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I could bore you with with a long testimonial on my love for cooking and with my ideas on eating healthy and eating local, as a way to introduce this food blog.

Or...

...we could just skip to the good stuff.

How about some Shrimp Rolls on homemade Honey Wheat buns? 

If you're like me, heavy food and the heat of June just don't mix.  So around our house we do a lot of sandwiches and salads in the summer.  Not only are they light, but its pretty easy to shop with a menu like that. 

I've recently gotten into trying to make things that I tend to forget to put on my grocery list (I NEVER remember to get taco seasoning.  So annoying.  I need a real problem...).  One of the things I've started making is my hamburger buns and sandwich rolls.  After testing some different recipes I'd looked up, I kept getting a dry version of the buns.  And then this weekend I made my new favorite pizza from Naturally Ella using Erin's perfect pizza crust and I thought "Why not adapt this into a hamburger bun?" I know what you're thinking - "Do you always think about other meals while you're in the middle of eating one?" Yes.  Yes I do.  Just assume I'm always thinking about food. 

If you've never made bread, this is a great recipe to start with because it can be anything from pizza crust to a bread loaf for sandwiches.  The difference is really just in whether or not you squish it flat or not.  I will say, however, if you are going to use this recipe for bread or rolls, I would let the dough rise for another 30 minutes after you've formed your buns.  Just promise me if you're a first time bread maker you won't be intimidated.  I was intimidated and it was a total waste of time. 

So let's get to it.

Perfect Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns (adapted from Naturally Ella's Perfect Pizza Crust)

 -3/4 cup of warm water

-2 1/4 tsp yeast

-1/4 cup of honey (I used agave nectar)

-1 tsp salt

-2 tblsp sunflower oil (I used evoo)

-1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

-1 cup whole wheat flour

In a bowl, mix water, yeast, and honey and let sit for about 5 minutes until yeast dissolves and becomes foamy.  Add salt, oil, and 1/2 a cup of the all purpose flour and 1/2 a cup of whole wheat flour.  Stir until all of the flour is incorporated.  Then, alternating flours 2-3 tablespoons at a time, add more flour to your dough, making sure to mix in all the flour you add before adding the next few tablespoons.  The idea is to eventually get a dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still kind of sticky to the touch.  Once you've reached the right consistency, form your dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl.  Cover with a towel and let rise for about an hour in a warm place (warm = somewhere around 80 - 110 degrees.  Anything over 110 degrees will kill your yeast.  Dont' be a yeast murderer.)

Once dough has risen, punch the dough down and then divide into baseball sized balls.  Arrange on a baking sheet a few inches apart, cover again, and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.  Once they've risen again, cook the buns in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, or until browned. 

Shrimp Rolls (from Martha Stewart Magazine, July 2012)

-1/2 lb medium shrimp, deveined

-1/4 cup light mayo

-1/4 tsp dried tarragon

-1-2 tblsp lemon juice

-salt and pepper to taste

2 homemade whole wheat buns

2 lettuce leaves

In a small bowl, combine shrimp, mayo, and tarragon.  Mix in lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.  Line each bun with lettuce and fill with half the mixture.

Happy Summer Sammich eating!

(P.S. Stayed tuned for the next post where I'll make Chicken Feta Spinach Burgers and use our leftover buns we made today.  Fresh homemade bread doesn't keep as long as store bought bread because it doesn't have all the preservatives.  So it's good to have two days in a row where you'll do some form of sandwiches or burgers.)