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!

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!

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. 

meatballs & marinara - juicy balls of deliciousness

If you're an atheist, vegan, or Indian (from India), you should probably shield your eyes from what I'm about to say. Thank you God for making cows edible. Amen. I guess I should be thanking him for pigs too cause these are beef and pork meatballs, but then I'd have to list every ingredient and then the "Indian" criteria wouldn't really work. Analogies, can't live without them, can't form all-encompassing logical statements with them. 

The interweb is inundated with meatball recipes. In fact, unbeknownst to me Foodnetwork just came out with an edition entirely dedicated to the little balls of meat. Yet, there's been this void inside me that has been pecking at my sanity ever since I started this blog. A meatball shaped void that when filled I can finally call this "thing" a food blog. Plus, it was an excuse for me to make meatballs. Mmm meatballs. Meatballs. If you're uncomfortable with the word you should probably stop reading now. 

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. 

homemade thin crust pizza + pesto + potato + manchego

It's one of those rare days in San Diego where the clouds congregate low and heavy in the sky, and they choke the air with their presence. They cried. Last week I made this awesome Manchego and Marcona Almond Pesto, which you should definitely check out, but I was beginning to get tired of the ol' pesto on bread or mixed into pasta. After hours of scribbling ideas into a notepad, ripping them out, and missing the trash bin, I decided what I needed was to whip up a batch of fresh pizza dough. 

I love making pizza, even making and kneading my own dough, but what I love most about making pizza is figuring out what to put on it. In the past I've tried Alfredo and Scampi, Sloppy Joe's, even a Quintuple Meat (Pepperoni, Ham, Bacon, Brisket, and Sausage) Pizza. This time I wanted to make something simple, simple but elegant, and I don't think it gets any simpler nor elegant than Pesto, Potato, and Manchego. Plus you won't guess how easy making your own pizza dough can be.

marrow on toast - rich and unctuous

You know you wish you were here. And if you don't, then you're a party sucker and should rethink your entire life. Marrow on toast is such a classic preparation of this rich and unctuous treat. Not only that but I soak my toast with the rendered marrow fat so we get the maximum amount of beefy fatty goodness. 

dos white bread variations - 1st annual cinco de mother's day!

Happy Cinco de Mother's Day! I know, with the debut of Picnic Earth Day in April and now this, I'll be surprised if I remember either of the two next year. Cinco de Mother's Day is basically the day where I show you how to create a Mexican themed Chow Creation that you can give to Momma as a present. This year I'll show you how to make White Sandwich Bread - but with a twist, dos twists. And for those of you who do not speak Spanish "dos" means delicious. 

I made a Cinnamon Raisin Loaf. Cinnamon being a very traditional Mexican spice, and raisins because Momma likes raisins. And Momma gets what she wants. For the second variation I decided to venture a little out of my comfort zone and make a Cheesy Taco Bread. Laced with cheddar cheese, green onions, my special taco seasoning, and topped with crunchy tortilla chips, it was money the minute my three year old nephew suggested it, and it was money when it came out of the oven. So good. 

raspberry jam swirled buns - a surprising experimental success!

Imagine splicing one of these in half and spreading warm butter on its toasty side. Actually, that's a good idea, and it's breakfast, hold on one second...

okay I'm back. If there are any typos it's because I have a roll in my left hand. I love sweet rolls, in fact before this blog I used to make all types of bread, baguettes, brioche, pita (I'll try to put out more yeast based recipes in the future). But I think my favorite in terms of the all important simplicity to reward ratio has to be the humble roll. Not only are these easy to make, but everyone craves over these. Unlike the store bought rolls which are dense and cakey, my buns are perfect - pun intended. These are fluffy, airy, full of flavor, and most of all you'll look like you spent hours to make these. Well actually you did but it's not a lot of work just waiting, I'll get to that below. 

lemon blueberry ricotta pound cake

I made this on Thursday and I s#!t you not when I woke up the next day, the plate was in the sink and all was left were crumbs. The lemon is so fresh and fragrant, being so abundant in this peak lemon picking season. The blueberries are also perfect, juicy and plump studded throughout this moist cake. And we'll talk about this more down below but the ricotta cheese gives this cake such a moistness, which also lets us cut on the butter. Moist, tasty, and low-fat, what more could you ask for. 

Ah, lemon, blueberry, and ricotta, such a classic flavor combination and it works beautifully in this cake. But you may be thinking, cheese in a dessert? Well do you like cannolis? Of course you do, and you can thank the italians for figuring out that ricotta is the secret to creamy, rich, delicious desserts. 

the best zucchini bread - that's in the world

After staying up all night to watch the ball drop, or in some places a large shoe, a giant peach, or a live possum, you want something super delicious to wake up to. And this, is that somethin' something. Not only is this really tasty, but you can prepare this days before you want to serve. Actually I'll say my peace now, it does taste better if you wait for like two days. The bread sinks down into the tin, and the flavors meld together, I think it's just superb. But please don't wait more than two days because then you will have a different kind of green thing running through your bread, and it won't be the zucchini.