Entertaining can be a bit daunting… to say the least.. It’s not just the anxiety of making bad food but all the logistical planning that goes into throwing a memorable shindig. You might think that all of us professional cooks just simply snap our fingers, wiggle our nose and voila a tented party just appears. Far and away from the truth.. more like blood sweat and tears. Yes sure, for the most part we can knock out thanksgiving dinner in two hours or pull random ingredients from the cupboard and whip up appetizers for twenty.. lickety split.. But, seldom do we ever consider how long it takes to arrange a party. It can seriously take hours and hours of running around and THEN you make the food? Sometimes it can be such an exhaustive drama throwing a party. So what to do?

Well.. fear not citizenry, Chef Steve-O is here to save the day.. kind of like Underdog right? Hehe Anyone remember him? Ok, so anyway, what I did recently for our company party was nothing short of genius. “Curtains please”… Introducing Dim Sum in the Park, a new and exciting concept for an outdoor picnic. What??

The original plan was for pizza and a keg, but clearly the planning committee wasn’t thinking it through. Cold pizza outside isn’t that appealing and certainly not that interesting. Good for time management but bad for the end result. And since we are a company of chefs, I didn’t want to get ridiculed for such a culinary faux pas. There I was thinking that I really didn’t want to work too hard on my day off but I didn’t want mediocrity either. Nor did I want to soak wood and stand by the grill all day. As we were cleaning out the H.O.G. shop on the Friday prior to the party, I spotted my solution: a set of steam baskets. The first thought that went through my head was tamales, chips, salsa and agua fresca. Then it switched to an assortment of dim sum and a nice grilled vegetable salad, which became the winning solution.

Last Sunday morning, I woke up, made a batch of steam bun dough and then placed an order for 120 pieces of assorted dim sum at You’s Dim Sum in China town. A long time ago I worked with this chef who used to call it “cheating with style”. “Make it easy,” he would say. Work smarter and not harder. So there you have it! clever party planning.

We did end up making some chicken steam buns and grilled some veggies with miso at the picnic. After all, we had to make something. In the end Molly and I still spent roughly 4 hours organizing the equipment, picking up the beverages and food, setting up the picnic and cleaning. The best part of the day though was that we had TIME to relax and enjoy the party. Beverages were iced, grilled miso veggies and sliced pineapple adorned porcelain platters and the dim sum was kept warm over a gentle steam. At one point this couple walked by and commented on how elegant and fancy the set up looked with the steam baskets perched on the picnic table. The fellow said “wow! you must have worked really hard to make all that food” and my reply was “yup, someone sure did” with a wink.

Until next time…This is Stephen from HOG wising your successful entertaining. aloha

Barbecued Chicken Steamed Buns

Serves 15 people

Ingredients
For the Dough:
1 ½ cup tepid water
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons dry active yeast
4 cups all purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt

For the Chicken Filling:
2 small game hens, or boneless skinless breasts, boiled with aromatics such as ginger, celery, and onion
3 green onions,minced, white and green parts
1 carrot, diced small
1 ½ cup water chestnuts, diced small (optional)
⅓ cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons plus soy sauce
3 tablespoons cup corn starch
1 ½ tablespoons ginger, minced
1 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 tablespoon rice wine or sherry

Instructions

Dough:
Dissolve the yeast and sugar together in the water. Let sit for 2 minutes. Mix in 3 cups of the flour, baking powder, vegetable oil and salt then knead for about 5 minutes until smooth. Allow the dough to begin rising in a warm humid spot, covered with a damp towel (about 15 minutes). Incorporate final cup of flour and knead until smooth. Cover dough again and let rise another 30 minutes until doubled in size.
After dough has risen, divide it into pieces about the size of a tennis ball. Using the palms of your hands and starting from the center, roll the dough into rope-like strands. Try and keep the dough an even ½ inch in diameter across the entire length. Cut the rope into ¾ inch long sections.

Chicken Filling:
Pull meat from bones and mince finely. Combine chicken with remaining ingredients in a pot, and heat through. Set aside to allow flavors to blend and meat to cool.

To Form and Steam:
To form the buns, take one cut section of dough in your hand and using your thumb make an indentation in the center. Gently work this indentation until it is big enough for a teaspoon full of filling. Place approximately 1 teaspoon of filling in the center and work the sides of the dough around, meeting at the top. Pinch together and place on parchment paper in the steamer. Let the buns rise for 15 minutes in a warm humid spot, covered loosely with a damp towel. Steam for 10 minutes over high heat.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 12:59 pm and is filed under Sides & Snacks, Main Dishes, Food Experiences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.