based on the fresh ingredients available around you. Eating more vegetables, putting together quick, simple dishes with fresh ingredients, enjoying a sweet, sweet summer watermelon—it doesn’t get any better than that.

I am so impressed when I see the turnout at these Foodland events, a farmer’s market that they hold outside their stores. Now the key is to get all those people to wheel their carts back in the store and realize this is not an isolated opportunity. These products are for sale inside Foodland, too, and on a regular basis! Read signs and labels when you buy your groceries, and support your local farmers so we can continue to bring you this delicious, Island-fresh food.

Community, Eating Locally, Sustainability, Tomatoes

Upcountry

I am exercising and it’s going okay, but I’m not losing much weight right now. My resting heart rate is at 60 beats per minute, so that is going in the right direction. But regarding weight, I’ve hit some sort of plateau. I’ll let you know when I figure out a way out of it.

June and I just attended the second event of the Foodland Island Grown Market series. This time it was held at the Pukalani Foodland, part way up the slopes of Haleakala on Maui.

There were farmers there with lettuce and herbs, broccoli and cabbage, flowers from Maui and watermelon from O‘ahu. From the Big Island, there were Hamakua mushrooms and fresh fish and also us, with our tomatoes, bananas and living lettuce.

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Chef Keoni Chang with the owners of Waipouli Hydroponics.

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Fresh fish from Hilo

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The parakeet lady with some of our heirloom tomatoes

The people who came were very vocal about their support of local produce. They were knowledgeable and passionate about food security. They made a point of telling us how much they appreciate fresh produce grown in Hawaii.

And they came to buy. They bought every heirloom tomato we had, even those in the display. The tomatoes-on-the-vine went first. People bought all our cocktail tomatoes, as well as all the beef tomatoes in the clamshells.

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Chef Kent explaining how he used our cocktail tomatoes in his watercress/tomato dish, “and you have to try the Striped German heirlooms.”

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Armstrong Produce’s Tish Uehara, to Chef Keoni: “So that’s the trick? Ponzu sauce and togarashi?”

It was great to hear people say that they support local farmers. This was not just making polite conversation; they meant it. Sustainability and food security are big in Pukalani. All the farmers really enjoyed this event.

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Mark Teruya, President of Armstrong Produce, making sure everyone has a Foodland tote bag.

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Tiffany Tom, a buyer for Foodland Produce, finally taking a break because everything is going great

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Chef Keoni discussing the finer points of selecting a watermelon

And speaking of watermelon…

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Before they started, the little girl told the M.C.: “I’m going for the win!” She had such a great attitude it didn’t even matter who won!

Company News, Eating Locally, Tomatoes

At the Expo

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June and I just attended the Hawaii Lodging, Hospitality & Foodservice Expo, which was held Wednesday and Thursday at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. It’s the largest trade event in the state.We were guests in the Armstrong Produce booth. Armstrong Produce is the largest produce distributor in Hawai‘i, and has its corporate headquarters on O‘ahu. Its Kula Produce operates on Maui, and on the Big Island it is known as Armstrong Produce Kona. They carry every conceivable variety of fruit and vegetable. They are also strong supporters of local producers.

 

Armstrong Produce passed out samples of numerous fruits, including Bing and Rainier cherries, golden kiwi, melons, Saturn peaches, white nectarines and others.

We anchored one end of their booth with our tomatoes. People were fascinated and eager to taste our unusual-looking tomatoes. We told them that we grow our heirloom tomatoes from varieties that are at least 50 years old, back when tomatoes were bred for taste rather than how pretty they looked and how far they could be shipped.

 

We told them the darker-colored tomatoes are called Purple Cherokee, the yellow with starbursts of red are Striped Germans and the little green ones are called Green Zebras. Our tiny Hamakua Sweets were a huge hit, and people dragged their friends back to taste them. We were not surprised, because we have seen this reaction time and again. The Hamakua Sweets are our favorites, as well.

We were guests of Armstrong Produce two years ago, too. Back then we noticed, and were surprised, when people told us they supported and were interested in buying locally grown produce. This time we noticed people were even more passionate about their support for locally grown food.

Underlying this sentiment are probably three recent happenings:

1. China’s food safety problems

2. Last year’s spinach safety problems, and

3. Wal-Mart’s industrialization of organic food. (Since large corporations started supplying Wal-Mart with organic produce from far away, people are wondering about the carbon cost of sourcing fertilizers from distant corners of the globe to grow organic crops, and then shipping that crop across the country to a Wal-Mart. This is causing the demise of the small family organic farm, the very ones that started the organic movement in the first place, and people don’t like this!)

People are really supporting locally grown food now. The sentiment to “buy local” is quite a bit stronger than it was two years ago. And the chefs are leading the way. It’s quite impressive and we are moving to be in step with this trend.

At the Expo, there were booths of all kinds—from food to laundry to patio umbrellas, to designer kitchen uniforms, to custom coffee machines that could compete with Starbucks in taste and variety. I was very impressed with the quality they can maintain.

Toward the end of the day, lots of people crowded around the wine and beer booths. There were even massage chairs that treated people with sore legs and backs from working or just walking around.

June and I enjoyed this event. It reinforced our belief that local consumers care about food safety and food security. We were pleasantly surprised to find that consumers are even more concerned than we expected. It gives us encouragement to press ahead in terms of food safety and food security issues.

Community, Tomatoes

Samples

Did you see the special Agriculture & Energy Expo insert in the
Tribune-Herald recently? They used this photo of Richard and family on the cover.

Richard Ha Hamakua Springs

Richard, his mother Florence Ha, June, Kimo and Tracy (photo by Macario)

Tracy said that they were surprised to see that picture on the cover. “I was talking to Rob at the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce and he said they thought it was a nice presentation of agriculture,” she told me, “being that we had three generations.”

She and Kimo handed out samples of the farm’s heirloom tomatoes at the Expo. “People kept saying they didn’t know there were tomatoes that looked like that,” she said. “The different colors, the different shapes; and they were surprised that each individual variety of heirlooms has a different flavor.”

“A lot of people there knew our tomatoes already,” she said, “either from our donating cocktail tomatoes to the schools or they already buy them at the grocery stores. People were wanting to see our new products.”

Some of the tomatoes they offered as samples included Green Zebras, which are small, green crunchy tomatoes; the Purple Cherokees, which she describes as a dark, almost black tomato; and the bigger, bright yellow Striped Germans, which are very sweet and have a yellow and pink flesh.

“I only took a case of the heirlooms to sell,” she said, “because I didn’t know how people would react to them, but they sold out.” The heirloom tomatoes are starting to be available in one-lb. “clamshell” containers at local supermarkets.

Tracy and Kimo also sold Hamakua Springs lettuce, green onions and cucumbers at the Expo.

“I love doing the Expos,” said Tracy. “I like setting up the displays, and I’m a people person. When people stop by you get to talk story with them.”

Company News, Eating Locally, Tomatoes

Something New

The other day at the market I spotted something new and it really caught my attention. It was one of those plastic “clamshell” containers from Hamakua Springs and the label said “Vine Ripened Hamakua Gourmet Tomatoes.”

First, let me tell you that when it comes to Hamakua Springs produce, I qualify as a Frequent Eater. Long before I knew or worked with Richard, I discovered Hamakua Springs produce in the supermarket and it’s what I always bought. And since I’ve been working with Hamakua Springs, I’ve been lucky to have enjoyed more great produce—even some that is still in the experimental stages and not yet available in the markets, which is really fun to me.

And I’ve enjoyed a lot of the company’s delicious heirloom tomatoes, which Hamakua Springs has been producing for and selling to restaurants throughout the state. Really enjoyed them.

These clamshells I saw at the market have different combinations of heirloom tomatoes. I bought one with two small, deep red heirlooms and a large, broad, deep orange and yellow one that smells like sunshine and summer and green vines and a grandma’s garden. Inside it’s streaked with red, and its name is “Striped German.” They are Real Tomatoes, unlike the tasteless tomatoes you can buy in the stores—these are exceptionally delicious tomatoes—and that delights me.

The big one is sitting here in front of me as I write, and I’m planning how we’ll enjoy it. Maybe I’ll do what Richard likes to do with his beefsteak tomatoes: Refrigerate it for awhile, and then cut firm, sweet, delicious slices and eat them with a little Hawaiian salt.

We ate the two small red heirlooms with their deep red/purple flesh a couple days ago when we had people over for dinner. I cut them up and put them in a green salad. And even admidst all the pieces of carrot, cucumber, red bell pepper and sugar snap peas, the tomatos stood out. Biting into one meant getting a little burst of incredible flavor. Summer. Memories. (Did you all grow up eating tomatoes out of the garden?)

The big, fat and sometimes funny-looking heirlooms are great for cooking with, Richard has told me. Sometimes I chop them up and cook them in olive oil with some garlic and onion, and a little Hawaiian salt and lemon pepper, and then put that over pasta. That plus a tasty, quick salad and maybe a chunk of good bread makes an easy, delicious dinner, and I love when we eat like that. Healthy, light, good eating with natural ingredients, most of which come from ’round these parts.

I’m going to go put this burst of flavor in the refrigerator now, and all day I’ll anticipate having cold, delicious slices of sweet, ripe tomato with our dinner tonight.