Brötchen are basically German bread rolls; which are much better than any other kind of bread rolls. They come in a wide variety of types, shapes, and sizes; and buying fresh brötchen from a local bakery for breakfast is the best way to start off your day. Great with nutella, cheeses, vegetables, and just plain butter; they are usually crusty, wholesome, and give French baguette a run for its money. Here I have made my own version, that come close to some I enjoyed in Germany. These are whole wheat and contain seeds for extra texture and nutrition.
Whole Grain Seedy Brötchen
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoon each: sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
1 package (eight grams) instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
300mL warm water
2 Tablespoons oil
1 Tablespoon blackstrap molasses
seeds, for topping
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, seeds, yeast, and salt. Stir together the water, oil, and molasses, and add in. Stir until dough comes together, then knead until uniform. Divide into nine even pieces. Roll into balls. Place 3x3 in a parchment-lined 8x8 inch square pan. Sprinkle with seeds. Cover and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours. Then bake at 375◦F for about 20 minutes until cooked. Serve warm - toasted for a crusty bread or wrapped in foil for soft bread. Great with cheeses, butter, hummus, vegetables, etc.
This is the first pear dish I shall feature - the appetizer. Here, the pear stars in the condiment on top - the pear ketchup. It sounds a little different and unorthodox, but using pears rather than tomatoes to make a ketchup yields a sweet, pleasant result. The appearance is more like applesauce than ketchup, but the taste is sweet and tangy. There are strange foods like bacon jam and pineapple relish, so why not pear ketchup? The ketchup is the only condiment you will need for these bite-sized, miniature burgers; no mustard or relish required!
These burgers are actually based upon challah bread, a sweeter, rich bread, but when sliced as it is here, it works for these burgers. You could of course use miniature hambuger buns instead, but I think these special burgers require a fancier bread. Toasting the bread is definitely a smart step as well. The actual burger itself is literally just bacon crumbled together with blue cheese. Surprising, but with just two ingredients, these burgers pack a lot of punch - no further seasoning required. The texture is surprisingly pleasant and satisfying too, you would think you are biting into a pork patty. Pear and pork pair well together. These miniature burgers also have a short cooking time - a quick sear in a skillet and finished off in the oven.
The pear jam is a mixture of pears and onions, sautéd together until soft, then combined with some apple juice, vinegar, and seasoning. The mixture is then puréed until smooth. These burgers then just need a few simple garnishes - a leaf of arugula, a cherry tomato half, or a little extra blue cheese.
Hot Cross Buns are a Good Friday tradition, with the crosses representing the crucifixion. I like the idea of hot cross buns, but the process seems to be a bit much. I love baking and complicated recipes, but I tried making traditional, yeasty hot cross buns before. Not only was the process long and labor-intensive with a lot of waiting, but the buns were not very good at all. they were very, very dry and lacked flavor. So the next year I tried making chocolate hot cross buns. These were much better and tastier (most chocolate things are), but were far from traditional and still a little on the dry side and time consuming. So last year I made hot cross muffins (see April 6th, 2012). These were the best yet, quick, moist, and tasty! This year I tried another take on hot cross buns, which are probably the closest to traditional yet, and I made hot cross biscuits. Just like hot cross buns, but a quick rise version instead of using yeast. They are still spicy, sweet, and chock-full of raisins!
Hot Cross Biscuits
3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
2 Tablespoons granulated (white) sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup raisins or currants, soaked in water for a few ours to plump up, drained and patted well dry
1 large egg
3/4 cup cold buttermilk, plus extra if needed and for brushing tops
Preheat oven to 425◦F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk the first dry ingredients. Cut in the butter, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins. Make a well in the center. Mix the egg and buttermilk together and add to the well, mixing with a fork until just moistened.
Pour the scrappy dough onto a work surface and knead lightly just to form into a one inch thick or so round mass. Do not overwork the dough. Add a little extra buttermilk, a Tablespoon at a time, if needed. Cut with a round floured biscuit cutter or glass.
Transfer to prepared baking sheet, and brush tops with buttermilk.
Bake for about 15 minutes until biscuits are golden brown and firm.
Let cool, then pipe on crosses (just use a little icing sugar, vanilla, and water).
I really like this tea biscuit recipe, and it is quite easy to do. The trick to this is to handle the dough as little as possible - no kneading! It has a nice flavor and texture, and is full of juicy raisins. They are especially good warm. I thought I was doing very well, but then ended up forgetting the spices in the biscuits. The spices are not necessary if you are just making biscuits, but if you are trying to imitate hot cross buns they are. So I just added a little cinnamon and a pinch of cloves to the icing, which is what gives it its brownish color.
These are the kaiser rolls we used to eat our pulled pork. I didn't make them myself (I would have if I had had the time), but we bought them freshly baked. They come in white, whole wheat, and multigrain, and we tried both the white and the whole wheat. Both types were very light and fluffy, nice big rolls that can hold a lot of pork and absorb the sauce well. They are especially good if you toast them first. Actually, these rolls are good for much more than just pulled pork, they also make really good sandwich buns, rolls to eat with soup, and are especially nice as pizza buns. Just out a little sauce, meat cheese, and vegetables if you wish, and pop them in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes to toast them and melt the cheese. This is what we did with some if the leftover buns. These buns are especially suited to hold meat, such as beef, pork, chicken, turkey, ham, and cold cuts. They are soft and tasty.
Here is a supper we recently enjoyed. It is slow cooked pulled pork roast in an apple butter sauce. I am usually not a huge fan of pork, but if it is done right I really enjoy it. And this time, my father certainly did it right. He used the pulled pork recipe our friends gave us after we ate some at their house this summer, and could not stop raving about it. It was so delicious! I believe I featured it a few months ago, when my father tried it the first time in the oven. However, he did not use the same sauce our friends recommended and I did not care all that much for the flavor of the sauce he used. This time my father cooked it long and slow in the slow cooker and used the same sauce as our friends. This time, the pulled pork was much better! It was even more tender and juicy, and the flavor was definitely much better. Here is a picture of it served on a fluffy bun with some sweet potato fries on the side. This is a good dish to make that is not too time consuming or difficult or requires too much prep work, especially when done in the slow cooker. It also just requires a few simple side dishes, like a salad, or vegetables, or potatoes, and a good quality bun. In addition, it is a warming winter dish that fills the house with delicious aromas while it is cooking.
Tonight we are barbecuing hamburgers and veggie burgers for supper, so naturally I decided to try making my own burger buns. Surprisingly, I have never tried this before, we usually just use store bought buns, but I wanted to try my hand at making some. There are actually many recipes for this, and you can adapt regular dinner roll recipes and simply shape them differently (this works for hotdog buns too). I decided to try a simple recipe for my first time. They turned out ok, but didn't rise all that well while baking, despite rising nicely beforehand. I also may have baked them a bit too long, so they are more crisp rather than soft and chewy, but still tasty. Because they did not rise well, they were cut thin, and a bit tricky to slice in half. Next time I will choose a less humid and rainy day to try them, but they certainly went well with the hamburgers and veggie burgers barbecued tonight, which I will feature in tomorrow's post.
Hamburger Buns
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package (8 grams) active dry yeast
1 large egg
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
In a large bowl, stir the sugar into the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over top and let stand undisturbed for ten minutes until bubbly. Stir to dissolve yeast. Add eggs, oil, and salt. Work in enough flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Shape dough into balls the size of tennis balls. Flatten slightly and place two inches apart on a baking sheet. Allow to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in bulk. Bake at 375◦F for about 20 minutes.
