Lisa Messinger's
Cookbooks of the Week

The Hali'imaile General Store Cookbook

by Beverly Gannon with Bonnie Friedman (Ten Speed Press)

You'll probably have to pinch yourself to believe you're not on the slopes of Maui's Mount Haleakala in the middle of a pineapple plantation when preparing and feasting on the specialties in The Hali'imaile General Store Cookbook. But that actually is the prized location of chef/author Beverly Gannon and her equally prized Hali'imaile General Store restaurant. Gannon has added just one more pineapple to the plantation (alongside such other stars as Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi) when it comes to the world's increasingly growing respect for gourmet Hawaiian regional cuisine. In her first cookbook, she also has done an exceptionally good job of easily turning anyone's kitchen into an island retreat with well-written, simple-to-follow recipes for such specialties as Maui onion-ginger soup, soba noodle salad with passion fruit vinaigrette, salmon strudel, sesame-crusted mahimahi with coconut-curry cabbage and rum-baked bananas, macadamia nut-crusted soft-shell crab with spicy pineapple slaw, frozen lemongrass creme brulee in ginger phyllo and macadamia nut lace tulip filled with tropical sorbets. Lucky for us, Gannon is a showoff when it comes to the islands' most dazzling ingredients and how best to present them with flair. The journey is made even more delicious with outstanding photography of everything from waterfalls, rainbows and sunsets, to ahi tartare with sprout salad and Kula strawberry shortcake.

RECIPE: MAUI ONION-GINGER SOUP

(Updated: 02/16/07 JH)