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

Beer Can Chicken

For most people, chicken on the grill means wings, drumsticks, thighs, or breast pieces that are laid down on the grates and cooked over direct heat. Chicken pieces are a lot easier to deal with, and they all cook at the same time so there is less chance of overcooked meat. (For food safety, you want to cook poultry until the juices run clear and no longer bloody.)

Doing a whole chicken, however, is a whole different animal. The bird has such an odd shape that doesn’t cook evenly. Grill the bird long enough to fully cook the dark meat, and you risk having dried out white meat. You have to find a way to cook the chicken until it’s done, while keeping both the white and dark meat moist.

Continue reading Beer Can Chicken

Cute Egg Molds

When I was growing up in Hawaii, we’d sometimes go buy school supplies at the Japanese bookstore. They always had lots of cool or cute stuff that you didn’t find in the regular stores. The Japanese always designed things that were a step above anything else.

Apparently, they didn’t limit cute design to just erasers and gadgets. They’ve found their way into food as well. Annie got these cute little egg molds sent to her from Japan via Singapore.

Continue reading Cute Egg Molds

Linguine alla Carbonara

Before I met Annie, I generally preferred my pasta sauces to be red – tomato based. I avoided “alfredo” type white sauces because…actually I really don’t have a good explanation of why I don’t like white sauces. Anyway, these days Annie usually makes pasta sauces with cream, olive oil, and vermouth, keeping it light so you can actually see all the other ingredients.

This linguine alla carbonara recipe (based on a recipe out of “Lidia’s Italian American Kitchen”), contains bacon, olive oil, onions, chicken stock, linguine, egg yolks, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, and s&p. Our additions included portobello mushrooms, thyme, and some toasted onion powder from Penzey’s.

Oh, it was sooooo good. Made even better by that special onion powder.

If you can get your hands on some, I do recommend it.

Aloha, Nate

Goveas Mexican Restaurant (San Jose)

Here in San Jose, there is no shortage of Mexican restaurants. Most of them are good, with some better than others. If you avoid the chains and go for the mom-and-pop type establishments, you’re sure find some gems.

Goveas is one of those restaurants where you can get a good meal at a decent price. Located in a strip mall at Tully and Quimby Roads, across from the Eastridge Mall in east San Jose, it’s a small joint with maybe a dozen tables, one waitress, a couple of cooks, and the owner. Decor isn’t much to look at but you come here to eat the food, not the decor, right?

Annie got the chicken enchiladas. They were yummy. She didn’t care for the white, sour-cream based sauce though.

My chile verde burrito. Great flavor, quite filling, and only $3.25! Can’t go wrong with that. Only thing I don’t get is why they have to serve it on a searingly hot plate.

They do an excellent chicken mole as well. This place has become our default Mexican restaurant.

View Larger Map
Hours:
Mon-Thu 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Fri 10:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Sat 9:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Sun 9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

Aloha, Nate