Mike's Hoagie Buns & Sauce

The Buns

A little explanation before we begin. The term 'hoagie' has different meanings to different people. Where I live in North Central West Virginia, a hoagie is a long Italian bun filled with meat (usually steak), onions, peppers, cheese and sauce. There are personal variations, but this is the basic. It is considered by many, a spin-off of the famous 'Philly Cheese Steak.'

The buns are readily available in my area but our local Italian bakeries have clinged to old-world traditions and only package their buns in 6-packs. Although, for a short period of time, one bakery did sell me individual 'reject' buns,  but stopped that practice after a few months. They said, "It was too inconvenient." I thought, "Then, what do they do with the rejects?" A question I will never know the answer.

So, I began a search for a recipe that would allow me to bake my own. Keep in mind, I am not a bread baker, but I have developed a good pizza shell recipe. That is for another story. After many failures, I developed this recipe, using bits and pieces from others.  It does make four nice-sized buns, but be patient, unless you are an experienced bread baker. My first several tries were colossal failures. During the baking process they unrolled and ended up looking like moonscapes. They tasted good but looked really ugly.

Be patient and persistent. That is important. Eventually, I got the kneading, rolling, and folding down to 'pretty good.'  Now, I can bake my own buns and even turn some of the dough into pepperoni rolls - something unique to my home area.

The Sauce

For the sauce, I must give credit where credit is due. This was actually developed by my wife Sandra. It was a basic recipe she found in one of her 'many' cookbooks. Although, she 'tweaked' it in several areas, making it much better. If you prepare the recipe, do not forget the 'splash' of white wine. This sauce is the base for my pizzas and a major addition to my hoagies.
Here are the recipes. Please read carefully. You can print or copy and paste with ease.

 

Here are the recipes:

Mike's Italian Hoagie Buns

Ingredients:
1 - cup warm milk
1 - tbl instant dry yeast
2 - tbl sugar
1-tsp salt
 3 tbl - softened butter
1 - Large egg
 3-4 cups all-purpose flour

Cooking:
In the warm milk, spoon the yeast and one tbl of the sugar to help activate the yeast. Let it stand a couple minutes or until it starts to foam a little. It is ‘sorta’ neat to watch it foam a little.

Meanwhile: Using a stand-up mixer or food processor with dough hooks: Combine 3 cups of flour, 1 tbl sugar, salt, egg, and butter to your mixing bowl (in that order). Turn on to knead…slowly adding the milk/yeast mixture.
Add the rest of the flour…1/4 cup at a time. You may not need all the flour. Save the left-over for rolling. Continue to knead for 3-5 minutes.  Dough should be tacky but not sticky.

Transfer the dough ball to a lightly greased (canola or olive oil) mixing bowl. Cover with Saran wrap and move to a warm place. Let it rise for an hour or so… OR until it doubles in size.

Remove the dough (with floured hands) to a lightly floured surface. Separate into 4-equally sized balls.  This is where it gets tricky: Roll each ball, with floured hands on a floured surface until they look like skinny loaves of bread. You can pick up each one by the end and let gravity lengthen it.

You want them to look like ‘slightly- fat sticks’ of pepperoni - about 10-11 inches long. Do your best to eliminate any seams or creases. If they do appear, make sure they are on the bottom when done. Pinch and fold the ends under. Let rise for 30 minutes. If you have seams or folds showing, they will probably unfold when baking.

Preheat oven to 375*. Bake 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. ‘Thump’ the bread. If it sounds hollow, your ‘buns are done.’   I bake mine on parchment paper on top of a pizza stone for easy cleanup. Note: Put the stone in the oven during preheat…w/o the parchment.

I do not slice my buns down the middle or side. I cut a large “V” in the top that looks like a canoe. Then I pinch out a little more bread from the sides and bottom.  This allows for more filling and no ‘squishing out’ when you bite down. Save the “V” for garlic sticks.

Another little addition: Before I bake the hoagie with all its filling, I brush the bun (top and inside) with a mixture of melted butter, crushed garlic, and a little Italian seasoning.

Finally: Build your hoagie and place it in the oven under the lowest broiler rack and watch it until the cheese is really melted and the bun nice and brown.
*Approved and edited by his wife, Sandra

Mike's Dual Purpose Pizza & Hoagie Sauce

 

Ingredients:
1- 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
1 – ‘big’ tbl tomato paste
1 - tsp oregano (dried)
1 – tsp basil (dried)
1 – tsp sugar
‘Splash” of dry white wine
½ can of water (use the sauce can)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Note: If you use fresh herbs, increase the amount by half.

Cooking
Place everything in a small saucepan, mix thoroughly, then simmer (about 15 minutes) or until it begins to thicken. If you let it stand until cool, be sure to stir before spreading on your pizza or spooning on your hoagie. Freezes well.

I do hope you will try these recipes and please share. Unlike many cooks, I believe recipes should be shared. Life is way too short to horde.

Leaving you with this thought: Be patient! Bread sometimes has a mind of its own.

Bon Appétit…from Mike’s Kitchen

Michael S. Lambiotte