easy steak gyros + homemade pita

I saw a hilarious Arby's commercial where the company was promoting their new gyros, and the narrator pronounces gryos six different ways (euro, jiro, guyro) before giving up, calling them Mediterranean tacos! So, I thought I'd share with you my own Mediterranean tacos that, are not only cheaper and healthier (check out this wonderfully-detailed article about the benefits of eating steak) than Arby's, but are ten-times tastier. As summer peaks around the corner, you're going to want this recipe in your arsenal for those sunny beach day picnics. I'll show you how to make everything you see in the picture: the pita, the steak, and the tzatziki. Let's get started!

very berry new york cheesecake

Ahhh Costco, the place where more is more and samples be served. Hot dog in hand, we'd run past aisles searching for rectangular carts stacked with free food and scan aisles for highlighter-marked labels, sneak-peaks at what we could find in our lunch pails the following week. While I can proudly say that I pack my own lunches now, the excitement still wells within me. Perhaps Costco has some sinister motive to this all. Even till this day, I can't have berry compote for breakfast without thinking about those halcyon days emerging from successful trips at Costco with frozen-yogurt in hand. 

And that's where this post begins. "Very Berry" is not only an homage to the Very Berry Sundaes my mom bought me after our triumphant Costco runs, it's a word that carries all the memories and nostalgia I've built throughout my youth. Luckily for those of you still reading, if you know the slightest of what I'm trying to articulate, I can guarantee you'll like this cheesecake. Regardless, you're not human if you can resist thick, dense New York Cheesecake packed into a crunchy Oreo crust and slathered with Very Berry topping. I mean, this cheesecake is so good my family doesn't even know I made two of them (one of them I scarfed down so quickly an asteroid could have hit and I wouldn't have reacted). More the reason to buy in bulk. (ugh...I'm on fire today!)

frozen mango sabayon shortbread

The first thing people ask me when I tell them I write a food blog is, "What's the best thing you've ever made?" Gosh I hate that question. I've never had a good answer. Some days it's been strawberry cheesecake parfaits, other days thyme and black pepper cheez-its. But today, I've finally found an answer, an answer that—without a doubt—trounces the precedents. Frozen Mango Sabayon Shortbread. This elegant spring dessert is wonderfully light and refreshing—tropical cubes of mango suspend in creamy sabayon atop crunchy shortbread. Whatever is bothering you, this will surely make the world good again. Cut into wedges and share with only your most worthy of friends...or not, you probably deserve it more. 

chinese double almond cookies

By the time this post is on the interweb, most of you will have already rid yourselves of the Lunar New Year festivities, and a smaller—albeit still substantial—subset of you will have taken out the upside-down-top-hat-frosted drinking mugs and "Honest Abe" wall stickers (February 12 is Lincoln's birthday if my sarcasm was too subtle). Still, in my experience there has never been a bad occasion to serve a really good cookie, notwithstanding a really, really good cookie. I can assure you that if Lincoln were to try these cookies, he would soon have the figure of Mary Todd Lincoln (and she seems wont to the occasional cookie if you know what I mean). Whether you serve these cookies alongside a pot of tea or an upside-down-top-hat-frosted drinking mug, your guests will be throbbing at your feet in blissful insanity after their first bite. The beginning to an unhealthy addiction to almond cookies will have begun, and you will have successful stolen that person's every future dream and aspiration. We will recruit these cookie zombies to disburse the cookie curse and in a month we will rule North America! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Let's get started. 

rosemary roasted garlic focaccia

In these early weeks of the new year, blog posts webwide begin by paying homage to the New Year, or New Year’s resolutions, or some variation along those lines. So—in being unique—I won’t mention the New Year at all. Here at Chow Creations, we pride ourselves in being independent…wait a second. By acknowledging that other food bloggers acknowledge the New Year, haven’t I inadvertently began this post with an homage to the New Year. This column is beginning to sound a lot like the subpar metaphysical food blogging I confused readers with last year. AH HA! You fell for another one of my traps. I wanted you to think I didn’t want to begin this post by mentioning the New Year, when in fact I've been in control of this rambling the entire time. So how exactly does this all relate to focaccia? The receptionist at my asylum hands me focaccia to get me to stop talking to her. Ohhhhh Margaret...my New Year’s resolution is to see a psychiatrist. 

Despite the exotic-sounding name, focaccia is deceptively simply to make. You won't even need a stand mixer to make this recipe. Although I've written the directions for the do-it-by-hand gal, if you’re not as strong as I am (cue the picture of my saggy biceps), follow along with the stand mixer’s specifications. Focaccia gets most of its flavor from the taste and quality of the olive oil you use. In addition to using the finest olive oil allowance-money can buy, I fry the rosemary and garlic in the olive oil (a quick and dirty trick to getting the most out of your most pungent ingredients) to amp up the flavornoids in focaccia flavor town. The result is a soft and crispy bread, packed with warm flavors of roasted rosemary and garlic. Beginning and advanced bread bakers will be delighted at this wonderfully easy and delicious treat!

peanut butter raisin oat cookies

Peanut Butter Cookie fans and Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Fans rejoice, for tonight we settle our differences and come together for the holidays. I know, lately tensions have been running high between our cults, but if anything can bring peace to our warring sides it is this cookie. 

Creamy peanut buttery, chewy raisin oatliciousness, this cookie is not only flavor packed, but texturally symphonetical—made up a whole bushel of words in that sentence. But miracles happen when cookies like this enter our hearts. Enough dawdling, let's get on with the recipe. 

thanksgiving sour cream biscuits

If you're reading this post, you're one of two people: (1) Thanksgiving just passed and you're trying to see how long you can last before the food coma takes you too, or (2) you're panicking because Thanksgiving is tomorrow and you just remembered that mother-in-law Margaret only comes to Thanksgiving dinner for the biscuits! Whether you're the former or the latter, these super easy biscuits can solve your problems. Did I mention they only take 5 minutes (of effort) to make!

Take a quick look at the picture of me in the left sidebar. No matter how strong your astigmatism is, I am definitely not the face of an expert biscuit maker. Nor do my parents look like expert biscuit makers (picture me...thirty years older). The fact is, Chinese people are not expert biscuit makers, nor are they even that fond of eating biscuits. If any person was as unqualified as I was to show you how to make a biscuit, it would be a babbling two-year old. Nevertheless, there in that statements lies my point. If I can make these damn good lookin' biscuits, you can definitely make them...and they'll probably turn out even better than mine. 

pomelo curd crème brûlée

Is it "un-American" to not hand out candy during Halloween? My parents and I wrestled with the idea for a solid 3 minutes before deciding that it wasn't and went to our favorite celebratory restaurant far away from home (just in case the trick-or-treaters followed us). If karma is a thing, it sure hasn't hit me yet because I'm sitting here at my desk with a smile and cup of crème brûlée that I smuggled from the buffet line. You know when a crème brûlée is good when it is felony-worthy good. 

And while the crème brûlée I had at the restaurant was the inspiration for this recipe, I didn't want to just copy it. I wanted to make an elevated crème brûlée, one that after your first bite you can't stop eating until all the cows and chickens say enough is enough. The resulting concoction, the convergence of a pumelo sale at the store, my experience at the restaurant, and the all-important cow-chicken factor, was this Pumelo Curd Creme Brulee. No need to thank me. Just enjoy. 

strawberry (and cherry) cheesecake parfaits

Officially the summer months are coming to an end as companies reintroduce pumpkin spiced everything and Halloween décor to the masses. These transition times usually lend me to a certain shortsighted nostalgia. I think about all of the fun things that I’m going to miss as one season lay rest to a new. As summer ends and fall takes over, a part of me cannot let go of the sun soaked memories and meals that summer brought. If my wimpy frou frou nostalgia shpeal isn’t reason enough for you to try this recipe, let me remind you that you still have a 30 quart Ziploc bag full of strawberries in your freezer that you need to get to before freezer burn does. Let’s celebrate the beginning of autumn with this blast-from-recent past summer treat: Strawberry (and Black Cherry) Cheesecake Parfaits. 

chocolate peanut butter chip biscotti

The other day I was walking through my local specialty shop and found that they were sampling "authentic" Italian biscotti. Naturally, I stopped by...multiple times, until the lady cutting the biscotti began to give me looks. By then I was already full. On my third or fourth visit, I caught  glance at the unit price for an "authentic" Italian biscotto (the singular for biscotti): $2.oo per biscotto. I'm all for quality, but at that price I might as well be eating gold bars speckled with diamonds! Then I had an epiphany. I could make a killing selling biscotti around my neighborhood. But because food bloggers are inherently exercise adverse (at least this one is), I set aside that idea for a good three weeks until today. Turns out, biscotti are much easier than the "authentic" Italians are leading them up to be. Follow these easy steps and you too can enjoy authentic biscotti without taking the equity out of your home to pay down biscotti loans. You might even become a millionaire selling them to your neighbors. As always, I hold a 30% royalty on all recipes you sell to your loved ones. ;-)

our first video recipe // white peach galette

Check out Chow Creations' first video recipe above!!! My bro, Darren, did the filming and editing while I took the pictures. The full recipe is below with the ingredients and directions. We hope you find this new layout as awesome as we do. Please give us feedback in the comments and subscribe to the channel. :-) 

momma's day // 30 min brie + chive puddle scones

I'm not a person of hyperbole, usually, but THIS RECIPE IS POSSIBLY THE BEST THING I'VE MADE IN THE PAST TWO YEARS!!! Salty, creamy, fluffy, cheesy, buttery, herbaceous, when executed correctly (which doesn't take much effort or know-how) these scones could seriously be a game changer in the world of patisserie. Usually, bakers, to preserve that traditional flaky texture of the scone, will use a hard sharp cheese like cheddar or gruyere. I wanted to see how I could incorporate a softer, silkier, more luxurious texture to this already luxuriously buttery and creamy pastry. And thus, the unofficial birth of the cheese puddle scone, pockets of liquid gold oozing from seams of pillowy flaky pastry. 

Cooking out of my small home in San Diego, I sometimes wonder whether the rest of the world gets to enjoy the deliciousness that just a few sprinkles of flour and cheese can procure. It's partially the reason why I like writing this blog because I feel like this type of mouthgasmic amazeballness just needs to be shared. If you're looking for a cheap, easy gift for your special momma this Mother's Day look no further...actually look further...down this recipe...okay just keep reading. 

crunchy chocolate peanut butter chip cookies

In retrospect, I should have patented chocolate and peanut butter when I discovered it in '08. Now look how its blown up. I don't know if you've heard about it but now there's this little company called Reese's that makes chocolate and peanut butter candies. Actually Reese's and I go a long ways back. He and I used to be roommates until he stole my recipe and wouldn't give me credit. I had to kick him out of the dorm. Well actually I left. Technically he kicked me out for what he dubs "inappropriate" and "salacious" behavior. Whatever that means right. I actually know what it means. His lawyer made me look up "salacious" in the dictionary when I was taken to court. It means vulgar or explicit. What was I talking about...oh yeah chocolate and peanut butter. One of the best combinations in the world. 

Similar in texture and appearance to your traditional peanut butter cookie, this upgraded crunchy chocolate peanut butter chip cookie has crunchy salty pretzels and creamy peanut butter morsels laced throughout. The bitter notes from the cocoa and the salty sweet combination from the pretzels and the peanut butter make this the perfect cookie flavor. I guarantee this is way better than the boring peanut butter cookies you've had in the past. Not to mention, these are super easy to make and you can make a lot of them for parties and potlucks. I'd like to see Reese get a hold of this one. What type of peanut butter morsels am I using? Reese's...damn you Reese and your delicious confectionary products. 

vanilla cupcakes + sour cream chocolate ganache frosting

As said to me by my filipino gardener, "These cupcakes are good. Better than sex." For those imposter bloggers who throw around the term #foodporn willy nilly, don't listen to them anymore. This recipe is literally food porn. (it gave this man a foodgasm!)

In today's world, where the temptations of pretentious cronuts and yuza matcha pavlova ice cream sandwiches bombard us from twitter and instagram, sometimes it's nice to take a step back and reminisce about good ol' times. Those days when we happily nibbled on vanilla cupcakes and overly sweet chocolate frosting, not because they were even that good, but because that's all we knew. The only difference is this time it's going to taste good. I mean so good, you're going to find yourself having to make another batch cause you somehow ate a dozen cupcakes in the span of writing a short paragraph. 

mini pear 'n banana breads // for ALOHA

I was inspired by ALOHA to write a post about staying healthy throughout the colder months, but I have to be honest I was genuinely stumped. One has to realize that the healthiest post I've ever written is probably the time when I made that chocolate chip cookie cake. Nonetheless, it posed a serious culinary question to me. Can something be easy and healthy, and taste good at the same time? The surprising answer is...yes! I know, I was skeptical at first too. 

In this week's post, Chow Creations is teaming up with ALOHA to spread the happiness of healthy eating via banana bread. Not only do these mini pear 'n banana breads taste and look amazing, but they have no butter in them, 50% less sugar, and are laced with flavor packing nutrition bombs such as ginger and cinnamon. Benefits of which I'll go more into detail down below. 

portuguese egg custard tarts - macau in a tartshell

Did you know that the island of Macau got it's name because the Macanese fisherman couldn't understand a certain Portuguese conquistador's accent. Now, that may seem like a completely arbitrary statement, unless, you are privy to the fact that I just came back from Macau last week. Sorry, after a sixteen hour jet lag my mind isn't working correctly and my twisted sense of humor seems funnier in my head. Although the fisherman thing was really true. Our tour guide said so.

Across the waters from Hong Kong is the exotic casino and custard tart filled island of Macau. And despite the fact that my attempt at these pastry pools of custard gold turned out surprisingly well, especially for a first attempt, it really doesn't beat the fresh piping hot tarts you get halfway across the world. Click the orange button to chowtinue this conversation and learn how to make these delicious little morsels. 

chocolate chip cookie cake - Cookie Week!

Shout out to Sarah @ The Sugar Hit who's having Cookie Week! this week, which inspired me to partake in the theme and make this epic, awesome, indulgent Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. Chocolate chip cookies are too good to be giving to your loved ones in boring cookie form. Try this awesome chocolate chip cookie cake, which despite the overload of alliteration in the title, is an awesome vehicle for serving chocolate chip cookies, and a fantastic crowd pleaser at your next holiday party!

This recipe makes two chocolate chip cookie cakes, which if you were smarter than me, would have stacked them on top of each other like a sane person. Darn I hate myself sometimes. You know what to do. Click the orange button to unleash chocolate chip cookie cake havoc. 

{how to make} quick and easy homemade biscotti w/ cranberries + white chocolate

Homemade biscotti is a completely different experience than the ones that come from the plastic wrapper. Unlike the biscottis that you buy from the tubs at Costco these aren't stale or dry. They're hard and crunchy like they're supposed to be, but because we make them fresh, you can really taste the buttery shortbread-esque crumb that's just so good!

Not only do these biscotti look awesome, but they taste just like you would get them from a really fancy italian restaurant. I'm not even kidding you guys. I was so surprised at how quick, and easy, and awesome these turned out that I made a second batch for the neighbors (a.k.a myself). These are also a wonderful gift for friends and family this holiday season. You know what to do. Press that orange button. 

super easy cut-out lime sugar cookies

Reader, meet lime sugar cookie, exotic second cousin of the sour cream cookie. Lime sugar cookie, meet reader. 

All of us have made sugar cookies in the past, but in this post I want to show you a couple little tricks to make your sugar cookies the best sugar cookies at the Thanksgiving table. Keep reading if you want to learn how to make a refreshing twist on this classic recipe; a quick and easy stress free Thanksgiving dessert contribution. You know what to do, click "Chowtinue" Reading. (Oh my goodness these puns are chowsome)

flat and chewy white chocolate chip oreo cookies - the best cookies I've ever had

If you like white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, but you pick out the nuts, this cookie is the cookie for you. To put this in perspective, these are like a more exotic, chewier, flatter, more yummy chocolate chip cookie. The kids will love these, the neighbors will love these, the goldfish will love these, but most importantly, you'll love these because they are so easy!

Out of all of the reasons why this cookie is "the best cookie I've ever had", there is one superior reason why. That is, this cookie has cookies inside each cookie. You're looking at the Chow Creations patented (not really) oreos baked into a cookie cookie making method. Let's get into that.