Herbed Sandwich Buns

As I said yesterday, this week I am attempting to clean out my pantry and freezer a bit by not doing any real shopping this week.  I have been scrounging through what I have, creating meals.  I haven't had to get very creative, which tells me I could probably do this for another week.  I don't think I will do that, but I do think I will start to use my pantry/freezer to cook on the fly, creative meals more often.

Today, I have a beautiful roast beef going in the slow cooker.  I was thinking that it would be so good on homemade buns, which made me think of the recipe I am sharing today.  I haven't made these in quite some time, but a couple of years ago I became a bit obsessed with them.  They are SO DARN GOOD.  Anyway, my searching for the recipe made me realize 2 things: 1.) I didn't even HAVE them on Recipe Addict (I shared them on my first blog, which I no longer use), and 2.) I don't have cottage cheese so I can't make them.  Boo-hoo.

Herbed Sandwich Buns

1/4 c. water (70-80*)

1/4 c. warm milk (70-80*)

1 egg

2/3 c. small-curd cottage cheese

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 c. bread flour

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. dried minced garlic

1/4 tsp. dried basil

1/4 c. finely chopped onion

4 1/2 tsp. butter

In bread machine pan, place the first 12 ingredients in order suggested by the manufacturer. In a small skillet, saute onions in butter until tender; add to bread machine pan. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 Tbsp. water or flour if needed).

When cycle is complete, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 10 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 2 in. apart on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375* for10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Yields: 10 buns

Tip: Since I cannot usually find a warm enough place for my dough to rise, I usually preheat my oven to about 170*. Once it reaches that temp., I turn it off and place my dough in the oven to rise. It works great!

Source: I got this recipe out of my 2004 Quick Cooking Annual

One Year Ago:  Sweet & Sour Chicken

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Tonight I served these Sweet Dinner Rolls alongside my Baked Potato Soup.  Can I just say, YUM!  I have been known to be a bit of a failure at making rolls, but I think I have redeemed myself with these.  I plan on doing a lot more bread/roll making.  I have recently decided that I am going to start minimizing the store-bought breads that I buy.  It totally yucks me out that they can sit around in my bread drawer for 2+ weeks and still look THE SAME as when I put them in there.  That is just not natural.  For some reason, I always think making breads is such a chore, but it really isn't at all.  It really just requires time and planning ahead, especially if you are like me and can toss the dough in the bread machine for the kneading/rising process.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

1/2 c. warm water (about 110*F)

1/2 c. warm milk

1 egg

1/3 c. butter, softened

1/3 c. white sugar

1 tsp. salt

3 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast (I buy it in bulk and used 2 1/2 tsp.)

1/4 c. butter, softened

Place water, milk, egg, butter, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Select dough/knead cycle & first rise cycle, then press start.

When the cycle finishes, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough in half.  Roll each half into a 12 inch circle and spread with softened butter over both entire rounds.  Cut each circle into 8 wedges (a pizza cutter works great for this).  Roll wedges starting at the wide end; roll gently but tightly.  Place point side down on ungreased baking sheet.  Cover with clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place, let rise 1 hour.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400*

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden (10 on the nose was perfect for me, 15 would have burnt them).

Enjoy!

Source: allrecipes.com  

My Very Favorite Pizza Crust

My family, like so many, LOVES pizza.  We have basically always had pizza at least every other weekend.  We used to order our pizza from a pizza chain.  About 3 years ago, we moved a few miles out of town and get this...no one would deliver pizza to my door.  I was flabbergasted.  Since once I am home, I am usually too lazy to get back in my vehicle and drive back to town, I had to come up with another plan.

Luckily, I discovered a deliciously easy whole wheat crust from a friend.  It is also fairly healthy, which is wonderful.  I still make this one on occasion.  I probably would have stuck with it forever, except that my oldest complained one day, "can't we make a crust that is more like Pizza Hut?"  So, for a time I tried Pizza Hut copycat crusts.  Then I discovered that, for us, Pizza Hut did not in fact make the holy grail of crusts.  That is when I began to branch out.  I am so glad I did because, for us, this crust is perfection.

When you make it for the first time, do not be alarmed, it is EXTREMELY wet compared to every other pizza dough I have worked with.  It can be difficult to work with if you don't know a few tricks.  For instance, DO NOT try to roll it out with a rolling pin.  That will only lead to lots of stickage and frustration.  In my experience, it is best to work with this dough while it is warm, with your hands, slowly stretching it out to size. It is soft and pliable so you can finish stretching it out to fit the pan after you place it on your pan.

Please be advised: I used weights for the flour because that is a MUCH more accurate way to measure flour.  Also, you may want to keep an eye on the dough the first time you make it because it does typically hit the top of my bread machine. I just wipe the top down with a damp cloth when it does this.

My Very Favorite Pizza Crust

Makes 2 large pizzas

2 1/4 c. warm water

3 tsp. yeast

3 tsp. sugar

24 oz. bread flour (about 4 1/8 cups)

5.25 oz. semolina flour (3/4 c.)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

Place warm water, yeast, and sugar in bread machine.  Let sit to make sure your yeast is active (you will begin to see small bubbles forming).  Add all of your dry ingredients  and start bread machine on dough setting.  Once the bread machine is done kneading,  add 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil to the pan, close the bread machine, and let it finish the dough cycle.  

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Roll out the dough (I prefer to work it with my hands) and place it on two greased pizza pans.  At this point I like to brush each pizza with about 1/2 Tbsp. of EVOO.  Bake for a few minutes, just until crust barely begins to turn golden.  Put on your desired toppings and bake until done.

Make Ahead Tips:  Make several pizza crusts ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 5 days (the dough will just get tastier with time).  Let rise once, punch down, and store in a ziploc bag until ready to use.  Let dough come to room temp. before proceeding.

You can also let the dough rise, then freeze it for future use.  Let it thaw for a couple of days in the fridge, or for about 4-6 hours on the counter.  Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 16
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 185.7

• Total Fat: 1.4 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 219.7 mg
• Total Carbs: 38.1 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g
• Protein: 5.3 g