Demi Brioche Hamburger/Pulled Pork Buns

I love entertaining. Having a dining room is one of the most exciting things about my flat as not only do I think it’s important to eat around a table at home, but it means that when people come over they don’t have to eat off their lap! However this is sometimes necessary when larger groups of people come over, my table is only so big, and I have to get creative with my thinking. You see I do have a dining room but I also have a very small kitchen. Planning is a big part of any entertaining I do but as I like planning and pouring over recipes that isn’t a problem. The size of my kitchen doesn’t allow me to ‘plate up’ so I have to go for things people can serve themselves from the table. 

My current love is for pork pibil. I’m finding that a lot of the pulled pork on offer is drenched in a very sweet BBQ sauce which just tastes of sugar. Going down the Mexican route gives delicious pulled pork which actually tastes of something. (Of course I could make my own BBQ sauce, and have done, but I’ve been swayed by the amount of burrito places near my work). My main concern for my next entertaining gig is how to get it on the menu. Burritos are a bit messy, as I’m going down a buffet route, so I thought about putting it in buns. They go well with pulled BBQ pork so why not pork pibil?! 

These aren’t traditional brioche buns but a more substantial take on it to maintain structural integrity when filled with stuff. The method does look long but trust me when I say that these are easy. nO Kneading is involved. I’m merely explaining how to not get covered in dough as it’s very sticky! If you want to make Pork Pibil to go inside these then the recipe is here. 

Ingredients

250ml warm water

3 tbsp milk

2 tsp dry active yeast

2 ½ tbsp sugar

450g strong white flour

50g plain flour

1 ½ tsp salt

60g butter

3 large eggs (one is used to glaze the final buns before cooking) 

1.    Put the warm water, milk, yeast and sugar in a jug. You don’t need to activate the yeast, as this is already done, but having it all together makes it easier later on.

2.    Put the flours, salt and butter in a food processor and whizz up until the butter is incorporated with the flour. Just use the usual blade. You can use a proper mixer with a paddle but I don’t have one so to hell with it.

3.    Add two of the eggs, turn the processor on and then pour the water and yeast mixture into the mixture. Let the food processor run until the mixture forms a dough. Probably a couple of minutes. Be warned the food processor will go a bit mental so you may need to steady it.

4.    Lightly grease a bowl with oil. The dough is majorly sticky so avoid touching it if at all possible. I just scrape the dough stuck on the blade into the bowl and follow with scraping in the rest. Done. Then cover with a piece of cling film that has been greased. You’ll thank me later as the dough sticks to everything.

5.    Leave in a warm place to rise to about double its size – 30 minutes to an hour.

6.    Once it’s risen take out of the warm place and scrape out on to a well-floured surface. Don’t worry about punching the air out as this will cover your hand in dough and the scraping will do it for you.

7.    Put some baking paper on a baking sheet (or two). Divide the dough into anything from 8 – 15 pieces depending on how big you want them. Shape into a ball (flour your hands) and put on the baking sheet. Ideally any joins in the dough go on the bottom giving you a smooth top. Make sure there is a gap between them but it doesn’t matter if they touch – you can pull them apart once cooked.

8.    Put them back in the warm place to rise again – probably nearer the 30 minute mark – and once risen lightly brush with the remaining beaten egg. While they are rising pre-heat the oven to 200°C/GM6.

9.    Bake for 15-20 minutes (if you have a gas move turn the baking sheet around half way through to get an even colour) and cool on a rack. Once cool fill with something good and devour. 

N.B. Bigger buns will work for burgers.

Tara's Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

I promised my office that I would make the sausage rolls if they filled in our industry training diaries. I’m in charge of making sure this happens and as it's fairly annoying to keep reminding people I find that bribery helps. Anyway I have never previously catered for vegetarians when doing sausage rolls and needed to on this occasion.  

So what to do? Well I went online and found a recipe that looked like the craziest recipe ever for something that would taste good. I found it on The Veggie Mama blog and apparently it’s someone called Tara’s recipe. Now I don't know Tara but I feel it only right to credit her. These look very much like sausage rolls (which might put some people off if the whole point of not eating meat is to avoid what it looks like) with the oats adding texture to them. They are better hot than cold but what isn’t in the baking world? 

Ingredients

1 egg

1/3 cup cottage cheese

1/4 cup crushed walnuts

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 large shallot (or a small onion)

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 cup oats

1 tsp dry veggie stock (I crushed 1/3 dried veggie Knorr stock cube and that was about right I think)

A good grating of Parmesan cheese

Ready rolled sheet of puff pastry

Beaten egg  

1.    Preheat the oven to 200°C/GM 6.

2.    Put the egg, cottage cheese, soy sauce and shallot in a blender and whizz together.

3.    Put the breadcrumbs, oats and parmesan into a bowl and mix. Add the wet mix and stir together well.

4.    Unroll the puff pastry and cut in half lengthways. Put half the mixture as a sausage down each half. Put some beaten egg down one side and fold the pastry over the mixture, sealing by pushing down with fingers or pressing down with a fork.

5.    Cut into the desired size, brush the top with egg and bake for 20 minutes or so. You can top them with seeds or crushed onion crispies (I find it useful to have something that shows easily what is vegetarian and what isn’t).

Leon's Cinnamon Scones

A holiday in the UK can be fraught with dangers. You run the very real risk of reenacting most of ‘Withnail and I’. The experience can find you pathetically complain that you have gone on holiday by mistake to anyone who will listen and then drinking so much of the local scrumpy that you insult the elderly population of wherever you are staying. Luckily my holiday in Wales wasn’t like that, and while we had one wash out afternoon, The Thew actually managed to gain the respect of the local population by drinking the local scrumpy three days in a row and not passing out. A strange bubble exists on holiday where 7.2% cider seems the norm. The only strange moment I had was when checking into one place I was greeted by a moving CCTV camera and disembodied voice in reception but after a while an actual person showed up so that was ok.  

Our last day of holiday was spent with our friends in Abergavenny where we were treated to glorious sunshine and amazing food. They have discovered a vineyard near them so Saturday was devoted to watching their three sons playing in a stream while we cooled our feet and drank local Welsh wine. I became quite adept at the ‘Rock Game’ which entailed me finding rocks in the stream and then passing them to their youngest son who proceeded to hurl them down a mini waterfall. I think that the aim to hit another rock without a big splash but to be honest I was just happy that I was seen to be performing my role well.  

Breakfast on Sunday consisted of cinnamon scones which were fabulous. Leon is something of a cook and he just knocked these up for us. Served hot smothered in butter is a great way to start a Sunday and a highly recommend it to one and all. In the tradition of all great recipes this one is written on a scrap of paper with the ink slightly blurred where water has dripped on it and no cooking instructions. Just that in itself should assure you of how great these are. 

Ingredients 

Scones

310g plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

250ml milk

30g butter, melted 

Filling/Topping

60-70g melted butter

85g dark brown sugar (keep the packet handy)

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice 

1.    Preheat the oven to 190°C/GM5 and line a baking tray with baking paper (the butter and sugar go everywhere but we want to keep it as they make crunchy bits you can snack once all the scones are gone).

2.    Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together then add the butter and milk to make the dough. It will look very wet but start with a wooden spoon and then use your hands. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead to bring together. Add more flour as you knead if the dough is too wet but the kneading should make it less so.

3.    Roll the dough out into a rectangle. I had it about 1cm thick in the end but is doesn’t matter if it’s uneven. Go for a size just larger than A4 as a guide.

4.    Brush all over generously with the melted butter. Mix the sugar and spices together and scatter most of it over the dough. (I used all of it and forgot to leave some for the topping so just used more brown sugar, hence keeping the packet handy in case you do this too).

5.    Roll the dough up bringing the long side towards you and then slice into pieces. I got 15 out of mine but make sure they are about 3-4cm wide. Place upright, so the swirly middle bit isn’t top and bottom, brush with more butter and top with sugar/spice mix or just sugar.

6.     Bake for 20 minutes (although I think 15 minutes could do it as my sugar started to melt which Leon's didn't) cool very slightly then serve the Leon way.

 

N.B. These are best served hot but if you save some then heat for 15 seconds on high in a microwave.

Chelsea Buns or Why I Can't be Bothered

Oh I can’t be bothered. It’s been that kind of week really. Everything has been an effort and a pain. I think part of it was that I was sort of ill for a few days. Nothing bad enough for me to stay in bed and watch my box set of Mad Men but enough to make everything a chore. I’ve also pulled something in my leg and am having to actively try and fix it in time for my 10km run on Saturday (tomorrow). What feels like hours of rolling on a roller and tennis ball haven’t helped my general feelings of botheredness.  

However the weekend is upon me and I’m very much looking forward to it (apart from the 10km run). I’ll be making cake pops for my wondrous and beautiful Goddaughter’s 7^th birthday and then, pampering her and some of her friends alongside her Godmother of Fabulousness (she has two the lucky thing!) There are going to be four of us acting as beauticians and it’s going to be lots of fun.

So in the general theme of this week I can’t be bothered to write up the recipe for these Chelsea Buns. I wasn’t 100% happy and it all seems like too much of a chore. I’m going trashy next week which I think will be more exciting.

Finnish Rye Bread

Bank holiday weekends are just great. Especially when the weather is so good. The Thew and I took advantage by eating and drinking our way around London for two days. We met up with friends on Saturday and then on Sunday we went on some epic walkabout stopping off for food and wine. It’s what we do best and it was nice that my husband didn’t have to run a couple of marathons just as part of his training. Although some hill running is about to commence to get him ready for his next challenge. 

Anyway Monday was all about recovering and we just pootled around our local parks. I really couldn’t be bothered with baking anything that would take too much time. I had planned to do something intricate, because the weather on a Bank Holiday Monday is normally pants and I’m happy to be in my kitchen, but the sun came out and all plans went on hold. 

So it might seem weird that I'd make bread for something quick and easy but it really is. This recipe is a Nigella one from the Domestic Goddess who can always be relied on for something that isn’t a faff. After an impromptu picnic in Victoria Park The Thew and I headed home to sit in the small park behind our block of flats. I spent five minutes getting the dough ready to rise, popped it in the airing cupboard to prove and after a couple of hours sitting in the sun the dough was ready for the second proving before popping in the oven. Barely any work at all.  

Ingredients 

225g rye flour

300g strong white flour

7g (1 sachet) easy blend yeast

1 tbsp dark muscovado sugar (I only had light but it seems to work)

2 tsp salt

300ml warm flour

45g melted butter 

1.    Put the flours, yeast, sugar and salt into a bowl and mix. Add the warm water slowly and bring together. You're going to need to get your hand into the mixture as a wooden spoon just doesn't cut it.

2.    Once it’s come together add a tbsp of the melted butter and mix in. Then get kneading. Dough hooks are clearly recommended here but by all means do it manually. There is something about having dough in your fingernails that makes it feel like you’ve achieved something.

3.    Use some of the melted butter, about a tbsp, to oil a bowl and the top of the dough. Cover the bowl, leave somewhere warm for a couple of hours to double in size (or in the fridge overnight) and go outside to sit in the sun.

4.    Once doubled in size punch the dough down (is there anything more gratifying in baking), knead a bit and then shape into a round loaf and place on a baking tray. Leave somewhere warm for about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 190°C/GM 5.

5.    Then pop in the oven for about 45 minutes (to check if it’s done tap the bottom and it should sound hollow). Then when you take it out brush the top with the remaining melted butter to give a chewy crust.

Sticky Cinnamon Rolls

So I’ve had a bit of a clear out. I think I was inspired by Nigel Slater in his new programme where he tries to use up all of his ‘shop’. Although it was less about using up my ‘shop’ and more about getting some room in my cupboards to put things in from my ‘shop’. Anyway I discovered a large packet of bread flour that allegedly was due to go off in February (I’m not sure flour goes off on an exact date – can it? Really?)  along with a variety of half-filled packets and bottles.

A light bulb moment occurred and I thought that it was be fab to make some sort of bread with lots of stuff in so that I could use up some things. I had thought about Chelsea Buns but wasn’t really in a currant mood. Then I saw a half empty bottle of honey, near empty packets of different sugar and some hazelnuts. Bingo – a plan had formulated.

This may seem like a lot of steps but trust me when I say it doesn’t take that long to make the dough. Making bread based food is great and once you see how simple it is to make dough you won’t look back. The other bonus is that this gives you a tray of buns that need to be ripped apart which is always satisfying for some reason.

As a variation you could put dried fruit inside the dough before rolling it up or chunks of dark chocolate or a mixture of seeds or grated cheese or .... well, you get then picture. Crap - now I have to buy more bread flour, which will take up space again, and make some other versions of this recipe.

Ingredients

1kg strong bread flour

1 x 7g packet easy bake yeast

1 tbsp runny honey (or a generous squeeze)

1 tsp salt

600ml tepid water (use about 150ml boiled water with the rest topped up with cold)

200g soft butter

100g brown sugar (light or dark)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Hazelnuts (I had 80g but up to 150g would be fine and almonds would work as well)

More honey if you have it

50g demerara sugar

1.    To make the bread put the flour, yeast, honey and salt in a food processor and slowly add the water until it becomes a dough.

2.    Then turn into a bowl and use the dough hooks on your electric whisk. They’re the weird spirally ones that come with it that you never use! They work amazingly well so about 6 minutes will do. You can knead it by hand but I sometimes can't be bothered to have to scrub dough out of my fingernails. That stuff sticks!

3.    Take the dough out of the bowl. Grease the bowl with some olive oil. Put the dough back in, cover with a tea towel and put somewhere warm. You want to dough to double in size so anything from 30 minutes to an hour.

4.    While waiting toast the nuts in the oven for about 6/7 minutes on 180°/GM4. (Keep the oven on as you’ll need it later). Once done smash them into pieces. The most fun way to do this is to wrap in a tea towel and whack the crap out of them with a rolling pin.

5.    Add the nuts to the butter, put in the cinnamon and brown sugar, and mix together.

6.    Once the dough is done then roll out on a well dusted work surface. You want it about 50cm x 40cm but about 1cm-ish thick and it can be a bit bigger.

7.    Dot with the butter and nut mix and spread out as evenly as you can with the back of a spoon. Don’t panic about it being too even. Then drizzle some honey over it if you have it.

8.    Then pick up the long edge carefully and roll into a sausage. Cut into slices about 3cm wide.

9.    Get a baking tray with sides (as the honey will run out as bit) but not too high. I use a roasting tray about 26cm x 36cm. Place the slices on with the swirl showing and keep them fairly snug.

10. Put a tea towel over and put back to prove for another 40 minutes of so. You want them to double in size again so they get wonderfully plump.

11.  Sprinkle the demerara sugar on top. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown on top, allow to cool slightly when out and then turn out so the sticky honey bottoms can cool.

12.  Devour – ideally while warm, or bring into work for breakfast and watch them go.