The Cat Dish

Hawaii diners eat less but pay more

By Catherine Toth Fox • May 9, 2011 • Food, Musings, The Daily Dish

You don’t have to tell me how expensive it is to eat out.

I eat out at least four times a week — thought it was more, didn’t you? — and the cost adds up. A $3 burger here, a $7 plate lunch there. By the end of the month, I could easily spend more eating out than what I spend on groceries.

But here’s the thing: despite what seems like constant gorging on my part, I don’t actually eat that much. But I sure spend a nice chunk of my paycheck on food.

No surprise, then, that Zagat’s Survey of the Hawaiian Islands showed exactly that: we eat less but pay more.

The average number of meals out per week dropped from 3.2 in the last survey to 3.1 this year — but we spent an average of $37.66 per meal, $2.04 more per meal than the national average. The average price for a meal in Seattle, for example, was $29.33; in Los Angeles, it was $34.85.

The good news is, though, that 74 percent of us prefer our food locally sourced, organic or sustainably raised, with another 62 percent saying they would be willing to pay more for it.

Zagat’s survey — which covered 389 restaurants across the state as voted on by 2,942 avid Hawaii diners — came up with its list of best restaurants in various categories.

Roy’s Restaurant (its popular meatloaf appetizer shown above) was named the Most Popular, with Alan Wong’s in Honolulu coming in second and Mama’s Fish House on Maui rounding out the Top 3.

Sushi Sasabune in Honolulu earned the top award for best food and La Mer at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki was voted to have the best decor and top service.

Here’s the list of top statewide winners:

Top Food
1) Sushi Sasabune (Oahu)
2) Hiroshi Eurasion (Oahu)
3) Alan Wong’s (Oahu)
4) La Mer (Oahu)
5) Mama’s Fish House (Maui)

Top Decor
1) La Mer (Oahu)
2) Lodge/Koele Din. Rm. (Lanai)
3) Orchids (Oahu)
4) Pahu i’a (Big Island)
5) Kauai Grill (Kauai)

Top Service
1) La Mer (Oahu)
2) Chef Marvro (Oahu)
3) Lodge/Koele Din. Rm. (Lanai)
4) Michel’s (Oahu)
5) Orchids (Oahu)

Most Popular
1) Roy’s (multi)
2) Alan Wong’s (Oahu)
3) Mama’s Fish House (Oahu)
4) Merriman’s (multi)
5) Sansei (multi)

You agree with the results?

Today’s happy shot

By Catherine Toth Fox • May 8, 2011 • Food, Happy Shots

Rainbow — or ribbon — Jell-O could be the perfect humid day dessert.

Weekend Dish: Lemon cheesecake with gingersnap crust

By Catherine Toth Fox • May 8, 2011 • Food, Weekend Dish

Before I moved into a rental that didn’t have a real kitchen, I liked to bake cheesecake for my mom.

We bonded over the decadent dessert on a trip to Chicago nearly 10 years ago, where we ate a slice of cheesecake — or two — from The Cheesecake Factory (which hadn’t yet opened in Hawaii) just about everyday we were there.

Yes, we ate a lot of cheesecake.

But after living in a super-small studio space that barely fit my bed, a couch, a dresser and an exercise ball, I all but retired my 9-inch springform cake pan.

Until this weekend.

I decided it was time I made use of the kitchen I now have and bake my mom one of her favorite desserts. I figured it’s Mother’s Day, she deserves it, and she told us not to buy her anything — but didn’t say anything about baking her something.

So I searched online and through cookbooks — yes, I still have those! — for a light cheesecake that still have the density of a classic New York-style, my mom’s favorite. I settled on a lemon cheesecake with a gingersnap crust, which, as a bonus, allowed me to use up all the gingersnap cookies I had in the pantry.

While I don’t use the traditional ricotta, this version with Philadelphia cream cheese — not the light version, either! — makes for a creamy, smooth and rich cheesecake.

Here’s the step-by-step, with the recipe below:

Making the crust

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After grinding gingersnap cookies to fill two cups — we used the Ninja Master Prep Blender and Food Processor — I combined the grounds with melted unsalted butter, then pressed the mixture onto the bottom of a 9-inch springform cake pan.

Lemon cheesecake with gingersnap crust
from Bon Appetit, March 2005

Ingredients:

Crust
2 c. ground gingersnap cookies
6 T. unsalted butter, melted

Filling
5 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature
2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
7 large eggs
3 c. sour cream
2 T. packed finely grated lemon peel
2 T. fresh lemon juice

Directions:

For crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir cookie crumbs and butter in medium bowl until evenly moistened. Press mixture onto bottom of a 9-inch springform cake pan with 3-inch-high sides. Bake crust until deep golden, about 12 minutes. Cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Stack three large sheets of foil on work surface. Place same cake pan in center. Gather foil snugly around pan bottom and up sides to waterproof it.

For filling
Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar, then salt. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in sour cream, grated lemon peel and lemon juice. Pour filling into pan.

Place wrapped cake pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake cake until filling is slightly puffed and moves only slightly when pan is shaken gently, about 1 hour and 25 minutes. Remove cake pan from water bath; remove foil. Cool cake in pan on rack for two hours. Chill uncovered until cold; cover and keep chilled for at least a day or two.

Cut around pan sides; carefully loosen pan bottom from sides and push up pan bottom to release cake. Place cake (still on pan bottom) on platter. Garnish with lemon leaves or twists.