Friday Food Truck Photo, January 27th

Falafel from Fantastic Hummus. The wrap came with some house made pickles, including the tasty pink piclked radish at the top of the picture. I also got some homemade spicy sauce which had lots flavor.

Sticky, Sticky Buns

Breakfast for me is a routine thing. I'll go through phases of what I like to eat, and then will stick with it for months at a time. For a while, it was a waffle with peanut butter. Then, it was steel-cut oats. I hardly ever do something special for breakfast. So, I decided to buck the trend.

I've been wanting to make these ever since I saw them on an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery won the sticky bun throwdown with these ooey, gooey creations. The recipe is a little involved, but well worth it. The brioche is sooo buttery. These helped me get out of bed on those cold mornings when I just wanted to hide under the covers.

Sticky, Sticky Buns
recipe by Joanne Chang
as seen on foodnetwork.com


Brioche Dough:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 1/2 packages (3 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold water
5 eggs
1 3/8 cups (2 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 10 to 12 pieces


Goo:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt


Filling:
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup pecan halves, chopped


For the dough: Using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and eggs. Beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until all the ingredients are combined. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Once the dough has come together, beat on low speed for another 3 to 4 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and seem quite dry.

With the mixer on low speed, add the butter, 1 piece at a time, mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. Continue mixing on low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. It is important for all the butter to be thoroughly mixed into the dough. If necessary, stop the mixer occasionally and break up the dough with your hands to help mix in the butter.

Once the butter is completely incorporated, turn up the speed to medium and beat until the dough becomes sticky, soft, and somewhat shiny, another 15 minutes. It will take some time to come together. Turn the speed to medium-high and beat for about 1 minute. You should hear the dough make a slap-slap-slap sound as it hits the sides of the bowl. Test the dough by pulling at it; it should stretch a bit and have a little give. If it seems wet and loose and more like a batter than a dough, add a few tablespoons of flour and mix until it comes together. If it breaks off into pieces when you pull at it, continue to mix on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until it develops more strength and stretches when you grab it. It is ready when you can gather it all together and pick it up in 1 piece.

Put the dough in a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight At this point you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

For the goo: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar and cook, stirring, to combine. Remove from the heat and whisk in the honey, cream, water, and salt. Strain to remove any undissolved lumps of brown sugar. Let cool for about 30 minutes, or until cooled to room temperature. You should have about 3 cups. (The mixture can be made up to 2 weeks in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)

To finish the sticky buns: Combine the ¼ c light brown sugar, ¼ c of granulated sugar, cinnamon, and half the pecans in a bowl.

Divide the dough in half. Use half for this recipe and reserve the other half for another use.

On a floured work surface, roll out the brioche into rectangle about 12 by 16 inches and 1/4-inch thick. It should be fairly easy to roll. Position the rectangle so a short side is facing you. Sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly over the entire surface of the dough. Starting from the short side farthest from you and working your way down, roll up the rectangle like a jelly roll. Try to roll tightly, so you have a nice round spiral. Trim off about 1/4- inch from each end of the roll to make them even.

Use a bench scraper or a chef's knife to cut the roll into 8 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2-inches wide. (At this point, the unbaked buns can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 week. When ready to bake, thaw them, still wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, then proceed as directed.)

Pour the goo into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, covering the bottom evenly. Sprinkle the remaining pecans evenly over the goo. Arrange the buns, evenly spaced, in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm spot to proof until the dough is puffy, pillowy, and soft and the buns are touching-almost tripled in size, about 2hours.

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350 degrees F. Bake until golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the dish on a wire rack for 20 to 30 minutes. One at a time, invert the buns onto a serving platter, and spoon any extra goo and pecans from the bottom of the dish over the top. The buns are best served warm or within 4 hours of baking. They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, and then warmed in a 325 degree F oven for 10 to 12 minutes before serving.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Happy Lunar New Year! I'm not a very superstitious person, which is good since this is not an ideal dish for the new year celebration. Typically, food is eaten whole (whole fish, whole duck, etc...), and this dish requires a good deal of chopping. It could totally be adapted so you there is minimal chopping, but it would definitely not taste the same. Nevertheless, I've been loving this rice ever since I first made it. In fact, I had to make a second batch the very next day because we ate all of the first within 24 hours. It is especially good as a late night snack.




Kimchi Fried Rice
original recipe


4 Tbs peanut oil
4 eggs
1 large onion, diced
1 c kimchi, chopped, plus a little of the liquid
6 c cooked rice
3 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs sesame oil
¼ c chopped green onion


Heat a wok (or a skillet) over medium heat. Add 1 Tbs of oil and fry the eggs to desired consistency. Set eggs on a plate. Turn heat up to high and add remaining oil. Heat oil until almost smoking. Add onion, and stir fry until beginning to crisp, about 2 minutes. Add the kimchi and kimchi liquid and stir fry another minute. Add rice, and stir fry another few minutes. Break up the clumps of rice as it cooks. Remove wok from heat and add the soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onion. Stir thoroughly to combine. Divide rice into bowls. Top with a fried egg and serve.

Friday Food Truck Photo, January 20th

Ukelele sandwich from Silver Bistro. This is quite a sandwich: ham, roasted chicken, crispy onions, caramelized pineapple, shredded cabbage, and a sweet lava sauce. It was hearty without being too filling.

Brown Sugar Bacon Fries

Oh yes. I went there. I took potatoes, and fried them in bacon fat. Not 100% bacon fat (I would like to live to a ripe age, you know). But certainly more than what's in an average slice of bacon. Every time we cook bacon, we save the fat. We freeze it in ice cube trays, and have these cool cubes of frozen bacon fat. Each cube is 2 Tbs, so it's easy to measure. Mostly, we use the fat to flavor our refried beans. With the holidays just past us, we have an over-abundance of the stuff. So I decided to use a bunch of it up on some french fries.



One of the local food trucks makes brown sugar bacon fries that are perfection. I did my best to recreate them. I tried the cold oil method of cooking fries as explained by Cook's Illustrated. I had a difficult time figuring out when they had crisped up. They didn't brown as much as I thought they would. And they were slightly more chewy than crispy. But they tasted great! And they have slightly less fat then the double fry method, which becomes a moot point when you fry them in bacon fat.



Brown Sugar Bacon Fries
cooking instructions based on
Cook’s Illustrated


2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes (about 5 medium)
4 c cooking oil
1 c bacon fat
1 tsp salt
¼ c light brown sugar


Cut potatoes into ¼” strips. Place potatoes, oil, and bacon fat in a dutch oven or deep fryer. Heat until the oil comes to a rolling boil. Cook the potatoes without stirring for 15 minutes. If the oil smokes too much, reduce heat to medium, but keep heat high enough to maintain a rolling boil. Gently stir the fries, loosening any that have stuck to the bottom. Cook until the fries have become crispy on the outside, about 10 minutes more. Using a slotted spoon, remove the fries to a paper-towel lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and brown sugar. Serve immediately.

Tomato and Apple Soup

Mmmmm....soup. Cold weather makes me crave it, along with spicy food, freshly baked bread, and hearty stews (all of which will be posted soon.) My blogging friend Branny is holding her second Souper Bowl charity event, donating the proceeds to the ASPCA. Want to join? Make a soup, write a post about it, dedicate it to a pet, and email Branny.

I'm dedicating this post to my cat Sienna. We found out this past year that she has kidney disease. One of her kidneys doesn't function, so we are doing what we can to keep the other one in tip-top shape. She is my couch buddy, snuggling up when I fall asleep there every night. Here she is, trying to smuggle herself to Europe in our luggage. Here's to having her in our family another year!


Tomato and Apple Soup
by Stephani Izard
as seen in In Style, January 2012


2 Tbs butter
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Fuji apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
½ c tomato paste
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 Tbs sambal oelek
½ c dry white wine
28 oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes (with liquid)
4 c apple cider
½ c heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste


Melt the butter over medium high heat in a large stockpot. Add onions, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Saute until the onions are softened, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Saute for another 2 minutes. Add the apples, Dijon mustard, sambal oelek, and wine. Cook until the wine is reduced by about half, 5-7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cider and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for an hour. Remove pot from heat. Puree soup in batches in a blender (or in the pot with an immersion blender) until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Friday Food Truck Photo, January 13th

Happy Friday the 13th! Here is a hula dog from the Kona Dog. I'm not usually a hot dog eater, but these were intriguing. You pick a number of sauces to top your dog. Mine had garlic lemon sauce, mango sauce, and spicy mustard. I was worried about all those sauces oozing all over the place, but they have a way of encasing everything inside the sweet Hawaiian bun. And they also have veggie dogs for non-meat eaters.