If you and your honeybunch have mixed feelings about Valentine’s Day — as in, yeah, we’d like to celebrate, but not on the scale of a multihundred-dollar dinner — I have a deal for you.
This year Valentine’s Day falls on the Sunday of the annual Scholarship Brunch at Leeward Community College, a buffet bash for an intimate crowd of 1,400 or so. Tickets are $18 presale, $22 at the door, and if you bring the kids they’re just $9 each (free up to age 4). Proceeds go toward scholarships for high school students entering LCC’s culinary program.
Dining is off paper plates in the courtyard off the school’s Uluwehi Cafe. So, no, it’s not beachside at sunset. But for that price you and your honeybunch can head to Pearlridge Center afterward and buy each other something extravagant.
Don Maruyama, the program’s coordinator, says the event is not just a fundraiser, it’s also a teaching opportunity, with students from culinary programs at west-side high schools from Moanalua to Waianae participating in the cooking and serving.
“Our students mentor the high school students,” Maruyama says. “Students are making omelets, making the hash, putting the dishes together.”
The menu: brunch standards such as fresh fruit, salads (including a classic pea salad with bacon and blue cheese), macadamia nut pancakes and omelets made to order by a row of students in white chef coats. Plus such house specialties as kalua pork hash, Molokai sweet potatoes with honey glaze, hoisin meatballs, a stir-fry of Portuguese sausage and kim chee, smoked lemongrass chicken and apple banana coffee cake.
To cap it off: a matcha-flavored chiffon cake with Waialua chocolate, an upscale selection you could find at a beachside restaurant at sunset.
Brunch runs 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 14. Call 455-0298 for tickets. The event supports these public high schools: Moanalua, Pearl City, Waipahu, Mililani, Leilehua, Campbell, Kapolei and Waianae.
Here’s a sample of an item on LCC’s brunch menu, suited to breakfast in bed, should you decide to go that route instead. It comes courtesy of chef-instructor Ian Riseley, who thoughtfully broke it down from a serving size of 300.
I tried it out on my valentine, who pronounced it very good and came back for seconds.
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Kalua Pig and Green Onion Hash
>> 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
>> 1 medium onion, finely chopped
>> 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) butter
>> 1 pound kalua pork, cooked, roughly chopped
>> 4 egg yolks
>> 1/2 cup chopped green onion (green part only)
>> Salt and pepper, to taste
>> 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
>> 1 cup vegetable oil
Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain and let dry 10 minutes, then lightly mash. A few small lumps are all right.
Meanwhile, saute onion in butter until soft and light brown, about 5 minutes.
Mix mashed potatoes with cooked onion, kalua pork, egg yolks and green onions. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Form mixture into 8 patties. Press panko onto both sides of each patty.
Heat oil in skillet to 350 degrees. Fry patties until golden brown on both sides, working in batches. Drain on paper towels. Serves 8.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including salt to taste): 320 calories, 21 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 130 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium, 19 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 12 g protein
Ingredient note: Prepared kalua pork is sold in supermarkets in 12-ounce tubs. Due to a shopping miscalculation, I bought only one, so my hash patties had a higher proportion of potatoes than the recipe calls for, but they still turned out great. For a truly meaty hash, though, get two containers and do something else with the leftovers.
Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S. Write “By Request,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or email requests to bshimabukuro@staradvertiser.com.
