Full Steam Dumpling Char Siu

                                                        Char Siu: Chinese Barbecued Pork 

Full Steam Dumpling makes by far the best char siu bao that we can get in the Santa Cruz area. The secret is the roasted pork and sauce they use. Use this recipe to stuff some bao and wow everyone you serve it to. Thank you Edible Monterey Bay Magazine for providing this recipe from Full Steam Dumpling.

3-5 lbs pork shoulder 

For the marinade:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup light soy sauce

1/2 cup dark soy sauce

1/2 cup Shaoxing cooking wine

2 tbs sesame oil

2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tbs sambal paste

2 cups stock or water (enough to cover pork)

For the char siu sauce:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups honey

1/1/4 cups hoisin sauce

7/8 cup soy sauce

1 1/2 tbs Chinese five spice blend

1 1/2 tbs Korean chili pepper flakes

2 tbs sesame oil

2 tbs fermented bean curd (If you can score this, it takes the sauce to the next level)

Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl, except for the stock or water. Whisk well to dissolve the sugar. Slice the pork shoulder into pieces measuring about 8 by 3 by 3 inches. Cover with the marinade and add enough stock or water to cover the pork pieces. Marinate in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours or preferably overnight.

The next day. preheat the oven to 350ºF. Remove the pork from the marinade and let it drip a bit. Place the pork on a wire rack over a baking tray and roast for 45 mins. Lower the oven temp. to 280ºF and roast for another 45 minutes, until slightly charred and the internal temp. reaches 165ºF.

While the meat is cooking make the chars siu sauce by combining all the ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring it to a slow simmer and stir well to dissolve the sugars. Simmer for 15-20 minutes to let the flavors and spices marry and mellow out the hoisin sauce.

Brush the finished sauce on the pork towards the end of the roasting time or use it later for dipping.

Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest for 15-30 minutes and slice right in or refrigerate and enjoy it in fried rice, in sandwiches, on salads, on its own, or best of all in bao.

Note: If you don't have dark soy sauce, you can substitute regular soy sauce in a pinch. If you don't have Shaoxing cooking wine, you can substitute sake in a pinch.

Basque Cheesecake

 

                                                                  Basque Cheesecake

This cake has intrigued me but I hadn't had the opportunity to make it until this week. This cake is very easy to make and very tasty. It is a convenient dessert because you bake it the day before you serve it. I regret that I didn't take a picture of it because it is very unusual looking. It looks like you have burned it because the top is so black when it is finished baking. Never fear, it doesn't taste burned. I looked at many recipes and all of them varied. One called for 12 egg yolks and no whole eggs. Most called for 5 whole eggs, some 6, some 5 eggs and a yolk. Most called for heavy cream rather than crème fraîche. Most called for 32 ounces of cream cheese but one called for 40 ounces. The amount of sugar varied. The oven temp ranged from 400º to 500º with varying cooking times. All said they produced delicious cakes. The recipes left me confused and so I made the decision to do what I did and hope for the best. The cake was delicious and so I think what you do can be very loose. Don't stress on amounts. One recipe added lemon zest. The original recipe from La Viña in San Sebastian in Spain used no flavoring and so you can use vanilla or lemon zest or nothing. I think the lemon zest would be a good idea if you us heavy cream. Do that according to your own taste. One chef has used blue cheese which would be delicious. The crème fraîche is used rather than heavy cream for tang. Most recipes don't use flour but some say there can be weeping if you don't. I skipped the flour and had no weeping. This is definitely a recipe you can play with. I chose the lower temperature of 400º F because baking the cake at 450º F to 500º F made me nervous. Depending on your oven, you might need to raise the temperature at the end of baking if you bake at 400º F to get the blackened look. The cake must be dark brown. I found this article in The Guardian helpful when deciding what to do: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/dec/01/how-to-make-the-perfect-basque-cheesecake-recipe-felicity-cloake

Ingredients:

32 ounces of Philadelphia brand cream cheese at room temperature

5 whole eggs at room temperature

1 egg yolk at room temperature

1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cup sugar depending on your preferred sweetness

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups creme fraîche at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

(1/4 cup AP flour, optional)

Instructions: Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Grease a 9" springform pan. If you don't have a 9" springform pan you can use a 10" pan. Cut two 15" square pieces of baking parchment paper, grease them and place them in the pan. This will actually involve crushing the paper at the sides They will hang out over the edge of the pan of course and you will need to place them 90º of each other. Place the cream cheese, eggs and egg yolk, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a food processor. Process until smooth. Add crème fraîche and if using flour sift it on top. Process again until fully incorporated. Process only a short time. You shouldn't over mix. If you don't have a processor you can use an electric mixer or mix by hand. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap on the counter to get ride of bubbles. Refrigerate for an hour. Bake for 50 minutes on a baking sheet, until browned and almost burned looking on top. Watch it carefully so that it doesn't actually burn. The center should be quite jiggly. It will set as the cake cools. Now is another time the recipes varied. What I did was refrigerate the cake when it cooled, uncovered, until the next day. I took it out of the refrigerator about an hour before serving. Use the paper to remove the cake from the pan. Some recipes recommend serving the same day you bake but it was great the next day. It is recommend to serve it with fine sherry. We didn't have any sherry and served it with port, which was delicious. 

Glazed Pineapple Carrot Cake

 This carrot cake is much less sweet than the carrot cake that is standard today, the one with the super sweet cream cheese frosting. That frosting is way too sweet for me and I always scrape it off and leave it on my plate. The glaze on this cake is relatively light. This recipe is from the first Sunset Favorite Recipes cookbook.

                                                   Glazed  Pineapple Carrot Cake

 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted then measured

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

3/4 cup buttermilk 

2 tsp vanilla

8 oz crushed pineapple, well drained

2 cups finely shredded carrots

1 cup chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecans, or almonds

1 cup flaked coconut

Buttermilk Syrup (Recipe Follows)

Sift flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl. Beat eggs with the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients all at once and mix util smooth. Mix in pineapple, carrots, nuts, and coconut.

Pour into a lightly greased and floured 9x13 baking pan. Bake in a 350º F oven for 45 minutes or until the center springs back when lightly touched. Remove the cake from the oven and lightly prick it all over with a fork.

Slowly pour the hot Buttermilk Syrup over the cake. Serves 12.

Buttermilk Syrup: 

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp tsp baking soda

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup butter

2 tsp light corn syrup.

1/2 tsp vanilla (hold back until the other ingredients have boiled)

Combine all ingredients except for vanilla in a saucepan and bring to boiling over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Buttermilk Pancakes

                                                                 Buttermilk Pancakes

                                                      (Or Sour Milk Pancakes in a Pinch)

This is a quick and easy recipe that was my mother's. If you don't have buttermilk on hand you can make them with sour milk. I will give instructions for making the sour milk at the bottom of this recipe*. Sometimes the batter is thicker than I like when I am using buttermilk. In that case, I just add a little regular milk to the batter to thin it.

2 cups flour

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons light vegetable oil such as canola oil or 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Beat the eggs until they are thick. Add the baking soda and the oil to the buttermilk and add the mixture to the beaten eggs. Place the rest of the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. Stir the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients. Lightly grease a griddle that is medium hot (350º). Spoon the batter onto the griddle to form the pancakes. When there are holes in the pancakes on the uncooked side, peek at the down side. If it is browned to your liking, flip the pancake with a spatula to cook the second side. Serve with real maple syrup, butter, and bacon. Makes an easy quick dinner.

*To make sour milk: place 1/4 cup lemon juice or white vinegar in a two cup measure and fill the measure the rest of the way with whole milk. Mix and let sit for about 15 minutes until curdled.