The Perfect Lychee Martini Depends on Your Mood

Two of our favorite restaurants in Honolulu that serve great Lychee Martinis are Indigo for eurasian / Dim Sum and Mongolian food and Alan Wong's Restaurant (click link for menu) for Hawaii regional cuisine.





Lychees on Line is the perfect place to decide what type of lychee you want to prepare for a martini recipe, fresh, frozen or canned. For two very different recipes check out these two at foodnetwork.com, or at epicurious.com. If your in the mood for something a little more labor intensive but delicious, the epicurious  recipe is the same served at Kittichai at 60 Thompson in Manhattan. We love Kittichai, the hotel and their martini, however we honestly prefer our abbreviated version which we have perfected over and over again when we are in Honolulu.

Our Martini:

Martini Shaker

Ice

8 0z Belvedere Vodka

1/4 tsp White Vermouth

1/4 tsp lychee syrup (from the can) or 1/4 tsp powdered sugar

Shake...pour and garnish with 2 lychee fruit skewered on a great toothpick.   Note:  Lychee may be found in the asian food section of the grocery.

This is a great drink, not sweet, but very flavorful and the essence of the tropics....Aloha!





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Fast and Fancy Filet will Green Peppercorn Sauce

One our favorite fall / winter dinners thats easy to prepare for 4-6 people is Filet Mignon with a creamy peppercorn sauce. It's fun to prepare on our Wolf range stovetop with friends hanging out in the kitchen with a glass of wine during the prep. We alternate recipes sometimes using black crushed peppercorns and Madeira Wine or Green Peppercorns in brine and Cognac, both with heavy cream. We usually serve  this with Haricots Vert on the side.

Next time I going to try this dish with Cognac and White Wine as posted by Graham on Cookbook.ca.za.



Last nights preparation for four:

1 3/4 cups beef stock or canned beef broth

• 3 tablespoons butter


• 4 6- to 8-ounce filet mignon steaks (each about 1 inch thick)

• 1/4 cup chopped shallots


• 1 cup whipping cream


• 3 tablespoons Cognac or brandy


• 2 tablespoons drained green peppercorns in brine

Boil stock in small saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Cook steaks to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to plate (do not clean skillet).

Add chopped shallots to same skillet and sauté 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add reduced beef stock, 1 cup whipping cream, 3 tablespoons Cognac and green peppercorns. Boil until mixture thickens to sauce consistency, about 6 minutes. Season sauce to taste with pepper. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve. Check out more recipes on Epicurious.com.





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