Cooks tackle ambitious dishes

many of the recipes within those pages. But one in particular, the bakery’s elaborate croissants, has remained unconquered.

It’s a painstaking process. The croissants require careful attention to temperature to prevent oodles of butter from getting too hot or cold, and the unique rolled shaping technique can be difficult to master. And that effort is spread over three days of patient waiting as the dough slowly ferments and raises.

Like Erwin, Poole found herself with plenty of time and ambition, but the COVID-19 outbreak presented different roadblocks for her.

“The inspiration was there at the beginning, but I didn’t know if the stores would have milk or eggs,” Poole said. “I had to wait until I could get nonfat milk at the grocery store. The milk shortage put it off a couple weeks.”

Competition pitmaster Doug Scheiding has used the workfrom-home reprieve from his engineering job to develop new recipes and techniques for his wide array of smokers and grills. He recently smoked his first batch of beef cheeks for classic barbacoa tacos and also stuffed venison cutlets with peppers and cheese that later got slathered with homemade blueberry barbecue sauce.

With the extra time at home, Scheiding treats each session at the pit as an opportunity for recipe testing. His latest effort elevated meatloaf to a culinary experience. He used a blend of ground beef and Italian sausage, seasoned that with a spice rack of flavors, and slapped those loaves over a cloud of hickory and oak for a few hours. One version was left plain, the other painted with barbecue sauce.

“I’m an engineer by education. I’m very methodical in how I approach things,” he said. “If I’ve got three steaks, I’ve always got at least one variable.”

New Braunfels resident Jeremy Rushing works as a real estate agent specializing in bar and restaurant spaces. With the hospitality industry ground to a near standstill through April, Rushing found himself professionally idle, but he and his wife have used that time to learn some new tricks in the kitchen — homemade tortillas for her, and the Cantonese staple char siu pork for him.

Rushing, who previously worked for South Texas Heritage Pork and has developed a taste for pasture-raised heritage breeds of the meat, finds the Chinese approach to barbecue — char siu pork has a sticky and sweet marinade reminiscent of barbecue sauce — the perfect template for a wide range of dishes, from stir-fries to soups to sandwiches.

“I’ve been playing with (char siu) for a while,” Rushing said. “Part of it was looking for new ways to use quality pork shoulder when I get it.”

Rushing’s version is heavy on fresh ginger and garlic, and omits the five-spice powder, which has a licoricelike flavor some find off-putting. The meat marinates for about 12 hours and takes another six hours to cook. With most pork shoulders weighing in around 4 pounds or more, that means plenty of leftovers, another payoff for all that time invested. work surface with flour. Unwrap the dough and roll it into a rectangle measuring 28 by 12 inches. Set the dough horizontally on the counter in front of you. Unwrap the butter and with a spatula, lightly spread the butter over the dough, starting from the left and leaving a ½-inch border along the side, top and bottom.

Cover two-thirds of the dough, leaving the right one-third unbuttered. Fold that third over the butter and then fold the left-hand third over the center, as if folding a business letter. With your fingers, push down along the seams on the top and the bottom to seal the butter in.

Give the dough a quarter turn so that the seams are now to your right and left. Roll the dough into a rectangle 28 by 12 inches and fold again in the same manner. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hours.

Clean the work surface and dust with flour. Unwrap the dough and place on the floured surface, and again roll out into a rectangle 28 by 12 inches. Fold into thirds in the same manner. Your dough should measure about 9 by 12 inches and be about 11⁄2-2 inches thick. Wrap in plastic and place in the freezer to chill for at least 1 hour.You can leave the dough in the freezer for up to 1 week. Place the in fridge for at least 2 hours before baking it.

When ready, dust the work surface again. Roll out the dough into a 32by 12-inch rectangle about thick. Cut the dough into triangles measuring 10-12 inches on each side and about 4 inches along the base.

Line a 13- by 18-inch baking pan with parchment paper. To shape the croissants position the triangles with the base facing you. Place your palms on the outer two points of the base and gently roll the dough towards the point. Grab the point with one hand and stretch it slightly and continue to roll, tucking the point underneath the rolled dough. Place the croissants point-side down on the prepared pan, leaving a few inches between each. Place the pan in a draft-free area to let the pastries rise until they are puffy and doubled in size, about 2-3 hours.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Make the Egg Wash, and gently brush it onto the pastries and let the wash dry for about 10 minutes before baking.

Place the croissants in the oven, drop the temperature to 400 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for 6-10 minutes until the pastries are deep golden brown on the top and bottom, crisp on the outside, and feel light when they are picked up, indicating that the interior is baked through.

Remove the croissants from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack before serving.

Makes 16-18 golden croissants

For Beth Erwin and her husband, Miles, making macarons meant learning a whole new set of baking skills.

Doug Scheiding experiments with smoked meatloaf made from ground beef and Italian sausage.