All posts by Nate

Nate is the Techie / Barbecue-y half of the House of Annie team. Born in Hawaii, his favorite hobby is surfing...WEB surfing that is. Visit my Google+ Profile
Chinese, Pork, Yeast

Baked char siu bao

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Annie made some baked char siu bao last night that are really excellent. We picked up some char siu from the store next to Lion Market on King Rd and Tully. First, cut the char siu into cubes. Dice some onion and sweat it in a frying pan, then add the char siu. Mix in a sauce containing soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, and some corn starch as a thickener.


She made a sweet bread dough consisting of flour, bread flour, powdered milk, sugar, yeast, butter, eggs, and water. Brought it together then set it aside to rise. Then she divided the dough up into 50-gram balls.
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American, Pasta, Vegetables

Macaroni, cauliflower, and two cheeses

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Daniel said he wanted some cheesy macaroni for lunch so I obliged him.

Diced up some cauliflower and added that to the pasta about halfway through the cooking process. Grated up some more gruyere and also some aged cheddar. When the pasta is done, drain, add a little bit of milk, fold in the cheese, add a couple of dashes of white pepper, and voila!

Way better than that yucky Kraft boxed mac n cheese, and doesn’t take any longer to fix.

Aloha, Nate

Egg, Fruit, Vegetables

Mushroom and Gruyere Omelette, Banana-Nut-illa

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Saturday morning. Time for sleeping in and lazing around. Time for me (Nate) to make breakfast.

We had some white button mushrooms and some nice gruyere cheese in the fridge. I sliced up the mushrooms and sauteed them in bacon fat. Seasoned with salt, cracked black pepper, a little Italian seasoning, and a touch of soy sauce. Fried them until they got a nice golden brown color.

In the meantime, I grated up some gruyere cheese and also cut up some mozzarella cheese into small chunks. Just as the mushrooms were finishing, I started the omelettes. As soon as the egg began to set, I put on the mushrooms, topped with the cheese, and folded.

Plated it up, garnished with chopped parsley, and added a few dashes of hot sauce. This was very good!


Annie came out and said she wanted to try using the flour tortillas that we normally use to make quesadillas, and add bananas and Nutella. Kind of a banana-Nutella crepe but using tortillas instead of crepe.


It was…interesting. Oh well. You make some, you break some.

Aloha, Nate

American, Poultry, Vegetables

Roasted Chicken and veggies with lemon asparagus sauce

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Annie made this absolutely delicious meal with less than an hour of prep. She took a whole chicken and rubbed it with kosher salt and let it sit in the fridge for about 6 hours. Ground some pepper and sprinkled a little sugar on the skin before putting it in the oven. Roasted at 450*F for 30 minutes breast-side down, then flipped and roast for another 20 minutes.

The sauce started with sauteeing chopped garlic and artichoke hearts in olive oil. Then added a mixture of chicken stock, lemon juice, and vermouth. Added defatted pan drippings from the chicken. Simmered to reduce.

Cut up some carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower, then tossed with some olive oil, salt, fresh cracked black pepper, and Italian seasoning. Spread out on a foiled baking sheet and roasted with the chicken for the last 20 minutes. Boiled some russet potatoes until fork tender and then drained, then mashed with salt, white pepper, heavy cream and granulated garlic.

The chicken skin was nice and crispy from the sugar. The meat (including the breast) was juicy and tasty all the way through. Definite do-over!

Chicken and sauce recipes were from Fine Cooking Magazine, February/March 2005 issue. Veggies were simply hantam.

Aloha, Nate