By Request

By Betty Shimabukuro

Wednesday, April 18, 2001

GEORGE F. LEE / STAR-BULLETIN
Maria Whitt tosses up a batch of her Shrimp Pasta
with Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Bogart's Cafe.

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Tomato and pesto make
‘yummy’ pasta sauce

Maria Whitt comes to restaurant ownership from the unlikely profession of landscaping, with no cooking school background.

She is, however, from the School of Why Not? and so when the chance came up to take over a small restaurant near Diamond Head, she went for it.

"I've always been a frustrated chef," Whitt says.

She has been running Bogart's Cafe on Monsarrat Avenue for six months, serving espresso along with omelets, pancakes and her top seller, a bagel with egg, cheese, tomato and spinach. Later in the day, she offers sandwiches and lunch specials. It was one of these that caught the attention of Magda Juntilla-Alarcon.

"On the way back from our Diamond Head hike, my husband and I made a stop at a little cafe called Bogart's," Juntilla-Alarcon writes. "The special that day was shrimp pasta with some yummy sauce that I would just love to duplicate at home."

The sauce owes its yumminess to sun-dried tomatoes and pesto. Whitt says she threw the dish together one day using things available in the kitchen when she needed a meal in a hurry. "It can be done in five minutes."

Shrimp Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1 pound penne rigatoni
1 pound large shrimp, peeled
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
2 tablespoons pesto
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup portobello mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pasta according to package directions. While it is cooking, prepare sauce:

Sauté shrimp in olive oil. When nearly done, add remaining ingredients and toss to mix. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including salt to taste): 840 calories, 41 g total fat, 8 g saturated fat, 150 mg cholesterol, 520 mg sodium, 83 g carbohydrate, 35 g protein.*

A North Shore salad

On the other side of the island, chef Hector Morales at the Palm Terrace Restaurant at the Turtle Bay Golf & Tennis Resort serves another simple lunch dish, Curried Chicken Salad. It has been a favorite of Jo DeCarlo's for years, and she is after the recipe.

The salad is quickly thrown together if you have some grilled chicken on hand; Morales serves it in a papaya.

The dish calls for 1/2 cup of mango chutney. For those who'd like to make their own, we're throwing in the formula for chutney made for the Punahou Carnival. It's a venerable recipe that has been printed before, but bears repeating as mangos start showing up on trees.

Curried Chicken Salad with Papaya

3 chicken breasts
1/2 cup prepared mango chutney
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 papayas, cut in half lengthwise and seeded

Grill chicken breasts until done. Set aside to cool. Dice into cubes.

In a mixing bowl, combine chicken with rest of ingredients, except papaya, and mix thoroughly. Chill in refrigerator for one hour.

Scoop chicken mixture into each papaya half. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including salt to taste): 500 calories, 24 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 70 mg cholesterol, 310 mg sodium, 49 g carbohydrate, 23 g protein.*

Punahou Mango Chutney

10 pounds mangoes (green or half-ripe), peeled, sliced and cut in chunks

3/4 cups salt
5 pounds sugar
6 or 7 cups cider vinegar, depending on acidity of mangoes
1 1/2 pounds almonds, blanched and cut in thin strips
1 pound finely sliced candied lemon peel
1 pound finely sliced candied orange peel
2 large onions, chopped fine
2 pounds seedless raisins
1 pound finely sliced candied citron
2/3 cup green ginger, cooked and chopped fine
1 cup finely chopped preserved ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
8 small Hawaiian chilis, with seeds removed, chopped fine

Sprinkle mangoes with salt and allow to stand overnight.

Boil the sugar and vinegar 5 minutes, add to the drained mango, cook until tender. Add the other ingredients and cook slowly to desired consistency, 30 minutes to an hour. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal immediately. Makes 15 pints.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per 2-tablespoon serving: 90 calories, 1.5 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, greater than 150 mg sodium.*

Food Stuffs: Morsels

Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.