spicy chicken burgers on a light brioche bun

spicy chicken burgers on a light brioche bun

• 11 Aug 2014

I don't usually buy take away but when I'm on holidays I've been known to order the occasional burger. I'm quite partial to a chicken burger and this month's Gourmet Traveller featured a tasty looking chicken burger recipe from Pinbone. It contained fried chicken, which I can't eat, so when I spied a Curtis Stone recipe for oven fried chicken  I thought I'd give that a go instead.



The list of ingredients I needed was quite long so I went in search of hot sauce, panko breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, onion and garlic powder. 

I was going to buy the bread rolls but when reading one of my favourite food blogs I discovered this New York Times recipe for light brioche burger buns. I simplified the technique considerably, put the dough into the fridge to rise overnight and made these at lunch time.



I already had cheese in the fridge but I needed some lettuce leaves and tomatoes. I bought some mini ox heart tomatoes because they're so sweet and juicy! I thought the perfect accompaniment to the burgers would be some of my faux fries.



Here are the simplified instructions for the brioche burger buns using a stand mixer. I also cut the sugar content considerably.

Light Brioche Bun 
Adapted from Hidefumi Kubota, Comme Ça, Los Angeles 
Time: 1 hour, plus 2 to 4 hours’ rising
Ingredients 

3 cups bakers flour 

1/3 cup plain flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

2 teaspoons dry yeast 

2 teaspoons sugar 

35 g softened butter 

1 egg, beaten 

1 cup warm water 

3 tablespoons warm milk 

Topping 

1 egg 

1 tablespoon water 

Sesame seeds 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the flours with the salt, dried yeast and sugar. Add butter and rub into the flour.  

Using the dough hook, mix in the beaten egg and the warm water and milk to form a soft dough. Mix for 8 - 10 minutes before shaping the dough into a ball. Lightly grease the bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours or you can place the bowl in the fridge overnight. The next day bring the dough to room temperature before proceeding to the next step. 

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Divide the dough into 8 - 12 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on the tray. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours. 

Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F with rack in centre. Set a large shallow pan of water on the oven floor. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and lightly brush the top of the buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake, turning the tray halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely. 

Yield: 8 - 12 buns.

I have to say these burgers were absolutely delicious. I followed Curtis Stone's instructions to the letter using chicken thigh fillets which I'd brined overnight. The buns came out really well and they were soft and tasty. I used the toppings suggested in the Pinbone recipe - cheese, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise and hot sauce. These little burgers are so good, I think the Colonel may be in trouble!

P.S Here's my final Delicious Bites column for decor8, a recipe for Petal Cupcakes. As the column won't be running anymore what would you think if I renamed my blog Delicious Bites? It would just be a redirection so my current readers wouldn't have to change a thing. It would give me an opportunity to get a new logo and a new look for the blog. 

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of my idea.

See you all next week,

Jillian