Happy National Egg Month!
Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs got me off to a great start with this delightful shipment of standing ovation (horrible pun, mine). I brought the eggs to our annual work retreat and brought forth a veritable feast of egg bakes and sticky buns!
We had sausage, may I recommend Field Roast’s collection of grain-based meats for all the vegans out there who don’t want to feel left out. These also make stellar hot dogs—chipotle was my favorite flavor.
Also Freekeh from Pereg spiced up with 2 TB of Penzey’s Cajun spice is a nice side for a breakfast feast.
The sticky buns were inspired by my new Hands Down Best Cookbook I’ve reviewed all year, but I’m biased by nostalgia, Zingerman’s Bakehouse. I recall a visit to Zingermans in Ann Arbor, Michigan during which I was given a tasting of a 100 year old balsamic vinegar, among other curiosities. Their generous attitude, customer-bent, and delicious array of baked goods and fine products makes me salivate just turning the pages that so clearly have their zest and company quality.
Obama Buns—get this cookbook and check out the recipe! It is a winner! Pecan sticky buns.
Obama Buns- Pecan Sticky Buns
Adapted from Zingerman’s Bakehouse
Poolish
½ cup whole milk, room temp
¾ cup sourdough starter
1 cup and 3 TB all purpose flour
Final Dough
½ cup unsalted room temp butter
¼ cup and 1 tsp granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp sea salt
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
All the poolish
1 cup and 3 TB all-purpose flour
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
¼ cup muscovado brown sugar
1 TB cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
Topping
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup muscovado brown sugar
¾ cup honey
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups pecan, chopped
Melted butter for brushing dough
First make the polish by combining all ingredients in a stand mixer and mix with a dough hook attachment. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and ferment for 1 hour (or overnight, in fridge).
Then make the dough. First cream together the butter and sugar and salt until combined. Increase the speed and add the egg and yolk and combine until smooth. Then break up poolish and add to butter mixture. On low speed, add the flour slowly. The dough will be sticky. Cover dough again in the oiled bowl and let rise overnight, in the fridge—at least for six hours.
In the morning, make the filling/topping. Cream the butter with the sugar and add the honey and salt until well blended. Toast the pecans on a sheet at 325 degrees for 12 minutes until toasty brown. Spread topping on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch glass baking pan and spread the pecans over the top. Make the cinnamon sugar filling. Unwrap the dough and sprinkle with flour. Roll out on a floured surface into a rectangle that is about as big as the pan and ¼ inch thick. Brush the melted dough on the surface of the dough, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar filling over it. Roll up the log, and cut. I like to use string to do so. Turn the rolls so the spirals are up and arrange over the pecans in the pan. You should have about 12. Give them a little room to expand, space between the rolls, that is. Let rise for 1-2 hours, covered. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30-35 minutes. In theory, when done, you should invert the pan so the sticky pecan part is on top, but if that’s too tricky, just spatula all the gooey stuff out onto the plate and enjoy! YUMMM!
Last week, Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs filed a petition with the FDA to update its definition of ‘healthy’ to include eggs. The current definition includes foods such as low-fat toaster pastries and sugary cereal, but excludes the nutrient dense egg. Check out more info on this fight on EggsAreHealthy.com – sign the petition! Especially eggs from happy chickens who live on fancy farms. All the healthier.