Proud of Myself Kaiser Sandwich Rolls for the Bread Machine

This weekend has brought a lot of time spent in my kitchen. I have made peach jam from peaches I peeled sliced and crushed myself, sweet and tender cream biscuits, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and these kaiser rolls. In other words, I had a very successful and joyful weekend.

I love to spend time in my kitchen. It is how I relax. I love challenging myself to try new things and this weekend I tackled two new techniques: I made jam and kaiser rolls! This might sound bad to say but I am proud of what I have accomplished. I have not witnessed anyone make either of these types of things so I was flying completely alone. While I grew up watching my mother cook, she only made bread at holidays and I do not remember her ever making jam or preserves.

Enough of my pride, let's talk about these rolls! If you are looking for a sandwich bun you can stop looking right now. These are perfect and there is not one thing that could make them any better. They are light and fluffy but also sturdy, not to mention their wonderful taste. This is a recipe to make for company because they will smell up your whole house. I love it when my home smells like a bakery.

I adapted this recipe quite a bit but the original can be found here: Potato Buns
Here's what I did:

Proud of Myself Kaiser Sandwich Rolls for the Bread Machine

1 3/4 cups water
4 cups bread flour
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup potato flakes
2 Tablespoons dry milk powder
1 3/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast
2 eggs
1 teaspoon water
2 Tablespoons or to taste sesame seeds

Load ingredients into bread machine in order according to the instruction manual. Set to dough cycle.

At end of dough cycle remove from machine and punch down. Divide into 12 even portions. I find it helpful to use my kitchen scale for consistency.

Shape into Kaiser rolls. If you need help there is a very helpful video here: the right way to shape kaiser roll (This is a you tube video.)

Place onto parchment lined baking sheets. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Make an egg wash by beating the eggs with the water to combine. Brush the tops and sides of risen rolls with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes (mine took 18), rotating sheet pans after 8 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Is there a recipe that you are proud of yourself for making? Please feel free to leave a link in the comments section!

(Picture to come)

How to make chicken stock in your crock pot the lazy way

Here's the thing, I'm cheap, I'm busy, I'm picky and I'm tired. So I like to put in as little effort as possible to get really good results. I have applied this to my chicken stock recipe as well. I came up with this idea several years ago and then consulted Google, cookbooks and blogs and then decided just to wing it. I crafted a delicious and very easy recipe for chicken stock that I really enjoy. I have used it in all kinds of recipes, but my favorite way to use it is in chicken noodle soup.

I make this the lazy way. It cooks in my crock pot either while I am sleeping or while I am at work. It takes about 5 minutes to throw everything into my crock pot and I get about 3 quarts of chicken stock as a result.

Word of warning for the true tightwads: you can only use the bones once. We will be getting every last good thing from those bones so if you try to use them again the results won't be good. Trust me. I know from experience. ahem.

Here's what you will need:
Really big crock pot
chicken bones from roasted chicken
2 stalks of celery (not the bunch- the individual pieces pulled off of the bunch)
1 cup carrots (can use whole carrots or whole baby carrots)
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon paprika
7 whole peppercorns
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
Water to fill to top of crock pot

Throw bones in bottom of crock pot. Wash celery stocks and place on top. No need to cut them and keep the leaves on. They taste good. Wash carrots really well. No need to peel or cut them if you are using whole carrots. Throw them in the crock pot. Cut onion in half. Leave skin on. This is the lazy way, remember? Throw in the crock pot. Throw in 4 cloves of garlic. Don't peel them just throw them in. Throw in paprika, peppercorns and salt. Then fill with water to the top. Cook on low until you have time to deal with it but at least 8 hours. I have cooked for 10 hours and then kept warm for several hours. You basically can not mess this up.

Remove the crock and let cool for about 30 minutes so that you can better handle everything. Use a straining spoon to remove everything that isn't liquid from the crockpot. Throw it away.

Put in a container (I use a pitcher and a mason jar) and put in the refrigerator overnight (or while you are at work if you cooked it overnight). The very little tiny bit of fat in this will rise to the top. Spoon it off and throw it away.

There you have it- wonderful, flavorful and easy chicken stock. If you keep things like carrots, celery, garlic and onions around the house this should probably cost you less than $1. You can store this in the refrigerator for 5 days or you can freeze it until kingdom come. I freeze it in plastic bags and then I lay them flat. That way I can just stack them up. I put 4 cups of stock in some bags and 2 cups of stock in other bags. Those are the amounts that most recipes call for.

Optional things that you can put into the stock at the beginning:
Parsley
Italian Seasoning

I hope that you enjoy this "recipe." This is part 2 of a 4 part blog series entitled: 1 almost 5 pound chicken, three meals I hope that you will check out the first posting below.