1. March 2008 by James.

Cinnamon Sticky Buns

Ingredients

Dough:
1/4 cup warm water (105° to 115°)
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
3 large egg yolks
1 Tbsp. finely grated orange zest
1 1/4 teaspoon. salt
4 to 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Filling:
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Topping:
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans

Method

1 Make the dough. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine warm water, yeast and 1 tsp. sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add milk, butter, remaining sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, salt and 3 cups flour. Mix on low speed until blended. Switch to a dough hook and then, again on low speed, slowly incorporate the remaining 1 cup of flour. Increase speed to medium, kneading dough until smooth and slightly sticky (adding a little more flour if too wet), 3 to 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large, buttered bowl. Turn dough over in bowl to coat with the butter from the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour (or 2 hours if not in an entirely warm place). After the dough has risen, punch down. Turn out onto a lightly floured cutting board and let sit 20 minutes.

2 Make the filling. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt butter; keep separate.

3 Roll dough out into a 12″ x 18″ rectangle. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Starting with the long side, roll dough into a cylinder. Place seam side down on a flat surface and cut crosswise into 15 slices.

4 Make the topping. In a 1-quart saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, honey and corn syrup over low heat; stir until sugar and butter are melted. Pour mixture into a greased 9″ x 13″ pan and sprinkle pecans on top.

5 Place dough slices, flat side down, on top of prepared topping. Crowd them so they touch. Cover with plastic wrap, leaving room for the buns to rise, and refrigerate overnight.

6 Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature while the oven pre-heats. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake buns until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove pan from oven and immediately (and carefully as not to spill hot topping on your toes!) invert onto a serving tray or baking dish. Let buns cool slightly and serve warm.

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8. December 2007 by James.

Seriously the best BBQ Ribs - Traditional, classic, smoked, bbq’d.

Ingredients

• Two racks of pork spare ribs trimmed (these have the skirt removed but the rib tips are still attached, up to you)
• plain yellow mustard
• Dry Rub (recipe follows)
• Wet mop (recipe follows)
• BBQ Sauce (recipe follows)
• Hickory or Alder chunks or chips soaked overnight
• Slow griller - smoker. You don’t want to get over 225 degrees, so whatever you can use that will keep a steady low temperature.

Dry Rub

• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
• 1/4 hot paprika
• 3 Tbs. fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs. garlic powder
• 1 Tbs. powdered onion
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 Tbs. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried Thyme
• 1 Tbs. chipotle chili powder

Combine all ingredients. Store in an air-tight container.

Instructions.

Lightly coat the ribs on both sides with yellow mustard.

Sprinkle on the rub covering both sides. Place the ribs in the fridge uncovered for 1-2 hours. This will form a nice tacky surface that will suck up the smoke. Take the ribs out and let them sit at room temperature for 30 - 45 mins. Perfect time to get the sauce ready.
You can start cooking the ribs immediately, (cooking instructions are right after the wet mop instructions), but I suggest you wait until the wet mop is all made. You need this stuff to keep the ribs most and tasty.

Wet Mop (keeps the meat moist)

• 2 Cups apple cider (Can be a can of fruity flavored soda - I used Fresca - grapefruit - it was great)
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry or cooking wine
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (bottled stuff is ok)
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

If you want to prepare the BBQ sauce while the meat is cooking, then go ahead and drop the ribs that have been coated with mustard and the dry rub on the rack. Make sure the grill/smoker is at a steady 225 degrees or LESS, and keep it there for 3 to 4 hours, depending on the kind of meat you’re preparing.

Let the ribs cook for 30-40 minutes before doing anything with them. Then slop-mop some of the wet mop on the top, turn it over and mop the bottom. Do this EVERY 30-40 minutes until it starts to look done or fall apart.

Then, coat both sides of the ribs with the sauce you’re about to make and LEAVE ALONE for another 20 minutes, then turn over and LEAVE ALONE for another 20 minutes. It’s now ready. Don’t let anyone rush you, and don’t put the bbq sauce on too soon or it will all caramelize and start burning because of the sugars in the sauce.

BBQ Sauce

Mix up the wet ingredients in a medium saucepan over low or medium heat. Don’t get it too hot. You’ll add the dry ingredients later.

Wet ingredients

• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 3 cups ketchup
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup Coca-Cola (not diet, you want the sugar).
• 1/4 cup A1 steak sauce
• 3/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 3 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
• 3 Tbs. soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
• 1 tsp. liquid smoke
• 1 Tbs. Vegemite or Marmite (If you don’t know what it is, don’t ask. You can usually get this at Cost Plus or World Market)

Dry ingredients

• 1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. BBQ rub (recipe follows)
• 1 Tbs. pure chili powder
• 1 Tbs. fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs. dry mustard
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• large pinch of kosher salt

Combine all the wet ingredients in a large sauce pan and slowly bring to a boil uncovered over medium heat.

While the wet stuff is cooking combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Once the wet ingredients come to a boil reduce heat and add the dry ingredients. Simmer on very low for around 30 mins or until the sauce has reduced and is thick (the longer the better). Use what you need here and then store in the fridge. I ended up using empty ketchup bottles, but wait to pour after the sauce has cooled or the plastic bottles will collapse.

Slop this stuff over your bread, your meat, your potatoes, your hair. Top your ice-cream with it. It’s that good.

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