sesame buns and the rise of seitan

It was my intention to finally make barbecue sauce today. However, I made a miscalculation in which canned tomato products were already in my cupboard. Luckily, we had some barbecue sauce in the fridge that worked just fine for today.

I did make the buns, though! This hamburger or hot dog bun recipe looked easy enough. Of the 4.5 cups flour called for, I used 1 cup white bread flour and 3.5 cups whole wheat flour. They were nice and wheaty, but still quite soft and chewy. Yum.

Hamburger Buns
Adapted from BlissTree.com

1 cup milk (I used soy milk)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 1/2 cups flour (unbleached, whole wheat, or a mix)
1 package instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg, room temperature

• Combine milk, water, honey, and butter in a small saucepan and heat on low until butter is melted. Remove from heat and cool to 120F. If it’s too hot, it will kill your yeast!
• Mix about half the flour with the yeast and salt. Combine with cooled milk mixture. Add the rest of the flour gradually, mixing well after each addition.
• When dough has formed a soft ball, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about five minutes. Use a bench scraper to divide dough into 12-16 equal pieces. I did 16 and wish I had done 12.

• Shape into flattened spheres and set on a baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment. Dough should be touching (unlike the photo).

• Let formed dough rest about 30 minutes until almost doubled in size.
• If desired, brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, coarse salt, garlic salt, etc. I didn’t use an egg wash and wish I had!
• When buns have almost doubled in size (30-35 minutes), bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes.

Now, what to do for filling?

I minced some onion and green pepper (about 1/4 cup of each) and sauteed it over medium-high heat until softened. Then I added a package of seitan (also known as mock duck, a meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten) which I attempted to shred into small pieces with a knife and fork. Seitan is pre-cooked and just needs to be heated through. Once the chill was off, I poured some barbecue sauce on top and let it absorb into the seitan a bit. A pickle on the bottom of the bun, some barbecue seitan on top, and you have yourself a tasty little sandwich!

Since the buns were small, we each had two. Then plan was to have oven fries, but some of us were too hungry after work, so the sandwiches had to suffice. Neither of us are coleslaw fans, but that would be a nice side, too. It was a perfect-sized meal for a hot summer day. Pass the limeade!

Tagged as: baking, bread, seitan