Parmesan Grits with Mushrooms and Quail Eggs, Homemade Hamburger Buns

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was waiting for my hamburger buns to finish mixing. Today, for lunch, they held some mighty fine Texas brisket --- Last night's dinner. I've already posted the recipe for brisket, so that's nothing new, but the side dish we had last night is new. I decided to go with grits because it seemed like the appropriate choice. These are not your typical, restaurant style, completely lacking flavor grits either. They are cheesy, creamy and smooth. And to make them fancy, I topped them with sautéed mushrooms and a fried quail egg --- yes, a quail egg. A normal chicken egg would work too, but when I was grocery shopping the other day I saw a package of super-tiny quail eggs. If you haven't seen quail eggs, they are about an inch tall. I was killed by their cuteness. So, I bought them, and now we're eating them. Yum! Oh yes, and we had steamed broccoli too. I figured we needed something plain to go with the rich meal.

My mushrooms were unusually fresh looking that day.

Chop them up.

Aww... I peek in the fridge from time-to-time just to see them. hehe

Grits!

Runny yellow, yum.

Parmesan Grits with Sautéed Mushrooms and a Quail Egg

Serving Size = 4 - 6

• 4 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup polenta
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• Mushrooms (8 oz or so)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 quail egg per person

1. Bring the water with a bit of salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add the polenta/grits slowly while whisking until incorporated. Gently simmer, stirring from time-to-time. Watch out, it can pop and burn you. Cook for about 30 minutes, until the grits thicken and the liquid absorbs. Remove from heat and stir in the pepper, cheese, cream and more salt if needed. Keep warm until everything else is ready.
2. Saute the mushrooms in about 1 tablespoon of butter, a little bit of oil and garlic. 
3. Remove mushrooms from pan, add oil if needed and fry the quail eggs.
4. Place the grits on a plate, top with some mushrooms and then a quail egg.

Break apart and shape.

Flatten slightly.

Let cool on wire rack before eating. haha... yeah, right.

Wait for the bread to cool?!
Never! Hot, hot, burn, burn. Ouch!

Pile on the brisket with bbq sauce.

Bread Machine Soft Hamburger Buns

Original Recipe

Serving Size = 12 buns (I cut the recipe in half and got 5, below is the full recipe)

• 1 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vital wheat gluten (I skipped this)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (I used bread machine yeast)

1. Place the ingredients in the bread machine according to your machines recommendations. The last two ingredients I add are the flour and then the yeast, in that order. Select dough cycle and start.
2. When finished, turn out onto lightly greased surface, or wax paper and knead for 2 minutes. Break apart into 10-12 balls and gently roll between your hands with a bit of pressure to form a smooth ball. Place onto greased or parchment paper lined baking sheet (I used a lightly greased baking dish). Press each ball down into the shape of a hamburger bun.
3. Cover with a towel and leave until doubled in size (about 30 minutes).
4. Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 12 minutes (mine took around 15-18 minutes).
5. When done, let cool on a wire rack.

These freeze well, but I'm not sure how they would hold up the next day. Some reviews said the buns were crumby, but I would except that after they've been left out overnight. I use them/freeze them the same day. Keep in mind that they are very soft, not chewy. Also, the original recipe says that they brown without brushing them with eggs, but mine did not turn out brown at all.

Brisket Sandwich

Just reheat the brisket and using two forks pull apart into strands. Pour on the BBQ sauce and heat for a few minutes until everything is hot. 

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