Dinner July 6

I had a not-so-great experience with taro several weeks ago, when I did not cook it long enough to remove the needle-shaped raphides in the plant cells. Nothing serious, but I did have a sore throat for a couple of days. Nevertheless, it has made me a bit gun-shy so I purchased the taro for this recipe already cooked and cubed from from Mary, Guinea Grass Farms, at the Hilo FM. I knew I could trust her taro cooking skills :)

Taro Beef Burgers

1 lb ground beef (Hawaiian Island Beef)
1 C cooked taro root (BI, no-spray)
4-5 mild green chillies, chopped (BI)
1/4 C chopped green onions (BI, no spray)
1 egg (BI)
salt/pepper
*optional: few dashes of worcestershire sauce and/or Liquid Smoke

Mash the taro and mix in well with all ingredients. Grill to your preferred doneness. Top with some sauteed mushrooms (I used the "variety" pack from Hamakua Coast Gourmet Mushrooms, Hilo FM).

Squash Flowers

Small bunch of squash flowers (7-9) (BI)
2 eggs (BI)
1/2 C rice flour
salt/pepper to taste
oil or butter for frying (I think mac nut oil would be awesome for this but I haven't found any BI yet, so I used some butter)

Beat eggs with fork, add salt/pepper. Roll each flower in the egg then the rice flour. Sautee on one side till it begins to brown slightly, and then the other.

Served with salad. If you click on the pic (or any on this page) you can get a better view, especially of the squash flowers which were beautiful and OH so good. Next time, I think I will put a dab of spicy goat cheese inside the flower before cooking it - a Flower Popper!