Christmas Feather Rolls

This is my favorite recipe for rolls it is super easy, and can be made with either white flour or whole wheat flour. I prefer 80% whole wheat 20 % whole oat flour. The trick to making really good rolls is two fold, first fresh yeast, second knead the dough enough to develop the gluten in the dough. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.


9-10 cups flour
2-3 T instant yeast
1/2 c powdered milk (optional, I usually use it)
3 c warm water (120 to 130)
2/3 c canola oil
1/2 c honey
4 eggs
4 t salt

Mix 5 cups of flour, yeast, powdered milk, and sugar. Add the water and the oil, mix for 2-3 minutes. Let this mixture sponge for 15-30 minutes. After your mixture has sponged add eggs and salt. with mixer going add flour 1 cup at a time until the dough begins cleaning the bowl. This should still be a very soft tacky dough. If your dough gets too stiff add a little warm water. Knead the dough in a mixer for 7-10 minutes. If kneading my hand knead 12-18 minutes, this gives the rolls the good texture. Cover the dough and let it rest for 5-10 minutes after kneading. Shape the rolls. Let the rolls rise for 20 minutes in a warm area. I prefer 3 oz of dough per roll. If you make 3 oz rolls each batch should make 30 rolls.  Bake rolls at 350 for 19-23 minutes. Rolls should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped lightly. When you remove the rolls from the oven butter the tops lightly to give them a soft crust and a great flavor. Enjoy.

If you are not using instant yeast you will need to soften the yeast with 1/2 cup of the warm water ( not over 120 deg) and 1 t of the sugar for 5 minutes, then add in the recipe with the water.


Jake

Black Sesame Halibut

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare halibut. The black sesame seeds can be found at almost any Asian grocery. They are traditionally used in sushi preparation.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Halibut portions as needed.
1/2 c. Black sesame seeds
1/2 c. Wheat flour
1T  Cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t. Cayenne pepper
1 c  buttermilk or 3 eggs

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Place buttermilk in a bowl. Pat the halibut portions dry paper towel. Dreg the halibut in buttermilk, then in the sesame mixture. Place on a prepared sheet pan. At this point the halibut can be deep fried pan fried or baked. I prefer the baked taste. To bake place the oven and bake 8-15 minutes depending on the thickness of fish portions. Serve with lemon and your favorite fish dip.
Enjoy.

Ribs Ribs Ribs

Today was an interesting experience. I cooked 100 racks of ribs using 2 turkey roasters and 9 slow cookers. It was quite an experience. I learned some valuable lessons. First, when cooking large quantities of meat leave plenty of room in the slow cookers. Second, when you buy your BBQ sauce, don't buy it from the restaurant unless you have containers for it. The restaurant packaging is a bag in a box that creates an amazing mess.  At the end of the day it was an amazing success. The succulent meat was falling off the bone, every finger in the house was sticky, and every belly satisfied.

Pork Ribs

Racks of ribs as needed.
1 large onion
salt and pepper
BBQ sauce of choice

Season the ribs as desired. Place the racks of ribs in the slow cooker with the chopped onions. Cook on high for 1 hours and low for 4-6 hours until the meat is tender.  Just before serving pull the ribs out of the slow cooker, and slather with BBQ sauce. Cook the ribs on a hot grill for 3-5 minutes on each side. Serve with stewed apples, and a wet nap.

Rising Comfort

What is the most comforting smell to come home to at the end of a long day? Fresh baked warm, buttery bread. It has a way of calming my nerves and relaxing my muscles. The ritual of bread making has long been a form of meditation for me. Making fresh, hot bread is like relaxing in the sun on a warm summer day, or a chat with an old friend. It serves to calm my nerves, and relax my mind.

The aroma of the fresh ground flour is reminiscent of the smells in an old fashioned furniture shop; the smell of the hot wood just sawn, and the deep warmth of the sawdust. The warmth of the fresh ground flour helps the yeast to grow and develop the springy elasticity in each slice of bread. By grinding fresh flour I am safeguarding the quality of each new batch of bread.

Once the flour is ground, I begin mixing the dough, using enough water to create a texture similar to pancakes, this step is called sponging. Next I let the warm dough sponge; it looks like the bubbling mud pots in Yellowstone. The pungent smell of the yeast growing in flour is an almost acrid, yet pleasant aroma. Letting the dough sponge allows the yeast to grow, and helps provide a light yet supple loaf of bread. Sponging helps develop the gluten, or glue that holds the bread together, and gives it elasticity. The sponging period resembles early years in school; of learning and setting a foundation for the rest of our lives. The dough is setting a foundation of flavor, in addition to developing structure for the loaf of bread.

Once the dough has sponged, I further the development of the gluten by kneading the dough. The rhythmic pushing, pulling, and tugging to develop the gluten is like the process of repetition in learning. The more I knead the more the gluten or foundation of the bread will develop. It could be said that the kneading step in bread making is the most important aspect. The amount of kneading changes the texture bread dramatically; if the dough is kneaded too little the bread will crumble and fall apart. I know my dough is ready to rest, and rise for the first time when it forms a ball, and is very uniform and pliable.

The rest and rise period will ensure a silky light bread that melts in your mouth. While the dough rests it will rise and become easier to work and shape. Dough that is ready to shape has a very sensual feel; it’s soft, smooth, and just firm enough. The dough needs to be handled carefully think of it as a lover, if handled too roughly it will become tough and difficult to live with. Once shaped into loaves half the size I desire, they need to be left to rise until about double in size. I always cover the loaves so a crust doesn’t form that will prevent them from rising properly. The perfect temperature for dough to raise feels like sitting in front of a window after the sun rises on a summer day.

What is the best way to bake the bread? Though there are many ways to do it I like to start with a much hotter oven than I intend to bake the bread with. When pre-heating the oven, place a baking sheet on the lower rack of the oven. Once the oven temperature is fifty to seventy five degrees hotter than the intended baking temperature, place the loaves on the upper rack in the oven. Throw about one and a half to two cups of ice onto the baking sheet, and return the temperature of the oven to the desired baking temperature for the bread. This helps develop a crispy, crusty loaf of bread.

To achieve the correct doneness the loaves, should bake until there is a deep resonating thump when you tap them with the back of a spoon. If they sound solid then they will still be doughy in the middle. Once the bread is done cooking you should coat the crust with a thin layer of butter. This serves a dual purpose; it will soften the crust and change the ultimate flavor of the bread. Once the hot loaves are out of the oven buttered, and rested for about fifteen minutes, I like to cut into my loaf to experience comfort of a fresh soft aromatic slice of bread.

The wispy steam rising out of the loaf invokes the feelings from childhood, of going to grandma’s house, and having a slice of fresh hot buttered bread. The savory aroma of the bread and the comfort of being in a safe place at Grandma’s house are fond memories. Nothing compares to sharing a slice of warm homemade bread, with butter and fresh raspberry jam on it, and a tall glass of cold milk with your best friend.