Beth: Summer Breads - Pesto Rolls

Around my place, summer means casual food that can be grabbed on the run, or taken to impromptu parties and late night bonfires. Like tomorrow night's solstice bonfire, or tonight's impromptu birthday celebration. (Not that the birthday is impromptu, but the celebration is.)

Summer is also when my herbMage aspect emerges in full bloom to fall upon the bounty of seasonal herbs, especially basil. Don't get me wrong, I love most herbs but I have a particular soft spot for basil. I am guessing that many of you share this particular fondness; basil seems to always have plenty of dates for summer parties.

These rolls are one of my favorite summer breads. Easy to make and infinitely variable, they don't need to be sliced or buttered, making them perfect for those casual summer picnics and parties where cutlery is superfluous.

The dough is relatively simple, although it does use a starter, and the extra few minutes it takes to fill, roll, and slice into rolls is well worth it for the payoff. I usually make my first batch of these babies in early June and keep making them until the freeze kills the basil…or later if I managed to freeze pesto.

kitchenMage's Twirled Pesto Rolls

Ingredient | Volume US | Volume Metric | Weight US | Weight Metric
Starter:
water| 1 cup | 235 ml | 8 ounces | 450 grams
bread flour| 1 cup | 235 ml | 4 1/2 ounces | 125 grams
whole wheat flour| 1/2 cup | 112 ml | 2 1/4 ounces | 62 grams
instant yeast| 1/4 teaspoon | 1-2 ml | 1/4 ounce | 2 grams
Dough:
water| 1 3/4 cups | 350 ml | 14 ounces | 392 grams
bread flour| 5 cups | 1175 ml | 22 1/2 ounces | 630 grams
instant yeast| 1 1/4 teaspoons | 8 ml | <3/8 ounce | 10 grams
olive oil| 3 tablespoons | 45 ml | 1 1/2 ounces | 42 grams
salt| scant tablespoon | 15 ml | 1/2 ounce | 15 grams

pesto for filling| 1 cup | 235 ml | 8 1/4 ounces | 232 grams
parmesan cheese (optional)

Notes:
If you don't have a favorite pesto recipe, I'd recommend Susan's pesto as a starting place.
I posted a flickr set with a number of photos if you want a more visual how-to than what follows. I did not link them here because they seem to work better taken in order. So click already!

Mixing the starter
In mixing bowl, combine starter ingredients and mix until well combined. Cover and let rest on the counter for about two hours until it is very bubbly. (You can shorten this to ~20 minutes or wait as long as 4 - 5 hours. You can also refrigerate the starter for 24 - 48 hours after it bubbles.)

Mixing the dough
Add water, 4 cups of bread flour and yeast to the starter and mix well. Add the oil and mix until it is integrated. Sprinkle in the additional cup of flour as you go — you may not need all of it, you may need a little more. (As we all know, my flour lives in a fog valley and yours does not, so they weigh differently. They would weigh differently in any case, but that is my excuse.)

When the absorption of the flour starts to slow down, turn it out on a well-floured counter, cover with a towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle the salt on the dough and knead until firm yet supple (like a Chippendale's dancer's butt). This is basically a baguette dough and it feels like it – smooth and neither tacky or dry. When it is done it feels good to knead and I think, "this is what bread dough should feel like!"

Roll the dough in flour and place it in a clean bowl. Cover the dough and let rise until doubled in bulk (about an hour).

When the dough has doubled, turn it out on a lightly floured counter and flatten into a rectangle. You are going to roll this out into a 12 x 24 rectangle and it will take a few cycles of rolling and resting (that Chippendale's reference just hangs there…begging to be used) to accomplish this. Roll the dough out until it starts resisting and springing back, then let it rest for 5 minutes and repeat.

Other fillings

I love these rolls filled with pesto but that is not the only thing you can use. Almost any very thick mixture will work for filling so feel free to experiment. If you think that bread would taste good dipped in it, then it will probably be a good filling. You can even include bacon if you must have that touch of pig.

Many sauces can be made the right consistency for filling by reducing the liquid (often olive oil) used to make it. I have been wanting to make a paste version of my favorite roasted red pepper sauce (mostly garlic, roasted red peppers and rosemary) but seldom remember it when I am in a store that has the peppers – let me know how it is if you try it.

I have also made these with deconstructed pesto: brush the dough with olive oil, scatter liberally with torn fresh basil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese, then roll, cut and bake as described.

Place the dough on the counter so that the long side is parallel to the counter edge. Spread pesto on the rectangle of dough, leaving an inch uncovered the long edge that is further away from you. Brush the exposed edge with water. Roll up the dough starting on the side closest to the counter edge and rolling away from you. The water brushed edge will be the last part to be rolled up, pinch the edge to seal. You should now have a 2 foot long cylinder of dough. (don't you dare bring up the Chippendale's now!)

Cut the rolls into 1 1/2" - 2" sections (my three fingers are about 1 15/8 inches wide so that's how tall my rolls are) and place in a lightly buttered baking pan. When I last made these, I had 15 rolls, which fit into two glass pie pans.

Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour. Bake in a preheated 400°F/205°C. Bake bread for 25 minutes or until golden brown (~195°F/90°C internal temperature). Cool rolls in pans for 15 minutes and then place on rack to finish cooling.

Optional: If you want a bit of melted parmesan on top of the rolls, use a vegetable peeler to shave off little pieces onto the hot baked rolls and return them to the oven for a couple of minutes to melt.

Variation: This recipe can also be made into two loaves of bread. To do so, divide the dough in half before shaping and then roll into two rectangles (~9 x 14) before filling and rolling. Don’t cut the loaves into rolls and place the loaves on a parchment lined baking sheet to proof and bake.

Sources and inspiration: The bread recipe is based on Peter Reinhart's polish baguette (BreadBaker's Apprentice) and while I had the idea independently, I must note that Jerry Traunfeld's Herbfarm Cookbook has a rolled pesto loaf in it. This last bit makes me happy that I could come up with the same thing as Mr Traunfeld because as Daniel Leader is to Susan, Jerry Traunfeld is to me. sigh

Technorati: Food | recipe | baking | bread | artisanal | artisan | bread baking | pesto | rolls | summer breads

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Kevin: Summer Breads - Buns

"Pig sandwich boy." This is what my co-blogger and supposed friend Beth calls me. Does this sound like a term of endearment? A sweet and touching reference to my fondness for sandwiches and pork? Or does it sound more like opprobrium? A sly snideness hiding behind a mask of bonhomie. I think she's dissing me and isn't really one of my homies, bon or otherwise. Perhaps she has simply mistaken her classics and considers me a Pygmalian, but I think not.

Be that as it may, here at AYIB central (meaning a conference call using my phone service) we've decided to do another selection of summer breads, but not sandwich breads, per se. Instead we're going to offer three different breads suitable for summer picnics, pool parties, watching fireworks, and plain old lazy-Sunday grilling. I got the nod to go first and thought I'd offer a bun recipe. Specifically a recipe I developed last summer for pulled pork barbeque. (Ok, so maybe Beth has a point.)

In this area of the South pulled pork is usually served on soft white hamburger buns. They're a better platform than the white sandwich bread used in some places, but contribute almost nothing to the final sandwich. I'd decided to make barbeque for my father's birthday and decided if I was going to devote 8 - 9 hours smoking a pork butt to perfection then I wanted something better than an ordinary hamburger bun. I wanted a bun that made it's own contribution to the meal and after giving it some thought I decided that if pork is good on the bun, it'd be good in the bun. So I came up with these Bacon Buns. (Alright, so Beth definitely has a point.)

The recipe incorporates some whole-wheat flour for both flavor and texture — but not a lot. The bun should be light and airy. Along those same lines, slow rising and minimal yeast produce deeper and richer flavors and I have bias toward such flavor. But these characteristics also produce a tougher bread because the gluten is more developed. So in keeping with my "light and airy" goal I elected to do a quick single rise.

Bacon Buns
Makes 10 - 12 buns.

ingredients US volume | Metric volume | US weight | Metric weight
milk 1 c | 236 ml | 8 oz | 225 g
water 1/2 c | 118 ml | 4 oz | 112.5 g
bacon fat 1/4 c | 56 ml | 2 oz | 56 g
whole-wheat flour 1 c | 236 ml | 5 1/8 oz | 146 g
all-purpose flour 3 1/2 c | 825 ml | 18 oz | 510 g
instant yeast 1 1/2 tsp | 7.5 ml | — | —
sugar 2 tbsp | 30 ml | 1 1/4 oz | 32 g
salt 1/2 tsp | 2.5 ml | — | —
egg 1 large

Heat the milk, bacon fat, and water in a small saucepan until about 110F.

Mix together 2 cups flour, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Mix in milk mixture, followed by the egg.

Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time — switching to the dough hook after adding a cup and a half of flour. Knead for 8 minutes then turn out on a floured board and knead 2 or 3 minutes longer if required. Shape dough into a roll and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 10 equal pieces. Form each piece into a round shape and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Click on the slideshow to the left to see the details of shaping the buns.

Spritz buns with a light coating of oil and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until slightly more than doubled in bulk (it took an hour and a half for this batch).

While the buns are rising, heat the oven to 400F and position a rack in the middle of the oven.

Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate baking sheet 180 degrees. Bake another 2 to 4 minutes until golden brown.

Technorati: Food | recipe | baking | bread | artisanal | artisan | bread baking | summer breads | buns | hamburger buns

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Kevin: Hot Cross Buns

This article was originally posted on Seriously Good in April of 2006.

"Results 1 - 10 of about 14,000,000." Google is nothing if not prolific -- one might even say prolix.

It was the week before Easter and I'd entered "easter bread" as the search term. I'd planned on baking some sort of Easter bread last year but something had prevented it, so this year I was determined. Chocolates and rabbits and chocolate rabbits are a recent addition to the feasts of spring -- although some tend to get a bit literal (and even perverse) in their interpretations of such recent addendums. But eggs are a nearly universal symbol of spring and bread is almost as ubiquitous in areas where suitable grains are grown.

I already knew of the Italian Pane di Pasqua, Greek Tsoureki, and Russian Koulich breads. The Polish Babka, Ukrainian Paska, and Dutch Paasbrood weren't much of a surprise. I was surprised though that there were so many Italian Easter breads -- Crescia, Pan di Ramerino, Torta di Pasqua al Formaggio -- and that so many were savory and not sweet. I also turned up a coconut bread with pineapple butter (but no indication of its origins) and the Armenian Choereg.

Then there's matzo, the

Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns!
If ye have no daughters,
Give them to your sons.
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns

traditional Passover bread (same celebration, different religion) and modern pagans celebrate Beltane with oat or barley scones which are reputedly traditional. Many (if not all) of the Easter breads really had nothing to with Easter originally. Instead they, like the scones of Beltane, were made for feasts having nothing to do with Christ but instead, like the eggs, were fertility symbols.

Given so many options to choose from, I fell back on my first impulse, Hot Cross Buns. I've not made them before and I thought they be good with a bit of homemade sausage on Easter morning -- something a bit more substantial than my usual breakfast banana to tide me through to dinner. I eventually pulled several recipes together and came up with the following recipe. The buns are pleasantly sweet but not cloying. The glaze would be cloying, but there's not much of it and it only appears in every two or three bites, which I think is about perfect. The spices offer a nice lilt and the texture is tender and chewey. I think next time I might use a bit of whole wheat flour just to provide a tad more depth to the flavor.

Hot Cross Buns

1/2 c milk
1 tbsp yeast
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp salt
5 tbsp butter -- melted and cooled
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
2 ea eggs
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour (King Arthur recommended)
3/4 c currants or raisins
1 ea egg
Glaze
1/2 c confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 - 2 tbsp milk

Warm milk to room temperature. Fill a mixing bowl with hot water.

Empty mixing bowl and add milk, yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 3 tablespoons of flour. Mix together, cover, and allow to rest 30 - 40 minutes or until sponge doubles in volume.

Mix in remaining sugar, butter spices, and 2 eggs. Gradually add remaining flour and salt, and knead for about 3 minutes. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Add currants and continue kneading for another 5 minutes until currants are thoroughly mixed in and dough is smooth and elastic. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Shape dough into a ball and place smooth side down in a buttered bowl, turn smooth side up and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in size.

Line a 9" x 13" baking dish with parchment paper. Scoop the dough from the bowl and fold it several times to work out the large bubbles, then divide it into 12 equal portions. roll each portion into a ball and arrange balls in baking dish about 1/2" apart. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, remove from refrigerator and allow the buns to warm up and rise for a couple of hours until doubled in size.

Heat oven to 375F.

Using a razor blade, cut a cross in the top of each bun. Whisk together the remaining egg and a tablespoon of water and brush on the buns. Place buns on the center rack in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Once done, cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes then whisk together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over crosses cut into buns. Serve warm. Makes 12 buns.

Technorati: Food | recipe | bread | easter | hot cross buns

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