Month: July 2021

Week 73: Shake Shack Buns

Leave a comment

According to eater.com, one of the reasons Shake Shack’s burgers are so popular is their soft, squishy buns. They’ve been using Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls since Shake Shack opened their first location in NYC in 2004. The buns are not readily available here in the PNW, so I did a little digging and came up with a version you can make at home. I’ve never had the burger, but you could give J. Kenji López-Alt’s Fake Shake a try – everything he does is fantastic.

STEP 1: Prep potatoes

  • 1 russet potato (at least 300 grams)
  • 2 Tbsp butter, softened
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  1. Peel and then roughly chop the potato
  2. Place them in a small pot, add water to cover, and boil until tender.
  3. Reserve 5 Tbsp of the boiling liquid into a small bowl, then drain the potatoes, returning them back to the pot.
  4. Heat on low to evaporate as much of the moisture from the potatoes as you can.
  5. Mash well, then put 1 cup of the mashed potatoes in a bowl.
  6. Add butter to potatoes and mix in until melted.
  7. Add the egg and sugar to the potato water and mix.
  8. Let potatoes water cool.

Step 2: Make dough

  • 350g bread flour
  • 6g yeast
  • 6g salt
  • Mashed potatoes and butter
  • Potato water/egg/sugar mixture
  1. Measure out the flour, yeast and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.
  2. Add the mashed potatoes and mix with the handle of a wooden spoon to loosely combine.
  3. Place bowl in mixer, and with the dough hook on low speed, slowly add the water mixture.
  4. Mix until the dough starts to form and there are no dry bits left.
  5. Increase speed to medium-low, and knead until it’s smooth and elastic, and comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Step 3: Proof

  1. Empty dough out until a very lightly floured countertop.
  2. Give it a few kneads and form into a ball.
  3. Place, seam side down, into a greased bowl, cover and let rise 30~60 minutes.

Step 4: Shape

  1. Remove dough from bowl, and shape into a log.
  2. Cut into 8 pieces, weighing about 85g each.
  3. Follow “How to shape up perfect bread rolls” instructions on the Tips page to shape the pieces into rolls.
  4. Arrange the dough balls, seam side down on baking sheet evenly spaced apart.
  5. Press dough balls down to form uniform disks.
  6. Cover, and let rise for 30~60 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, preheat over to 425 degrees.

Step 5: Bake

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 Tbsp water
  1. Lightly beat egg yolk with the water.
  2. Brush tops with a beaten egg yolk.
  3. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown.

Week 72: Pizza Dough III

Leave a comment

This is a very, very wet dough, so use it whenever you’re making pizza bianca, pizza without sauce. It’s tricky to make, but also a fun, and a great addition to your pizza repertoire! There are a few versions of it online, and most seem to be inspired by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery, but the methods are kind of complicated, so my version is below, with photos. My favorite topping is potatoes and I’ve included instructions for that; another great topping would be caramelized onions, blue cheese and figs.

  • 130g bread flour (1-1/2 cups)
  • 130g all purpose flour (1-1/2 cups)
  • 1/4 tsp yeast
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 285g room temp water (1-1/4 cups)
  • olive oil
  1. Combine flours, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
  2. On low speed, slowly pour in the water, mixing until ingredients are combined
  3. Increase to medium high, and mix for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and cleanly pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. It’s very wet, but it’ll start to come together.
  1. Scrape down sides of bowl to combine all the bits. Cover, and let rise 2 to 4 hours, until bubbly and doubled in size. (Rise time depends on temperature of your kitchen
  • 2 Yukon gold (or red new) potatoes, thinly sliced (use a mandolin if you’ve got one)
  • 1 small onion, halved, then sliced and separated
  • 1~2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • Salt, pepper, chili flakes
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  1. Meanwhile, prep the potatoes and onion: Once sliced, combine potatoes, onions, slat and pepper (and crushed red chili flakes) with1 tablespoon olive oil, and mix to coat.
  2. After an hour, go ahead an preheat the oven to 440 degrees.
  3. Once the dough has risen sufficiently, pour it into a very lightly greased baking sheet. Too much oil, and it’ll just slip and slide.
  4. Spread the dough out with your hands (don’t pull the sides, just push it around). If it springs back, just give it a rest for awhile and try again.
  1. Evenly layer potatoes over the surface of the dough up to the very edge, and decorate with rosemary sprigs. or about 1 inch from the edge if you desire a crust on your pizza.
  2. Do a final dusting of salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.
  3. Bake about 30 minutes, until sides and bottom is golden brown.

Week 71: Pan di Ramerino

Leave a comment

ITALY: I love these little buns! They are both sweet and savory, and when served with cheese, make for a hearty teatime snack (although in Italy, it’s more common to have them with coffee or a sweet wine). They were traditionally made for Giovedi Santo (Holy Thursday), but are now sold in Florentine bakeries all year long. In the middle ages, the rosemary was thought to ward off evil spirts, and the grapes and flour represent the Holy Communion.

The video instruction is in Italian, so I’ve listed the ingredients below. I decided not to coat them with the syrup, as I found they don’t really need to added sweetener, and it makes them difficult to handle.

When ready, bake at 350 degrees.

BIGA LIEVITINO

  • 7g/2tsp yeast (video shows fresh yeast, so I’ve converted to granular yeast)
  • 4g (1 tsp brown sugar)
  • 100g warm water
  • 100 all purpose flour (that is our equivalent to 0 flour)

RAISINS

  • 150g raisins
  • 50g vin santo (Italian dessert wine. Sweet sherry, or any sweet white wine will do)
  • 200g water

ROSEMARY

  • 5g rosemary (3-4 sprigs)
  • 90g extra-virgin olive oil

DOUGH – (you can mix and knead in a stand mixer all at once – even the raisins.)

  • lievitino
  • 50g brown sugar (I used just 25g)
  • 150g water
  • 400g all purpose flour
  • 10 gr of salt
  • rosemary olive oil

TOPPINGS

  • 1 egg, to brush tops before baking
  • 75g sugar + 75g water for tops after baking

Week 70: No Knead Black Bread

Leave a comment

This is an absolutley delicious bread, and easy to make. Even though it’s got a long list of ingredients, and is best made a couple of days prior to consuming it, don’t let that stop you from adding this to your repertoire! We serve this on Christmas Day because it it makes for an easy breakfast that blurs into lunch. It’s delicious with sweet or savory toppings: grava lax, smoked trout, egg salad, and fruit jams. And what at treat it is to watch Nigella Lawson, England’s very own domestic goddess, bake bread!

I’ve listed the ingredients below so that you can measure everything out ahead of time, and then follow along with the video. (I didn’t include the acitvated charcol, or the nigella seeds because I can’t find them). Also, the 2-lb pan she references is the same as a 9″x5″ loaf pan.

  • 400ml stout (14oz)
  • 1 egg white (save yolk for brushing on top just before baking)
  • 30g brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp molasses
  • 300g dark rye flour
  • 300g bread flour
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • 4 tsp caraway seeds
  • 4 tsp fennel seeds
  • ¼ tsp yeast
  • 1¼ tsp salt
  • oil to grease pan

You can mix the dough, in the evening, then let it rest overnight, shape it the next day, then bake after the 2-hr rest. Or, mix it in the morning, let it rest all day, then shape it and refrigerate overnight. Pop it into the oven first thing in the morning (directly from the fridge, no need to do the 2-hr rise). Either way, it would benefit from not being cut open for another day, but it’s hard to wait for this one!

I would also score the top so that it splits evenly as it bakes.

Here’s a link to the written recipe, and below is the video. If you’re not familiar with Nigella Lawson, go ahead and open the link and read the recipe through, and be prepared to fall in love with the language she uses to describe and instruct. I also want to highlight this tip that she adds at the end: “Any leftover bread can be blitzed in the processor into fabulous black breadcrumbs. I keep them in the freezer to use whenever I want to add an aniseed crunch. They are particularly good sprinkled over a tomato salad.”

Week 69: Artisan Cinnamon Raisin

Leave a comment

Here is a bread that everyone can make, because it doesn’t call for any fancy equipment (no stand mixer, no Dutch oven), and measurements are by volume, so you don’t even need a scale. All you need is time, because it does call for proofing overnight.

The recipe comes our way via the artisanbreadwithstev YouTube channel. Steve’s video instruction is straightforward and simple and gives everyone the ability to successfully bake beautiful loaves. I’ve listed the ingredients below so that you can have them at the ready while you follow along with the video.

  • 16 oz tap water
  • 1-1/2 tsp salt
  • 1-1/4 tsp yeast
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 3-1/2 c bread flour
  • 1 cup raisins

I baked mine in a Dutch oven, but next time I’ll use his method of creating a Dutch oven out of two loaf pans. For breads like this, I actually prefer them to be baked in a loaf pan because then slices are uniform.