greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (05/02/84)
This is a recipe for breakfast rolls, which I've made frequently of late with repeated success. It's quite an easy dough, particularly with a food processor, and the finished rolls are very good frozen and reheated, so you can make a batch (or more) on the weekend and have them during the week. This is one that can be done by hand or with a food processor. I've had better luck with the food processor, since it does a more thorough job of kneading this wet and spongy a dough. It's my attempt at the basically vain task of reproducing the quality of Swiss (or German) breakfast rolls. 1 cup milk 1 tablespoon lard 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 package active dry yeast 1/4 cup lukewarm water 2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour 1/2 cup cold water (or water in a spray bottle) 1/4 cup milk 1 tsp sugar Scald the milk (heat in a saucepan until small bubbles form on the top). Stir in the lard, butter, sugar, and salt. Let cool to lukewarm (115 degrees F tops). Mix the yeast in a cup with the water (water should be approx. 110 degrees F - too cold won't activate the yeast, too hot will kill it). Wait until the yeast foams up in the cup (about 5 - 10 minutes). WITH FOOD PROCESSOR: -------------------- Put the flour in the processor bowl. Process 30 seconds to aerate. Pour in the yeast mixture. Process 30 seconds to mix. With processor running, pour in the milk mixture through the feed tube. The dough will mass up on the blade. Keep processing another 40 seconds to "knead" the dough (Here is where the Cuisinart and Robot Coupe show their superiority - many others will overheat at this point). BY HAND: -------- Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a mound in the center and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix thoroughly. Gradually pour in the rest of the milk mixture, stirring constantly with a spoon to thoroughly incorporate the flour. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 10 minutes. Thoroughly butter a large mixing bowl. Put the dough into it, turning to coat all sides with the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let the dough rise to double its volume (about and hour). Punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured board. Pat out into a rectangle and cut into twelve equal (roughly) sized chunks. Pat these each into the shape of a small hamburger patty. Lay them on a buttered baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and towels, let rise for about 20 minutes, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. After they have risen, cut a large X into the top of each one with a sharp knife or razor blade. Brush lightly with water (or spray with a spray bottle). Put into the lower shelf of the oven for 5 minutes. Spray or brush again and return to the oven for another 25 minutes, or until golden brown. While baking, dissolve the sugar in the 1/2 cup milk. When the rolls are done, brush them immediately with the sweetened milk and transfer them to a rack. If you are doing these in advance, let them cool and then freeze them in plastic freezer bags. Reheat them for five minutes in a 400 degree F oven. They're marvelous with unsalted butter and good quality jam or preserves. The rest is just for those who are interested in more explanation of the details. The brushing (or spraying) with water will cause the rolls to form a good crust. The characteristic texture of the rolls is a crunchy outer crust and a soft interior. To get this, they have to be surrounded by steam as they bake. You can also toss a glass of cold water onto the floor of the oven and shut the door quickly, after you have placed the rolls in the oven. Just be sure your oven is really at a full 400 degrees F. The lard in the recipe seems to be necessary to get the right texture with American flour. The consistency of American flour differs from European, so that merely translating German or French recipes doesn't work. The recipe contains sugar. Lard is probably a carcinogen. Unbleached flour bought in a grocery store is probably contaminated with EDB. If you butter the rolls you are putting cancer-causing animal fats in your system, not to mention what you are doing if you eat jam or preserves which are loaded with sugar. Health food fanatics please direct flames to /dev/null. I'm afraid that the stress caused by worrying frantically about the possible detrimental qualities to my health of everything I like to eat might in itself give me cancer. - Greg Paley