Confession time: I like meat. Despite my awareness of the ethical and environmental problems of producing it, despite my efforts to eat less of it (largely successful, photographic evidence to the contrary notwithstanding), and despite my budget's plaintive pleas for me to get my protein from dirt-cheap beans rather than organic, sustainably and humanely raised animals, I like meat. In particular, I like hamburgers. They're not good for me, and they're not good for the planet, but taste buds don't lie.

Mindful of those truths, I typically indulge my appetite for hamburgers only when I have the quasi-justifiable excuse of feeling anemic, which works out to every few months and/or when I've just given blood. Last weekend it was the latter. At my local blood bank one has the option of giving not one unit of whole blood (red blood cells + platelets + plasma), but a double unit of only red blood cells. It's a pretty cool process, but I won't go into it for fear of driving away readers who might be squeamish. (Focus on the pretty pictures, people. Food! Pretty pictures!)

Anyway, they were low on my blood type, so I did the double donation, the result of which was one exhausted and woozy blogger. Perfect time to be working with fire, right? Perhaps not, but in any case, burgers were on the menu. And where there are burgers grilling, there must be buns waiting.

There are plenty of hamburger buns to be had at the shops near me, ranging from eggy and fluffy brioche rolls to firmer, chewier ciabatta-like ones. Many of them are very good, but I haven't been satisfied with simply purchasing my hamburger buns. That's not to say that I wish to give up store-bought buns forever. After all, there are few things that take to being rushed more poorly than yeasted doughs, so when you're pressed for time, there's no shame in a good purchased bun. But I would at least like to demonstrate to myself that, given the time and the inclination, I can make a respectable hamburger bun.

As it turned out, producing a satisfactory bun was more difficult than I thought it would be. Originally it was a Gourmet recipe that piqued my interest, but after reading about Deb's disillusionment, I was less enthusiastic. I turned to a recipe that several readers mentioned in the comments of that post, one from King Arthur Flour, and was promptly disappointed. My buns looked nothing like the ones in the picture; they were flat and insipid-looking, and the taste did not improve my opinion of them. A little while later, I went back to that Gourmet recipe (but for hot dog buns, not hamburger buns), and I was as unimpressed as Deb was*.

Now, keep in mind that I've never claimed to be particularly adept at yeasted doughs, so some of these failings might be down to me and not the recipes. If you've been longing to try either of those recipes, please don't let me be the one to dissuade you--you might have better luck than I did. But whether due to yeast-ineptness or mediocre recipes, this was starting to get frustrating.

Then, just in time for my weekend burger plans--and just in time for Labor Day grilling, should any U.S. readers (or expats) have burgers on the mind--my mom reminded me about the hamburger bun recipe in our new favorite cookbook, The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook. Another confession: I have never actually eaten a hamburger at the Big Sur Bakery. All but one of my meals there have been for dinner, and the burger is only on the brunch and lunch menus. That said, 1) I have it on good authority that they are excellent, and 2) I have all the confidence in the world in Michelle's recipes. That was enough for me to try their hamburger bun recipe, so I refreshed my stock of yeast (the recipe calls for an eye-popping 1 1/2 tablespoons, or nearly 3 packets) and got to work.

First sign of success: this dough is a joy to work with. Okay, that doesn't necessarily presage a stellar finished product, but it does make me love this recipe that much more. Second sign: it rose beautifully. Not just the dough rising (which, let's be honest, probably had something to do with all that yeast), but the buns as they baked. They rose into a Goldilocks-approved not too flat, not too puffy bun with a lovely dome on top of a good-sized base. Sealing the deal were the baked buns' mild, pleasant flavor and soft-but-substantial crumb.

If "mild and pleasant" sounds like damning with faint praise, let me explain. This is not a fancy, flashy bun. That's not the Bakery's style. Simple, down to earth food is their style--simple, down to earth food done really, really well. True to that ethos, this bun is a good, hearty, solid foundation on which to build your burger--whether your burger be meat- or veg-style. But I think it's obvious which style mine is.

Big Sur Burger Buns

Adapted from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook

Makes 6 large buns, 7-8 smallish ones

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast (from 3 packets)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the bowl
• 3 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Directions

1. Warm the milk in small saucepan over low heat until it's a yeast-friendly 105-115F (40-45C), then turn off the heat, pour the yeast over the milk, and stir to combine. Set it aside for a few minutes, or until it's foamy.
2. Meanwhile, use some of your spare softened butter to butter a large bowl, and set it aside.
3. In another large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with half of the flour, and stir to combine. (If you're using a stand mixer, do this with the dough hook on low speed.)
4. Once the mixture is relatively uniform, mix in the softened butter, then the sugar, salt, egg, and remaining flour. Beat (or turn the mixer up to medium) for a couple of minutes, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for a few minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. (Alternatively, turn the mixer up to high speed, and beat for another couple of minutes.)
5. Place the dough in the greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, which should take 45 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Turn the dough back out onto your floured surface, and divide it into 6-8 pieces, depending on how big you want your buns. Cover them with a kitchen towel while you take them one at a time and roll them into a neat little ball. Once you've rolled all of the pieces, let them rest under the towel for 10 minutes to relax the gluten.
7. At the end of the 10 minutes, use a rolling pin to flatten the balls slightly into little rounds. They will expand during the second rising, so err on the small side. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, place the rounds of dough on the parchment. Either cover the dough with a large sheet of plastic wrap or place the entire pan inside a large plastic bag and tie it closed. An oven bag works for this, if you have one, or simply a (clean) trash bag.
8. Place the pan back in a warm spot, and let the buns rise until they've once again doubled in size. This should only take 30-45 minutes, so keep an eye on them.
9. While they're rising, preheat the oven to 375F/190C
10. Remove the plastic wrap or bag from the pan. Brush the buns with water and sprinkle them with sesame seeds.
11. Bake the buns until they are puffed and golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

* As it turns out, the ingredient lists for Big Sur Bakery recipe and the Gourmet recipe are virtually identical (the Gourmet recipe is simply twice the Bakery recipe), except for one key difference: the Bakery recipe uses nearly twice as much yeast. I also assembled the ingredients in a slightly different way, which also might have made a difference. Whatever the reason, the difference in the finished product was striking.

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New cookbook acquisitions!

Our walk through the street fair this afternoon took the Suitor and me past the two bookstores we frequent nearly every time we walk down that particular street (which is often, as it's just a block over from where we live). One is a Books Inc. and the other is a used bookstore; we rarely visit either without getting at least one book. Today was my lucky day at the used bookstore. On the "new this week" cart were two books that I've been meaning to get: Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads (30th anniversary edition) and the Moosewood Cookbook (15th anniversary edition, although since that was 1992, it probably has a 30th anniversary edition of its own by now). I've been wanting a big, comprehensive bread book, as I love making bread but don't have many recipes lying around. I've also had my eye on the Moosewood book, especially because I'd like to expand the veggie section of my cookbook collection. I'm looking forward to going through both of them and flagging recipes to try!

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