I pride myself on my ability to make bread. I really do, as I still , to this day, always fear the dough will never rise. I know I have talked about this before, more than likely in other posts in the ” Rise” posts I have posted. But,I do. It is a bit scary, frightening, tormenting, to sit , or do whatever it is you do while you await your dough to rise. Honestly, I should have more faith by now, but that is just not who I am.

I fear that the dough will not rise!!!!!1111.Please gimme a sedative, maybe some whiskey, while I wait for this to happen.

Okay, maybe drinking , high on meds, would not be a good combination for cooking and baking. Or, maybe it would. Mmmhmm, I may be on to something.

but enough about me, and my yearn to be wasted while making breads.

I do worry about it, but I should not, I suppose.( out of ten times, it rises, and it tastes delicious. I mean, who does not love freshly baked bread? Rolls, loafs, buns, whatever, they are a delight.

Recently, as mentioned in my previous post, I took a trip trip out west to Buffalo. Sure, when you think Buffalo food, you think Buffalo sauce. That is a no-brainer. But, coming in a close second, would have to be Beef on weck, which is some meat and stuff on a kummelweck roll. These rolls are bad-ass, I assure you. If you like caraway seeds, anyways.

I had to make them, and so I did. I should maybe add the ” Beef” seitan recipe I made up for the sandwich, and maybe I will, we will see how lazy I am.

You should learn a bit more about this roll,if you are asking yourself, and now me, what the fuck is a kummelweck?

Well, it is basically like a kaiser roll, with salt and caraway seeds topping it. Sometime around 1900, some dude, who probably had facial hair, as they all seemed to around then, came up wit hthe beef on weck.Just imagine a bunch of people who look like the Pringles mascot guy. Well, in or near Buffalo, he decided it would be fucking tasty to slice up some beef, serve it in its juices, with some horsradish,in a roll.I do not know if he had a pickle on the side, but maybe would be wise if he had. Anyways, he picked the kummelweck roll. He did well in his choice. It is probably German, and he may have been German, but as the roll sounds German, I think I am on the right track.. Yeah, probably German.

There, some food history for you.

Kummelweck Rolls Ingredients
- One package of yeast.
- 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.
- 2 teaspoons of sugar.
- 1 and a half cups of warm water.
- 4 or so cups of flour.
- 3 tablespoons of Earth Balance shortening.
- 3 tablespoons of kosher salt.
- 1 to 2 tablespoons of caraway seeds.

Shall we begin? We shall. In large bowl, add kosher salt, sugar, and the warm water.Sprinkle the yeast over this, and let it sit for 5 minutes.Now, add about 3 cups of the flour, and the shortening.Mix that well, then add the remaining flour.

I am sure you could use your fancy mixer for it, and I suppose I could give instructions for that. But, you see, I tend to just use my hands and a spoon, like my archaic relatives did, so I am of no use.

Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface, and kneed for 5 minutes, then place in a greased bowl, cover with a damp, warm cloth, and let it double in size. Let that Bad Larry rise, friend.

Now, while you await this, you could skip ahead in the post and make the seitan, if you wanted. I know I had said I may not include it, but let’s just say I feel inspired.Rather, I am just not feeling that completely lazy right now.

Heat your oven to 375 degrees.

The bread should be punched down, and rolled and formed into rolls. You will vary in how many, depending on the size of them. I think I had 6 of them.Place them on a greased or sprayed tray, and cover them and let them rise again, for about 40 minutes.

Now, slice them with a sharp knife. Make like a star shape or something on the top of them, is what I mean. Once this is done, brush them with melted butter, mix kosher salt wit hthe caraway seeds and sprinkle this on top of them. Cook them for 5 minutes, remove from the ye olde oven, sprinkle water on them, and then cook a further 20 minutes. You have made your kummelweck rolls.

Now, for the ” beef” that will allow you to have Beef on weck.

Beef on Weck Seitan
- 1 and a half cups of vital wheat gluten.
- 6 cups of vegetable stock, or 6 cups of water with one of those cubes or some of that powder one can make a stock or broth with.
- 1 tablespoon of paprika.
- 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce.
- 2 teaspoons of celery salt.
- 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke.
- 1 tablespoon of ketchup.
- 1 tablespoon of molasses.
- 1 teaspoon of pepper.
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt.
- 1 teaspoon of basil.
- 1 tablespoon of steak sauce.
- 1 package of yeast.

In a pot, combine all the ingredients minus the yeast and the gluten.I probably should have listed those two together, but I did not. Oops!

Combine the gluten and half the yeast in a bowl.Take a cup of the broth mixture you made in the pot, and mix that cup with the gluten. Mold into a shape, I dunno, like a roast, kinda.

Add the remaining yeast to your broth, and put it over low heat.Add the gluten to the broth, and let it sit in there and do what it does for an hour. I mean really low heat, you do not wanna see a boil. The longer you let this sit and cook, the more flavors.

Now, time to construct the sandwich.

You will need to slice up the seitan , thinly. I find that this is done a lot easier after a night of it sitting in the fridge. So, leave it in the broth it was cooked in, and let it sit over night. We will go from there. But, if you are impatient, you can just go ahead and do it right away.

But, I am gonna pretend you did. Slice it thinly, and while you are doing that, heat up some of the broth the seitan was cooked in. In a bowl, or ona plate, pour the hot broth over the sliced seitan, and then add the seitan to your kummelweck roll.You can add some horseradish to the roll, or keep it on the side and dunk it, or whatever.

You can also have some of the heated broth on the side, and dunk your sandwich into it with every bite. The world is yours.

Did I forget anything? Maybe, Oh, always have a pickle with your sandwich, it is only right.