Windward Shore & Keneke Grill - Hawai'i Travelogue Video

I have a full plate of Island scenic shots, and scrumptious food footage featuring a Kalua Pig Plate from Keneke Grill. So pull up a chair and check out my first video that was shot on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu.

We arrived at Honolulu airport, and after loading up our luggage and some beach chairs, our hostess Sandra drove us to the Windward Shore area about 45 minutes away. We were fortunate to snag a great house to share, just a few blocks from the ocean.

A second floor balcony took up the length of the house. And since were were on Los Angeles time, we usually got up with the sunrise and had our coffee and fresh fruit overlooking the ocean.

In my video you can see our balcony view, along with a lush backyard of tropical flowers, and avocado, mango and breadfruit trees.

We made short sightseeing excursions driving along scenic Kamehameha Highway - which had views of the ocean on one side and foliage-covered volcanic mountains on the other.

Sandra, my wife's friend from university days, took us to uncrowded beaches to sightsee sea turtles, or just lounge around on our beach chairs.

Amy & the Cheap$kate

A nearby town called Haleiwa is a tourist destination. While a bit crowded, it was easy to walk the main street for window shopping and grabbing a quick bite. We had exoticly flavored Shaved Ice cones. A highlight for my wife was getting a Hawaiian Lomilomi Massage at North Shore Therapeutic Massage (click on any names for links.)

Sandra with Shaved Ice Cone.

I was on hunt for a Kalua Pig Lunch Plate. I found one in Haleiwa. While it was tasty, the Kalua Pig serving was a bit too fatty. A typical plate lunch has 2 scoops of Sticky White Rice and a scoop of Macaroni Salad. You can get it with steamed cabbage mixed in, or on the side. It's just basic comfort food.

Tradition Kalua Pig is prepared in an underground oven. Really, just hot rocks surround taro or banana leaf wrapped meat, that's buried under a layer of burlap and dirt. It's slow-cooked until tender. Hawaiians know how to throw a party called a Luau. And food is a centerpiece.

I guess Kalua Pig comes closest to Mainland Southern BBQ Pulled Pork (my recipe is here.) The main difference is the infused flavor that comes from banana, palm, or taro leaves. The pork (chicken and fish is prepared this way, too) picks up an aromatic green tea-like flavor.

I'm sure most roadside eateries go the easy route with liquid smoke, and just roast or steam the pork wrapped in banana leaves. It's still delicious. And I have my own Mainland Kalua Pig recipe coming soon, so do check back for that.

I found a nearby roadhouse that served a perfect Kalua Pig Lunch Plate. Located in Punalu'u, Keneke's Grill is a locals favorite dining destination. This is not the place for you if you're a neatnik and fussy. But if you just want delish, unpretentious food in a casual setting, then park your boogie board and come on in.

There are two dining rooms, one in the front, and the one in the back has a large screen television. It's super casual with bench seating. And the walls are covered in hand lettered bible scripture.

Click on any photo to see larger.

They have a large menu to choose from. I zeroed in on the Plate Lunch of  Pork, Hapa Rice and Mac Salad for $8.95. It's a large plate of food, and my kind of cheap$kate meal. I got it to go, so I could eat on our patio with an ocean view. On the way back we stopped for a six pack of local beer called Primo.

The Kalua Pig was cooked perfectly. The pork is shredded and very lean. The serving is large. You smell the smoky aroma when the container is opened, and the pork is moist and tender. If the pork is wrapped in banana leaves when cooked, then any green tea-like flavor is very mild. The meat is slightly sweet and smoky slow-cooked pork.

As for the sides, the steamed Sticky Hapa Rice is a mix of white and brown rice, and is mainly there to scoop up with the pork. "Hapa" is the Hawaiian Pidgin word for "half," referring to a person with 2 races.

You get 2 scoops of Sticky Hapa Rice and one scoop of Macaroni Salad, I would reverse that and next time get more macaroni (even if they charge extra.)

I like Hawaiian-style Macaroni Salad. There's nothing too it really, just a lot of mayo, tender macaroni, a little shredded carrot, and salt and pepper. Simply delicious.

And finally, buried under the Kalua Pork, is a little sauteed and chopped cabbage. It's a welcome veggie addition. Often cabbage is mixed into Kalua Pork, but I prefer it on the side, or in one buried clump, like it was done here.

Keneke's Grill does a great Kalua Pig Plate Lunch. So, on my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give this local plate lunch a perfect 9! I wish I had the time and appetite to go through more menu items, but that's for a return visit....one day.

Check out my Windward Shore & Keneke Grill Travelogue video below. And do come back for more food-centric and scenic videos. I also have many Hawaiian-style cheap$kate recipes sprinkled throughout, during the next two months of blog posts, including: Lau Lau (Mainland-style,) Spam Musubi, Kalua Pork, Macaroni Salad, Sticky Rice, Loco Moco, and Poke.

Windward Shore & Keneke Grill  - VIDEO

Play it here, video runs 4 minutes, 36 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

99 thanks to:
Our hostess Sandra & the Keneke's Grill.

Keneke's Grill at Punalu'u
53-138 Kamehemeha Highway
Punalu'u, Hawai'i 96717
Open 9am - 8pm
Phone: 808) 237-1010
Email:  http://www.kenekes.net

And the musicians on the beach of Waikiki that I recorded live for this travelogue video. I wish I had got their names for a credit, but was enjoying the music too much in the moment, to get the band and bandleaders name.

To see other Hawaii Travelogue blog posts with video, photos, text & GIFs, just click on any link below:
Visit to O'ahu, Hawai'i - intro 
The Road to Waikiki & a Lau Lau Truck 
Waikiki Beach & The Rainbow Drive-In
Waikiki & The Musubi Cafe
Breakfast in Honolulu
7-Eleven Span Musubi

Hawaiian Recipes:
Macaroni Salad & Sticky Rice
Kalua Pig & Cabbage
Mainland Lau Lau with Pork
Loco Moco (eggs, hamburger, gravy & rice)
Teriyaki Spam Musubi

Visit to O'ahu, Hawai'i

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I have half a dozen colorful blog posts coming your way this summer -- all shot on the beautiful island of O'ahu, in Hawai'i. I'm just now getting my feet wet compiling the travelogue of food recipe videos, GIFs, lush photos, and text. Below is the story in a (macadamia) nut shell - my version and my wife's. So do check back for plenty of fun and tasty times we'll share with you.

Billy: We landed in Honolulu International Airport and went straight to Sandra's (our hostess) boat in a marina nearby, to load up her SUV with our luggage and beach chairs.

Amy: Sandra greeted us at the airport with these fresh-flower Leis.  Billy's is made of orchids, and mine is ginger.  Fresh ginger became a theme of our trip, as we also used it to make ginger ale and tea.  

Billy: It all went well. And, boy did we get around. Of course, it was nice to hang out on the open-air patio at the house (in Ka'a'awa, on the Windward shore) a few blocks above the beach - for the first few days. On the island side we were hemmed in by lush and rocky hillsides.

Amy:  From the wrap-around deck, we watched the sunrise each morning, after the birds and roosters (wild chickens are all over the countryside) woke us.  We could always hear the ocean and feel the breezes.

 

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Billy: Our backyard was fragrant with avocado, tangerine, breadfruit and mango trees.

Amy:  Our host at the house, Sandra's friend Rebecca, a painter, told us about a certain quiet North Shore beach, near Laniakea Beach where we'd find sea turtles (shadowy turtle on left side of GIF below).  It was a short distance from the one everyone else knows about, which was mobbed.

Billy:  We also spent time at beautiful Kahana Beach, a short drive from the house. Sandra and Amy have been friends since they were 19 and shared a house off-campus at Auburn University in Alabama.

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Billy: Amy had a Hawaiian Lomilomi massage one afternoon at a place on the North Shore; then we got Shave Ice cones from a stand just around the corner.

Amy: These angel wings were painted on the wall at the stand. I posed here because they matched my top, but really, I think they suit Sandra so much better.  She is one of many angels that have gathered around me!

Billy: I found a local roadside cafe for a Kalua Pig Plate of shredded slow-cooked pork, rice and macaroni salad.

 

Billy: Sandra, our hostess with the mostest, generously shepherded us around, so all we had to do was roll out of bed. She is a vegetarian, so Amy had her share of healthy and restorative eats, and plenty of fresh-made Ginger Ale and Tea (which we will continue to make back home.) Sandra showed me a green smoothie recipe, too.

One lovely afternoon, we went to a Yin yoga class nearby. It was mostly slow, long-held stretches. They had a musician accompanying us on a harmonium (like a squeezebox.) One side of the building was open-air and faced the ocean, so we caught a beautiful sunset.

Billy: After a few days in "the country," we headed back to the city of Honolulu, stopping at a food truck under a banyan tree, for Lau Lau (pork wrapped in taro leaves,) a local delicacy.

​On the way to Waikiki we stopped at Waimanalo Beach, which is Amy's favorite, to leave behind her Lei of ginger flowers.

Amy: Above is Waimanalo Beach - we discovered it on an earlier trip when we rented a house nearby. Isn't it the most beautiful beach ever?

Billy: Back in Honolulu, we made it easy on ourselves by staying right on world-famous Waikiki Beach so we didn't have far to walk. We checked into the Park Shore Hotel, which is on the quiet end of the action, next to Kapiolani Park, with a perfect view of Diamond Head.

Billy: I captured this rainbow.

Billy: Here's more of a panorama shot from our 11th floor balcony

We walked the warmed sands, and took in the boogie boarders along Waikiki Beach.

And, I had to find some food things to shoot. One place I walked to repeatedly is Rainbow Drive-In, just a local dive a few blocks away, but well regarded as a mecca for Hawaiian plate lunch favorites - my kind of place.  Amy says she's heard President Obama likes it..

One specialty is the Loco Moco Plate: 2 eggs, 2 beef patties, rice, macaroni salad, and gravy over everything. Gotta try it at least once, and if you do, it's so huge, that may be all you eat for the day!

Fast food in Hawai'i is grabbing Spam Musubi at the local 7 Eleven, instead of a hot dog. A fried slab of Spam with rice and wrapped in seaweed...it's yummy!
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Of course, we didn't live on fast food. One evening we had Poke and fruity drinks at Duke's Restaurant, on the main drag, near our hotel. Poke is like Mexican Ceviche, which is marinated raw fish, but with seaweed, sesame oil, soy sauce and crushed nuts.

On our last night we reconnected with Sandra. On the way to a quick meal we caught a Hawai'i-style music and dance show, right next to the beach.

Billy: By the end of our vacation, I could barely keep up with Amy, I think the trip did her a world of good.

Amy: Yes yes yes.  Much gratitude.

​Aloha...Amy & Billy

To see other Hawaii Travelogue blog posts with video, photos, text & GIFs, just click on any link below:
Windward Shore & Keneke Grill

The Road to Waikiki & a Lau Lau Truck 
Waikiki Beach & The Rainbow Drive-In
Waikiki & The Musubi Cafe
Breakfast in Honolulu
7-Eleven Span Musubi

Hawaiian Recipes:
Macaroni Salad & Sticky Rice
Kalua Pig & Cabbage
Mainland Lau Lau with Pork
Loco Moco (eggs, hamburger, gravy & rice)
Teriyaki Spam Musubi

Pasta alla Genovese (onion & beef pasta sauce) - Video Recipe

My Pasta alla Genovese is an exquisite masterpiece of a meal that Italian renaissance painter, Caravaggio, could have featured in his shadowy, luscious paintings.

Well, this Culinary Artist has made a video which is suitably framed in your computer monitor.

The ingredients are humble, just beef, onion, carrot, celery and a little white wine. And the recipe is easy to do.

This rich pasta dish takes a lot of time cooking, kind of like a pot of beans. But, it's worth it. Just put it on after lunch and 3 or 4 hours later, it's ready. It only needs a stir every once in a while.

And you may shed a few tears chopping a dozen onions because it takes about 4 pounds worth. I sliced 8 cheap yellow onions for my recipe. It doesn't take too long to do it since the onions are only roughly sliced. They will soften, shrink, and cook down to a thick pasta sauce.

Onions are the cheapest veggie. Usually priced way below 99 cents per pound, and yellow onions are often on sale for 3 to 7 pounds per dollar. You can use any type of onion you like.

Click on any photo to see larger.

Traditionally the protein part of Pasta alla Genovese is made with beef, veal, pork, or a combination of these meats. Pork is a cheap way to go, but for this version I went over budget, but not by too much. And, enough pasta sauce is made for 4-6 servings (or more,) so it still cheap, at around a buck per serving (depending on the price of beef at your neighborhood grocery.)

I used the cheapest cut of beef I could find -  beef shank on sale at my local Latin market for around two dollars per pound. Beef shank is a tough cut of meat, that's why it's a bargain. But if you cook it for a couple of hours it gets fall-apart tender. And if you want to keep it cheaper, then try combining pork and beef.

For beef at $1.87 per pound, you have to by the whole shank. This cut of beef freezes well for stews, or a hearty beef chili.

For this cheap$kate recipe it takes 2 slices of these bad boys. I splurged and purchased a package at $2.29 per pound, for $3.16. I got about 5 servings with pasta - that's still an excellent deal.

I like beef shank because there is a wide bone in the center that's filled with buttery marrow. Make sure to scoop it out to eat when done - that's the cook's reward.

You could even do a version with cheap chicken leg quarters or cheap cuts of pork like the shoulder. Nobody will complain, it's really all about the sweet flavor of slow cooked onion. If you have tried French Onion Soup then you know what I mean (my own cheapie French Onion Soup version is a click away, here.)

Overall it's simple to do, nothing fancy, and with very few ingredients to deal with. You can easily feed the whole family with my cheap$kate entree. It even tastes better the next day, and it also freezes well, to pack for work lunches. (For reheating I would use a divided container, so you can take out the pasta before it overcooks - the meat and onion sauce takes longer to heat up.)

So check out my recipe video below for Pasta alla Genovese. Your guests, or family, will be impressed with this luscious, Italian edible masterpiece.

Pasta alla Genovese - VIDEO

Play it here, video runs 3 minutes, 16 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients (4-6 servings)

• 1 to 2 pounds beef - I used a package with 2 beef shanks (about a pound and a half.) Beef chuck blade steak is cheap too. Some recipes call for a mix of pork and beef - that right there make this recipe even cheaper. You could even go for the cheapest way by using chicken leg and thighs.
• 4 pounds of onions - or about 8 whole onions, roughly sliced. Red, white or yellow onion. I used cheap yellow onions.
• 1 whole carrot - chopped. Okay to use shredded carrot from the package (about a cup.) For baby carrots, just roughly chop the equivelent of a whole carrot.
• 1 stalk of celery - chopped.
• 3/4 cup white wine - optional, okay to use red wine. If you leave out wine then add water, or a favorite broth, instead.
• 1 bay leaf - optional.
• Tablespoon of oil - for sauteing beef and veggies.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Pasta -  usually a penne or large tube pasta is used. Although, you can use any favorite you have on hand.
• Parmesan - dried or fresh when serving.

Directions
I used 2 beef shanks (about a pound and a half.) Slice beef into large cubes. It will eventually shrink and break apart. Trim any excess fat, although I like me some fat, so don't discard it all, that's extra flavor.

In your largest pot add a tablespoon of oil over a medium heat. Add the cubed beef and saute for about 5 to 8 minutes to brown, at least, one side. This will give the sauce a rich, dark hue. Stir beef when brown.

While beef cooks, slice carrot (discarding ends) and celery. You can use celery leaves, too.

Next add the chopped carrot and celery to browned beef. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes.

Click on any photo to see larger.

Pour in white wine, water or a favorite broth. Mix beef and veggies well, scrapping the pot bottom to free up the tasty beef brown bits. Add a bay leaf, optional.

Slice off onion ends, divide the onion, and  peel off the papery skin.Rough slice the onion halves. Don't worry about how thin; the onions will shrink and cook down after 2 hours.

Now time to bring it all together. Fill up the pot with sliced onions and cover the pot. Keep the heat at a medium/low heat as onions cook down.

*If your pot cannot hold all the chopped onion, let the onions sweat and cook down for about half an hour. This will give you room to add the rest of the chopped onions.

Now you can mix all the pot ingredients. Cover the pot and just keep simmering the meat and onion on low, for about 2-3 hours, until all the onion is reduced. Time will vary, depending how much onion you use. Stir ingredients every half hour or so.

You will notice how much liquid the onions give off, about 2 cups worth.

(This Italian sauce can be cooked for hours, covered and at a low simmer - anywhere from 3 to 6 hours. Just check to make sure the liquid doesn't cook away. Add half a cup of favorite broth, or water, as needed.)

Finally, uncover and continue cooking until the sauce is reduced by half, about another 30 minutes (if needed.) Stir occasionally. You want to end up with a sauce that's mainly caramelized onion and meat. It's up to you how thick or thin you like the pasta sauce. Add more broth or water if the liquid cooks down too much.

When the sauce is done you can make your favorite pasta. Just keep the sauce warm until the pasta is ready. Serve with dried or fresh parmesan. Heck, this Pasta alla Genovese is good enough without parmesan cheese.

Hindsight
Some recipes call for adding 1/2 cup of milk and a tablespoon of tomato paste. I like these additions, too.

You want to cook the onions until they are caramelized and starting to break down, at least 3 to 4 hours. It's like cooking dried beans, you can keep the sauce covered and low simmering most of the day if you like (and have the patience.) Just check to make sure sauce doesn't dry out - add a little water or broth as needed.

You can add more or less meat. It's up to you and your budget.

Freeze the leftovers - it microwaves fine.