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
American, Bakes, Yeast

Monkey Bread

4 Comments

Start a bread dough sponge using flour, water, honey and yeast. Combine a flour mixture containing flour, milk powder and yeast, and then sprinkle that on top the sponge and allow it to ferment for 4 hours. Mix in some softened butter then rest for 20 minutes. Knead in some salt and then allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 1.5 hrs. Turn out the dough and press it down, then let it rise again until doubled, about 1 hr.

Make a filling by boiling some raisins in rum and water, then drain the raisins and reserve the liquid. Melt some butter with brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls, dip them in the butter-sugar mixture and lay them in an angel food cake pan. Sprinkle on some raisins and pecans. Keep layering until all the dough is used up.

Drizzle on any remaining butter/sugar mixture on top. Cover the pan and let the dough rise for an hour.
Continue reading Monkey Bread →

Barbecue, Beef

Beef Tenderloin in Salt Crust

Leave a comment

Tied up a beef tenderloin, then smeared with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Grilled on a hot grill, turning every few minutes until it was seared on all sides.

Made a dough using flour, salt, pepper, egg whites, and chopped parsley. Rolled the dough out flat and laid the beef in the middle. Pulled up the dough around it and crimped the edges. The dough was quite wet so had to use the extra dough to patch the holes. It went into a 400*F oven to roast.

Continue reading Beef Tenderloin in Salt Crust →

American, Fruit, Poultry, Vegetables

Glazed Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Couscous Stuffing

1 Comment

First we made a stuffing using whole wheat couscous, pistachios, raisins and blueberries. Salted and peppered the hens then stuffed the hens with the couscous and tied the legs together. Made an orange glaze with butter, orange juice, orange zest, coriander, cumin, honey, turmeric, and a little cayenne.

Glazed the birds, then placed them breast-side up in a 425*F oven. Baste every 10 minutes until the internal temp in the thigh reaches 170*F. Remove and rest.

Roasted some veggies: onions, bell peppers, broccoli, zucchini, and mushrooms. Seasoned with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The entree was paired with a 2001 Mirassou Monterey Riesling. Excellent combination!

Aloha, Nate

Bay Area

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood (Downtown San Jose)

Leave a comment

On Christmas Day, we went to downtown San Jose to catch a movie. Coming out, we were a bit hungry. But there weren’t many restaurants open on Christmas Day down there. The only two we found within a couple of blocks of the theater was McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood, and The Grill. Both are on the $$$ side but we weren’t feeling like meat so we chose M&S.

The place was busy but we were seated right away. Their menu was simple – a large page of mostly seafood. Annie went for the skewer of grilled shrimp and scallop while I went for the cedar plank salmon.
Continue reading McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood (Downtown San Jose) →