Add Island flavor to your holiday meals!

Want to add some Hawai'i to your holiday meals?

Here are a few of my faves!

Rub your belly Guava Jelly Meatballs

I love this Hawai'ian version of a sweet & sour meatballs...  

1 1/2 cups chili sauce
1 cup guava jelly
1 to 3 tsp Dijon mustard
1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp fine dry bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees if baking meatballs.
Combine chili sauce, jelly, and mustard in  your Crock Pot and stir well, cover & cook on high while preparing the meatballs.
Mix beef, egg & breadcrumb thoroughly. Shape into 30 meatballs.
Bake meatballs in microwave or preheated 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Be sure to drain well.
Add cooked meatballs to sauce, stir to coat, cover and cook on low for 1-2 hours.

Morning Mongoose Muffins

Get the keiki (kids) to help with these!

Ingredients:
2 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 cup dried mango, cut into cubes

1/2 cup raisins
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup unsalted butter. melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ginger root

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a muffin tin, set aside.  In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, 3 Tbsp granulated sugar, baking powder and salt.  Pour buttermilk, 1/3 cup milk and melted butter into flour mixture.  Add raisins and dried mango bits. Stir with a fork or clean hands just until mixture comes together (don't overmix, key to fluffy muffins).  

Pour 1/2 cup granulated sugar into a medium container that has a lid to cover.  Scoop dough out 1 even teaspoon at a time and drop into container in an even layer, working in batches (I fit 18 dough balls in at a time).  Then cover container with a lid and shake to coat.  Drop 6 sugar coated dough balls into each muffin cup.  Repeat this process until all muffin cups are filled.
Whisk together 6 Tbsp melted butter, brown sugar, ginger root and cinnamon until well combine.  Pour 1 Tbsp brown sugar mixture evenly over each muffin.  Place muffin tin on a cookie sheet and Bake 18-19 minutes until golden.  Allow to cool 5 minutes in muffin tin before removing muffins. I lift them gently out at the edge with a bamboo chopstick to avoid them falling apart :)

In a mixing bowl whisk together powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp milk until well blended.  Pour mixture into a piping bag or ziploc bag, snip a small tip off the corner of the bag and drizzle glaze over each muffin.

Poipu Pineapple Cranberry Sauce
 
A delicious way to add a little taste of Hawai'i to your holiday meals.

2 cups fresh cranberries
4 cups fresh pineapple cut into bite-size pieces (canned is ok)
4 cups brown sugar
2 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 cup fresh pineapple juice
1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg
 
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and and bring to boiling. Watch those cranberries pop!
Cool and serve, garnish with fresh pineapple slice.

Mahalo nui loa for reading, and for letting myself and Warm 106.9 be a part of your celebrations!

~ Maya Kalikimaka