Homemade Hamburger Buns!

I don't like going to the store for hamburger buns.  I don't know why, but it always seems like such an ordeal to buy hamburger buns.  They seem so expensive for what they are - even the generic store brands seem kind of, well, high.  And then when we put sloppy joe filling on them, they fall apart.

So I started searching for recipes. But most homemade bread recipes take four hours to make, which again seems a little too much effort for hamburger buns, and what if I want them on the spur of the moment?  

Well, I found this recipe, and it fills the bill.  It's quick and easy and takes less than 45 minutes to make.  I tested it with my sloppy joe recipe, and the buns didn't disintegrate!

40-Minute Hamburger Buns

2 T active dry yeast

1 c warm water (110 to 115 degrees)

1/3 c vegetable oil

1/4 c sugar

1 large egg

2 t salt

3 to 4 c bread flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water.  Add oil and sugar, mix, and let stand for 5 minutes.  Add the egg, salt, and enough flour to form a soft dough.

On a floured surface, knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes.  Do not let rise.  Divide into  8  pieces, shape each into a ball, and place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheets.  Cover and let rest 10 minutes.  Bake until golden brown, about 14-15 minutes.

Spray tops with non-stick spray or brush with vegetable oil or melted butter right out of the oven, then remove from pans to a wire rack to cool.

French Onion Soup (A New to Me Slow Cooker Recipe)

It's spring, and that means IT'S VIDALIA ONION TIME - YAY!

And what do we do with those sweet, delicious, extra-special Vidalia onions from Georgia?

ONION SOUP!

French onion soup is one of my favorites (yes, I have so many), but in the past I've only eaten it in restaurants.  Caramelizing the onions takes some time and attention, and I know me in the kitchen - I'll try to multi-task and suddenly - burnt onions!  Not a nice thing to have stinking up the house.  So I have ignored the siren call of onion soup thus far.

Until last week, that is.

I was surfing the food porn sites and something caught my eye - SLOW COOKER French onion soup.  What the what???  Could such a thing really work?  I had to save that one for future reference.

Well I'm here to tell you oh-my-goodness it does!

On a foraging trip to the grocery I saw 5-pound bags of Vidalia onions,  I snagged one.  SCORE!  The very next day I got started.

I pulled out a knife, the cutting board, and the food processor.  Five pounds is a lot of onions to cry over, so I needed all the help I could get.  I peeled all those lovely globes of oniony goodness and cut them to fit the processor's feed tube, and away we went!  They filled the processor's 14-cup bowl twice.

Here they are, before cooking.
See how full the crock is?

All those onions nearly almost reached the limit of my 6 1/2-quart slow cooker.  After cooking several hours, they took up about half the space and I had beautiful, golden, caramelized onions.  With the rest of the ingredients added, it looked like, yes, like French onion soup!  Amazing. 

Here they are, after cooking.

*The original recipe directs you to ladle soup into ramekins, take a baguette of French bread, slice it up, and toast the slices in the oven or under the broiler, put two slices on top of the hot soup in each ramekin, cover with shredded Gruyere cheese, and then bake it in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, then put it under the broiler for another 2 to 3 minutes.  Well, I didn't have a baguette, but I DID have some leftover hamburger buns.  I threw them into the toaster, put them, insides up, on top of the soup, covered them with cheese, and proceeded as directed.

It turned out REALLY well!  But I found out I didn't need to do the baking part first - going straight to the broiler worked better, in my opinion.  But maybe with a crusty baguette, it might be better to bake in the oven.  But I doubt it would make much difference.  I guess it depends on how much you want the bread to soak up the soup.

Oh!  The onions don't HAVE to be Vidalias - any generic big sweet yellow onions will do.  It's just that Vidalia onions are so freakin' AWESOME!

So here it is...


Slow Cooker French Onion Soup (10-12 servings)

5 lbs sweet yellow onions, peeled, quartered, and sliced
4 T butter, melted
1 T brown sugar
2 sprigs thyme (or 1/2 t dried thyme)
1 bay leaf
6 c beef broth
1/4 c flour
2 T balsamic vinegar (yes, it must be balsamic)
1 t black pepper
3 T brandy or red wine (optional)

Place the onions in the slow cooker.  Pour the butter all over the onions, as evenly as possible.  Sprinkle the brown sugar over all.  Place the thyme and bay leaf on top.  Cook on high 6-8 hours, until they are golden brown and soft.

Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.  (I could only find one sprig; the other must have disintegrated into the soup!)  Whisk the flour into a cup of the broth, and add it and the remaining ingredients, except the brandy, to the slow cooker.  Cook on high 30 minutes, then add the brandy, if desired.

*Arrange an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and heat to 350 degrees.  Ladle soup into oven-safe ramekins and place on a rimmed baking sheet.  Top with toasted slices of a French bread baguette and shredded Gruyere (or Swiss) cheese, about 1/3 c per ramekin.  Bake 20-30 minutes, until cheese is completely melted, then broil 2-3 minutes until cheese is bubbling and slightly browned.  Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes, and serve.