David Millen’s passions are as follows: surfing, food and travel, not necessarily in that order.

The Los Angeles-born chef, 56, an associate professor at Leeward Community College’s Culinary Arts Program, has been able to combine his three lifelong loves to lead an unconventional life.

Millen attended culinary school and developed his cooking chops in the mid-1980s as a sous-chef at Roy Yamaguchi’s 385 North restaurant in Los Angeles. That led him to Hawaii in 1990 to join Roy’s in Hawaii Kai. In between he traveled to Gascony, France, to work for free and learn French techniques.

In 1998 Millen went to Lisbon, Portugal, to cook at the World’s Fair. He followed up that gig with a six-month traveling stint including a month in Morocco surfing, eating and visiting cities such as Marrakech, Casablanca, Agadir and Tangier.

"I’ve come to realize that food is very much an anthropological thing," he said.

"Think of the Mexican dish picadillo. It has olives, capers, raisins, cumin, cinnamon. That’s very similar to the food in Morocco. How does that happen? Well, the Moors conquered Spain, and Spain conquered Mexico, at least for a time. Through cooking you can learn a lot about the world."

In fact, Millen’s favorite food to prepare, a Moroccan braised lamb dish, shares the same spice profile as picadillo.

He says the dish, served with couscous and vegetables, is near and dear to his heart because it was food he enjoyed while living in Morocco.

The recipe calls for lamb shanks to be spiced with cumin, cinnamon, ginger, fennel and coriander, then braised with olives and blond raisins. It’s served on a bed of couscous tossed with roasted eggplant, tomato, onion and zucchini.

"It epitomizes the Moroccan flavor profile," he said. "It’s my favorite thing because I love the way it tastes, it’s familiar. It represents good times — there’s nothing like surfing all day in ice-cold water then coming home, taking a nice, hot shower, then eating this. Mint tea at the end, with a filo pastry, is the perfect finish."

In Hawaii, Millen says he’s worked off and on for Yamaguchi through the years.

In between he was employed by Philippe Padovani and Russell Siu, and even opened a Mediterranean restaurant for a year. Following a stint at Roy’s on Maui in 2001-2002, he returned to the World’s Fair, held in Switzerland, then spent a year in California.

Upon returning to Hawaii in 2004, Millen decided he wanted a change in lifestyle from the long hours of restaurant work, yet he loved the culinary field. That led him to consider teaching, and he was hired at Leeward in 2005.

Summers and holidays off have allowed Millen to indulge his traveling bug, which was passed on to him by globe-trotting parents. In recent years he’s visited Bali, Java, the Mentawai Islands, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Japan and Thailand.

"I’m happy now," he said. "I like helping kids get a future. I like giving something back to the profession that’s been good to me. Cooking has enabled me to have a pretty good life."

DAVID MILLEN’S COOKING TIPS

“Keep it simple, use good ingredients and be organized,” said the Leeward Community College chef-instructor. 

As to the last item, Millen said being organized in the kitchen means having ingredients prepped before the cooking starts. 

“Think about the concept of a Chinese restaurant. They’ve got like 1,000 things on the menu, then you order a dish and it’s on your table in five minutes. That’s because they have everything ready to go.”

MOROCCAN-SPICED LAMB SHANKS

4 (12- to 14-ounce) lamb shanks, or veal or beef shank or shoulder 

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced 1/4-inch, divided

10 garlic gloves, smashed and left whole

2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, one rough-chopped, the other blanched, peeled, seeded and diced 1/4-inch

2 tablespoons tomato puree

1/2 cup Kalamata olives, half left whole and half cut into quarters lengthwise

1/2 cup blond raisins

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted and lightly ground

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon coriander seed, toasted and lightly ground

1/2 teaspoon ginger, ground

1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, toasted and lightly ground

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, divided

1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 bunch fresh Chinese parsley

1 cup red wine

3-4 cups chicken or beef stock, divided

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rinse and dry shanks. Season liberally with salt and pepper. 

Over medium-high heat in heavy-bottomed pot large enough to hold all shanks in one layer, heat olive oil until almost smoking. Sear shanks until dark golden brown, about 10 minutes, adjusting heat if necessary to keep oil from burning. (If you don’t have a pot big enough, sear in batches.) Remove shanks and set aside.

In same pot, over medium heat, saute 3/4 of onions and garlic until just beginning to soften. Add rough-chopped tomato. Add spices and cook 2-3 minutes. Add tomato puree and cook for a few more minutes. 

Add half of whole olives, raisins, honey, 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice and a couple sprigs of each parsley. Deglaze with red wine and let reduce by half. Add 3 cups stock and bring back to boil. Add lamb shanks to pot and return to a simmer. 

Cover tightly and cook in oven 2 to 

2-1/2 hours or until tender. Turn shanks every 45 minutes to check for even cooking and tenderness. If braising liquid becomes low, add remaining stock. Meat should be tender and separate slightly when lightly pressed but still be attached to the bone. 

While lamb is cooking, prepare garnish for sauce. Over moderate heat, saute remaining diced onion until soft. Do not caramelize. 

When tender, remove shanks and keep warm. Strain braising liquid, return to pot and reduce by half. It should coat the back of a spoon. If necessary, continue to reduce or thicken with a little cornstarch slurry to achieve desired consistency.

Add sauteed diced onions, diced tomatoes, remaining olives and blond raisins. Adjust flavor with a few drips of honey, lemon juice and salt. It should be a blend of sweet, sour and aromatic.

Serve atop roasted vegetable couscous (see recipe at right). 

Spoon sauce with garnish over lamb. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and/or fresh coriander. Serves 4. 

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 

900 calories, 55 g fat, 18 g saturated fat, 180 mg cholesterol, 1,220 mg sodium, 38 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 21 g sugar, 53 g protein

ROASTED VEGETABLE COUSCOUS

1 medium eggplant

1 medium yellow squash

1 medium zucchini

1 medium red onion

1 medium red bell pepper 

1 medium green bell pepper 

4 medium roma tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, peeled

4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided, plus extra to moisten couscous

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/3 bunch flat-leaf parsley or mint

1/4 cup roasted pine nuts

2 cups couscous 

3 cups vegetable or chicken broth 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Quarter vegetables into large chunks.

In separate batches, toss garlic, eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, red onion, peppers and tomatoes each with about 2 teaspoons olive oil. Group similar vegetables together and spread out chunks in a single layer on preheated baking sheets. Sprinkle each group generously with salt and pepper.

Roast pine nuts in small pie tin or other container until lightly golden brown, being careful not to burn them.

Place the vegetables in the oven and roast 20-30 minutes. Cook until soft but not mushy. Remove softer vegetables first to prevent overcooking. A little firmness is good. 

While vegetables are roasting, cook couscous: Bring 3 cups broth to boil. When it reaches rolling boil, pour in couscous, season with pinch or two of salt, turn off heat and cover with lid. Let sit, undisturbed, at least 5 minutes.

Transfer roasted vegetables to cutting board and roughly chop into 1-inch dices. Chop garlic cloves well (they are probably soft enough to turn to paste). You want them to be able to be distributed throughout the salad.

Roughly chop parsley or mint. Fluff couscous with a fork. 

In bowl, combine couscous, roasted vegetables, roasted pine nuts and parsley/mint. Moisten with extra-virgin olive oil if needed. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 4 as a main dish, 8 as a side.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (based on 4 servings): 320 calories, 20 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 50 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 10 g fiber, 13 g sugar, 7 g protein

Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S., a nutritionist in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Science, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii-Manoa.