Can you dig grill it? I knew that ya could IMBB? VI ~ Grillers (and Barbecuers) Delight

Char Siu Bao (Barbecue Roast Pork Bun)

Have I ever mentioned that I have never barbecued or even grilled anything in my life? I have happily watched family and friends grill endless meals in which I have been lucky enough to join in and share. I have eaten my share and then some of burgers, sausages, hot-dogs, chicken, shish-kabob, vegetables, fish, shrimp and even fruit hot off the grill, many times burning my tongue and the roof of my mouth because I was too greedy to wait for the food to cool down. I have eaten food that was cooked on grills using propane, charcoal and even wood, such as oak, hickory, mesquite and apple. I have a vague memory of my Mother grilling some skewered meat on a Hibachi off the back porch of an apt. we once lived in in Brooklyn. I have eaten some very good, sloooow cooked Southern barbecue, pulled pork sandwiches so juicy and succulent that my mouth waters even now as I type, yet, with all that eating experience, I have never ever tempted fate and tried to do it myself. I am chicken, me and fire just do not click, among the countless burns I have endured over the years while cooking and ironing, there is an incident that still remains fairly fresh in my mind; Christmas Eve some 20+ years ago, I somehow let my head get too close to a lit candle and suddenly my hair burst into flames à la Michael Jackson in that Pepsi commercial, so when Barrett said that he would be hosting the next Is My Blog Burning? event and that the subject would be Grilling and Barbecuing, I thought it was just the push I needed to finally try my hand at barbecue, or at the very least grilling.

Silly me, what was I thinking?

What it came down to was time, or rather, a lack of it. For the longest time I've wanted to make Char Siu at home, the proper way. I made it once a long time ago in our oven and got disastrous results, well, maybe not disastrous, it was edible, but it lacked in every way, the texture, the flavor, and the moistness were all off and it turned out to be nothing like the char siu you see hanging in the windows of restaurants in Chinatown. This Cantonese specialty is often used as a filling for baked or steamed buns and that is exactly what I wanted to make the char siu for, baked roast pork buns. The meat is left to marinade in a mixture of brown sugar, ketchup, dark soy, yellow bean sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, fermented red bean, dry sherry, roasted sesame oil, and garlic for at least 8 hours, then suspended over a tray of water, which is then set over a fire so that the meat can slowly roast. It is one incredibly tasty treat.

Baked, barbecued roast pork buns are sort of a specialty of mine. A treat I make for Tom that I'm very proud of because I taught myself how to make them many years ago when I could not rely on the internet for good or even accurate recipes. Back in those days, I couldn’t find any one recipe that was quite what I wanted, so I pieced together a whole bunch of different ones, incorporating elements I liked from each to make my own version of the baked pork buns. In retrospect, I could have asked my Mother-in-Law to teach me, but then I would have never had the fun of figuring it out on my own and impressing Tom in the process. ANYWAY, I wanted to make the pork buns again because it has been a while, they are great to have around for snacking or quick breakfasts and I wanted to try making the char su the right way, but I couldn't seem to get my act together or find the time. Between caring for the baby, working and doing a gazillion other things I never seem to be able to cook for sheer pleasure anymore, so I cheated. I'm a cheater. There. I said it. I feel better, I can move on. I strapped Little Miss Parsley Fingers into her carrier and we walked down to Chinatown where I bought 2 pounds of the barbecued meat and even had the nice man chop it up for me. Ellie didn't grab at anything this time, but she did blow quite a few raspberries at people. That’s' my girl! I was feeling prit-tee smug on the way home, after all, there was barbecued meat in my backpack and the girl was napping on my chest, life was good...until I came home and reread the recipe and to my absolute horror, noticed some HUGE errors! HUGE!

About a year ago, I transcribed all those little notes and pieces of paper I had onto the blog so that I had a more permanent and coherent record of the recipe. By doing this I broke a rule that I made when I initially set up this site, and that was to never post a recipe that I had not tried. Technically, this was a tried recipe because I had made it many times before, but I never tried it after I had transcribed it onto the site and so I didn't catch the errors until yesterday. The other thing that was a little odd was that I gave instructions for the dough assuming people would use a food processor, yet I never once used a food processor for mixing this dough myself, huh! I immediately removed the entry from a year ago and today's post, for the 6th IMBB? will replace the old recipe I had here for Char Siu Bao. Besides, the old entry didn't have fabulous pictures like this one does. actually, I know some of the pictures came out less than fabulous but I was having camera troubles and was also rushing.

I highly reccomend buying the roasted pork from a shop rather than making it on your own. I will no longer keep the recipe for roasting your own pork posted here because I don't trust myself and cannot vouch that it is error free. The rest of the recipe I post today is fine, I know because I tested it, hee. This is a little time consuming to make if you factor in the three hours that the dough needs for rising and then the additional hour for it to proof, but it is so worth it.

To Stir-Fry the Pork:

Before I could boogie down (did I really just say that?) and start making the stir-fry, I cut out about 20-three inch squares of wax paper (parchment works too) and set them aside. I was going to need one square for each filled bun, and for some reason I got a little nuts about getting the size as close to three inches as possible.

In a bowl, I mixed together 1 TBS grated ginger, 1 TBS oyster sauce, 1 TBS hoisin sauce, 1 TBS dark soy sauce, 2 TBS sugar, and 1/2 cup water and set aside.

I set the wok over high heat, then added 1 TBS peanut oil, letting the oil get very hot, then added 1 cup of finely chopped onion and stir-fried until soft, but not letting the onion turn brown.

I then added 2 lbs of roast pork that had been diced very small and stir-fried for 30 seconds, then poured in the marinade mixture and let everything come to a boil.

I slowly added 1 TBS of cornstarch that I had previously mixed with 1 TBS water and stirred it in with the pork, cooking and stirring until thick.

This is not thick

This is thick. Once the mixture was thickened, I added 1 TsP sesame oil, stirred for 20 seconds just to incorporate the oil and then removed everything from the heat and set aside. The mixture needs to be cool when filling the dough, but there was no problem since I made the filling ahead of time it would be cool by the time the dough was made and left to rise for three hours.

For the Dough:

I dissolved 1 package of active dry yeast with 1 TBS sugar in 1/4 cup warm water, I let this sit for about 5 minutes letting it foam (above) then after 5 minutes I mixed it around and added 3/4 cup warm heavy cream, an egg that I had beaten and 2 TBS vegetable oil. I set that all aside while I mixed the dry ingredients. In a large bowl I sifted 3-1/2 cups of flour with the remaining 2 TBS of sugar and a pinch of salt, then added the yeast mixture and with my hands I mixed the dough until it was slightly tacky adding more flour if needed. When the dough pulled away from the sides of the bowl I turned it out onto a floured countertop and began kneading.

This batch of dough was a little stiff to work with and I'm wondering if the egg serves any real purpose other than making richer dough. I want to try leaving it out since most of the recipes I've seen for the yeast dough don't ask for an egg. I can't remember why I added one in the first place! Anway, I kneaded the dough for 10 minutes, taking a few breaks in between to let the dough rest so that it was easier to handle. After ten minutes the dough was a lot smoother (above) and I placed it in a large bowl that had been coated with vegetable oil, turned it a few times to coat, then covered it with plastic wrap and a dish towel and set it aside to rest for 3 hours.

After three hours the dough had doubled in size.

I punched it down, let it rest for about 2 minutes then turned it out onto a lightly floured surface.

At this point, I began to work the dough into a flat shape, then sprinkled 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder over the top surface. The above photo shows the dough with flour on the bottom and baking powder on the top.

I gathered the sides of the dough and sort of pinched them together to keep the baking powder from spilling out and then began to knead it into the dough to incorporate it really well, about 5 minutes.

I divided the dough into 20 equal-ish balls (some were bigger than others but that's okay) and set them aside in the oiled bowl from earlier, then covered them with a damp dish towel while I worked with each piece of dough individually. Armed with the neat little rolling pin I picked up at my beloved Kalustyans not too long ago, I made quick work out of rolling dough into flat little discs.

I placed 2 heaping tablespoons of filling in the center of each disc,

then did the best I could to stretch/pinch/close the dough over the filling. I don't think I did that poorly!

I placed each finished blob onto a little sheet of wax paper and then set that onto a cookie sheet and covered it with a damp towel while I made the other yummy treats.

Here are the buns all lined up and looking cute, as if they are getting ready to march with the band or something.

Once I had all the buns made, I covered them with the dish towel and let them proof for 1 hour. When I lifted the towels an hour later I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely the buns had risen.

I made an egg wash that consisted of 2 egg yolks, 4 tablespoons of cold water and a teaspoon of sugar and using a pastry brush I brushed it very gently onto the buns.

You can see how the buns not brushed with egg wash look dull compared to the ones with egg wash. Egg wash is a wonderful thing, it will allow the buns to brown a lovely color and what you don't use on the buns you can use for an egg tempera painting. (kidding)

I placed the buns in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and let them bake for 20 minutes, give or take a few minutes. When I removed the buns from the oven they had turned a nice brown and the kitchen smelled incredible! I left them to cool on wire racks.

This is the barbecue roast pork bun just before I split it open, photographed it and scarfed it down. It was delicous, sort of sweet, sort of savory, well worth the effort.

Whipped up by Deb at 08:15 AM

Hot Polenta Sandwiches (Rebecchini)

Served hot, these tasty treats are fragrant and crispy on the outside but soft and yielding on the inside with little charred bits of browned garlicky goodness and a salty/vinegary bite of anchovies and capers that is just sooo good. If you add some crushed red pepper to the anchovy/caper/garlic paste and a squeeze of lemon just before serving then we are talking food Nirvana. Best eaten hot with your fingers (well, don't actually eat your fingers but you know what I mean), anyway, they’re best eaten hot while standing over the stove, but if you must sit down, then I suggest finding a nice quiet place where no one will find you and the coat sleeves won't irritate the back of your head and dig in! I have crossed over to the other side, I am no longer sitting on the fence, this dish has made me a true convert...I LOVE POLENTA!

The Little Girl and I were out walking the other day, and since our walk was taking us past my beloved Kalustyan's I just had to stop in. I'm always in need of something or another from that wonderful store and this time it was dried chickpeas and some good thick yogurt. Whenever I'm in that place I just can't seem to simply run in, buy what I need and leave, I have to browse. For the amount of stuff they manage to pack into that place the store is actually small and the aisles are very narrow with some places being very hard to maneuver with the Baby Björn strapped to my chest, the grocery basket in my hand and my backpack (which is currently doubling as a diaper bag) on my arm, but somehow I managed, and that’s how I came across a bag of smoked Italian polenta. Okay, so polenta is basically cornmeal, and cornmeal I have plenty of at home, but none of it is smoked cornmeal, so I just had to try this. What I was going to do with it I didn’t know, because as I may have mentioned here before I am not (or rather was not) a big fan of polenta, but perhaps a sudden irresistible need for cornbread or some other thing would give me a reason to try it. The next day, my latest EBAY acquisition arrived in the mail, a book by the celebrity chef Mario Batali. I've been watching his Molto Mario show on the Food Network quite a bit recently and I've decided that I like what he cooks and what he has to say about food and cooking. I had dinner at Esca once when it first opened, and while I enjoyed the food, the dining experience was not so great, but that’s another story for another day. Anyway, I started flipping through Simple Italian Food and when I came across the recipe for Hot Polenta Sandwiches. I knew this was it, the reason to use the smoked polenta, YAY!

Just a couple of quick notes about the recipe:

While I could smell the smokey flavor when I opened the bag of polenta I couldn't tell if it made any real difference in the final product. I used a large pinch of crushed red pepper flakes in the anchovy/capers mixture and it was a good choice, adding a little heat to the filling without making it too unbearably spicy. Next time I'd use more garlic and more anchovies. Instead of olive oil I used some really lovely grapeseed oil infused with herbs that my friend Henry gave to me after a recent trip to California, it was fragrant and fruity and the herbs added a nice dimension to the polenta dish. The grapeseed oil worked really well for brushing onto the baking sheet but I did go ahead and used the suggested olive oil for the frying part of the recipe. Speaking of olive oil, I didn't want to deep fry and so I didn't use anywhere near as much oil as Mario instructed, instead I used about half that amount over a medium flame and it was just fine. I drained the polenta on papers towels to blot out any excess oil and with the leftover scraps of polenta I had after cutting I dipped and fried those too, they weren't as salty/garlicky as the sandwiches but it was still pretty tasty.

Adapted from Simple Italian Food by Mario Batali

Hot Polenta Sandwiches (Rebecchini)

serves 4

"These groovy hot antipasti can be made up to four hours in advance and then reheated in a hot oven for five minutes just before serving. They are generally served during the apertivo phase as an appetite teaser rather than at the table as an antipasto. "

• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup quick-cooking polenta or yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
• 4 garlic cloves, thickly sliced
• 8 anchovy fillets
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs

Brush a large baking sheet with vegetable oil and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil and add the salt. Whisking vigorously, slowly add the polenta in a thin stream and cook until quite thick, about 1 minute, switching to a wooden spoon to stir as the polenta thickens. Pour the polenta onto the baking sheet and spread with a spatula to a 1/8-to1/4-inch thickness, covering the sheet. Allow to cool 1 hour.

In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until light brown. Add the anchovies and capers and stir until broken up into paste. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the flour on a plate. Break the eggs in a shallow bowl and beat gently with a fork.

Pour 3 inches of olive oil into a deep pot and heat to 360 degrees F.

While the oil is heating, cut the cooled polenta into 2-inch rounds using a glass or cookie cutter; you will have about 24 pieces. Place 1/2 teaspoon of anchovy mixture on the smooth side of a polenta disk and create a sandwich by covering with a second polenta disk, smooth side in. Press together. Dredge the sandwiches in flour, then egg, and deep-fry 4 or 5 at a time until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Serve hot.

Arancini di Riso

More commonly known as Rice Balls, these Sicilian treats are usually eaten as appetizers, but because of their size they can also make a great meal. We eat them smothered in homemade sauce, sometimes with a dollop of Ricotta cheese on top. In my opinion, they taste better the next day, after all the flavors have had a chance to merge. The best way to re-heat is in the oven. This recipe is time consuming, there are many steps and a lot of the ingredients need to be made ahead of time and cooled before using. I only make this for special occasions because it's so labor intensive, however you can split the work over 2 days, and then it's not so bad. The other really nice thing about this recipe is that it's so versatile, you can omit the filling, or the peas or put whatever you like in the middle, it's really up to you.

The Sauce

Ingredients

• 2-28 oz cans of crushed imported Italian tomatoes
• 1-28 oz can of peeled imported Italian tomatoes
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large bunch of fresh basil

Method

note: This makes a large "vat" of sauce. I usually make extra and freeze the leftovers.

Wash the fresh basil and set aside. Remove the peeled tomatoes from the can, reserve the liquid, pierce the tomatoes with a fork and squeeze the juice and seeds into a bowl. Strain the liquid to remove the seeds and set aside with the other liquid. Chop the tomato pulp into large chunks and set aside. In a large saucepan, over medium heat sautè the garlic until just brown. I use at least 2 tablespoons of olive oil or enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Once the garlic is just beginning to brown, add the crushed tomatoes, the chopped tomato pulp and all the reserved liquid. Stir, and reduce heat bringing the mixture slowly to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste and if the sauce taste a little bitter, add a pinch of sugar to sweeten it a bit. Once the sauce starts to boil, tear the basil leaves and begin adding to and stirring them into the sauce. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 mins. and voila! the sauce is done.

The Meat

Ingredients

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste diluted with a ladle full of hot water
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 small onion diced

Method

Sautè the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent. Add the ground beef and continue cooking until just brown, add the tomato paste that has been diluted with a ladle full of hot water, stir, add salt and pepper to taste, reduce heat and cook for 10 more mins. The mixture should resemble this.

The Peas and Cheese

Ingredients

• 1½ cups fresh or frozen peas
• ½ pound Mozzarella cheese cubed

Simmer the peas until just tender. Drain, and set aside to cool. Once cool, toss the peas with the mozzarella and then combine with the already prepared meat mixture and set aside once more.

The Rice

Ingredients

• 1½ cups Arborio Rice
• 1 teaspoon saffron
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs

Boil the rice in copious amounts of lightly salted water. While the rice is cooking, beat the 2 eggs and set aside. (I know there's a lot of "setting aside", bear with me, the recipe really is worth it). When the rice is tender, drain it and transfer it back to the pot, let it cool slightly, and CAREFULLY FOLD IN the beaten eggs, then add the parmesan cheese and saffron. I can't stress enough the need to be very careful when adding the eggs at this stage, although cooler the rice is still pretty hot and if you're not careful you can actually scramble the eggs while trying to add them in. The mixture should look like this. Allow the mixture to cool enough so that when you are ready to assemble, it will not burn your hands.

Assembling all the Ingredients

Ingredients

• 2 eggs beaten
• 3 cups flour
• 3 cups seasoned bread crumbs
• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• 3 cups of vegetable oil for frying

Add the parmesan cheese to the seasoned bread crumbs and put in a bowl, put the flour in a another bowl, and in another bowl beat the 2 eggs. Assemble your ingredients in a way you find easiest to work with and get reay for the fun part! Thoroughly coat hands with flour,(this is the best way to handle the gooey rice without it sticking to your hands) scoop mixture into one hand, make a well and add about a tablespoon or more of the meat mixture. With your other hand, grab another handful of rice and place on top and do your best to form a ball. Coat with flour, dip in egg, then dip in breadcrumb and set aside, repeat this until you have run out of mixture. Heat Oil to 375 degrees, if you are like me and don't have one of those fancy fryers, please please please invest in a candy/oil thermometer to make sure your oil is at the right temperature. If the temp. of the oil is too low, the rice balls will absorb oil while they are cooking and you will end up with thick greasy balls of rice. Once the oil is at the right temp, add the balls 2 at a time, frying until golden brown on all sides. Using a slotted spoon, remove and let drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Yeild: 4 large rice balls or 8 smaller ones. To serve: Ladle sauce into a dish, add a rice ball and ladle more sauce on top. Enjoy!