bounty chocolate: Appetizer

Showing posts with label Appetizer. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Appetizer. Show all posts

FIESTA CORN DIP

WELCOME TO ANOTHER MONTH OF 2 SWEETIE PIES!! I LOVE THIS DAY! MY BLOGGING BUDDY LIZZIE (FROM THAT SKINNY CHICK CAN BAKE) AND I EACH BAKE FROM THE OTHER'S BLOG AND SURPRISE EACH OTHER...AND YOU-WITH WHAT WE MADE!!! THIS MONTH I MADE LIZZY'S FIESTA CORN DIP! FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE
...TRY THIS ONE OUT!!!!

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FIESTA CORN DIP:

Ingredients:
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
3 cups frozen corn, defrosted
2 cups Hellman's mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped green chiles (small can), drained
1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers, minced
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375º. Mix all ingredients together. Spread evenly in casserole dish and bake 45-60 minutes till top is golden. Serve with tortilla chips.

CHEESY BROCCOLI BITES WITH AVOCADO CREAM DIPPING SAUCE....GOOD EATS RIGHT HERE!!!

Oven Fried Broccoli Bites-awesome eats right here!!!
12-16 oz. fresh steamed broccoli
1 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella cheese
3 eggs
salt & pepper
1 cup of seasoned Italian breadcrumbs (I used aleia's GF)
Avocado Oil

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Form patties by hand and lay on a cookie sheet (I used my PC stone) that has been oiled (I use AVOCADO OIL BY CHOSEN FOODS!!!!!) Bake in oven 20-30 mins until browned, turning once.

Adapted from Stacey's Snacks

Avocado Cream Dipping Sauce:
Mix together 1 avocado (scooped) and 1-2T. sour cream, salt and pepper. Serve on the side as a dip!

GUACAMOLE

4 HAAS AVOCADOS, SCOOPED OUT (RESERVE A FEW SLICES FOR TOPPING THE BOWL)
1 RED ONION, FINELY DICED
1 LEMON, SQUEEZED
1 TSP SALT
1 MINCED GARLIC CLOVE
FRESH PEPPER TO TASTE
5 DASHES HOT SAUCE
PLACE ALL IN A BOWL AND MASH TOGETHER UNTIL CONSISTENCY YOU LIKE.
TOP WITH:
2 SLICES CRISPY BACON, CHOPPED AND RESERVED AVOCADO SLICES
ADAPTED FROM INA

ROASTED RED PEPPER & CAPER DIP

Roasted Red Pepper, Caper & artichoke dip

Combine everything in the food processor and blend until well combined. Chill covered until ready to serve.
ONE 7 oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained
16 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup capers, drained
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Hope you enjoy this simple and delish dip!!!!

Halloumi & Herb Cheese Rolls

Happy Sunday, folks! I'm testing and reworking cake recipes this weekend so today I have a guest post from Mother Humble: Her Halloumi rolls. The family is very fond of these soft, cheese filled rolls (a bit more so than we are of her bottomless bag of cheese jokes).

I promised Ms. Humble before the newest adorable little humble was born that I would help her with her blog. Well, I quickly realized that I don’t enjoy writing about food as much as I enjoy cooking and eating it. I also realized that my lovely daughter, Ms. Humble, has more patience and skill than I when it comes to making food look good and photographing it well. (Really - all that time in photographing really should be spent scarfing down the fresh and yummy just cooked foodstuffs. It is agonizing.)

Savory Palmiers & Puff Pastry

Top 10 "Most Difficult" Recipes: #7 Puff Pastry
Total Batches: One
Time: One day
Butter: Over a pound
Difficulty: Making a classic laminated puff pastry really isn't that difficult. Perhaps it is that many have gotten used to making the much simpler blitz or rough puff pastry that relatively, a true laminated dough seems a bit tedious.

Though, I suppose if you're living in a warm climate and your room temperature is in the 80's or 90's, making laminated doughs does get a bit more complicated.

It has been cold in Seattle this week and as such, my room temperature has been about 50°F, making puff pastry and croissant dough a cinch. (Oh and by the way, will get around to posting part two of the croissant trials Monday, if not this weekend.) The down side to the cold weather is that I think my sourdough starter has been suffering. It has been acting rather pathetic since the temperature dropped on Monday.

So today we're posting the puff pastry recipe, the same used for the napoleons yesterday. I also whipped up several batches of savory palmiers with this dough (though typically I make these with blitz puff pastry). Mr Humble loves the prosciutto palmiers and the little Humble was a big fan of the pesto. As for myself, I love anything surrounded by light buttery puff pastry.

Yes, even a Hot Pocket would be rendered edible.

Puff Pastry Dough
yields 4lbs
533 grams bread flour
40 grams cake flour
14 grams salt
113 grams butter, soft
270 mL water, cold

Roll-In
510g butter, pliable
57g bread flour

Combine the flours, salt, butter and water in the bowl of your mixer. Use the dough hook to blend on low speed until a smooth dough is formed. Line a half sheet pan with plastic wrap and a light dusting of flour. Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly the size of the sheet pan and place it into your prepared pan. Cover with plastic and chill for an hour.

Prepare the roll-in by beating the cold butter with your rolling pin until it is soft and pliable. Add it to your mixer and beat in the flour using the paddle attachment. Transfer the butter to a sheet of parchment paper and form it into a smooth rectangle (no lumps or bumps) roughly half the size of the sheet of dough. Cover with plastic and chill until firm but still pliable (you don't want the roll in to become hard).

Once the dough is chilled, you can preform the lock in.

Remove the dough from the sheet pan and place onto a cool surface like a marble pastry slab. Place the butter at one end of the dough and then fold over the other half. Firmly seal the edges of the dough around the butter and then roll the dough out back to its original size (the size of the half sheet pan). Try to keep the edges straight and the corners square.

Once rolled, preform a four-fold on the dough. Meaning: fold the two shorter sides of the dough to the center, and then fold in half. Much like a four fold wallet.

It should look like the above after your first four fold. Mark the dough with a dimple (or dimples) so you can remember which 4-fold you're on. We've completed the first four fold here so I'm poking it just once. Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic for 30-45 minutes (don't rush this process in the freezer, you're not just allowing the dough to chill but the gluten to rest so it is capable of stretching and creating all those wonderful layers).

Once rested, turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it out again into the sheet pan sized rectangle, keeping the edges straight and the corners sharp. Preform a second four fold, mark the dough with two dimples, wrap and allow to rest again for 30 minutes.

Repeat this two more times for a total of four four-folds, turning the dough 90 degrees each time. Allow to rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator after each folding and before using.

Now you've got puff pastry! You can roll it out into sheets, fold it, wrap it and store it in the freezer for future use.

Or, you can make some quick and easy savory palmiers...

Pesto and Prosciutto Palmiers:

Prosciutto Palmiers
1 sheet of puff pastry (10" square 1/4" thick)
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
10 slices prosciutto
1/2 cup pecorino romano or parmesan, grated
fresh ground pepper

Spread the tomato paste evenly over the surface of the puff pastry. Arrange the prosciutto slices on top and then sprinkle with half of the grated pecorino romano. Roll or fold the two sides to the center, and then sprinkle center with the remaining cheese and close (this keeps them from unfolding when the pastry puffs in the oven).

Transfer the log to a cutting board and cut 1/4" slices. Place these onto a baking sheet lined with parchment giving them plenty of room to expand.

Bake at 400°F for 10-20 minutes until golden brown.

Pesto Palmiers
1 sheet of puff pastry (10" square 1/4" thick)
2-3 tablespoons basil pesto
1/2 cup pecorino romano or parmesan, grated

Follow the same instructions for the prosciutto palmers, as given above.

Enjoy!

Arancini

Arancini tonight.

If you're unfamiliar with them, don't worry. I'm here to help.

Once long ago, I too was one of those poor, unfortunate arancini-less schlubs. Wandering though life without the deep fried carbohydrate bomb that would someday complete me.

Oh yes.

Then, while waiting for a connecting train somewhere in the hill towns of Italy, I came face to face with the golden blob of deliciousness.

I had no idea what it was, but it didn't matter. It was so perfectly golden and so obviously deep fried that had to be good. (I'm of the opinion that deep fried always equals good. You could deep fry a cockroach, or even a Hot Pocket, and it has the potential to be delicious.) I quickly purchased two and brought them back to Mr. Humble, who I had abandoned earlier with my bags to explore the station.

Hold on, I need to nom on these while taking photos...

Okay, so the train station arancini were not all that good. They were cold and gluey. They were... well, train station food.

Still, I adore risotto and I knew that deep frying it was going to take my love of the starchy rice to the next level.

This recipe calls for leftovers, preferably risotto that has been allowed to sit in the fridge overnight. Feel free to use any risotto recipe you like. You can also toy with the fillings, as this is a very flexible appetizer. I enjoy a fresh basil pesto risotto, filled with buffalo mozzarella. Or saffron risotto filled with shrimp. Just use your imagination.

Technically, since this is deep fried, you might even be able to involve Hot Pockets.

Maybe.

Not So Humble Arancini
yields roughly 1 dozen
2 cups cold, leftover risotto
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
mozzarella
vegetable oil for frying

Heat your oven to 300°F

Cut the mozzarella into a dozen 1cm cubes.

Grab a golf ball sized hunk of the cold risotto and press the cube into the center and mush the risotto around it. Roll it into a ball and set aside. Repeat until you've formed all the risotto balls.

Then take the balls and coat them in the egg and then the bread crumbs, shaking off any excess.

Heat several inches of oil over medium heat (350°F) and fry the risotto balls in batches, drain briefly on paper towels and then transfer to the oven to hold.

Serve warm.

Saganaki & Why I Never Met Danny Devito

Long ago, in my early university days, I got by working as a server in a Greek restaurant.

Occasionally we had saganaki on the menu as an appetizer special. I appreciated the rarity of the dish, as the combination of hungry diners and leaping flames was always a dangerous mix.

One night when we didn't have saganaki on the menu, I had a customer who I'll call Mr. Important.

Mr. Important was supposedly from California and a "connoisseur" of Greek food. He pulled me aside and told me that he expected VIP service because he and his guests were "very important people" (for reasons I cannot remember). Which is probably one of the dumbest things you can say to a tired, busy server.

So while pouring wine, Mr. Important announces that his party will have saganaki to start. I inform them that we're not offering saganaki tonight. His jaw dropped and he shouted, "You don't have saganaki?! How can you NOT have saganaki?! Danny Devito will NEVER come here if you don't have saganaki!"

It took a few seconds for this to sink in. It just didn't compute. Why would he blurt out such a thing? Moreover, I'm out in the middle of podunk nowhere Washington. The odds of me serving Danny Devito were about as high as my serving a party of leprechauns or Elvis.

Of course, being me, I informed Mr. Important of this, figuring my chances of a decent tip off this party had already long since crashed and burned. Mr. Important then took the matter to our head chef (directly to the kitchen) again invoking Danny Devito. During the height of our dinner rush, no less. Which of course went over marvelously.

Ah, the joys of being a server.

I never saw Mr. Important again and naturally, Danny Devito never stopped by.

All that lengthy blogging stuff aside, saganaki is soooo good. The combination of olive oil, brandy and fresh lemon juice is bliss.

You should make it, because if you don't Danny Devito will NEVER come over to your house for dinner.

This dish is best made with kefalograviera, kasseri, or kefalotyri cheeses. I made it with kasseri (my favorite) earlier but none of the photos turned out. So I made it again today with mozzarella (no more kasseri, sorry!), which is a less expensive, easily obtainable substitution. In fact, feel free to experiment with any number of firm cheeses that can withstand pan frying without melting into a puddle.

Not So Humble Saganaki:
four 3/4" slices of kasseri cheese
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
sea salt
olive oil
brandy
1 lemon quartered

warm pita bread

Combine the flour with the pepper and a generous pinch of sea salt. Dip the cheese slices into the egg and then thoroughly coat in flour.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan until it barely begins to smoke, then add the cheese. Cook until golden brown on each side, turning once.

Place the cheese into a serving dish, pouring a little of the hot olive oil on top. Pour approximately an ounce of brandy over the cheese and ignite. Extinguish with the juice of a lemon wedge. Serve immediately with pita to mop up the delicious mixture of olive oil, brandy and lemon juice.

Crispy Mozzarella Sticks

I've been craving something deep fried and horrible for me. What I wanted was saganaki, but I lacked kefalotyri or kasseri cheeses so that was out of the question (Ooooh! I should do it next week... I need to hit up my resident cheesemonger!). I did however have a big block of mozzarella hanging around so I decided to make do with mozzarella sticks. Of course, as any one who has made them from scratch knows, all that breading is a pain.

So I was thinking about how to satisfy my fried cheese cravings with as little work as possible and I remembered a trip to Utah last year and a Brazilian steakhouse called Rodizio Grill. They had these little appetizers, bites of mozzarella fried in wonton skins. I thought they were a really clever take on the ordinary breaded mozzerella stick and all the more satisfying because they packed a great crunch.

They may not be very chic, but they're good. So I'm going to share these crunchy, easy to make mozzarella sticks. What I am not going to share is how many I managed to eat.

Not So Humble Crispy Mozzarella Sticks:
1 large block mozzarella
1 package egg roll wrappers
1-2 cups marinara (optional)
oil for frying

Cut the mozzarella into 1/2 thick sticks (length will depend on the size of your egg roll wrappers).

Place the mozzarella onto a wonton wrapper and add two tablespoons marinara (if using) and fold in the sides and then roll up. Secure with a dab of water to hold the wrapper closed. Repeat with the remaining cheese.

In a frying pan, heat a half inch of oil over medium/medium-high heat.

Fry the sticks for roughly a minute on each side until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Gobi Manchurian

I find that when traveling it is fun to not only try out the local food, but also the region's take on more exotic fare. I love seeing (and tasting) how a particular place interprets and adapts a foreign cuisine.

For example, seeking out 'American food' abroad tends to provide an interesting experience. I've sampled pizza in India, country fried chicken in Thailand, McDonald's in Paris, hamburgers in Belgium, chicken cordon bleu in Malaysia (and many others). Trying familiar things in unfamiliar places can be a fun culinary side trip.

I mean, you wouldn't believe how classy the Pizza Hut in Bangalore, India was. Decked out with marble, chandeliers, and crisp linens, they even had a host to seat you! Talk about stepping though the looking glass... and I would love to ramble on about eating abroad but I do need to get to the gobi at some point.

Now, I love Chinese food but when it comes to Chinese-fusion food, American-Chinese has nothing on Indian-Chinese cuisine. It isn't even a fair fight, that stuff is inspired. Who knew the marriage of a little soy with Indian spices could be so delicious?

When I lived in India, I ate a lot of 'Indian' egg rolls, dumplings and my favorite: Gobi Manchurian.

This is like a vegetarian hot wing. Florets of cauliflower, poached, battered and then fried. Tossed in a fiery sauce. As someone who loves spicy food, these satisfy with every sinus clearing bite.

(Mmm deliciously blurry)

One of my favorite gobi experiences was over a decade ago, sitting at a single table outdoor restaurant in Hampi (Southern India). Our adorable and very professional waiter, who was all of seven years old, took our lunch orders (Gobi, Vadai and Thumbs-UP colas, if I remember correctly). He brought us cold bottles of soda and then promptly got on his bike and peddled away. He came back from... somewhere, laden with fresh vegetables for our meal. These were taken back to his mother, our chef, who cooked them up for us.

Now, I might not be able to offer up anything as charming as that experience, but I can at least provide a recipe for good Gobi Manchurian.

Not so Humble Gobi Manchurian:
serves 4-6
1 head cauliflower, cut into medium florets
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chick pea flour (or corn flour)
1/3 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon grated garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped green chili
pinch of salt
warm water

Manchurian Sauce
this is very hot, consider yourself warned
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1/3 cup finely chopped green onion (white part only)
1 dried red chili chopped
1 inch ginger minced
2 jalapeños seeded and finely chopped
1-2 thai green chilies seeded and finely chopped (optional)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup

cilantro chopped
green onion chopped

Core and cut the cauliflower into medium florets. Bring a pot of water with a little salt to a boil and add the florets, cook for 10 minutes until tender and drain.

In a wok or deep fryer, heat a few inches of vegetable oil to 350 degrees. For the batter, combine the flours, chilies, garlic and ginger, adding just enough water to make the mixture smooth. Toss the florets in a bowl with the batter to coat, then sprinkle in an additional 1/4 cup of rice flour and toss gently. Fry the florets in small batches until they are a deep golden brown and crispy, then drain on paper towels.

Meanwhile, saute the garlic in the sesame oil over medium high heat for about 30 seconds, add the green onion, garlic, ginger and chilies and saute for another minute. Add the remaining ingreidents and cook over medium heat for a couple minutes until thick and bubbly.

Add the crispy fried florets to a bowl and pour the sauce over them, tossing to coat. Garnish with green onions and cilantro and serve immediately.

She Had A Plan...

Party is over, time to take a little break from the holiday/birthday madness. At least I had Mother Humble around to assist and of course by 'assist', I mean take control and override me in her special motherly way.

She relieved me of all duties related to cooking for the littlest Humble's birthday party today. Mother Humble just booted me out of the kitchen, telling me she had 'a plan'. So I turned her loose, not that I or anyone else had the power to stop her.

That's just how Mother Humble rolls.

So she whipped up an array of little tea sandwiches and other snacks for the mid-afternoon party spread from all the ingredients I had bought for MY plan. These included Curried Chicken & Apple, English Cheddar & Spring Onion, Turkey & Cranberry, BLT, Pastrami & Swiss, PB&J, Cream Cheese & Cucumber, Egg Salad, Smoked Salmon & Dill and at least two others. All laid out on slate boards with chalk descriptions for the guests.

She also set out blanched vegetables, salads, deviled eggs, my husband's Chinese BBQ pork and whatever else she wanted.

I got to have fun playing 'tornado whips through the doll house' with the birthday girl.

Happy birthday kiddo. Your mom would appreciate a nice long nap on Monday.

Potato Leek Soup with Pancetta & English Cheddar Puffs

More soup, because it is cold outside today. Actually, it is cold inside too.

Apparently Seattle is supposed to get some snow soon, which will be lovely... for anyone who doesn't need to use a car. I know folks from other Northern states who chuckle at the chaos that unfolds in this city when we get even a trace of snow, but they don't seem realize that the whole city is pretty much built on a 90 degree incline. I don't exactly get around in a monster truck, so word of snow puts me a little on edge.

Anyway, dinner tonight is potato leek soup with pancetta served with warm savory english cheddar puffs. Easy, hot and yummy. Exactly what I need.

Not so Humble's Potato Leek Soup with Pancetta:
Serves 8

1 leek, washed and the white portion finely chopped
1 large onion finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 pound thick sliced pancetta, cubed
2 large boiling potatoes peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups chicken stock
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons flour
1 3/4 cups whole milk
salt
pepper

In a pot over medium high heat, add olive oil and onion and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the leek, celery, pancetta and potatoes and saute for another 3 minutes stirring often. Add the three cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a separate pan until bubbly, add the flour and cook over medium high heat for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add the milk and whisk until smooth. Once the sauce thickens, add it to the soup mixing well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

(Just a quick shout out to Mother Humble in London: See Mom! I used that cheese you left behind! You can stop worrying about it going to waste now.)

These are wonderful savory little puffs, packed with cheddar flavor. They make great appetizers and they are also great with tonight's soup.

If you can't find a nice English cheddar, be sure to substitute a sharp cheddar. Milder cheddar cheeses don't pack enough flavor for these puffs, so keep that in mind. This recipe also calls for french fried onions, for which I've provided a recipe at the bottom of the post. If you don't want to go through all the trouble of making your own fried onions, feel free to substitute the store bought variety.

Not so Humble's English Cheddar Puffs:
yields roughly 32 puffs

1/4 cup butter
1 cup plus two tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 eggs
1 2/3 cup packed, grated sharp English cheddar
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 cup french fried onions

Preheat your oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small pot, add the butter, salt and one cup of water and bring to a boil. Grab a wooden spoon, reduce the heat to medium and add the flour. Mix with the wooden spoon for about 2-3 minutes until the dough is glossy and has pulled away from the sides of the pan.

Add the dough to your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add the cheddar, thyme and pepper and mix on medium low speed to combine. Then add the french fried onions, mixing until just incorporated.

Add the dough to a pastry bag with a wide round tip and pipe 2 inch blobs onto the parchment, about an inch apart. Alternatively you can just spoon blobs onto the parchment, if you don't want to bother with a pastry bag.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until puffy and golden. Serve immediately.

French Fried Onions:
1 small yellow onion
1 cup flour
oil for frying

Prep the onion by peeling, halving and then slicing very thin.

Pour a couple inches of oil into a pot, enough to cook your onions without crowding them. Heat the oil to 350°F using your candy/deep frying thermometer. Take the onions, a small handful at a time, and coat them in a bowl with the cup of flour. Shake off the excess and sprinkle them into the hot oil. Let cook until a golden brown color, roughly 3-4 minutes. Remove and place on paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining onion, allowing the oil to reheat to 350°F between batches.

Street Food Munchies: Curry Puff

I had a sheet of puff pastry left over from last night's hand pies, so I opted to quickly whip up some curry puffs this morning.

They are a ubiquitous street food in both Singapore and Malaysia, filled with... well just about anything. I've also had these stuffed with a chicken curry mixture my favorite local dim sum place. My version replicates the puffs served at the Chinese dim sum place (baked, not deep fried and topped with toasted sesame seeds), though I believe authentic Chinese curry puffs (咖哩角) are closer to the Malay version than this Seattle dim sum dish. Nevertheless, that doesn't make my somewhat inauthentic curry puffs any less good.

Stuffed with saute onions, potatoes, chicken and spices these things get gobbled up as quickly at home as they do over cups of tea on Sunday mornings in Seattle's international district.

Savory Hand Pies

Craving hand pies today, which of course means making pastry. I like using puff pastry for my little pies--homemade whenever time allows--but I'm not enough of a masochist to make puff pastry in the classic style very often. I mean, that can end up being a full day of labor and there is no instant edible gratification in that!

Guess I'm just not 'hard-core' enough to make that sort of time commitment, so I make what is termed a rough puff pastry. It is very similiar, light, flaky and buttery, only you can start the dough at lunch time and have it done in time to make dinner.

So I took my homemade puff pastry and made hand pies stuffed with prosciutto ham and a creamy local artisan cheese with green and black Madagascar peppercorns.

It's like a hot pocket... only edible!

Anyway, these are on the table tonight alongside a simple organic tomato soup.

Yummy.

Not so Humble's Rough Puff Pastry:
(Makes a dozen large hand pies)

3 cups all purpose flour
3 sticks cold unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup plus 1-2 tablespoons ice water

Egg wash
1 large egg beaten
1 tablespoon water

Cut the cold butter into the smallest cubes you can manage (mine are roughly 1/2-1/4 inch cubes). Don't fret over them too much, you don't want to warm the butter with a lot of handling. This is one time where maintaining temperature is more important than uniformity or showing off your OCD chopping skills.

Combine the flour, salt and sugar in the food processor and mix with a few pulses. Add one of the sticks of cubed butter and pulse several times till the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the rest of the cold butter and mix for about 20-30 seconds. Place this into a bowl and add the ice water a tablespoon at a time mixing with a spoon. Add enough water to allow the dough to form a rough crumbly mass.

On a cutting board, handling it as little as possible, shape the pastry into rectangular slab a couple of inches thick and wrap in plastic wrap. Place this in the fridge for at least an hour.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out to a little less than a quarter of an inch thick. It is hard to explain the exact method of folding, so if I am unclear in this I apologize. Working quickly so the dough remains chilled, fold the dough like you would a letter for an envelope. Then starting at the narrow end of the dough, fold/roll the dough into a compact brick. Wrap this mass and chill again for at least an hour.

Repeat this process 2-4 more times and it will be ready to roll, cut and bake.

Stuff the hand pies with whatever sweet or savory filling appeals to you. Brush with an egg wash and bake in a 400°F oven for 10-12 minutes

Potato Katsu

I love the inexpensive little plates of potato katsu served at my local sushi place. However, I find myself craving the things at the oddest hours so I needed to find some way to supplement my need for hipster tatter-tots. This is my spin on Seattle's Blue C sushi's potato katsu.

This recipe is pretty simple and versatile as it can be used for shrimp, as well as pounded pork or chicken cutlets. The tonkatsu sauce might not be as 'fruity' as some store brands (due to the difference between western and Japanese worcestershire sauces) but I prefer this style, if you like a sweeter fruiter tonkatsu feel free to add a tablespoon of applesauce to the mixture while cooking.

Not so Humble's Potato Katsu:

Potato Katsu:

1 large russet potato
1 cup panko
1/4 cup tempura mix
1 egg
salt

oil for frying

Tonkatsu Sauce:

4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons aji-mirin
2 tablespoons worcestershire
1 teaspoon hot chinese mustard
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 pinch of allspice

Peel the potato and cut into several half-inch thick disks, boil until fork tender and promptly remove from water.

While the potato boils assemble the Tonkatsu ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat and a cook for a few minutes until bubbly and slightly thickened.

Assemble three bowls, one containing the tempura mix (or flour with a little cornstarch), one with the panko and the third an egg beaten with a tablespoon of water and a generous pinch of salt. Cut the potato disks into bite sized pieces and toss lightly in the tempura flour, coat the pieces in the bowl with the egg mixture and then with the panko.

In a wok heat oil for deep frying, working in small batches fry the potatoes till golden brown and drain on paper towels. Serve hot, drizzled with the tonkatsu sauce or on the side for dipping.

Char Siu Bao

A Humble household favorite. Soft, fluffy and ever so slightly sweet buns stuffed with my homemade Chinese BBQ pork and special sauce.

Char Siu - Chinese BBQ Pork

Getting geared up to make my favorite Char Siu Bao tomorrow by whipping some Chinese barbecue pork. Sweet and smokey, this stuff blows away anything you could buy readymade. Lucky, there is plenty extra to slice up and munch on as a late snack.

Now, there are far simpler Char Siu recipes out there on the net, I know. I've noticed that mine is a bit lengthier than most (it gets longer each time I adjust it) but it is the one I like the best. I believe that this dish is typically made from a pork shoulder cut but I go for the loin simply because it is more convenient cut to obtain and trim.

Not so Humble's Char Siu:
2.5-3lbs pork loin cut into lengths approximately 1.5" thick x 6" long

Marinade:
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
5 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons seseme seed oil
3 teaspoons tomato paste
3 cloves garlic
2 inch piece of peeled ginger cut into small chuncks
2 teaspoons mirin
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder (optional)
couple drops of red food coloring (optional)

Puree all the above in a food processor until it is a smooth liquid. Place pork into a container or bag and add the pureed mixture. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F and place the pork on foil lined pans (you'll thank me later when all those sugars caramelize) reserving the marinade. Cook for 30-40 minutes until pork reaches an internal temperature of 160°F.

Take the marinade and place it into a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add an additional 2 tablespoons of honey, soy sauce and ketchup and cook for about 6-7 minutes until it has darkened and thickened into the consistency expected of barbecue sauce. Baste the pork with the sauce occasionally while baking.

Remove from oven when done and allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting.