Friday, January 6, 2012

Viennoiseries - Brioche with Seared Ahi and Asian Slaw


Brioche with Seared Ahi and Asian Slaw


Viennoiseries, or “things of Vienna,” are baked goods made with a yeast rising dough but have added ingredients, such as eggs, butter, milk, cream and sugar, that give them a sweeter, deeper, and pastry like quality.  They are usually eaten as a snack or at breakfast.

Buttery, Rich, Fresh Brioche

Brioche is of the “Viennoiseries” family.  They are light and fluffy, with a buttery like quality that causes them to melt in your mouth, and make a wonderful breakfast accompaniment or side to a nice charcuterie platter.  Day-old brioche can elevate an ordinary bread pudding or French toast to a more elegant level and form.

Seared Ahi Brioche Slider 

Fresh brioche can also be the perfect platform for your “sliders,” whether beef, turkey, or seared-ahi tuna.  La Brasserie is one of our favorite lunch spots in the Palm Springs region, and it serves a delectable Seared-Ahi Tuna Burger on Brioche with a side of Asian Slaw.    Since we were making brioche for this week’s French Fridays with Dorie, I decided to make my version of the La Brasserie favorite.     

Some notes about making brioche:

Don’t under-knead the dough; it needs kneading to become light and fluffy.

Dough needs to work it's way all the way up dough hook -
great photo of how this should look in Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan


The dough needs to rest overnight – plan accordingly. 

After an overnight resting the dough is divided into 12 pieces
After resting overnight, the dough needs a little bit more time to rise before baking.  Rest the dough another hour or so after you put it into the brioche tins. 

Each of the 12 pieces is cut into 3 pieces and rolled into balls

Balls are placed into muffin tins, or Brioche tins for an additional rest

After about an hour, the Brioche has filled the tin
The bubble-top brioche does not work well for sandwiches.  The bubbles tend to separate and allow your sandwich ingredients to drop onto your plate, if you are lucky, or your lap, if you are not.  So for a brioche sandwich, use a small loaf shaped tin and don’t shape with a bubble-top. 

A glass of sparkling wine always enhances the baking process, and I find some “Midnight in Paris” music is just right for creating a “Paris” baking mood.

The recipe for Bubble Top Brioche can be found in Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan, or by clicking on:


To read more French Fridays with Dorie experiences with Bubble Top Brioche:


My recipe for the Asian Slaw is as follows:

Asian Slaw
 Asian Slaw -Serves 4

1 Tablespoon Honey
2 Tablespoons Wasabi Paste/Cream
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 Thai Green Chile – seeded
1 Red Chile - seeded
Zest of one Tangelo (or orange)
Segments from Tangelo (or orange)
Sesame Seeds
Broccoli Slaw

For the dressing, combine the honey, wasabi, and soy sauce in a bowl and mix until all ingredients are combined and smooth.

Add Thai green chile, red chile, and broccoli slaw to the dressing and toss.  Next add the tangelo (or orange) zest, tangelo (or orange) segments, and sesame seeds.  Lightly fold these ingredients into the dressed broccoli slaw. 

The Asian Slaw is now ready to serve.  If you have basil, mint, or peanuts on hand, they make a beautiful and tasty garnish to the Asian Slaw.
Place dressing in bottom of bowl

Add chiles to dressing

Ready to serve

Just add Sake and lunch is ready!

11 comments:

  1. Note to self -no sandwiches with bubble top brioche. Bad things will happen :-)
    I totally am planning on starting up with Baking with Julia. They are supposed to open up the group sometime in the next week or so. Yeah!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm fighting the impulse to buy brioche pans but then I keep seeing them on other other blogs. I might have to buy some! Your brioche look great and so does your slaw!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a fantastic sandwich to make with your lovely brioche!

    ReplyDelete
  4. More reason to try this again in loaf or bun form! I did have a spectacular pork belly sandwich on brioche two weeks ago. It was an artery clogging delight!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That slaw looks wonderful, just bookmarked recipe for future use. I would
    like to try this brioche recipe in the form of a loaf sometime just to make
    sandwiches. Tricia and I both had good luck with the recipe and enjoyed it
    very much.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a great idea to use them for sliders. I can imagine how wonderful they tasted! Your slaw also looks so delicious. Happy New Year, Christy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love your idea for the brioche recipe and you've served it beautifully with your side of Asian slaw!

    ps. I am thinking about joining the Tuesday baking with Dorie group too;-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, gosh, I love everything about your lunch!!! Wow. That tuna looks incredible~

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your post is gorgeous! And reminds me of summer on this cold winter day.

    I'm so glad you signed up for TWD, too! I'm really looking forward to it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Holy mackerel- what an awesome post !! Here I was proud of myself for making the wonderful brioche and you provided all the background, knocked out an amazing and creative meal and provided awesome process photos. SO very well done - great post ! And Nana and I are contemplating the Baking on TWD group - we may take turns so we only need to do one Tues a month...I can barely make it to FF some weeks :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Second try at commenting. I loved your history lesson!
    http://adoptsomom.wordpress.com/

    it won't let me leave a comment with my wordpress name, so here goes.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by Confessions of a Culinary Diva - feedback always appreciated!