Light Brioche Sandwich Rolls

For their July 4th promotions, most area grocery stores had good sales on ribs and pork shoulders.  I bought a pork roast at a great price but didn't get around to cooking it.  It was too hot in the house and my grill master had to work.  Plus, I realized I didn't have a taste for big meat. It was too hot.  So, after a few days, I put the roast in the freezer. 

With the weather cooler, I moved the roast from the freezer to the refrigerator, to thaw, with the plan of making my 16-Hour Pulled Pork.  Alice and Baby were going to be spending the night and I thought it would be a good make-ahead and simple meal, with homemade buns, Eastern North Carolina Barbecue Sauce, and Coleslaw, to make pulled pork sandwiches.  (Once Baby is in the house, I am too distracted to cook!)

When I opened the pork package I detected a mildish funky odor. Not foul or strong, just funky.  I practically had my nose on the meat, sniffing it.  The pork had good color and was not slimy. I did a google search and found out that the sealing process can sometimes lead to a temporary smell, but if the meat seems fine otherwise, the smell should disappear during cooking.  So I made my spice rub and proceeded, as usual, with cooking the roast in the crockpot.

Guess what? I woke up twice in the night smelling that pork cooking. The next morning, there I was again, sniffing and sniffing. In the end, I decided that it smelled like a very spicy piece of dead meat.  So, following the "When in doubt, toss it out" rule of cookery, I pulled it and changed dinner plans.

But my buns turned out great! I saw this recipe at the very excellent blog, Susi's Kochen Und Backen Adventures and knew I would be making these.  I didn't change a thing about the recipe Susi gives.

Light Brioche Burger Buns
(From Susi's Kochen Und Backen Adventures)
3 Tbsp. warm milk
1 cup warm water
2 tsp. yeast (1 package)
2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 egg
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 Tbsp. butter, softened

For the topping:
1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. water
Sesame seeds

Combine warm milk, warm water, sugar and yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk one egg in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or other large bowl) whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour, with your fingers, to make fine crumbs. Add the egg and yeast mixture and mix with a dough hook in your stand mixer on low until combined. Continue kneading on medium speed until dough is smooth and elastic, about 6 - 8 minutes.  Alternately, knead the dough by hand on a well-floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 - 10 minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a large, oiled bowl, turn the dough over and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise, in a warm place, until doubled in size, 1 - 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and divide into 8 equal pieces and shape into balls. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, 2 - 3 inches apart.  Spray some plastic wrap with non-stick cooking spray and place over the shaped buns.  Return to a warm place and let rise again, until doubled in size, 1 - 2 hours.

Place a large, shallow pan of water on the bottom rack of oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Beat the remaining egg together with the water.  Brush some onto each bun and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake in the center of the oven until the buns are golden brown, turning halfway through baking, about 15 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool completely.