Nice Buns.

For a while now, I've been looking for a good recipe for hamburger buns that could be made entirely from food storage, not just in case I find myself living off of my food storage, but also for all those times when I forget to buy hamburger buns and have something like, well, hamburgers on the menu. But I really wanted them to be good buns and not just regular bread dough that's shaped like buns. So when I saw this recipe, originally from the New York Times featured on SmittenKitchen.com, I knew I had to try it.

The original recipe calls for a few fresh ingredients--eggs, milk, and butter--which, with a little tweaking can be swapped out for long-term storage items. But before I tried it with the substitutions, I wanted to be sure that the recipe was good to begin with, so I made it exactly as the recipe directs. You know, to isolate the variables. Gotta keep this scientific. The buns were amazing. So much better than the cheap-o, eight-for-a-dollar ones we usually buy. I know, that's probably not saying much, but trust me. My two kids, who usually discard their buns after about two bites, were begging me for them. Plain. With no meat. Wow.

So I decided I'd try them again using food storage to see if they still turned out. The results--at least, as far as I could tell--were identical. Same fluffy texture, same golden-brown color, same everything. The only thing that presented even a little bit of a quandary was the egg wash. I had never tried making an egg wash from powdered eggs, and was a little nervous that it might not work. So here are the results:

(Click on it if you want to see it bigger)

I did one with a powdered egg wash (just one reconstituted egg without any additional water), one with a fresh egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp. water), and one with no egg wash. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the powdered egg wash. It was very slightly lighter in color than the fresh egg wash, but other than that it worked the same, no funny tastes or textures or splotchiness. In fact, after I took a picture, it got mixed back in with all the others and I couldn't even tell which one it was. I had to sample a few potential candidates to make sure I tasted the one with the powdered egg wash and even after I tried them all, I still didn't know which one it was. The ones without an egg wash were good, too; they probably looked the most like the cheap ones I buy in the store. Their biggest problem was that the sesame seeds wouldn't stick, but I don't know that sesame seeds really add that much to a hamburger anyway.

So I guess in the future I won't be afraid to use powdered eggs to do egg washes. I might even try one on a pie sometime, although I'm still kind of a pie novice and don't know if I want to mess around with proven methods yet. Anyway, with a good bun recipe, you could easily shred up some canned beef, chicken, or even pork (which I have tried and it's actually pretty good) with some BBQ sauce, spoon it onto one of these buns, and have a great base for a meal. Here's the recipe, which was actually not too complicated or difficult, either:

Light Brioche Burger Buns

Ingredients:
-3 tablespoons warm milk [1-1/2 teaspoons powdered milk + 3 tablespoons water]
-2 teaspoons active dry yeast
-2-1/2 tablespoons sugar
-2 large eggs [1 tablespoon whole egg powder + 2 tablespoons warm water = 1 egg; double for 2]
-3 cups bread flour
-1/3 cup all-purpose flour
-1-1/2 teaspoons salt
-2-1/2 tablespoons butter, softened [stored long-term in the freezer or bottled, if you're brave]
-sesame seeds (optional)

1. In a glass measuring cup, combine 1 cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat 1 egg.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, unfloured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. [The dough is super, super sticky, but resist the urge to add more flour than you absolutely have to, as this will make them drier and denser. If you have one, you can knead it in a stand mixer with a dough hook, easy as pie.]

3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours. [For me, it only took one hour.]

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. [The first time made these, I made eight and I felt like they were too huge for a regular, 1/4-lb. hamburger. The second time I made ten and it seemed just about right. ] Gently roll each into a ball and arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel [I didn't notice the "kitchen towel" part until just now. I covered mine with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray and it worked well.] and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours. [For me, this was just under an hour.]

5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. [And if you want to fully experience their awesomeness, definitely toast them, maybe with a little butter.]

Yield: 8-10 buns.

To Bread or Not To Bread

As I mentioned before, I grew up not really liking whole wheat bread or for that matter, whole wheat in general. So the decision to start making my own whole wheat bread was a tough one for me to make. It took a lot of evidence to convince me that homemade bread 1) was not difficult to make 2) was not time-consuming 3) did not taste like cardboard (I know, I'm childish). Here are some reasons why I made the change from store-bought to homemade:

-Making bread is the easiest way to rotate through long-term food storage items. For example, the recommended amount of oil to store for one adult for one year is 10 qts. So for my husband, my kids, and me that amounts to 40 qts. (We count our kids as adults when we calculate our amounts. Better to be overprepared than underprepared.) I know you can count things like mayonnaise and salad dressing toward that amount, but even then it seems like a lot to rotate before it goes bad.
-Homemade whole wheat bread is delicious. And I don't just mean delicious for health food. It's moist, soft, spongy, and I would take it over white bread any day. And even my picky kids like it!
-Making your own bread is cheaper. To make one batch of bread dough according to the recipe below (which makes 4 loaves) costs a little over $4. That amounts to just a little over a dollar a loaf. You can't beat that, especially for high-quality whole wheat bread.
-Whole wheat bread is infinitely more nutritious. If you've studied nutrition at all, you know that eating white flour is basically just eating empty carbs. Bread made from freshly ground whole wheat retains its nutrients. And it's more filling, so you don't find yourself overeating as much.
-Making bread can be easy, fast, and fun. The recipe I use takes a little more than two hours (and that includes a significant amount of time when you're not actually doing anything) from start to finish and it makes four loaves of bread. That's enough for my family for about a month. (I know, a lot of families eat more than a loaf a week.)
-Eating bread that you made yourself is extremely rewarding. It's like eating vegetables that you grew yourself (not that I've ever had that experience). And for me, it helps to absolve some of the mom guilt that I feel when I let my kids eat Cocoa Puffs.


This is my favorite whole wheat bread recipe. It's from The Essential Food Storage Cookbook. (Have you noticed that I like this cookbook?) I'll put my comments in blue.


Whole Wheat Bread

6 c. hot water
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey
1 to 2 tbsp. vital wheat gluten [I know they sell this at Macey's; I haven't looked anywhere else]
1/2 c. powdered milk (optional)
6 c. whole wheat flour
2 tbsp. yeast (my favorite is SAF instant yeast)
2 tbsp. salt
10 c. whole wheat flour
butter
[I also like to add 1 heaping tablespoon dough enhancer]

Mix hot water, oil, honey, [and definitely measure the oil first so the honey will just slide out of your measuring cup]vital wheat gluten, powdered milk, and flour [and dough enhancer]. At this point the batter should be lukewarm so it doesn't kill the yeast. Add yeast. Gently mix to blend and then let it sit to sponge about 10 minutes. Add salt.

While stirring, gradually add additional whole wheat flour until the dough begins to "clean" the bowl. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the the bowl, continue to add flour. You can test for enough flour by gently touching the dough with your finger. If dough sticks to your finger, add flour and keep kneading. When the dough barely does not stick to finger, stop adding flour.

Knead on low speed for 8 minutes. [When you are done, it will look about like this:]



Turn dough onto an oiled surface (do not use flour). Turn dough a couple of times to coat with oil. Cut dough into quarters. I like to weigh each quarter so they are all 32 oz (2 lbs.) each. [I've never done that, since I don't have a kitchen scale, but I find that using dental floss to quarter the dough makes for fairly even loaves.] Shape each quarter into a loaf and place in a bread pan that has been sprayed with oil. Cover and let dough rise 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours [until it looks about like this:].

A good place for bread to rise is under the lights on your range.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 26 to 28 minutes or until internal temp reaches 190 degrees. You can gently push a meat thermometer through the side of the loaf into the middle for a temperature reading. Remove from oven and brush tops with butter. Let loaves sit 5 to 10 minutes before gently removing from pans. Cool on a wire rack.

[Now, I know I probably should have come clean before now, but I have to confess that I've never actually made this bread before without the aid of my Bosch mixer. The Bosch is easily my favorite kitchen appliance of all time and it kneads bread effortlessly to perfection. But the Bosch is a post for a different day. I guess what I'm saying is that I can't tell you what kind of an experience you'd have making this without a good mixer like a Bosch or a Kitchenaid. I know that pioneer women kneaded their bread by hand, so it can be done. If I knew for sure that anyone was interested, I would give it a try, but if not I'll continue to cheat with my Bosch.]


This dough is amazingly versatile. I've used it to make cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, breadsticks, cheddar onion bread, and caramel pecan pull-aparts. I'll post the how-to's later. If anyone else has any tips, questions, or complaints about making bread, please feel free to share!

The Essential Food Storage Cookbook

I recently obtained a copy of The Essential Food Storage Cookbook by Tami Girsberger and Carol Peterson. Unlike Pantry Cooking, many of the recipes do call for fresh ingredients; the authors consider it a good source for helping you to rotate your food storage, not necessarily to live solely on it. Still, there are a decent amount of recipes that only use ingredients with a long shelf life and others that could easily be converted by using things like powdered eggs or milk. I have tried several of the recipes and I love it! I would want it in my collection just for its regular, everyday meal ideas. It also has a lot of great food storage tips and information. The recipes are good and easy, the kind where you already have most of the ingredients you need on hand. I am easily intimidated by recipes where I don't even know what all of the ingredients are. Here are a couple of recipes that my family really likes that can be made entirely from stored items:


Crazy Whole Wheat Muffins

[Whole wheat muffins didn't really sound good to me at all, but I tried these and was amazed. They're so soft, sweet, and moist you would think you were eating a cupcake.]

Ingredients:

-1/2 c. oil
-1 c. brown sugar
-1 c. applesauce
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1-1/2 c. whole what flour
-1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix ingredients together and pour into greased muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes (8 minutes for mini muffins).


Herb Bread

-1/2 c. milk [fine with powdered milk]
-2 tbsp. sugar
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tbsp. butter
-1 tbsp. dried minced onion
-2-1/2 tsp. yeast
-1/2 c. warm water
-2-1/4 c. whole wheat flour (or 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white flour)
-1/2 tsp. thyme
-1/2 tsp. dill [I left it out; not a dill fan]
-1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed

In a small saucepan, heat milk over medium heat until simmering. Add sugar, salt, and butter and stir until dissolved. Add dried minced onion; remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water (about 5 minutes). Add cooled milk mixture, flour, and herbs. Stir well (dough will be very wet) until smooth.

Cover and let rise until triple in bulk (about 45 minutes). Stir down and beat for a few minutes. Turn into a greased 9x5-inch bread pan and let rest for 10 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour. Serve warm.