Anyone for Dessert??? How about some Fried Banana (Madoya)??

Fried bananas, or as they are called on Guam, Madoya (the "y" is pronounced like a "j"), are one of the delicacies of Guam. It is a battered half slice of banana fried to perfection and typically served with butter. But you can sprinkle a little brown sugar with cinnamon if you like to add a little more sweetness. However, most Guam households just use plain butter, just like one would with toast.

Here is the recipe....

Batter mix for madoya

½ cup all purpose flour 

¾ cup water 

¼-⅓ cup sugar 

Mix ingredients together until creamy similar to pancake batter. 

Directions 

• Banana must be firm (when skin is just turning from green to yellow). And you should use the cooking bananas, like plantains. If you do not have these types of bananas at your local grocer, then you can use the sweet ones like "Chiquita" but make sure they are not ripe.
• Peel the banana. 
• Slice the banana in half. 
• Dip in batter and let the batter drip for a few seconds. 
• Fry in oil at about 375° until golden brown. 
• Lift banana out of oil and let it drip for a few seconds. 
• Place in colander upright and allow to drain. 
• Serve hot with butter.

And here are photos of all the steps...

Cut the tips off the bananas.

Peel the banana.

Slice the banana in half...very carefully!!!

Now you have your slices of banana.

Coat well with your batter mix.

Place the battered banana slices one at a time in the hot oil. Oil should be about 375 degrees F.

Fried one side then.......

Turn them over and fry the other side.

Fry them until they are golden brown.

Lift from the hot oil and let them drip for a few seconds.

Place them in a colander and allow the oil to drain for a couple of minutes. 

Here you have the finished product. But before you start eating them, pat them dry with a paper towel.

Spread your butter and start in.

And that's all there is to this.

Let me warn you, once you start spreading that butter on these nice and hot, freshly fried banana slices, its hard to stop eating them. You will find that they go down like potato chips. You actually have to force yourself to stop.

I hope you enjoy this little spice of life from Guam. And I would be remiss if I did not thank my lovely wife, Lupe, for sharing this recipe with you all. So Thank You my dear.

Until next time....

Pork Balls and Firehouse Chili Beans

Pork Balls and Firehouse Chili Beans. What else would you expect a bunch of hungry firefighters to eat? Well we cooked, we ate, we moaned. But it was good!!!

The pork balls are actually marinated pork butt cubes, cut to about one inch, marinated in Worcestershire and soy sauces and a little Cholula Hot Sauce added to round it all out. On top of this I rubbed it down with Bob-BQN's Brisket Dust Rub.

I then lightly greased up a cooking pan, added the pork and placed this in the oven at 300 F. After about 2.5 hours it is ready to serve.Here are a couple photos of the Pork Balls....

Freshly baked pork balls right out of the oven.

Up close.

The Firehouse Chili is typical firehouse. Quick to make with a lot of flavor.

Here is the recipe....

Firehouse Chili Beans

Ingredients

• One can Hormel Chili with Beans, 15 oz can
• One can Kidney Beans, 15 oz can 
• One Can Stewed Tomatoes, 15 oz can 
• One Can Chopped Green Chiles, 4-5 oz can 
• 2 Tbsp of Bob-BQN’s Brisket Dust (rub) 
• 1 Tsp of Puerto Rican Pig Powder
• Kosher Salt to Taste 
• One Package of Bacon, fried 

Directions 

• Add the can of Chopped Green Chiles and sauté them in their own liquid. 
• Add the can of Chili beans. 
• Add the can of Kidney beans with the water. 
• Add the can of Stew Tomatoes with the water. 
• Add the fried bacon. 
• Heat all this at medium heat stirring constantly. 
• Once it starts to boil, lower heat to simmer. 
• Add the Brisket Dust, Puerto Rican Pig Powder and stir. 
• Taste test then add the Kosher Salt to taste. 
• Continue to cook and stir until the liquid is reduced to a thick sauce. 

Serve hot.

And here are the pictures....

All the ingredients are simmering.

Steaming hot!!!

The sauce has thickened just right and it is ready to serve.

These dishes are easy to prepare, very tasty and pack tons of flavor. This definitely fits the bill with firefighters. 

To round out our meal we served corned in butter sauce, white rice and finadene.

What else could any hungry firefighter ask for in a meal?

Try it....you might like it.

Until next time....

Froots Restaurant, Guam....A Great, Health-Conscious Place to Eat!!!!

We love fast food. Who doesn't!! One of my wife's favorite fast food restaurants here on Guam is Froots.

Froots is a nation-wide fast food restaurant franchise. The local franchise on Guam is owned by Christine Baleto. There are two locations on Guam. The first one opened in the Agana Shopping Center. This did so well, another restaurant was opened at the Guam Premium Outlets also known as GPO. Froots offers an array of made-to-order smoothies, wraps, paninis, salads and soups. This restaurant sports a health food theme. And they do it well.

Froots at Guam Premium Outlets, Tamuning

The last time we went to Froots, my wife ordered the California Turkey Wrap wrapped in a spinach tortilla. This wrap is packed with turkey breast, bacon, Monterrey jack cheese, tomato, onion, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, spring mix, and ranch dressing. My wife loves this wrap.

I ordered the Tropical Toucan smoothie. This smoothie is "off the hook". It contains mango, peaches, strawberry-kiwi juice and orange sherbert, all my favorite flavors. These smoothies are thick, cold (brain freeze) and just plain delicious.

Here are a couple of pictures of my wife's California Turkey Spinach Tortilla wrap...

Here is the presentation

This is one fantastic tasting wrap!!!

Froots has quite a large variety of health-conscious menu items. Here is their menu....

One of our local television news stations, KUAM, aired a video report on the Guam Froots which was reported by Joan Aguon Charfauros. Here is that video...

So if you are looking for a delicious, health-conscious bite to eat, go to your local Froots Restaurant. You will definitely be glad you did and so will your stomach.

Until next time....

Pork Adobo at the firestation!!!!

Well, just to make a long story short, I had to work at the firestation yesterday. The chef for the day make a great tasting Pork Adobo. This is a type of Asian stew.

Here is what he did....

Ingredients

One 3 lb. pork butt

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

3 chicken bullion cubes

1.5 cups of water

3 potatoes. cubed

5 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tbsp vegetable oil

freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Directions

Cut up the pork butt into 1.5 inch cubes and mince the garlic. 

Browned this in an 8 qt. pot after after adding the oil. 

Add the soy and vinegar. Bring it all to a boil while constantly stirring, about 5 minutes. 

Add the chicken bullion cubes, black pepper and one cubed potato. The potato will thicken the soup.

Allow to cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will reduce the liquid. 

After the 15 minutes, pour in the water and add the rest of the potatoes and cook for another 15 minutes, covered. 

Stir occasionally. 

It will be finished when the pork meat is tender enough for you.

Eat with white rice. 

I telling you, you've got to try this!!! I think you will love it. You might want to make a double batch because, like any stew, it is better the next day.

Enjoy.

Until next time....

Rueben's Stir Fry Bok Choy with BBQ'd Pork Butt

I was touching bases with a number of BBQ blog sites early this morning and got myself all worked up looking at all the fantastic food pictures and reading up on their recipes. If you have never looked at Cowgirl's Country Life and HomesickTexan BBQ and food blog sites you are missing something. Just one look and it's like instant hunger. They are super talented and creative cooks, let me tell you. And, as I mentioned, I fell victim to the curse.

Well lucky for me I had some leftover bbq'd pork butt shish kabob chunks. So I decided I would stir fry it up with some vegetables that I had on hand.

Here is what I did...

Here are the basic ingredients, one red onion, two heads of bok choy, 1 1/2 cups of sliced bbq'd pork butt shish kabob, 1 julienned carrot, 3 cloves of minced garlic.

This is how I slice the onions (stir fry fashion).

The garlic is minced but not too fine.

The carrot is juilienned about 2-3 inches long.

I separate the bok choy leaves from the stem and cut the larger pieces in half. I use 2 of these pictured.

The bbq'd pork butt, previously skewered and in 1 inch cubes, are sliced into smaller pieces as shown.

I like to use a wok for stir frying. That's what they're made for.

I saute the onions first, in a little olive oil, until they are caramelized. Then remove them and place into a bowl.

Next, I stir fry the pork butt and carrots in one tablespoon of olive oil and a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a  pinch of basic rib rub. I set the pork and carrots aside in another bowl.

I then stir fry the boy choy and garlic in a half of teaspoon of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. I also add 2 pinches of basic rib rub. After the leaves soften just a little I add the rest of the ingredients and stir for about 1 minute over medium heat reducing some of the liquid.  I add salt and black pepper to taste.

When I stir fry, I like to stir fry the ingredients separately so that I can control the taste and consistency of each one.

And here is the final product.

This is very quick and easy to make. You can adjust just about any ingredient you like to your individual taste. That's the beauty of stir fry. It really is just another method of cooking your leftovers.

I am sure you will like the overall flavor and that of the individual ingredients. With this recipe, no one individual ingredient overpowers the other.

Enjoy!!

Until next time....

Cornish Game Hens for Dinner!!! Oh Yeah!!!

I know you probably are saying to yourself that a lot of my post titles are associated with "dinner". Guilty as charged. I love to BBQ and Grill every chance I can, so in order to give my wife a break, I do as much cooking as I possibly can. And when I cook, it is usually outside on the BBQ pit.

On this occasion, I decided to smoke up some Cornish game hens. It had been a while and I love these little buggers because they are so juicy and tasteful.

Cutting through the chase, here is what I did....

All rubbed down using a salt, black pepper and garlic powder blend. And I don't tie my birds. I like their wings flopping around. Looks kinda cute like a floppy-eared puppy.

Got the lump charcoal burning down in the chimney starter.

Set up for indirect smoking. As you can see most of the charcoal and wood chucks are on the left side. I place the hens on the right side of the grill.

Temperature gauge on the lid reads 270. That's close enough for me.

I always place a turkey fryer gauge at the grill level due to the difference in temperature between the grill height and the grill lid. Here the temp reads 310 which is a 40 degree difference. That makes a big difference in cooking time and will affect the final outcome if you are not careful.

Hens after about 50 minutes. You can see the turkey fryer gauge probe on the upper portion by the game hens neck.

Turned the hens to the backside to brown up the bottom.

And here is the final outcome after about 1 hour and 50 minutes grill time. They were cooked just right. Nice and juicy. Game hens are quick to cook internally so be ever vigilant.

It was another good night on Guam.

Until next time....

Quick Steak Dinner

Smoked some tuna the other day and thought it would be a shame to waste all those coals so I slapped on a Chuck steak. 

Now a Chuck steak may not seem like anything special, but they are a great value. They have a great flavor and are tender if you choose the right steak. It must be very marbled. And Chuck steaks are very inexpensive.

Take a look at this steak...


Look at those juices flowing out. I wish I could find a way to keep all those flavor juices in.


Flipped over and looking good.


I like my steak medium and that is what I have here.


Steak, peppers, salad and white rice, simple but delicious.

Well, my wife and I had a great little impromptu dinner having made use of those leftover coals. I can think of worse things to do, but this wasn't one of them.

Just another way to end the day.

Until next time....