Bread Basket Pt.3 Egg whites in soft doughs

This is a test of two identical soft bun doughs. The only difference between the two is that one has egg whites substituted for the water. The white is around 90% water by weight anyway, so this substitution doesn't require much manipulation of the rest of the recipe.
Bun #1
100g bread flour
18g butter, room temperature
3g salt
3g yeast
40g water, at 40F
18g egg yolk
Bun #2

100g bread flour

18g butter, room temperature

3g salt

3g yeast

42g egg whites

18g egg yolk

Method for both buns:

Mix the salt, yeast, egg, water, and butter together in a bowl. Add the flour all at once and knead until the dough is uniform. Ferment at room temperature for 3 hours, or once the dough doubles in size. Shape into buns and proof for 1 hour. Bake at 400F for 9 minutes, or until lightly brown, egg washing after 3 minutes.

The results were closer in texture than I would have expected. The top bun in this picture has no egg whites.

Even though there wasn't a huge difference, I definitely preferred the bun without the whites. The whites make the crumb chewier, kind of waxy.

Plate it up!

Butter poached lamb flap with cilantro mayo, purslane, pickled daikon, pickled carrot, and chicken liver mousse on a soft, egg yolk only, bun.

There may  be too much fat in these, so much it is preventing the interior from being fluffy. I'll be looking for a lighter, fluffier sandwich bun.

Forcefully,

Adam

Yellow Squash Purée

I tried to produce a distinctly different flavor and texture than that of whole blended squash. The seeds and pulpy mass under the skin have great flavor, but not the color or texture I wanted. I decided to boil the middles and extract as much flavor as possible, but then strain and not blend the middles into the skin, just their liquid. The details follow.
Ingredients:
535g squash middles
65g butter +12g aside
430g water
6g salt
316g outermost skin of yellow zucchini
95g onion, small dice
5g lime juice
a few turns ground black pepper
Method:
Place the squash middles, 65g butter, water, and salt in a pot and boil until a little less than a quarter of the liquid is left. Pass through a fine mesh strainer(only about 100g of liquid should be able to be passed). Reserve the boiled middles for another use. Sauté the onion and zucchini skin with the extra butter until everything starts to soften. Add the passed squash broth and bring to a boil. Blend until smooth, adding the lime juice at the end of the blending. Season with the black pepper and additional salt if needed.
Plate it up!

Butter poached rack of lamb with ossau-iraty new potato gratin, crispy lamb belly, puréed yellow squash, and a stew of zucchini and chanterelles.

The boiled squash that doesn't pass through the strainer makes a great taco, but you will probably put it into a loaf of quick bread.

Tentatively,

Adam

Doughnuts

What could be better than Krispy Kreme? These are my best attempt through many trials. The biggest criteria I had was that they must be good eaten hot or cold. Almost every variation I tried was good hot, some better than others, but they were all good. However, very few were enjoyable after cooling. These are delicious right after frying or the next day.

The recipe requires a puree of potatoes, olive oil, and coconut milk. I make a big batch of the puree in advance and then use it whenever I want doughnuts.

Ingredients for recipe #1:

135g russet potato, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces

100g full fat coconut milk

20g olive oil

Method for recipe #1:

Steam the potatoes until they are soft. Add the coconut milk and oil to a pot and bring to a boil. Add the hot potatoes to the pot and boil everything while mashing with a spoon or a potato masher. Once you get the potatoes into a fairly uniform mash, pass them through a fine mesh sieve(make sure to get everything through the mesh). Let the puree cool to room temperature and then you can refrigerate or freeze until you need it. 

Ingredients for recipe #2:

200g potato puree with coconut milk and olive oil (from recipe #1)

50g honey

4g salt

5g yeast

17g egg yolk

8g apple cider vinegar

227g bread flour

Method for recipe #2:

Mix everything but the flour in a large bowl until it is relatively uniform. Add the bread flour all at once and mix until the dough is uniform. It should be soft and tacky, but not sticky. The variability of the potato may make you add a little more flour to get the right texture. Ferment, covered, at room temperature for 3.5 hour or until the dough doubles in size. Punch down and roll out into a rectangle, with a thickness of .5 cm. Cut out the shape you want and let rise again for an hour or until the dough doubles. Fry at 375F, flipping only once, after the dough has lightly browned.

Plate it up!

Glazed Doughnut

The Inside

I tried both traditional circle doughnuts and squares. I like the squares better, but only because they were easier to cut and didn't have as much waste.

Maybe cake doughnuts next?

No, but,

Adam