Beer Bread

I've never had beer bread in my life until I went to a SimplyTasteful event held at a friend's house. It was served with a spinach herb dip, but I fell in love with the beer bread. I love bread...all kinds. I was determined to find a recipe to make beer bread. I can't remember how beer bread tastes like, but I'm happy with the recipe I came up with. It's nice and crunchy on the top with a soft, chewy inside. You can smell the beer too...for this recipe I used Budwieser.

 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer

4 cups flour

2 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/3 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp butter, melted

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add beer and continue to mix, then add the eggs. Batter will be sticky. Pour into a 9 x 5 inch greased loaf pan. Pound the pan on the table to level off the batter.

Preheat oven at 350 F. Bake for 60-70 minutes brushing the melted butter on the top the last 10 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. The top will be crunchy, and the insides will be soft.

the batter was very sticky, but came off the bowl very nicely too

I wasn't patient so my bread was higher on one side than the other, but it was still good

Fried Eggplants

I love eggplants. Eggplants are one of those plants that goes well with any dish. You can cook it in so many ways. There's soup, stir fry, deep fry, pan fry, and grilling. My favorite way to eat it is Italian style with a nice plate of spaghetti. My husband likes to snack on this dish too...it's the only time he'll eat more vegetables than meat. This is a very simple recipe...easy to follow and easy to make.

1 cup flour
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup plain bread crumbs
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
Oil
1 eggplant
Milk

Cut up eggplant into ½ inch rounds and let soak in milk for about 1 minute. Combine flour, cheese, bread crumbs, black pepper, and salt in a bowl. Coat eggplant slices into the flour mixture. Preheat a pan with a thin layer of oil and pan fry each side for about 3 minutes until sides are crispy, golden brown.

nice and crispy on the outside...

soft on the inside...great combination!!

Green Tea Chicken and Rice with Green Garlic Sauce

I love drinking tea, but lately I've been drinking coffee. Plus, I like drinking oolong tea more than green tea. My husband bought a box of green tea awhile ago. He's not a fan of drinking tea, but he thought he should start. Well, the box of tea was still on the counter unopen so I decided to use it in some of my recipes. I came up with this cold green tea chicken recipe from this one chinese restaurant in China Town in Honolulu. I ordered this chicken dish that was served cold and plain with a green garlic sauce. It was delicious and taste just like home. I was inspired to make this recipe with a twist.

Chicken Broth:

8 cups water

8 green tea bags
1 Cornish hen, halved
½ onion, diced
Salt
Ice bowl water

Green Garlic Sauce:
2 clove garlic, finely minced (try 1 clove to begin with first)
2 tsp grated ginger
Handful of cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp olive oil

Salt

2 cups uncooked rice, rinsed well

Bring 8 cups water to a boil and add the 8 tea bags. Let steep for 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, start on the green garlic sauce. Put the minced garlic, ginger, and cilantro in a mortar and pestle. Pound until cilantro have broken down. Add oil and pinch of salt to taste. Mix well and set aside. (add sriracha sauce and fish sauce for a spicy green and red sauce)

Add Cornish hen to the pot of green tea and bring to a boil. Skim off any fat foam that floats on top. Once it boils, add the diced onions and salt to taste. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until hen is fully cooked. Take out the Cornish hens and put them in the ice bowl water for about 1 minute. Take hen out and set it aside to dry.

Make stove top rice as you usually would, but replace plain water with the green tea chicken broth. Once rice is done, fluff and serve with cold green tea chicken and green garlic sauce.

my green garlic sauce was very garlicy and the rice infused with the green tea....

and the cold chicken....yummmm oh!!