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When the holidays arrive, I always want to bake for the
family gathering. For me, it’s the chance to share who I am and
what I love to do with those I love. Basically, it’s fun and
satisfying.
Sometimes I bake a trusted recipe. At other times, I experiment.
Sometimes the experiments are just okay in my mind. Perhaps
it’s because it didn’t become quite what I expected or had hoped
it would be. The experiment still generally gets good reviews
because it’s almost what I hoped for and it’s freshly baked, after
all.
This past Thanksgiving, I experimented and I want to share the
recipe and results.
I decided to make garlic rolls. I decided to make rich garlic rolls.
I called upon recipes I use for brioche and the exceedingly rich
dough which becomes my cinnamon/sour cream coffeecake.
The first experiment was more than I hoped for but less than
perfect. They could have used three or four minutes more in the
oven. But the texture and taste were wonderful! They were
made in a bowl using a bamboo stirring spoon and spatula but
could be made in a stand-type mixer.
Here is the recipe.
RICH HOLIDAY GARLIC ROLLS
(makes @ 20 3oz rolls, 30 2oz.)
3 C water
¼ oz 2 Tb sugar
1 tea salt
dry yeast - one packet. (Not ‘rapid rise’)3 Large garlic cloves, crushed and chopped med. fine then
sautéed in…
4 oz butter (1 stick)
4 egg yolks
enough AP flour
1 whole egg
1 tea water
Put 3 C water in a bowl. Add sugar and salt then yeast. Stir to
dissolve. Add enough flour to make a sponge that’s the
consistency of medium-thin mud. Cover the bowl with a towel
and allow to double in volume.
Melt butter over low heat, add chopped garlic and allow to slowly
brown the garlic. (If the butter browns too, that would be fine.
Don’t let the garlic burn and blacken.) Remove from heat and
allow to cool. Separate yolks from whites. (You may bag and
freeze the whites for future use.)
Take the cover from the bowl and stir down the sponge. Stir in
the egg yolks then the butter/garlic mix. Add sufficient flour to
make a still slightly sticky dough mass.
Make sure your hands are clean. Flour your work surface well
and deposit the dough in the prepared spot. Using a scraper,
begin kneading the mass with the scraper and your free hand,
letting it slowly absorb more flour and develop its elasticity.
You’re looking for the dough to be just wet enough that your
floured hand comes away clean or nearly so. It will be very soft.
Continue kneading until you’ve shaped something like a ball that’s
going flat. Flour the bowl, put the dough in the bowl and allow to
double in volume.
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat to 375 for
traditional ovens. (325 for my convection oven.)Punch down the dough then cut into portions to shape. (I made
3oz knots which turned out about perfect for a bun for the table
that, when sliced in half the next day, will handle a leftover turkey
sandwich. I rolled out the individual portions about a foot in
length to make the knots. Two ounce portions will make a more
standard size dinner roll.)
Put the rolls 2 inches apart on a sheet pan covered with
parchment paper and put back to rise in an enclosed space.
Prepare the egg wash. Beat the egg and 1 tsp of water. You can
give the rolls one egg wash right away and one just before they
go in the oven, or just the one pre-baking. (You can sprinkle
some or all with black pepper just before they go into the oven.)
Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden. Take from oven and allow to
cool…except for the one you grab while it’s still really warm,
slather with butter and feast upon.
These are really good with soups and stews and chili. They love
sopping up the liquids.
If you’re planning on saving them for more than a few days, place
the ones for days later in a bag and refrigerate. They may mold
if kept at room temperature more than a few days to a week.
Bob
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