Kaiser Rolls from Calgary's Finest

If you recall, I followed Top Chef Canada quite closely. In fact, with the help of the chefs themselves, I tried to faithfully reproduce many of their dishes. Twitter and Facebook facilitated our communication. One could argue that they were simply trying to further their own careers by encouraging discussion of them on social media. That would not the the truth however. One chef in particular has been an amazing mentor, even though I’ve never met her. Karine Moulin of Calgary’s  Hotel Arts  and Raw Bar fame, has been a constant source of inspiration and information to me.

My husband wanted Kaiser rolls to go with his bratwurst and frankly, there is a dearth of good baked goods here in the queen city. I tweeted about that and chef Karine, ever the mentor, stepped up to the plate and offered me her own recipe for kaiser rolls, which truly kick ass. I am sharing it here with her kind permission.




























Here is the recipe as written:

Kaiser Rolls 

Yield: 4 rolls 

Ingredients:

•1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast

•1 teaspoon honey

•3 cups unbleached organic All-Purpose Flour

•1 ¼ teaspoons sea salt

•1 large organic egg at room temperature, slightly beaten with a fork

•2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature (some extra for greasing bowl)

•¾ cup warm water, (separated into ¼ cup and ½ cup)

Before the rolls go into the oven:

•1 large egg beaten with 1tsp water for glaze

•Sesame, poppy seeds, or your choice of herb for garnish i.e.: fennel seed

Method:

1. In small bowl, proof/ferment,   yeast by taking ¼ cup of the water and adding honey, and yeast. Let set for a couple of minutes. It should bubble and foam. 

2. In the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer, using your dough hook, add flour, and salt, stir to combine.

3. Turn mixer on low and add egg, butter, and remaining water and yeast mixture.

4. Continue stirring, scraping down sides frequently, until the dough forms a cohesive mass and begins to clear the sides of the bowl.

5. Knead for 6-8 minutes. The dough should still be tacky but not too wet.

6. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes, then allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes. The dough should be smooth and supple.

7. Place the dough in a greased bowl, and turn over a few times to give dough a slight film of butter, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in warm place until doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.( the is time will vary depending on your kitchens ambient temperature)

8. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into 4 equal pieces.

9. Roll each of the pieces into about a 9-inch rope.

10. Form a loose over-hand knot in dough. You should have two protruding ends a couple inches long.

11. Take the “over end” and wrap around, up and through center.

12. Take the under end and bring up, over and down through center. Push down to seal.

13. Place finished shaped rolls on prepared baking sheet.

14. Cover the rolls, and allow them to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until they’ve almost doubled in volume. (The proofing time will vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen) 

15. Preheat the oven to 370 degrees Celsius.

16. When rolls have risen, brush with egg glaze and sprinkle with sesame, poppy seeds, or your dried herbs.

17. Place rolls on middle rack in oven.

18. Spray water on lower baking sheet and sides of oven and quickly close the oven door. Do this procedure again 5 minutes through baking. (This swill create steam which will give the rolls a crusty exterior)

19. Bake for a total 10 to 15 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.

20. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a wire rack.

21. Enjoy!

I, however, made a few changes. I used bread flour in place of the all purpose, I put a baking stone in the oven and preheated to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and I also put a tray beneath, into which I threw ice cubes instead of spraying water.  I just figured that these changes were easier for the home cook.  Don’t skip step 21. We enjoyed them immensely and I have made them several times now!