So
it’s almost June and I’m at home on a very wet and grey day…it’s so cold in
fact I am more than a little bit tempted to wack the heating on. Good old
Blighty eh, we had a scorching hot March and an arctic end of May….way to
regulate the heating bills. So in an attempt to keep warm
without taking the easy option I decided to embark on a spot of baking old chum,
I was hoping it might lift my weather imposed grey mood too… well fingers
crossed anyway.
I
had rather a lot of mushrooms leftover from a recent freelance job I’d just
finished and my sourdough starter was more than overdue a use. Mushrooms and bread…I
certainly wasn’t feeling very inspired so far. Hmmmm. Still nothing. Maybe I
could just put the heating on for a bit after all….
When
suddenly out of nowhere (I Google imaged ‘mushrooms and bread’) I came up with
this interesting idea…..all by myself.
How creative I am. There was amazing looking cheesy, mushroom pull apart bread
that sounded incredible but was made using a bought loaf so I figured I could
combine those ingredients into the bread itself and it would be even more
delicious. I had visions of me eating it with a steaming bowl of homemade soup
for the next few days. So I began concocting my recipe.
I
started with basic-ish dough; I used half the amount of yeast and added some of
my starter along with some honey and low fat yogurt because, well basically,
they were leftover too. This would be a bun made from the remnants of my last
job and emptish fridge, much better than going to the job Centre I imagined. A
good way to clear out the fridge, keep warm and begin the week again. Just call
me Miss.Thrifty. On closer inspection the mushrooms were, shall we say, past
their best. Meaning they were covered in mould and slime, delish. So I axed
them and instead sweated some shallots, garlic, rosemary, thyme and bacon. I
added some finely chopped Gruyere and parsley to the mix and hey presto my
bacon and cheese buns were done. I was warm. The house smelled like freshly
baked bread and bacon. I think we can all agree I’d great result all round.
Here’s
the recipe, you could fill yours with whatever you like best, or whatever you
have left over but this combination is a good one. I reckon they’d be all right
with mushrooms too ;-)
P.s.
These would make AWESOME burger buns. AWESOME.
Bacon
& Gruyere rolls
Makes
8
FOR
THE DOUGH:
450g
very strong flour
8g
salt
15g
fresh yeast
30g
honey
120g
low fat natural yogurt
about
200ml cold water
FOR
THE FILLING
4
rashers smoked bacon
2
long shallots
10g
fresh parsley
1
clove garlic, crushed
1
sprig rosemary, chopped
1
sprig thyme, chopped
1
Make the dough. Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a food mixer with a dough
hook fitted. Mix the yeast, honey and starter in a jug. You need a jug so you
can measure the amount of water in a bit. Put the motor on and add the yeasty mix, then
fill the jug up to 250ml, stir to incorporate any residual yeast mixture . Add the water little by little until you have soft
but not sticky dough. Knead for 12 minutes on a slow speed. Oil a bowl and
leave to rise for about 3 hours, until doubled in size.
2
Meanwhile chop the bacon and cook in a non-stick pan until crispy, add the
shallots, rosemary, thyme and garlic and cook for 5 mins more, until softened
and caramalised. Allow to cool a little.
3
Butter or oil 8 empty small baked bean or spaghetti hoop cans or holes of a
muffin tin. When the dough has doubled in size divide into 8 equal sized pieces.
Flatten each one out slightly and spoon some bacon and cheese into the center.
Bring the edges of the dough into the middle so that the filling is encased. Smooth
out with your hands until you have smooth, pert buns J.
3
Pop into the greased tins, cover with lightly oiled cling film, rise again
until doubled, let’s call it an hour. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Bake
for 18-20 mins until risen and golden. Cool I n the tins then run a knife
around the edges to release the buns. Eat with soup or however you wish.
