Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Sourdough Starter and Bread Adventure: 4 Sesame-Semolina Sandwich Rolls

I had an idea about a grilled salmon sandwich I wanted to make, and at the same time, I was itching to use my starter again. Lucky for me, these sandwich rolls appear in the Bread from the La Brea Bakery book so I could continue my adventures in baking with it. Silverton explains in the book that she loves the pale, yellow color of these rolls’ interiors, and that color comes from the durum wheat. The recipe calls for both semolina flour, which is made from durum wheat, and durum flour. The difference between the two is that semolina flour is usually of a coarser grind than durum flour, but that depends on where and how it was made. The semolina flour I found was finer in texture than cornmeal, and I didn’t find durum flour locally. I located some information online explaining that semolina flour can be processed in a food processor to make it finer, and then it can be used as durum flour. That’s what I did here.

This was a one-day bread, and the dough came together easily and was a nice one. Water, fresh yeast, white starter, bread flour, semolina flour, and (my version of) durum flour were first combined in the bowl of a stand mixer and mixed with a dough hook. Salt was added, and the dough was mixed until smooth and then kneaded by hand briefly. It was placed in a large bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and left to ferment for about two hours. At that point, it was divided into 12 pieces which were then covered with a towel and left to rest for 15 minutes. Then, the instructions got a little cloudy, but I think it all worked out ok. A process of flattening each piece of dough and then folding this way and that and sealing and folding again and sealing that seam and tucking in loose dough and ta-da. I would have loved some photos to follow for that, so I just did what seemed about right. In the end I had 12 roll-shaped items that were each about seven inches long.

The next step was pretty fun. Each roll was sprayed with water from a spray bottle and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Then each back side was dipped in a plate of water and then pressed into a plate of semolina flour. So, the rolls ended up topped with sesame seeds and crusted with semolina on the bottom. They were placed on a floured towel with the towel pinched up between each roll to keep them separated. They were then covered and left to snuggle for about one hour while the oven heated. The rolls were placed on a parchment lined baking sheet and each received a couple of slashes on top. The instructions for how to do those slashes also left me wanting a photo, so again, I did something that seemed like what was described. The oven was spritzed with water, and in went the rolls. The oven was spritzed two more times in the first five minutes of baking, and the total baking time was about 30 minutes.

I’d love to find out what I was really supposed to be doing with the folding and seam sealing to form the rolls and how that affects the outcome. If there are any expert sesame-semolina sandwich roll bakers out there, please advise. I’m not sure if the interior texture I achieved on these was exactly what it should have been, but I was happy with the result for a first attempt.

I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread. The guest host this week is Zorra.



28 comments:

  1. If this is how your grilled salmon sammie starts, we can't wait to see the end. Great rolls! They're perfect.

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  2. wow! those do sound delicious - i love the semolina crust!

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  3. Your bread looks perfect! I have some semolina flour in the pantry, I totally want to try this.

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  4. Wow Lisa, your bread look really delicious. love the sesame in there.
    Cheers,
    elra

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  5. The folding gives structure to the dough, you can even feel it, didn't you?

    The interior and the exterior of your rolls look just perfect. Semolina gives this kind of crumb. Well done!

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  6. Looks good for sure...and I have a few sandwich ideas just looking at this!

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  7. Your sandwich rolls look really awesome and professional.

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  8. Your rolls look beautiful! i'd love to make sandwiches with these...

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  9. Gorgeous! You are inspiring me. I think it's time to start a starter!

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  10. Every time I see bread you've made I wonder if in three years or so we'll be reading about you opening a bakery :) Not that there's anything wrong with perfecting it for eating at home, it just looks so professional, like you really have a knack for it.

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  11. you're doing things with your sourdough that i've never considered. i love this idea--it makes loaf bread seem completely inappropriate for sandwiches. :)

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  12. thanks for sharing this experience! i think if I learn to bake homemade sesame semolina, my boyfriend's father might force him to marry me :0

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  13. Ooh, just tuck in some proscuitto, arugula and a slice of mozzarella, and that would all make for one heavenly sandwich. I love La Brea Bakery. Every time I'm in LA, my hubby and I stop there just before driving home, and load up the car with bread and pastries.

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  14. I have no idea how they are supposed to look but they sure look perfect to me Lisa! Just seems like a lot of work (or a lot of waiting..:))

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  15. these rolls are perfect - how do you do it?

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  16. another amazing result of your baking efforts - looks fabulous

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  17. As a completely inept baker without a bread machine, I can only lean back and admire your tremendous skill. These look so fantastic!

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  18. Those are gorgeous!! And so perfect!

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  19. You make baking sound so much fun! Especially with the spraying and sesame seed part. You inspire me to try baking Lisa!

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  20. I'm always impressed when someone has a starter! These sound good!

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  21. I looove semolina and the grittiness of it. you're such a great baker. my breads always comes out too yeasty.

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  22. No way would I have the patience to make it, but your bread looks gorgeous!

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  23. Nice job on this one, it came out well.

    I laughed when I read your "folding this way and that" description. I remember being highly confused about this shaping process the first time I tried to make rolls w/o any photographic assistance.

    Did you ever make that salmon sandwich?

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  24. Gorgeous bread rolls and should be so perfect for the salmon sandwich! Yum!

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  25. Tonight I'm going to make 100% homemade fish burgers... I'll have to try these salmon sandwiches once because they look so yummy!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  26. I think your shaping looks great despite your "this way and that" method :) Really nice rolls!

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  27. Really appreciate the info on semolina flour. The thought of whizzing in the food processor never occurred to me - so hard to find fine durum around here.

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