My Kitchen and I: Epic Gingered Pork, Asian Pear sandwiches

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Epic Gingered Pork, Asian Pear sandwiches

I don't know about you, but when I'm in the midst of the holiday season, there's no time to spend in the kitchen.

I still want to eat good healthy food, of course, but it has to be simple.

It has to be quick.

And, not at all least, it has to feel a little bit healthy.

And so was born this little sandwich — epic — if I do say so myself. It is great as a main course, but would also work on smaller buns, slider-style, for a fun party appetizer.

It's very easy to do. Use your favorite crockpot barbecue pork dressed up with a little bit of ginger and buy some sandwich buns. Or, if you're like me, you've got a lazy laundry day to make your own.

This is about as easy a sandwich bun recipe as it gets, and about as good, too. Just add 1/4 cup warm water to yeast and a pinch of sugar and flour. Let proof. Melt 1/4 cup butter with 2 T sugar, 1 1/4 tsp salt and 1 cup hot water. Let cool to lukewarm and add 1 beaten egg. Add about 3 cups of flour, or as much as needed to make a soft pillowy dough that isn't too sticky to shape. It should feel fluffy, like a pillow.

Let it rise until double then shape into dinner rolls about 4 oz each, or half that size for sliders. You'll get about 8 sandwich buns or 16 slider buns. Dip the shaped buns in oil or melted butter then dip in the desired toppings, such as oatmeal, sesame seeds, poppy seeds — as you fancy — and then sprinkle with some cracked black pepper and a pinch of powdered garlic.

Let them rise again until doubled and then bake in a steam-infused, 425-degree oven.

To infuse an oven with steam, put an empty old pan in the bottom of the oven and an old cookie sheet on the baking rack, then preheat the oven to 500 or so degrees. Now open the oven door and squirt a bunch of water in that bottom pan and a little bit of water on top of the old cookie sheet. I use a turkey baster. Shut the oven door and turn the heat down to 425. Let the oven go about 10 minutes, so the water has time to heat up. Open the door again and squirt a little more water on the old cookie sheet and slip the bread rolls right in. The oven temperature will have dropped by this time to the desired 425 degrees.

Bake the rolls 15 to 18 minutes, until nice and golden. Of course, you simply must test the rolls before you let anyone else eat one ... Just to make sure they're perfect. :)

While the buns are cooling, slice a quarter of an Asian pear and drizzle with some lemon juice. You can just use a fork to juice the lemon. No special equipment required.