Gavin's Chow

Good eats with friends and family – A Journal

March 17, 2013 • 4:25 pm 0

Classic Buttery Beer Bread!

Beer Bread

Beer Bread – fluffy inside, with crunchy crust!

Its a Saturday afternoon. We decided to keep it quiet for the morning. I wanted to make a quick bread for lunch, and decided to make a quick beer bread. I know, this is a pretty simple thing, but our kids love it (don’t worry, the alcohol burns away). They love the combination of the sweet and salty crust!

This is considered a quick and easy bread to make. The ingredients are:

- 3 tsp baking powder
– 1 tsp salt
– 3 cups of flour (sifted) – I used a whisk to fluff it up
– 1/4 cup sugar
– 1 can of beer (of course)
– 1/4 cup butter (less if you want to, but this makes a yummy crust)

Beer Bread

The reaction of the beer and the dry mix, smells nice.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, add the can of beer, and mix up the batter. Careful not to mix too long, just enough to get everything coated and “elastic” consistency.

Beer Bread

Drizzle the butter

Grease up a pie pan, this makes more crust due to the surface area :) – I love crust!

Melt some butter in the microwave, and pour over the loaf.

Beer Bread

Golden brown goodness

Throw this into a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 40 minutes and enjoy. Beer bread is so simple and delicious. Great for having a quick warm bread for guests or snacking on.

 

Filed under: Dinners, Home Cooking, , , , , ,

March 10, 2013 • 6:49 pm 0

Aromatic Scallion Oil

Fragrant Scallion Oil

Fragrant Scallion Oil

Its the weekend, I wanted to make my own scallion oil. My plan is to have this for the week to brush onto some baked bbq pork buns! The recipe for the oil is extremely simple.

Scallion Oil

The ingredients – simple

Chop up plenty of scallions (green onions). Heat up a wok with 1/2 cup of peanut oil, slowly place the onions into the oil and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Scallion Oil

Simmering in Peanut Oil

The room will smell amazing (if you like the smell of frying onion, I DO!) Strain the onions with a strainer, and store the oil in an air tight container for up to 1 week. I will use this in a couple of days on my buns :)

Scallion Oil

Strain the scallions

Filed under: Home Cooking, , , ,

February 10, 2013 • 5:43 am 0

Lunar New Year Potstickers (Wor Tip)

1-dumplins2

Chinese Potstickers / Pan Fried Dumplings

Its been awhile since I’ve done an entry. Here is my first for 2013! We had friends over for supper tonight and made a huge Chinese dinner. I’ve discovered this recipe for Potstickers or Dumplings in my readings and have wanted to try it. Potstickers have been one of my favorites for many years. These savoury little things are easy and fun to make.

Ingredients (the filling):
- 3/4 lb napa cabbage
- 3/4 lb ground pork
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 3-4 Chinese mushrooms chopped (make sure to soak overnight, remove stem)
- 2 tbsp chopped bamboo shoots
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp cornstarch

The wraps:
- 24 round potsticker wrappers (found these at local Chinese grocers)
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 1 cup water

2-dumplins

Napa Cabbage

3-dumplins

Blanched for 1 minute

Chop up the cabbage into little 1/2 pieces and blanch them in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and immerse in ice water and squeeze out as much water as possible.

4-dumplins

Chop it up!

5-dumplins

Mix it up!

Chop up the other ingredients as shown and mix all the ingredients with the ground pork (except for the wrappers, canola oil, water). Place this into the fridge uncovered for at least 4 hours to overnight. yay!!!

6-dumplins

Scoop it up (not too much!)

7-dumplins

Wrap it up!

To start the dumplings, take about a tbsp of filling and place into a wrapper, brush a little water around edge and fold the wrapper in half and seal/crimp “artistically” the edges together :) Continue doing the rest (about 24 yummy goodness) and enjoy doing each one! That’s part of the process :)

On a non-stick skillet, add oil, and place dumplings seam side up (give it a little push onto pan to flatten bottom) and pan fry until bottom is golden brown. Add 1/3 cup of water and cover with lid to steam cook. Once the water has evaporated (about 3 minutes), I like to flip the dumplings to brown the sides.

8-dumplins

You know it…Eat it up!

Final step is to devour! try not to eat too fast!

Filed under: Dinners, Home Cooking, , , , , , , ,

October 10, 2012 • 5:40 am 0

Super Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta!

Butternut Squash Pasta

Butternut Squash Pasta

Made this wonderful supper tonight for the family. Its a perfect time for squash! Our kids love macaroni and cheese, so I decided to try this recipe of creating a creamy sauce with pureed butternut squash. It was a hit!

Ingredients:
- 1 butternut squash
- 3 cloves of garlic (you can use more if you want to!)
- peas or anything green like broccoli!
- pasta of choice, I used rotini
- 1-2 cups of homogenized milk
- 1 tbs of mustard
- olive oil
- cornstarch
- salt + pepper

Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash (I love the word “butternut”)

Roasted Squash

Roasted Butternut Squash (delicious as is!)

Peel and chop the squash into cubes, add olive oil, salt+pepper, garlic cloves and throw into a 425F oven for 30-40 minutes (until everything is soft)

Rotini with peas

Rotini with peas

Meanwhile, prepare the pasta! I added some peas at the last 1 minute for some color + vegetables. When the squash is done remove from oven and set aside.

Butternut Squash Cream Sauce!

Butternut Squash Cream Sauce!

In a sauce pan (medium low), add the milk, cornstarch to thicken, and the mustard. Take a cup of the roasted butternut squash and the roasted garlic cloves, and puree in a blender or hand mixer. Stir this into the milky cream sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss in the pasta and mix well. To serve, plate a heaping spoonful on plate with the roasted butternut squash cubes on top! so good and healthy!

 

Filed under: Dinners, Home Cooking, , , , ,

September 24, 2012 • 12:49 am 1

Latino Pork Roast – a must try!

Latino Pork Roast

Latino Pork Roast

The joy of slow cooking on the BBQ! This is an absolutely amazing dish from my Weber’s Way to Grill book (Thanks T!). You have not really tested your BBQ, until you try a slow roast on the grill! The pork shoulder was so soft and tender the bone simply pulled out without any effort.

The ingredients are:

The paste or the “rub”
- 5 large garlic cloves (grate on a microplane)
– 2 tbls olive oil
– 3 tbls cidarvinegar
– 2 tbls dried oregano
– 1 tbls plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt

- 1 bone in pork shoulder (butt) with outer layer fat (6-7 pounds)
– a handful of oak wood chips soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

The Mojo (spooned onto the warm meat!)
- zest of orange
– 1 cup fresh orange juice
– 1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice
– 1/3 finely chopped white onion
– 2 tbls white vinegar
– 1small serrano chile, minced
– 1 garlic clove finely chopped
– 1 tsp sugar
– some kosher salt

- 3 tbls spoon chopped fresh cilantro

This recipe will take time to prepare. Take the roast and score a cross hatch pattern on the fat side. Rub the paste all over the roast, place in a covered bowl and refrigerate for 12-24 hours. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before throwing it on the grill.

Hickory Wood Chips

Hickory Wood Chips – soaking for at least 30 minutes

BBQ magic number

BBQ magic number – constant for 6 hours

After 6 hours

After 6 hours – super tender!!

Soak the wood chips for at least 30 minutes before throwing it in a smoker tin. Fire up the grill for indirect heating about 250F. Get the wood chips smoking, and place the roast fat side down on the grill and keep the lid closed as much as possible. I grilled this for 6 hours with a 1 hour resting time before eating!

Mojo Mixture

Mojo Mixture

While the roast is grilling, go ahed and make the mojo (salt and sugar to your liking). Leave the cilantro last until serving. Set aside and when the meat is ready to eat, simply serve the super soft juicy pork with a few tablespoons of the Mojo on top!! The family absolutely loved it. I am salivating while writing this entry!

 

Filed under: Dinners, Home Cooking, , , , , , , ,

Gavin C


Keeping track of all the yummy foods that I eat! My random entries of cooking for my 2 (not picky eater) boys and wife in a city with diverse variety of foods!

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Inspirations

Outdoor markets
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The television
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Mommy and Daddy
Foodie friend - Chef Jalbout ;)
Kids' "I want to eat..."
Kids' "I dont want to eat..."
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Too much time on my hands days
Hungry wife

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