Rev 0.12, last revised: 10-Oct-09
I grew up south of Buffalo, N.Y., but never had the occasion to eat these lovely rolls until my wedding night. Two great treats in one night...what a way to live! At any rate, I learned to enjoy "Beef on Weck" (pronounced "Veck", with a "V" sound). Basically, it's a hot roast beef au jus served on a Kaiser roll topped with salt & caraway seeds (and then called Kummelweck), usually with prepared horseradish and/or crispy, sliced Dill pickles as a condiment.
The whole thing is a bit of a misnomer. "Kummelweck" means 'Kummel' (caraway seeds) and "Weck" means 'away'. So the word roughly translates to: Caraway seeds gone. Or, without Caraway seeds... Well, that's not how the rolls are usually done. They're pretty well a Kaiser roll with extra salt and caraway seeds sprinkled on top. Click here for some more of the local history behind this tasty treat.
I've made the recipe below, and topped with roast beef for weck, they are absolutely great! For those peasants that can't or don't want to make sourdough, click here for a yeast dough recipe for light-weights (:-o)!.
Yield: about 1-1/2 dozen sourdough Kaiser rolls
Whisk all the ingredients into a thick batter in a bowl. Put in warm place and allow to ferment for 8-12 hours at or as near to 85F (29C) as possible. I use my stove, with the light on, and the door propped slightly ajar (more in the summer, less in the winter).
3 - 4 cups flour
2 tsp salt
3 + 1 tablespoon butter, softened; separated
1-1/2 cup warm water
1 egg white, room temperature
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl large enough to hold it all the ingredients including the sponge made in the previous step. Use a whisk and dry mix the flour and salt. Add 3-tablespoons of the melted butter cutting or mixing it in. Add the sponge. Mix well.
Next, in lieu of mixing or kneading the dough, we're going to do 5 modified stretch and fold iterations. On a lightly floured surface, press the dough fairly flat. Fold in the top and bottom. Then fold in one-side and then the other. Turn it over onto the folded side, cover and allow to rest for 45 minutes (I use the inverted bowl I mixed it in). Repeat 4 more times.
Divide or break dough into golf-ball sized pieces; roll into balls.
Leave balls of dough resting on floured board, covered, for 15-45 minutes. With a pastry brush, paint a small amount of the remaining 1-tablespoon of softened butter on each roll. With the handle of a wooden spoon to make an "x" on the top of each roll. Press each roll between your hands to flatten somewhat and place face down on a greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise again until about double (an hour or two).
water (or the cornstarch glaze below)
coarse salt (kosher type salt)
caraway seeds
Combine coarse salt with caraway seed in small bowl, proportion according to taste (in Buffalo the salt taste seems predominant--to me at least!). Stir with fingers to combine the ingredients. Turn rolls face up, brush with a little water and sprinkle with caraway seed/salt mixture, and put on a cookie sheet.
Place cookie sheet into a cold oven, and allow to rise for for 15-45 min. Set oven to 375F, and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Remove from oven, allow to cool. Split and top with
roast beef,
drench with 'au jus'
(pronounced: awe zhew or more properly, "o zh¡s´, zhü´" ).
Enjoy with a cellar cold beer!
I'm still working this variation.
Cornstarch Glaze:
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together water and cornstarch. Heat mixture to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to low, and stir until mixture thickens and is translucent. Remove from heat and let cool.