The bookies Book Club read and review Moloka’i by Alan Brennert this past week. ,One of things I love about reading for book club is the opportunity to make something I probably never would have tried. Miloka’i based in the late 1800’s Hawaii. I made two things for this review, Sweet Potato Casserole and Poi.
For this weeks Weekend Cooking I will post both recipes.
Sweet Potato Casserole
4-5 large sweet potatoes halved
4-5 bananas peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
16 oz. crushed pineapple in own juice
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tablespoon cold butter
2 tsp. salt
1 cup pineapple juice (saved off the crushed pineapple)
1 tsp. Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons honey
Heat over to 350 degrees. lightly butter bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
Place the potatoes into a pan of water that covers the potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 to 20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Drain and let steam dry until you are able to touch, then peal the skin off the potatoes, rough chop and place in the 9 x 13 pan.
Dot with the cold butter over the potatoes.
Sprinkle the salt over the potatoes.
Arrange the bananas over the potatoes.
Sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar and cinnamon combo.
Top with crushed pineapple.
Whisk together the pineapple juice, lemon juice, and honey until honey is dissolved. Pour over the top of casserole.
Cook at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
*This was pretty tasty. The banana’s seemed odd but actually complimented the dish. I thought it would be extremely sweet but it was not over the top. I would make this again for a unique potluck dish. ~Sheila
Poi
You asked for the recipe… I am giving it but there is really not much to it. 🙂
2 pounds Taro Root (surprisingly I found this at my local grocery store)
water
Bring taro root to a boil in 2 quarts of water. Cook for about 40 minutes. Drain, cool, and peal the root. Rough chop taro into a bowl. Blend in blender with 1 cup of water until smooth. (There are more traditional ways to do this that involve a grass skirt, a smooth rock and a hollowed out piece of wood but I went “new school” and “got ‘er done”!) 🙂
A couple things about Poi. There is one finger, two finger, and three finger poi. This is because traditionally you scoop it up with your fingers. The thicker the poi, the less fingers used. I am happy to say, I made a one finger poi:
Poi tasted like bland potatoes. I was surprised when looking on line I could not find any variations of this recipe to jazz it up a bit. I would have liked to have made three cheese poi, or fully loaded poi with garlic and sour cream and bacon… just saying 😉
And finally why is my poi white when traditionally it is purple? I have no idea. I was disappointing as I was looking forward to the bright purple I seen in pictures. I Googled this question but came up with no answers.
Book Journey 
Sounds unusual 🙂
My favorite way to eat taro when I lived in Hawaii was sliced thin and fried (kind of like potato chips). That casserole looks good!
OOh that sounds good! I did not know you lived in Hawaii!
Never tasted poi – it does sound a little bland. Three cheese poi does sound good though.
They really need to jazz it up Leslie 😀
I’ve never had poi either, and your sweet potato casserole looks wonderful.
The casserole was impressive… that I really liked!
I like your idea of jazzing up the poi with some bacon and cheese!
Right? Is that wrong? 😛
I haven’t tried taro – must look out for some. Cheers
As I read on today I read that of course there are many types (just like potatoes) that probably explains my “white poi” 😀
Moloka’i is a great book club book! You have so much fun with your group!
Thanks Laurie, it really was and I love picking up on a little historical fiction mixed in with my fiction 😀
I think it’s so much fun to prepare recipes inspired by a book! The sweet potato casserole almost looks like it could be dessert – yum 🙂
I do too – I love going the extra mile with book club, it makes our reviews memorable.
I don’t think I would have eaten the poi…LOL! The casserole looks interesting, I like all those ingredients. How fun to pair books and food:)
LOL I had to eat the Poi… its one of those things to just say you have tried it 😀
Fully loaded poi with garlic and sour cream and onion sounds rather good to me!
I so agree…. 😀
I never thought of using bananas with sweet potatoes, but it sounds good. Interesting recipe!
It surprised me too but it was good and made me feel like we were eating from things we can grow – sweet potatoes, banana’s, pineapple, lemons…
I grew up in Hawai’i eating poi — I think the type of taro you used made a difference in the color. I’ve never made poi myself (and don’t know many Islanders who do). The texture I’m used to is thick and gooey — when we were little, we put milk and sugar in our poi (kind of like a cereal). It’s highly nutritious and often fed to babies.
I love sweet potatoes and the casserole sounds good. Now I’m curious about reading the book! Thanks for the interesting post.
I love sweet potatoes and will eat them in almost any form, as long as marshmallows aren’t involved. I will have to try this recipe.