Donald Gazzaniga, diagnosed with congestive heart failure, was headed for a heart transplant - the only effective medical treatment. Urged by his doctor to keep his sodium intake "under 1,500-2000 mg. a day," Don headed for the kitchen and went to work. Aware that cutting out table salt is the barest beginning of a true low-sodium diet, Don devised recipes for delicious low-sodium dishes that added up to less than 500 mg. daily, 70% lower than those in other low-sodium cookbooks.
This recipe works well in a bread machine, which is how I make the dough, or you can mix it and knead it by hand if you prefer.
Makes: 14 buns
Sodium per recipe: 27 mg
Sodium per bun: 1.926 mg
5 cups best for bread flour (12.5 mg)
1 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon water (0 mg)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (.25 mg)
2 tablespoons homemade applesauce or other unsalted applesauce (.954 mg)
1 tablespoon bread machine yeast (6 mg)
1 large onion, diced (3.3 mg)
Lightly grease the bread machine pan, even if it's nonstick. The dough will be sticky when done. Combine all the ingredients in the bread machine pan as per the manufacturer's directions. Set the machine on the Dough cycle. For the first 1 to 2 minutes, use a rubber spatula to get the flour and water to mix, lifting the dough with a rubber scraper from each of the four sides alternately until the machine can knead it without your help. When it has formed a ball, close the machine and allow it to continue on its own.
After the dough is ready, cut it in half and press out with your hands on a lightly floured board until it measures about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick and is rectangular. Make sure it 's rolled out enough to allow you to cut off 6 to 8 pieces to make buns. You can slice perfectly shaped sandwich roils (long shape) or hamburger buns (round shape). You can forrn them with your hands or let the longer buns rise as is. To make larger buns, simply cut fewer pieces (don't forget to adjust the nutrient values per bun). This recipe will also make 18 smaller buns (about store size); remember the nutrient values per bun will decrease.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Put the buns on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Roll out and cut the seconf half of the dough the same way (or make different-sized buns) and put them on another baking sheet. Cover the buns with a light cloth and set it aside at room temperature to rise. When the buns have doubled in size, bake for about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the buns from the cookie sheet and set them on a rack to cool.
