Kaiser Rolls and BBQ

BBA Challenge: Kaiser Rolls (aka: New York hard rolls, bulkies or Vienna rolls with a distinguishing star pattern on the top.)

My Bread Baker's Apprentice book is flour covered and starting to show wear, but it is the kind of wear that all of my favorite cookbooks develop over time.

I did this formula "out of order" because I needed the Kaiser Rolls and good ones are impossible to find in Hilo. This one needs a Do-Over. The rolls were awesomely delicious, but that is where the similarity ends. My Kaiser Rolls were a double recipe, which presented a few challenges, such as fitting in the mixer. I met that challenge by dividing the dough after the addition of the Pâte Fermentée. The real problem was in the density of the dough itself. I know it needed more hydration. The formula is on page 175 of the book.

Here the Pâte Fermentée is cut and ready to be added to the dough

To do this formula, you need thePâte Fermentée (old dough) to be made a day ahead. It is a simple moist dough that rests in the refrigerator for further fermentation. This method is becoming a theme with Reinhart's formulas.

I am not blaming the formula for my personal disappointment in the resulting Kaiser Rolls, not in the least. But I did find one element missing. The formula suggests spraying the rolls (as well as the the oven walls) with water, and that is all well and good, but the picture of the rolls showed very shiny and browned crusts, to me it looked like they had more than just water on them, maybe an egg or milk wash.

I used a kaiser cutter, obtained online because that is another impossible thing to find in Hilo. Maybe I made my cuts too deep. When resting, the buns are actually turned upside down to rise. But when baking, they are cut side up. Mine rose to the occasion in such a way that they developed points, as in a crown. They were not at all ugly, but certainly nothing like the rolls in the photo, or any Kaiser Roll I have seen before.

The upside down rolls in their final rise

Having said all of that, they were delicious and the fact that they were sturdier made very good messy sandwiches!

Crumb Shot

On Saturday I smoked a beef brisket for a party we were having here. Friday I flew all the way to Honolulu and bought the brisket at Whole Foods because brisket is another cut of meet that is not found in Hilo. Oddly, corned beef (made from brisket) is a year round staple here because of the Scots who once lived among the Hawaiian people and intermarried with royalty here. But the plain old ordinary cut of brisket is nowhere to be found here. Since my trip to the "big city", a friend in Honoka'a (45 miles north of us) informed me that she is sure her butcher could get me one. Next time, that is where I will go!

We had some leftovers and I made sandwiches with the brisket and home made BBQ Sauce. The sandwiches were awesome... really wonderful. So, all is not lost. Here is the recipe for the BBQ sauce. It is based on a recipe by Chef Dean Fearing (one of my favorite chefs) of the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, TX. I made a few tweaks after making the basic sauce giving it a bit more of a kick and balance of flavors. It is a sweet, tangy spicy sauce that has a tomato base. Here is my take on his formula:

Best Barbecue Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
• 4 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 4 cups ketchup
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple sugar (you can use real maple syrup if you cannot find the sugar)
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon smoked sea salt (regular salt is fine if you don't have some of my smoked salt)
• 1-2 teaspoons of ancho chile powder
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons hot red pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ketchup, brown sugar, maple sugar, vinegar, mustard, Ancho powder, Worcestershire, hot sauce, cayenne, and liquid smoke and bring to a boil. At this point taste the sauce and make flavor adjustments to suit your taste. It should be (in order) sweet and spicy with a tart finish. It should not taste extremely smoky, but you can add a bit more liquid smoke if you want it smokier. Since I usually pair this with home smoked foods, I don't like to have much smoke in my sauce. This sauce keeps well because of the high vinegar content.
Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and the flavors marry, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before serving.
Yield: about 4 cups
The sauce is great on anything grilled and I have seen people eat it with a spoon on occasion!