Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Quick Soup & Sandwich w/ Wheat & Grain-Free Sandwich Buns

This evening we had soup and sandwiches for dinner (again). We enjoyed a bowl of last night's Spicy Beef & Cabbage Soup (cooked in the slow cooker / crock pot) and made a turkey sandwich to go with it! Generally speaking, I don't miss bread very much, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that I really love these Sesame Seed Sandwich Buns. Honestly, it is some of the best "bread" that I've had since going wheat free. You can easily omit the sesame seeds if you don't have them or don't care for them. This last batch that I made yesterday, I made half with and half without sesame seeds. If you like poppy seed rolls, you could substitute those instead. This evening, my sandwich consisted of Boars Head turkey breast (deli without nitrites or nitrates), sliced avocado and white cheddar cheese with chipotle peppers. It was delicious. I think one of the things many people miss when going wheat and grain free isn't as much the bread itself, but the convenience it provides as well as the portability that bread allows you. Well, these buns just restored that convenience and portability for me. They are simple to make and don't take a lot of time and it's nice having them as an option and will be great to have for upcoming summer barbecues, etc. I see a lot more options opening up for me now. All you need is a bowl and a spoon -- no mixer required -- that's my kind of recipe! So many of us go looking for the perfect "loaf" of grain-free bread and it never quite seems to measure up because we keep wanting it to behave like wheat bread with gluten, yeast, etc. Why keep fighting mother nature? If you are going to slice the bread anyway...why not just start out that way? I'm tired of "baby bread" slices from squatty dense loaves that don't quite measure up (literally). I snapped a few photos of my "convenience meal" for you to see below. Enjoy!




            

6 comments:

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

*Perfect* solution ... just make the slices! BINGO! :-)

Roye said...

OK, I just now made these, still cooling, haven't even tried them yet but have to tell on myself because I'm laughing. First, I'm NOT a baker. So the recipe says "mix first 7 ingredients, etc., etc. Then in a small bowl, beat eggs, buttermilk and olive oil together, mix until conbined and a dough is formed. Dough will be thick and slightly sticky. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until combined". OK? Well I did think, how will eggs, buttermilk and oil make a dough? She must know something that I don't. So I'm mixing and mixing and mixing and the eggs, buttermilk and oil aren't making a dough. I'm thinking I wish she would have said how long it takes to turn this into a dough, I'm mixing and mixing and finally gave up and put it into the dry ingredients. So now I'm thinking DUH!! It must be a typo and the eggs, buttermilk, oil don't really make a dough?! Right? LOL. I baked for 18 mins and they were much darker than yours so I took them out, I did oil the pan but they still stuck to the bottom. And they're pretty thin, I'm not sure how I'll be able to slice them but I'll sure try. Thanks for all your great ideas!
Best to you,
Roye

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Roye! Thanks so much for that catch -- the MOST bizarre thing is that I saw where it missed saying "mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients" on the public view you see of my blog post/recipe. But when I went into my side, it was correct. I saved it again and the same thing -- my side is perfect...the public view is still missing a couple words. That has never ever happened before! Anyway, I had to delete the entire sentence and retype it. It looks good on my end and the public side that I see. If you see that it still doesn't look correct, shoot me an email or another blog post so I can figure this out. I know everyone's oven runs differently. Mine tends to run slightly hot (it's a gas oven). Did you use golden flax or regular brown? My buns are not "thick" but they are the equivalent in thickness of slightly puffy "sandwich thins" bread -- if you've ever seen them in the store, they are a little thicker than those and rounded on top (where the store bought version is totally flat). I will tell you this...and I need to do a side by side comparison to see if this is real or my imagination. The first batch I made turned out good -- I made them with whole eggs. The 2nd batch, I used egg beaters (so no yolks)...and the 2nd batch turned out thicker I think. But, to really tell for sure, I need to make them both ways at the same time and compare them side by side. I will try and do that very soon. The best way to cut them is a sharp serrated knife with them lying on a flat surface and your hand on the top, gently saw them in half. They are actually sturdy -- check out the humongous chicken salad sandwich I used them for tonight and it held up perfectly -- no falling apart or anything. One of these days, in my spare (hahaha) time...I need to make some short video clips with tips, etc. I need about 6 more hours in each day! Hope you are able to use yours. I meant to ask you...did you use a muffin top pan? If not, what did you use? Sorry about the blip in that instruction...let me know if it still looks wrong! Thanks! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

P.S. Roye -- If you were truly able to have made dough by mixing the eggs, buttermilk and oil together...you wouldn't just simply be a great cook...you would have been a magician too! LOL...too, too funny. Did your mixed dough ever get fluffy and sort of airy? Also, did you let them sit 5 or 10 minutes before baking? Mine puff slightly before baking. :-)

Roye said...

gigggggle I was hoping you'd get a laugh. I couldn't help but laugh when it dawned on me that I wasn't going to get a dough out of the eggs, buttermilk, oil! LOL.

I did use gold flax and yes they are a little thicker than the sandwich thins, I know exactly what they are. We had hamburger sandwiches with them and they were very hearty and stayed together well. I did use a muffin top pan and I did let them sit for 10 mins, they did puff up a bit.

I haven't looked again to see if the instruction are the same, I'll check. And I'd love to see videos.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Roye -- Glad you were able to enjoy them with burgers. As of this moment, the sentence in the recipe instructions still appears good. Let me know if you see anything wacky any more! Thanks for the catch! :-)