Hey guys! I am back, how you going? I just finished an early morning workout at the gym and then spent a good 30 minutes stretching. I have been really dedicating a lot of time to stretching because I find when I am working or walking around my body feels so much more supple and flexible. I came back to my hotel (for those of you who don't know I am living in a hotel while I find a more permanent place in Vancouver)Came home and I had a strawberry, chia and banana smoothie. So delicious and fills me up so much which always surprises me.
I have been loving getting up at 5.30am, working out in the morning, I just feels like it puts a positive mindset in place for the rest of my day. Unfortunately that is not always the case when I finish at 2am it's a battle to get up at 5.30am. I am trying really hard to be dedicated to the gym and not pushing myself so hard, because I am only just getting back into the gym after a long time not going.
I have also been doing a lot of yoga classes and pilate classes and I love those! They are really good, they don't get your heart rate racing, but wow it helps your flexibility and strength! I e joy the slow paced relaxing setting pilates and yoga has. I like to do it after a good workout or towards the end of the day to put me in a good mindset before I go to bed.
Today I have a staff meeting at 2pm and then work at 5pm. Work last monday night was so busy with people coming into the pub having a casual dinner. But this morning I have my good friend Patty who I met on Big White coming to visit me in Vancouver. He is dropping off my snowboarding gear because I thought I was going to do a second season at biggie. I have decided against that, just because I feel like doing a season on biggie could easily feel like your repeating 6 months again. Same mountain, same shops, same vibe ect. Plus everyone raves about Whistler in Vancouver with it only being 2 hours away. When I left Australia I was wanting to do Whistler but i didn't because I couldn't nail down any accommodation so I went to biggie instead. Great mountain, great season biggie, just too small for me to do twice.
So I am very excited to see him, we are going to go out for lunch and catch up before I have to go to work. He is driving up to Whistler so he is going to start there before winter. I think I might take him to one of the Donnelly Group Restaurants because I don't want to venture all over Vancouver and I know it has good food.
I am thinking I will get the Veggie burger, because I love their handmade veggie patties. I think once I move into my new apartment I will make falafel and freeze it. So then I can bake it and add it to a salad or burger whenever I need. While I have been in Canada I have been vegetarian. I feel very sick when I eat their meat, and when I look at the colour/quality of their meat it turns me off meat completely. Their beef mince isn't even red, its brown!! Being Vegetarian has been fine, better then eating their meat.
So today I have some pulled pork sliders. I used to make a variation of these at Mavis and Co on burger nights. Homemade brioche buns absolutely steals the show. They are so soft and tasty. The burger is filled with chipotle mayo, cabbage mix, sliced red onions, cucumber, sweet chilli pulled pork and a charred grilled pineapple ring.
These burgers would go down a treat in my family, everything being made from scratch for the elements in the burger. You can really taste the difference.
To make the cabbage mix, I just brought purple and white cabbage and shredded both of the cabbages on a grater. I then grated 2 carrots (unpeeled) I always leave my carrots unpeeled because their is vital ingredients in the skin that you are just throwing away. I mixed these three ingredients together and tossed a tiny bit of dijon mustard, vinegar and olive oil to dress the cabbage slightly.
Yum, I love burgers and they are so easy to put together. You can cook up 8 burgers, but only have one for dinner. Then you have 4 lunches and dinners that are super delicious. You can easily freeze the buns, just let them cool after cooking and slice then horizontally in half once cool. Place in a ziplock bag and place in the freezer. This gives you no excuse not to make your own brioche burger buns. I promise you once you make them once you won't have your burgers any other way.
I also love this food shoot. The mini cherry tomatoes I actually picked from the garden so they still had their cute little green vines on top of each cherry tomato. The colours in this shoot I feel really pop with a white background, purple cabbage, yellow pineapple, red tomatoes, golden brown brioche buns.
If you want to know how to make these delectable burgers, keep scrolling for the full recipe.
Recipe:
Brioche Pulled Pork Sliders
Brioche:
4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs (2 reserved for egg wash)
1/2 cup whole milk (simmered slightly)
225g unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup black and white sesame seeds
Method:
Activate the yeast by sprinkling the yeast on top of warmed up milk in a small bowl. Add a sprinkle of sugar to the yeast mixture mix to dissolve the sugar. Set aside in a warm place for 5 minutes.
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
Once the yeast mixture has become foamy, mix in the eggs one at a time making sure you really break them up.
Add the dry ingredients mixture 1 cup at a time, mix until you have a shaggy floury dough.
Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead the dough for 4-6 minutes, until you have formed a nice elastic smooth ball of dough.
Once you have a nice smooth dough begin kneading in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Wait until the lump of butter you just added is almost incorporated before adding the next cube of butter.
Once all the butter is all incorporated begin kneading the dough to evenly distribute all the butter.
Knead for about 5 minutes until you get a nice smooth dough, that jiggles a little when you move the bowl.
Refrigerate the dough overnight, this improves the flavour and stops the risk from over proofing your dough and having to start again.
Place in a nicely oiled bowl, place oil in the bowl and rub your fingers all over the bowl to give it a nice coating.
Place the brioche dough in the bowl and wrap the top of the bowl with glad wrap. Leave the dough to rise until it has doubled in size at room temperature. Once it has doubled in rise place in the fridge to rise overnight.
It may look like the dough has spilled over the edges of the bowl, just gently lift the dough edges up to degas the dough slightly.
DONT PUNCH IT DOWN!
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Grease a rectangle tray and make some burger cylinders. Grab 1.5cm x 18cm pieces of tinfoil and wrap them in a circle and staple them together.
Roll the dough into small even balls and place them in the middle of the tinfoil circles.
Place a damp towel over the top of the brioche and allow the dough to sit in a warm place and rise until it has doubled in size.
Brush the tops with an egg glaze.
To make the egg glaze combine 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk until all the egg has combined together nicely. Brush it over the tops of the brioche and sprinkle black and white sesame seeds on top.
Place a tray of water in the bottom of the oven. I do this with all my bread baking, it creates moisture and steam and keeps the bread moist.
Place the buns in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
My trick for testing if my bread is cooked evenly, is I turn the bread upside down and tap the bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow when tapped its cooked.
Thats me kneading some brioche dough, a long time ago. I loved making this dough, I always had brioche buns frozen in the freezer so I could pull some out on any morning and toast some.
Honestly once you make these brioche buns to have with your hamburger you will never want to go back.
Pulled Pork:
1kg boneless pork loin
1 onion, diced
1 Tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 bottle bbq sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 can tomatoes
Method:
In a blender place all the ingredients except the pork. Puree all the ingredients.
Place pork in a roasting dish, season the pork with salt and pepper and pour on the sauce. Cover the pork with a crock pot lid and cook on low heat for 8 hours. I usually have it set to 150 degrees.
Once the pork has cooked throughout, you can tell by stating the pork in the thickest width of the cut with a knife. If the liquid that comes out of the pork clear, it is cooked. If it comes out red, that is the meats blood so continue to cook it for longer.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool down before spreading the pork with two forks for pulled pork.
Sweet Chilli Sauce:
4 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 Tablespoons olive Oil
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon ginger, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
2 Tablespoon fish oil
1 fresh chilli, chopped
1/4 cup coriander, finely diced
150g sugar
150ml water
Method:
Blend everything in a food processor except the sugar and water until a fine paste is formed. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan, boil until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat.
Mix in the paste to the sugar mixture.
Taste and adjust quantities to your liking of flavours.
This sauce honestly makes the pork taste like gold.
Chipotle Mayo:
1 large egg yolk
1 small garlic clove, finely diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of vegetable oil (I tend to do a non flavouring one like canola oil)
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch black pepper
Fresh lemon juice
Method:
Place egg yolk, garlic, salt and 2 teaspoon water into a food processor. Put the speed on medium.
Place your oil in a measuring cup so it has a spout you can pour out of to control the stream.
Slowly drizzle the oil into the egg yolk mixture a teaspoon at a time, ensuring it is getting fully emulsified before continually drizzling the oil in.
Once you have incorporated all the oil, pour the contents into a bowl. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Assembly:
Place some pulled pork in a frying pan, heat it up, toss a generous amount of sweet chilli sauce over and cook until the sauce has all been evaporated.
Spread some chipotle mayo over the burger bun and stack your burgers with what ever toppings you desire.
Oh these are my favourite! Make these for me and I will marry you xxx
