Saturday, September 10, 2011

Deli Buns


This recipe is the first of three that make up a TRIFECTA of food blog posts. Yes, a TRIFECTA! Ok maybe not a trifecta but when used in combination with what is to come….YUM.

These buns come to you from Frieda at Frieda loves bread. Although I wouldn’t go as far as she did to say these are French Bread Buns, (they lack the complex flavor of a bread created from a mature starter) they can definitely be classified in the same family - there are no eggs or milk and they are steam baked. The result is a bun that has a fine, moist crumb and a slightly hard, crisp crust. The best part is that because the crust isn’t as hard as real French bread, you can enjoy a crusty bite without tearing the roof of your mouth to bits. 

I’ve made these with both all-purpose flour and 100% whole grain flour. Both are absolutely fantastic and worth the effort. The 100% whole wheat version is  include below as it requires a little more time and care over the all-purpose flour version (that can be obtained from Frieda’s site)

I’ve been wanting to share this recipe with you for a while but due to circumstances within my control but beyond my current level of ability I have not for the following reasons:

Myth: I am the worst food stylist and food photographer on the planet.

Truth: I am easily frustrated with my inability to materialize the image in my head to an image in a photo and often think I should give up and do something I’m more comfortable with.

Truth: I enjoy short-term challenges. I tend to lose interest in long term challenges

Myth: I am not cutout to stick with something that challenges me.

Resolve: I may be slow and my pictures may not be perfect, but so long as I’m learning, I’m succeeding.  Despite the imperfections of the photos, I’m going to post them anyway and try to remember that

If I wait untill I’m perfect, I’d never get anything done.

Deli Buns

Makes 10 buns
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 ½ cup warm water
2 c. whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2-2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)

Directions:
  1. In a small bowl dissolve yeast in water.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 cups flour and salt. Stir to combine.
  3. Add honey and oil to yeast water, then poor the wet ingredients over the flour and salt, then mix until just combined. Cover and allow to sit for 20 minutes.
  4. Add remaining flour to make a soft dough that barely sticks to your finger. Then knead it until soft and elastic (4-8 minutes) Shape dough into a round, place in a bowl, cover and , allow dough to rise for 1 hour or until doubled. Gently deflate the dough, reshape it into a round and cover to let rise for another 30 minutes.
  5. Divide dough into 10 pieces (about 3.3 oz) Shape each into a round then roll the dough out with fingers into the shape of a 5” snake, place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and slightly press down with fingers. Cover plastic wrap with cooking oil spray then use it to cover dough. Allow rolls to proof for 30 – 45 minutes.
  6. During last 15 minutes of proofing, put an old tin pie pin on the lowest rack of the oven and put the other rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 400ºF.
  7. Just before you are ready to bake the buns, spritz dough with water, sprinkle with sesame seeds then with a serrated knife, slash the tops of the buns, 1/8” deep.
  8. Put buns in the oven on the middle rack and put 1 cup of hot water into the pie tin. Close oven door. 30 seconds later, spritz tops of bread with water, close door. Wait another 30 seconds, spritz, close door. And repeat 30 seconds later for the last time. Allow buns to finish baking for 15-17 minutes rotating pan 180º half way through baking until golden brown.

Gwenevere

15 comments:

Kim Bee said...

Oh my goodness Gwenevere these are amazing. They look perfect to me. I like the photos. I think we all try so hard to be foodgawker or tastespotting worthy but it's so hard to be that good all the time. Sometimes the light is bad, sometimes we're hungry and would like to eat our food hot, sometimes the kids need us. My new motto is life first, blog second. I am really looking forward to the trifecta. Hope you enjoy your weekend.

Hester @ Alchemy in the Kitchen said...

You can't have the perfect sandwich without a decent bread for the foundation. These deli buns look pretty perfect to me. Love the touch of honey sweetness.

Mikaela Cowles said...

Great resolve and I feel the same way about my pictures. I always see how beautiful things could come out and then when I actually take them they don't seem to do justice to the food. Normally I am feeling really guilty about the hungry people waiting to eat and so I just go with whatever I have. But, my friends and family have gotten pretty used to my, "Wait. No wait. Don't touch that yet."

Unknown said...

Wow, these look amazing! I think your photo's are great. I have the same feelings about my photography and when I submit my photo to foodgawker or tastespotting those feelings are confirmed every time they send me the "DENIED" email. So, that said, I no longer submit to those sites and just post my pics to my website and I'm always happy ;)

Cheryl and Adam said...

Home made bread is one of the great pleasures in life and your buns look so yummy! Your photos are really good too. You're a little too hard on yourself.
@ Dee: FOod gawker routinely rejects our photos for reasons that make us think they haven;t even looked at the photos.. claiming shots are out of focus when they clearly are not. It's very arbitrary with them and probably not worth the effort.

Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. said...

These buns look so great! Way better than the ones you find in the bread aisle! And I like your resolves with your photos. I'm a new blogger too and really struggle with my pictures. Not only do I not yet have the proper equipment, I just don't know what I am doing! We'll get there with time!!

Anonymous said...

These are absolutely stunning! I can't wait to see the rest of the trifecta! I love, Love, LOVE a good sandwich and completely agree with you regarding the bread! I'm now following you on Google Follower...I don't know why I wasn't before....silly over site! Yay for sandwiches!

Sarah said...

These look fantastic! And I think your photos are lovely :) Can't wait for the rest of the trifecta!

Sandra said...

Oh these are perfect...love your yummy photos..I need to make these soon!

briarrose said...

Lovely job....definitely the perfect start to a sammich.

Apron Appeal said...

@briarrose---that is how I should always spell sandwhich. I am constantly spelling it with an "h" - see I did it again!

Mary said...

Dee - I feel the same way about my photos. I hate the rejections and so unless I truly adore a photo, I rarely if ever submit it. :) I do what I do for me and mine, not for anything else.

Gwen - For what my thoughts are worth, I LOVE the look of those buns. Seriously, girl, what are you thinking? They look perfect and the pictures are great.

Apron Appeal said...

The more I blog the less and less I care about what foodgawker, foodbuzz and tastespotting think but I still care what I think...and I can't seem to understand why I can't make my food look like the picture in my head! :) It's probably the same reason, my sister (a hairdresser) cannot cut my hair to look like Rapunzle's short cut in Tangled....It's a cartoon, It's drawn that way. I just need to teach my brain to stop coming up with pictures that are quite possibly impossible to duplicate. :)

Frieda Loves Bread said...

I'm thrilled that your deli buns turned out great! I love your whole wheat spin on this recipe ~ I'm sure it gives it a depth of flavor that the APF version doesn't have. You did a fantastic job, pictures and all!

Roxana GreenGirl said...

Hi Gwen,
With my summer vacation outside US I haven't visited your blog in a while.

You know I love making bread, and eating it, of course, and these little baguettes look great.
I love your photos and your recipe and will keep coming back for more. Foodgawker or tastespotting is not going to stop me!

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