By Request

By Betty Shimabukuro

Wednesday, May 16, 2001

FL MORRIS / STAR-BULLETIN
Jameson's Seared Ahi is served on a choice of rice,
linguine or mashed potatoes, or it can be sliced and
layered on a Caesar salad. It should be slightly
pink in the center.

---

Seared with love
for spicy ahi

True love can sneak up and bite you at any time, perhaps while you are doing the biting.

Such was the case when Brandi Ramsey stopped by Jameson's by the Sea in Haleiwa last December. "I had their seared ahi dish with some light Cajun spices and I fell in love!"

Jameson's owner Ed Greene says this dish has been on the menu for years, and recently made the move to the newest location in the chain, in Restaurant Row.

By the way, don't let Ramsey's description of the Cajun spices as "light," deceive you. This spice mix packs quite a bit of fire.

Seared Ahi with Cajun Spices

4 6-ounce ahi steaks
Vegetable oil spray
>> Spice mix
1/4 cup paprika
1/8 cup salt
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons cayenne
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup white pepper
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon oregano

Combine spices and spread out in a shallow bowl. Press ahi steaks into spices until all sides are well-coated. Spray with vegetable oil. Grill or pan-fry until medium-rare to medium. Center of fish should still be red. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 240 calories, 3 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated, 75 mg cholesterol, greater than 1,500 mg sodium, 42 g protein, 13 g carbohydrate.*

THE RECIPE REQUESTS I dread most are the ones that ask for such-and-such dish that used to be served at such-and-such restaurant before it closed several decades ago. When a restaurant is that far gone, so are the recipes. Usually.

But once in awhile you get lucky. Last week, Nola DeVincent's request for Stuffed Lobster from the now-defunct Pearl City Tavern was published here. The very next day Beryl Hayashi e-mailed this recipe, which she had saved from an old edition of the Star-Bulletin.

Which proves, I guess, that what goes around, comes around.

Hayashi remembers eating this dish at Pearl City Tavern. "We did try the recipe once, a long time ago, and it was good, but you know, it's always easier to go to the restaurant." Except when the restaurant's gone.

Stuffed Lobster

4 1-1/2 pound Maine lobsters
1-2 tablespoons softened butter
>> Stuffing:
1-1/2 cups diced celery
3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced scallops
3/4 cup diced shrimp
3/4 cup diced crab meat
1/4 cup sherry
2 cups mayonnaise
4 tablespoons cracker meal

Precook lobsters in water 7 minutes. Cut each lobster in half from beneath just enough so lobster opens like a book. Do not cut all the way through. Butter the meat and bake 10 minutes at 325 degrees.

To make stuffing: Sauté celery and onion, add scallops, shrimp and crab meat. Then add sherry. Drain some of the juice from the mixture and add mayonnaise.

Remove lobsters from oven and increase temperature to 350 degrees. Fill lobsters with stuffing. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cracker meal on top of each stuffed lobster and bake another 4 to 5 minutes. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 1,100 calories, 97 g total fat, 17 g saturated, 280 mg cholesterol, greater than 1,300 mg sodium, 41 g protein, 16 g carbohydrate.*

Can you help?

Hayashi herself yearns for the fresh corned beef hash that used to be served at Big Ed's at Ward Centre. Failing that specific recipe, she's interested in anyone's tried-and-true recipe for hash made with fresh corned beef -- not canned.

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.