Rustic Sandwich Rolls

Whenever we are about to have guests over for a meal, we go through a brainstorm process to decide what to make.  Even when we suggest something we both agree on, I wait for the ah-ha moment: the moment where I know that there could not possibly be a more perfect meal.  If it's summer the obvious choice is to grill something, and if it's winter we move toward soup or slow cooking.

After we got back from Paris we had a long list of people to see, and two of those people were Ariel's dads.  Ariel's dad, Jeff, is a chef.  Since the first day he and I met we have had long conversations about food and cooking.  I love cooking for Jeff because we have a similar style: rustic with delicious flavor pairings.  In fact, one of the last meals we ate before leaving for Euope was with Ariel's family, and Jeff made a shrimp and avocado salad that I daydreamed about the entire time we were away.

The meal we were going to make was for a 1pm Sunday lunch, a tricky time because it's past the time we wanted to serve eggs, but before the time we would cook Sunday dinner.  We continued to brainstorm, until I remembered these rolls...

I adapted them awhile back from one of my favorite bakers, Jim Lahey, who makes a long sandwich roll called a Stecca.  I loved the consistency of the dough: a wet glob with minimal structure, the perfect metaphor for baking in a tiny kitchen with an electric oven.

Our menu for the Sunday lunch would be grilled corn-on-the-cob, Ariel's potato salad, and beef burgers on the fresh rolls; topped with sweet pickle sauce, Romaine lettuce, and sliced Walla Walla onions.

Start these rolls the day before you want to serve them. The recipe will make six substantial rolls, or eight smaller. (We toasted our leftover rolls and filled them with a wonderful tuna salad.)



Combine in a large, stainless steel bowl:
1 1/2 cups or 350 grams cool water
1/4 tsp or 1 gram active dry yeast
3 cups or 400 grams bread flour
1/2 tsp or 3 grams sea salt

Stir, moving your hand clockwise (moving in one direction avoids breaking up the gluten) until all of the ingredients are combined. Add drops of water as needed if there are areas of the dough that do not appear wet, with dry patches of flour on them.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours.

When you take the cover off of the dough, notice the great boozy smell: that's the fermentation process at work.

Flour the work surface and use a bowl scraper to bring the dough out of the bowl onto the floured area.



Like this...

Working your way around the periphery of the dough, fold the dough up onto itself.  Flip the dough seamside down, and then then dust the top with flour.  Cover the dough with a clean floursack towel or a piece of plastic wrap, and let it sit for 2 hours. 

After 1 1/2 hours preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and cover a 13-by-18-by-1-inch baking sheet with parchment; brush with oil.  

Using a bench scraper (pictured below) divide the dough into six or eight pieces.  Gently move each piece to the oiled pan; brush each roll with oil, and sprinkle with salt.

Try not to worry about how they look on the pan; each one will look unique, it's part of their charm.

Check the rolls at 15 minutes, and leave them in the oven for another minute or two, if needed.

Let the rolls cool on a rack, and image the possibilities.