Summer's Here and the Time is Right For
Everything!
"It [was] a long time coming my dear
A long time coming but now it's here"
After a very wet, cold spring we have had 3 days of intense sun that feels way more like California than the Pacific North West, and I have been eating it up. The top's down in the mustang and the sky has been cloudless until a few hours ago. It's overcast now but I'm not losing heart. In fact I am making hamburgers and trying my gluten-free buns again. Rumour has it that our dear old baker has gone high-tech and the gluten-free bread, hamburger & hot dog buns and pizza crusts will be back in my local health food store some time after July 27th sporting brand new nutrition labels. In the mean time here is something quite satisfying about mixing up the dough (which I just did) and heating up the BBQ while the buns rise. It reminds me of mixing up the pasta dough while the water was boiling back when I had only 2 children and a much smaller waistline.
I have made a few changes but how fun to go to my blog instead of googling the recipe! I bought fresh unexpired yeast, and because it doesn't say instant, proofed it the old-fashioned way. Sure enough I couldn't find the powdered pectin I had opened and stored in a jar in the fridge (because I am letting go of Ziploc bags for the greater good). I was already substituting the pectin for unflavoured gelatine, which I didn't have. After scouring fridge and pantry over and over I substituted a gluten-free thickener I happened to have hiding. I added the brown sugar and traditional yeast to the wet ingredients. As I was beating the dough and wondering why it seemed so much thicker this time I realized I had forgotten the olive oil, so beat that in at the last minute. Here is the modified recipe:
Ingredients
Dry:
3 c gluten-free flour mix
2 tsp. Gluten-free thickener (or unflavoured gelatin if you have it)
1 Tb. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Wet:
1 – 1 1/4 c. warm water
6 tsp egg replacer plus 8 tbsp warm water
1/4 c. olive oil
1 tsp. vinegar
1 Tb. traditional yeast
2 tsp. brown sugar
Instructions
Mix the wet ingredients together in the bowl of your mixer. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes. Add more water if it is too dry. The dough should be very soft and sticky.
Form into balls and press down with olive oiled hands or flat bottomed drinking vessel. Let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes
Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. The top should be nicely browned.
Well, the tops were nicely browned but they still didn't rise! Plus my weight rose. I never eat hamburger buns but have been trying these ones to see what they are like. Next time I'll increase the yeast to 1 tbsp + 1 tsp (apparently rising requires 25% more traditional yeast than instant) and I vow to buy unflavoured gelatine. I am actually trying to increase the amount of gelatine or grass-fed beef broth our family consumes. These are apparently the best dietary sources of glycine. Beyond these 2 changes (and possibly using the dough hook in my hand-held mixer) the only other thing I can do is find a new recipe. Nevertheless, warm buns fresh from the oven were a significant improvement in the whole hamburger experience, risen or not. And my family very sweetly gobbled them up.