CHICKEN PICCATA - DINNER AT HOME

 CHICKEN PICCATA

DINNER AT HOME

Improvised a homemade recipe for Chicken Piccata and it came out pretty darn good.  Entire family finished their plate and all were very satisfied.  This is a very fast and easy recipe that delivers a lot of flavor to a piece of chicken.  Serve with pasta and you have a dish worthy of an Italian restaurant for a fraction of the cost.

CHICKEN PICCATA

FINELY DICED ONION AND GARLIC SAUTEED IN BUTTER AND OLIVE OIL.
COOKED AND THEN DEGLAZED WITH WINE WINE AND REDUCED

ADDED TWO SMALL CANS OF SLICED MUSHROOMS BECAUSE WE HAD A CASE OF THEM 

BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS CUT IN HALF

DREDGED CHICKEN IN SEASONED ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

COOK CHICKEN IN TWO TABLESPOONS OF BUTTER AND THREE TABLESPOONS OF OLIVE OIL

BROWN CHICKEN FOR ABOUT 3 MINUTES ON EACH SIDE.  BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN THE BUTTER.  I DID AND HAD TO CLEAN PAN AND START OVER 

ADDED LEMON JUICE, CAPERS AND CHICKEN STOCK TO BUTTER AND OLIVE OIL AND THEN
PLACED THE ONION, GARLIC AND MUSHROOM MIXTURE INTO THE PAN ALONG WITH THE CHICKEN.  LET SIMMER UNTIL EVERYTHING WAS HEATED THROUGH

SERVED ON BED OF LINGUINE WITH A LITTLE PARMESAN CHEESE AND PARSLEY.
HONESTLY....THIS WAS DELICIOUS!

KAJIKI - PACIFIC BLUE MARLIN

 DINNER AT HOME

Enjoyed an incredible dinner of fresh Hawaiian Kajiki (Pacific Blue Marlin) with Mashed Potatoes and fresh carrots and broccoli.  Cooked the Kajiki on an indoor grill pan to sear the outside and get some grill marks.  Then popped it in a 375 degree oven for 3-4 minutes to finish.  Placing the Kajiki in the oven helps keep it moist as if you overcook the fish on an indoor or outdoor grill it will get tough. Made a quick sauce of shallots, garlic, white wine, capers, creme and butter.  Wow this was a flavor bomb worthy of any restaurant in Honolulu.  Nowhere near restaurant prices as the Kajiki was $6.99 per pound which means dinner for three was under $15!.
Click linkS below for more posts and recipes for Marlin;
https://greateatshawaii.blogspot.com/2020/08/grilled-marlin-with-papaya-salsa.html
http://greateatshawaii.blogspot.com/2015/01/grilled-marlin.html

KAJIKI - PACIFIC BLUE MARLIN

FINISH THE KAJIKI IN THE OVEN AND DON'T OVERCOOK AND IT WILL BE MOIST AND DELICIOUS

MARLIN WITH PAPAYA SALSA AND WHITE WINE, SHALLOT AND GARLIC SAUCE

UPDATED VERSION WITH CHEERY TOMATO, SHALLOTS AND GARLIC SAUCE

FRESH HAWAII KAJIKI (PACIFIC BLUE MARLIN) WITH SHALLOT, BUTTER AND CAPER SAUCE

DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN

DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN

HONOLULU, HAWAII

DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN

1006 KAPAHULU AVENUE

HONOLULU, HI  96816

808-734-4444

HOURS:  Daily 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM

www.diamondheadkitchen.com

Cruising down Kapahulu Avenue has been a habit for 30 years.  This street is known for restaurants and over the years I have seen dozens come and go.  Seems like the location of Diamond Head Kitchen is cursed because this great location has had trouble keeping restaurants here for long periods of time.  What used to be a pretty good looking restaurant has been converted into a mess of a building complete with a Blue Shrimp Truck in the parking lot.  What is now called Kapahulu Square is now home to Diamond Head Kitchen, the Shrimp Truck and a Japanese restaurant.  A tent covers a dining area on the side and there is indoor seating in the back.  We ordered the Half Chicken ($9.45) with a Side Salad.  The Chicken looked good on the plate.  Lightly covered in spices with a soft brown color.  We cut in and found the chicken to be very moist and not greasy at all.  The meat was cooked perfectly and bright white.  Nice piece of chicken but there was really not much flavor.  The history of this restaurant stated that the owner traveled to over 30 countries to find the right spices for their chicken.  Well where are they we thought.  I tasted the white meat chicken by itself.  Let it melt in my mouth and then took a big piece of the seasoned skin and did the same.  Really could not distinguish any flavors and was not satisfied with the amount of seasoning.  The others in our party agreed.  Needs more seasoning.  The Avocado Burger ($8.89) included a side salad or fries and soft drink.  I went with the salad but wished I would have tried the fries.  The burger arrived in looked large.  I picked it up and found that this is not really a burger patty.  The chicken is shredded and placed on a bun with onion, tomato and lettuce.  All of the produce items were fresh but again the chicken did not have much flavor.  The Avocado which was to be the star of the dish was absolutely tasteless and seemed to be frozen and not fresh.  The food here was not bad but we all felt it was not satisfying enough to make us come back.  There were no flavors or tastes here to make you want to make a trip back to Diamond Head Kitchen.  Oh...how I wish there were.

DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN

DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN ON KAPAHULU AVENUE

SPACE IS SHARED WITH JAPANESE RAMEN RESTAURANT THAT SERVES BEER

ORDER AT THE WINDOW

CHICKEN WILL TAKE YOU AROUND THE WORLD?  

DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN MENU

CHICKEN DIPPING SAUCES

HALF CHICKEN WITH FRENCH FRIES 

THE STORY OF DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN.  ABBREVIATED VERSION:
SURFER TRAVELS AROUND WORLD TO FIND CHICKEN RECIPE AND SPICES.
COMES BACK TO HAWAII AND OPENS CHICKEN RESTAURANT

ELVIS IS IN THE BUILDING AT DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN

DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN DINING ROOM LOCATED BEHIND THE TAKE OUT WINDOW

COOL AND COMFORTABLE IN HERE

FIRE ROASTED CHICKEN SURFBOARD

LIKED THE DECORATIONS

BEACH THEME AT DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN

OCEAN THEME IS NICE

PRETTY COOL LITTLE SPACE

DIAMOND HEAD KITCHEN IS JUST A FEW MILES FROM WAIKIKI BEACH

OUTDOOR COVERED SEATING AREA IN BACK TOO

HALF ROASTED CHICKEN WITH SALAD

CHICKEN COMES WITH YOUR CHOICE OF TWO SAUCES.  BBQ CHILI PEPEER AND HONEY MUSTARD SHOWN HERE.  THE HONEY MUSTARD WAS GREAT ON THE SALAD TOO!

CHICKEN IS MOIST AND NOT GREASY

CHICKEN WAS COOKED PERFECTLY AND MOIST.  JUST LACKED FLAVOR

AVOCADO BURGER WITH SALAD

AVOCADO BURGER FEATURES SHREDDED FIRE ROASTED CHICKEN

SHREDDED CHICKEN, GRILLED ONIONS, LETTUCE, TOMATO AND WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS FROZEN AVOCADO.  AVOCADO HAD NO FLAVOR 

BURGER WAS LARGE BUT REALLY LACKED FLAVOR

WAOLANI WINDOWS ANNIVERSARY DINNER

WAOLANI WINDOWS

OAHU COUNTRY CLUB

150 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD

HONOLULU, HI  96817

808-595-6331

www.oahucountryclub.com

We had some guests visiting from New York and had planned to cook dinner for them at our house on a weeknight.  Since time was scarce due to work we were worried if we would have enough time to get home, cook and entertain.  Less than 24 hours before our dinner I received info on Oahu Country Clubs 108th Anniversary Dinner.  Took one look at the special menu and sent it to my wife to see if she would prefer going out rather than cooking.  Within seconds she said "let's go to the Club".  This turned out to be a great decision for us and our guests as the dinner at Oahu Country Club's Waolani Windows was one of the best meals of the year.  Absolutely blew me away with the presentation and flavors.  Service was also top notch and worthy of any Five Star restaurant in Honolulu.  I apologize for the quality of the photos here.  I did not take the food photos on this night and had to copy these photos from a newsletter.  Real photos taken by me will be up soon as I need a reason to go back and enjoy this excellent food again.  The appetizers, soup and entree were all top notch.  Everyone at the table cleared their plates and bowl at this meal.  Loved everything especially the Smoked Salmon with Asparagus, Yokohama Soup which was like a Lobster Bisque.  The Beef was cooked perfectly and the lobster was sweet.  Absolutely loved the potatoes served with the entree and ate what was left on my daughter's plate too.  Heck even the vegetables on the side were excellent.  My hats off to the Chef at Waolani Windows.  This meal was AMAZING!  Thanks to the staff and especially Elizabeth who always takes care of us with a smile.

WAOLANI WINDOWS

Happy Birthday OCC! In honor of OCC’s 108th Birthday, we will be offering a special Prix Fixe menu created by our skilled Culinary team, in Waolani Windows for dinner on June 6th, 7th & 8th. To make a reservation, call 595-6331 $55 per person $75 with wine Appetizer Plate Smoked Salmon Seafood Supreme Oysters Rockefeller Masa Soup Yokohama Soup Main Roasted Chateaubriand and Lobster Thermidor Dessert Classical Grasshopper Pie

HAWAII'S OLDEST COUNTRY CLUB CELEBRATING 108TH ANNIVERSARY

WAOLANI WINDOWS HAS SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF GOLF COURSE AND DOWNTOWN HONOLULU