Dinner Rolls

Source: my mom, Peggy Elwood

Ingredients:
½ Tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2½ cups scalded milk
3 Tablespoon oil
3 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon salt

about 7 cups flour (you can use part wheat if you'd like; don't overdo it on the flour, though - too much makes 'em kinda tough)

Directions:

In a small bowl or mug, soften yeast in warm water.  Place scalded milk (straight from the stove so it's still warm), oil, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Let cool.  Add 4 cups flour (if I'm making wheat rolls, I usually add a couple cups of wheat flour first, then finish it off with white).  Mix well.  Then add softened yeast.  Add enough more flour to make a soft dough.  Mix until the dough forms in an elastic ball in the bowl.  Cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes.  Knead dough for 10-15 minutes.  When the dough is smooth and satiny, and small blisters develop under the skin, you have kneaded it sufficiently.  Place in bowl, cover and let rise for 2 hours.  Punch dough down and pinch off portions to form into balls.  Place in greased muffin tins.  Cover and let rise for 1 hour.  Bake in a 400° oven for 10-12 minutes.

Notes:

These are a Sunday and holiday tradition in the Elwood house, and my mom has been known to make a batch or two the day after Thanksgiving for the sole purpose of leftover turkey sandwiches.  They're really the best for sandwiches.  Crescents are yummy they day they are cooked, and I made a batch of these cornmeal crescent rolls for Thanksgiving with the Blanchards in addition to this recipe, but these babies make an awesome leftover sandwich, I tell you what.

Unfortunately, for the Blanchard meal, I'm afraid these rolls just weren't as grand as they could be.  I think I added too much wheat flour in the beginning.  And I also think my idea of making the dough on Friday, letting it rise the first time, forming them into rolls, and then immediately placing them in the freezer till Sunday afternoon before dinner was a good idea in theory, but may need some tweaking to be totally effective and delicious.  Don't get me wrong, they were still good, but just not what they could be if they were made fresh.  Oh well.  Live and learn, right?

Cornmeal Crescent Rolls

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

2/3 cup yellow corn meal

1 1/2 Tablespoons instant yeast OR 2 Tablespoons active dry yeast softened in 1/2 cup water + 1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (I think next time I'd use salted butter or increase the salt added just a titch)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

5 ½ – 6 cups flour (I used 1/3 - 1/2 whole wheat)

Directions:
Heat the milk to just below a boil so bubbles are just appearing around the edges (this is called scalding milk). Add the cornmeal and cook and stir until thickened, lowering the temperature if needed so the mixture doesn’t boil.  Pour the cornmeal/milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl and let cool until lukewarm (I'd say don't wait too long, because you want it warm enough to melt the butter, but not hot enough to kill the yeast). Add the yeast, butter (not melted - it will melt from the heat of the cornmeal mixture) and sugar (if you dissolved active dry yeast with a bit of water and sugar until it foamed, add it now). Mix. Add the salt and eggs. Mix well. Add the flour gradually until a soft dough forms. Knead for 5-8 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl covered with lightly greased plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until doubled.

Divide the dough into three portions and roll each into about an 8-10 inch circle.  Brush the top lightly with butter. Cut into 8 wedges and roll each wedge up starting from the wide end so it forms a crescent roll shape.   (I divided the dough in half because I used half for the Chicken Pillow recipe, then rolled the rest into a big circle, about 1/4" thick, and cut it into 12 wedges.  I forgot to brush with butter before rolling into crescent shapes, but I think they'll be fine when I cook them.  I placed the rolls on a cookie sheet - closer than I would have if they were going to be rising - and immediately put them in the freezer for a couple hours.  Once they were hard, I popped them in a ziplock bag, ready to be grabbed and thawed when needed.)

Place each roll on a lightly greased baking sheet, spacing about 1-2 inches apart to allow for rising. Cover lightly with greased plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise until doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Brush with butter while still warm.

Notes:
While I haven't baked mine up yet (besides the one that didn't have enough filling left to become a Chicken Pillow), I have full confidence that these will be most delicious rolls.  I love my regular crescent recipe, but the cornmeal base of these intrigued me, and I must say, they were very fun to make.

Garlic Knots

Source: adapted ever-so slightly from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
3/4 Tablespoon instant yeast (or 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast)
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, give or take a few tablespoons (I used half whole wheat flour)
4-6 garlic cloves, finely minced
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
a few shakes of dried parsley flakes (for color)

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar.  Let the yeast mixture proof for 3-5 minutes until it is foamy and bubbly.  Add oil, salt and 2 cups of the flour.  Begin mixing and continue to add the rest of the flour gradually until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl.  The dough should be soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch.

Knead the dough until it is very smooth and elastic, for 8-10 minutes. Lightly spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel. Let the dough rise until it has doubled (this usually takes about an hour).

Lightly punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide the dough into 12-15 equal pieces, roll each piece into a four to six-inch rope and form into a knot, tucking the loose ends into the center of the knot.  Place the rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet about an inch or two apart. Cover the rolls with a towel. Let the towel gently hang over the sides of the pan to fully cover the rolls but not press them down. Let the rolls rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Mix the melted butter, garlic and parsley, and allow it to sit on the warm stovetop to stay melty.

After they have risen, bake rolls for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through.  Immediately after the rolls come out of the oven brush the garlic butter mixture over the rolls. These are best eaten warm!

Notes:
This recipe is quite versatile - I've made a number of times into a braid, and just last night finally made it as rolls like it was originally intended, though with a twist.  :)  These garlic knots smelled and tasted heavenly and just looked so pretty.  They were a delightful little treat to go along with our Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup.