Bao Buns in a Steamer

When our kitchen of the month, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories, let us know that in October we would be making Bao Buns, which are fairly plain, yeasted, steamed buns, I was a little apprehensive. I've never made steamed buns before and I also needed to figure out a filling for them. I was also excited for the exact same reasons. I love a good challenge.

My first challenge was getting a steamer. Finally found one at our local hardware store. Then I had to figure out how much water to put in the wok so that there would be enough steam for 12 minutes, the time it takes to steam these little breads. I ended up adding more water when there were five minutes left because the steam evaporated more quickly than I expected.

Turns out that these cute little buns are pretty easy to make, other than the steam/water level challenge and the fact that they resist rolling out a bit. Figuring out the filling was actually more difficult, but after some searching online I concocted a sauce that seemed right without using hoisin sauce. Most of the barbeque pork recipes I saw called for hoisin sauce but I wanted to be able to control the heat level. My solution was to use teriyaki sauce and then added a tiny bit of Sriracha sauce for the heat. The sauce also used garlic, ginger, ketchup, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and dark soy sauce, so it had some complex flavors. You got a little bit of heat, some sweet, sour and umami flavors.

The buns themselves have very little flavor and are a great vehicle for an assertive filling. We had some pork chops that were already grilled, so I thinly sliced one of them for the filling. I also made a fine julienne of pickled ginger and of green onion to add to the filling. Cilantro was also available but I forgot to add it until I was eating the last one. It was a good addition, so next time it will go in first!

These end up being sort of like sliders. Very tasty. I served them with a chopped salad with Asian flavors, plus some brown rice. I only made half the recipe since Sweetie is still trying to eat less. He has lost 25 pounds! If I avoid baking and cook lots of fruits and veggies he is likely to continue to lose...and so am I (although not nearly as much and I'm not being as vigilant about what I eat).

Thank you Karen for choosing this recipe. Will be making these again. Happy World Bread Day!

You, dear reader, can be a Bread Baking Babes Buddy by making the recipe, taking a photo or two, emailing Karen with your bread baking experience for this recipe + the photo, and she will send you a Buddy Badge and include you in the Round-Up. Deadline is October 29th.

Be sure to check out the other Bread Baking Babes to see what their Bao Buns look like. Besides my self and our Kitchen of the Month, Karen, we have:

Aparna - My Diverse Kitchen
Cathy - Bread Experience
Elizabeth - Blog from Our Kitchen
Judy - Judy's Gross Eats
Karen - Bake My Day
Kelly - A Messy Kitchen
Tanna - My Kitchen in Half Cups

Bao Buns

by Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories

INGREDIENTS

·                     2 cups (250 grams) all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

·                     1/2 teaspoon baking powder

·                     1/3 cup (70 grams)  sugar

·                     4 grams instant or active dry yeast

·                     1/2 cup (120 grams) water, about 100 degrees

·                     1 teaspoon neutral oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1.            Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the water, and mix with the dough hook on medium for about 30 seconds. Add the oil, and knead on low for 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth. The dough should not stick to the sides of the bowl. This dough can also be kneaded by hand. 

2.            Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled (30 minutes to 2 hours). 

3.            Cut parchment paper into 10 four inch squares. You could also use lettuce leaves. (the purpose is to keep the buns from sticking to the steamer). 

4.            Deflate the dough and divide it into 10 equal pieces (about 50 grams each). Give each piece a quick knead. 

5.            On a floured surface roll the dough out into a 3 inch by 6 inch rectangle with rounded edges. Fold the dough in half lengthwise, and place on a parchment square. Cover lightly with oiled plastic wrap or a damp towel, and repeat with the rest of the dough pieces. Let proof for 30 to 45 minutes, until slightly puffy. 

6.            Bring a pot or wok of water to a steady boil (just slightly more than simmering) and fit your pan or wok with a steamer, bamboo basket, or steaming rack just above the water. Place the baos in the steamer, cover, and steam for 12 minutes. Cool slightly, fill with a filling of your choice, and eat. 

7.            You can refrigerate or freeze (I prefer freezing) leftovers. You can either thaw and re steam for 3 minutes, or wrap one in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. 

BBQ Pork Filling
By Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms
Makes enough for a half recipe (6 buns) of the bao buns above

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon (or more, to taste) Sriracha sauce
1 pork chop, cooked, thinly sliced
1 green onion, julienned
a few slices pickled ginger, julienned
cilantro leaves, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute. Add one thinly sliced cooked pork chop and heat through. Garnish filled buns with thinly sliced green onion, pickled ginger, and cilantro leaves.

Ooodles of Asian Noodles and More

When warm weather hits like it has this weekend, it's nice to be able to turn to a fairly quick and easy and filling pasta salad to sit on the plate with chicken fresh off the grill. Sweetie brushed on some teriyaki sauce while he grilled them, so that had  a nice dark color and Asian flavor. I contributed a dish I'd seen on the Food Network a week or so ago.

It's called Sesame Peanut Noodles, and it has two kinds of peanuts - peanut butter and chopped peanuts, plus cilantro, lime, fresh ginger, rice vinegar and soy sauce which combine together to make a great sauce, along with a little honey and some toasted sesame oil. The recipe called for toasted sesame seeds, too, but I'm supposed to take it easy on sesame seeds, so I skipped that part. The pasta is whole wheat linguine and the salad part includes sliced cabbage, green onion, red pepper (and some broccoli slaw because I had some and wanted to add it). Sweetie and Straight Shooter both loved it and even though it makes a big bowl, we somehow managed to polish off every strand and chunk.

The most time consuming part of this was measuring out the ingredients for the sauce, grating the fresh ginger and lime zest, and juicing the lime. The pasta cooks while you make the sauce and chop up the veggies and then you just toss the drained pasta with the veggies and sauce and sprinkle chopped peanuts on top. Yum!

Sesame Peanut Noodles
from the Food Network

Ingredients
12 oz. linguine
Peanut Dressing:
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Sriracha (I used some cayenne pepper instead)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime
Salad:
1/2 cup loosely-packed chopped fresh cilantro
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced (I used some broccoli slaw mix, too)
1/3 red bell pepper, in thin strips
1/4 cup roughly chopped skinless roasted peanuts, for garnish

Directions
Put a large pot of water on to boil. When water is boiling, add the pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente. Do not overcook. Drain, reserving some of the starchy pasta water, rinse and set aside.

For the peanut dressing: Place the peanut butter in a large measuring cup and microwave to soften, 15 seconds. Whisk in with the soy sauce, vinegar, canola oil, ginger, honey, Sriracha, sesame oil and lime zest and juice in a small bowl. Thin with the starchy pasta water if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time. (Dressing should be thick, but pourable.)

For the salad: Place the pasta in a large mixing bowl and add the cilantro and vegetables and toss with the dressing. Top with the chopped peanuts  and serve.

Fast and Fun Burrito

Now that I live in California I'm surrounded with some of the best Mexican food outside of Mexico, but when I was growing up on the East coast, I knew absolutely nothing about tacos and enchiladas and burritos much less empanadas or tamales or any other south-of-the-border foods.

When I lived in Berkeley I went to a dinner party where the highlight of the dinner was make-it-yourself burritos. I liked it so much that it soon became a staple of our busy lives. When you make a big pot of chili, there are leftovers and those become the centerpiece of the burrito. Add a tray with a pile of chopped fresh tomato, a pile of chopped cilantro, a pile of diced avocados or a bowl of guacamole, some sliced olives, a bowl of shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, a bowl of re-heated rice, a bowl of sour cream or plain yogurt and you are almost there. We used to add plain tortillas, heated briefly in the cast iron skillet and doled out as they were warmed. Now there are so many types of tortillas that we can have some flavored with tomato or spinach or herbs, but I often go with the plain tortillas I remember from my first encounter with this dish.

Once the children were grown and no longer around the dinner table, I lost track of this dish for some reason. I think we've had it half a dozen times at the most in the last dozen years. Today I needed a quick meal and remembered the left over chili in the fridge. Once I discovered a package of tortillas on the bottom shelf the rest was easy. Unfortunately we were out of avocados but it was OK. Even with a limited number of add-ons, it was just as much fun as I remembered. On a warm tortilla I laid out a rectangle of hot chili, sprinkled on some shredded cheddar cheese, a big pinch of cilantro, a dribble of plain yogurt, then folded it up into the classic burrito shape. Brought back great memories I can tell you!

You can make your own memories. This is a great meal to do with kids because they can make it their way. If you don't have chili you can use refried beans or kidney bean, black beans or pintos. If you do that, add some salsa and/or hot sauce for zest.

Sweetie ate up all the tomatoes we didn't put into the burritos and then we ate some wonderful Bing cherries for dessert. Fast, easy and fun.

Make Your Own Burritos

leftover chili OR
refried beans or kidney bean, black beans or pintos and some salsa or hot sauce
reheated cooked rice
shredded cheese
chopped cilantro
chopped tomatoes
1-2 avocados, peeled, pit removed and diced
plain yogurt or sour cream
sliced black olives, drained
shredded iceberg lettuce
more salsa and/or hot sauce
flour tortillas

Heat the chili, or beans and put into a serving dish.
On a tray arrange a bowl of warm rice, a pile of the cheese, a pile of cilantro, a pile of tomatoes, a pile of avocado, a dish of yogurt or sour cream, a bowl of olives, a pile of shredded lettuce. If you don't have any of the ingredients on the tray, don't worry...just serve what you have.
Put the salsa and/or hot sauce on the table, along with the dish of chili or beans, and the tray of fixins.
Heat the tortillas in a skillet or the oven to warm them. Serve wrapped in a towel to keep warm.

For each serving, put a warm tortilla on the plate. In the middle put a rectangle of chili, leaving enough room to wrap the tortilla around the fillings. Add your favorite fillings, salsa or sauces. Wrap by folding in one side, folding up the bottom, then the other side. Eat, being sure to have a napkin handy to catch any drips.

Assertive Citrus Chicken

I grew up to be a shy person, up until I went to college. No one would have called me assertive. It came as quite a revelation to me, when I finally shed my shy behaviors and blossomed, that being assertive could be fun. Understand, I'm still shy inside, I just don't behave that way. I suspect that there are a lot of people who do the same.

Ducks and geese are very assertive, but chickens seem to mostly be silly. Recently Sweetie and I took care of our neighbor's flock of chickens, all 30 strong, and had the devil of a time getting them to go into the hen house at night, not because they were being assertive but because they were being distracted by the goat who wanted to play with all of us. One of us would chase them toward the door and the other would try to keep the goat away and wave the chickens into the doorway at the same time. I'm sure it would have been a hit on YouTube if anyone had filmed it.

A good time for a chicken to be assertive is when it is cooked. In this recipe the fairly forward flavors of cilantro, garlic, scallions, citrus and soy join up in a marinade for chicken thighs that is full of zestiness but not heat. I served it with steamed rice and steamed broccoli. The marinade went pretty well with those, too. There is an Asian sensibility to the marinade that I really enjoyed. The flavorful crispy skin was a nice bite of luxury, too.

As with many recipes I made a few changes. For one thing it has been a warm day. Sweetie offered to grill the chicken, instead of broiling it, to keep the kitchen cooler. Had my vote! I also found that I only had half a lime, so I added extra orange juice and zest for plenty of citrusness. I used a sharp knife to cut strips of the citrus zest and let the food processor chop them up instead of zesting the skin.  The finished chicken was pretty salty, so next time I'll cut back on the salt some. I also marinated it for about 4 hours, but it was absolutely delicious (other than salty), so that is not a problem.

I think that this recipe could easily be doubled if you are going to have  a larger group than 4. With those assertive flavors, the piece we have left over will probably taste even better tomorrow.

 

Citrus Marinated Chicken Thighs
from Bon Appetit magazine, Aug. 2013

"An aggressively seasoned marinade delivers big flavor"

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves and tender stems only, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 lb. bone-in chicken thighs with skin left on

Set aside 1/4 cup of the sliced scallions for garnish.

Pulse cilantro, garlic, zests, juices, soy sauce, oil and salt and remaining scallions (green onions)in a food processor or blender until a coarse puree forms. Set aside 1/4 cup of the marinade. Place the remaining marinade in a large reseal able plastic bag. Add chicken, seal bag, and turn to coat. Chill at least 20 minutes. If chilling longer (up to 2 hours ahead), occasionally turn bag over to redistribute the marinade. Keep chilled.

Preheat broiler or prepare grill. Remove chicken from marinade and dispose of used marinade. To broil, place chicken, skin side down,  on a foil-lined broiler-proof baking sheet. Broil chicken until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn pieces over and continue to broil until cooked through. An instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 165 degrees F. - 12 - 15 minutes longer. To cook on grill, place chicken pieces, skin side down on prepared grill and grill 5 minutes. Turn and grill until cooked through, about 12 - 15 minutes longer. Use same technique as above to test for doneness.

Serve chicken with reserved marinade and sprinkle on the scallions. Serves 4.

Asian Soup with Zucchini and Pi

Life is changing here on the farm. The garden plants, especially the veggies and herbs, are getting bigger all the time and we are getting enough zucchini squash to give some away and still have plenty for grilling and for other recipes.

A week ago I made my favorite spaghetti sauce which uses a couple of the squash. It's one of the first recipes I put on this blog and I've been making it for over 35 years...it's a winner! It is vegan if you omit the ground meat (which I did this time) and tastes even better the next day (I just love leftovers!). We had it over whole wheat penne pasta, along with a green salad.

I also gave some away on Thursday to a friend who loves to make zucchini bread and we gave some to Grandma L for her famous zucchini bake. It's possible I planted too many squash plants, but I don't think so. There are so many ways to use this versitile squash. Check out the soup recipe below.

Another big change is that we have adopted a rescue dog named Pi. It has been just about a year since Xam died. We had him for 16 or 17 years, so it took a while to want another dog. Then we had to fix the electronic fence and fix up a new animal door. Last Wednesday, after days and days of e-mails, we picked Pi up in Oakland.

He is a beautiful black lab male, about 2 years old and a real sweet boy. He is mellow and well trained and affectionate. We have taken him to the gym, on a picnic, to our favorite park twice and have been working on training him for the electronic fence. In the meantime we have to take him out on a leash. I had forgotten how enjoyable but exhausting it is to have a new dog! Sort of like having a toddler in the house. We feel very lucky to have Pi...he is a great dog! If you are in the neighborhood, come by and say 'Hi'...he is very friendly and not excitable as our previous dogs have been at this age.
Isn't he handsome?

Back to the zucchini... On Saturday I used some freshly picked zucchini to make this soup with Asian flavors. It made just enough for a nice lunch for Sweetie and I. If you want it for a larger number, just double the amounts. It has a lovely, savory flavor and a faint hint of garlic and ginger fragrances.

Asian Zucchini Soup

1 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced, including the green part
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 portobello mushroom, gills removed, sliced and cut into bite sized pieces
1-2 medium zucchini squashed, cut lengthwise into quarters, then sliced
1 can vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 package (4 oz) soba noodles
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce or to taste
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, stir to coat with the oil. Saute' for 1 minute, stirring occasionally to keep from browning. Add the celery and green onions, stir and continue cooking 1 minute. Add the garlic, ginger and mushrooms, stir and cook 2 minutes. Add the zucchini, stir and cook 1 minute. Add the broth, noodles (breaking them up if necessary), water, sesame oil, soy sauce, cilantro, and salt and pepper. Stir and heat through for at least 4 minutes, then serve. Serves two.