Can Someone Please Pass The Rills?

No, my friends, that is not a typo. I said rills. When I was young, I watched Father Of The Bride Part: 2 alllll the time. There's a part in the movie that Steve Martin takes a sleeping pill right before dinner...as he's about to conk out, he asks someone to pass the rills. I seemed to think it was the funniest thing I had ever heard, and would forever call them rills after that. I'm sure the story is really not that thrilling, but I like it. Don't judge me. But enough about me, right? Right. Onwards!

Buttery Herb Dinner Rolls Rills:
Recipe from Sunset Magazine

1 cup milk


1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened, plus more for sheets

2 eggs

3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and shaping


Microwave milk (or in my case, use a sauce pan....I say F microwaves!), until warm (90° to 105°) Put in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in yeast, salt, and sugar. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Attach dough hook (I don't have a dough hook, I just had to wing it...and I winged it well! Is that a word? Winged?) and, with mixer on low, stir in butter 1 egg and 3 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme *or whatever herb is your favey! Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a stiff dough forms and pulls away from inside of bowl. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and let sit until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, butter 2 large baking sheets and set aside.

 Punch down dough and turn it onto a floured surface. Knead a few times, adding more flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking. Um, punching the dough is really fun and a great stress reliever! I highly suggest doing it if you have a particularly long work day.



 Divide dough into 24 pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time (keep other pieces covered), roll into a 10-in. rope. Coil rope into a flat spiral or twist into a pretzel shape, pinching ends in place. (Make sure you really pinch those puppies, they kind of don't like to stay) Put shaped rolls on buttered baking sheets. Cover and let sit until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°

In a small bowl, beat remaining egg with 2 tbsp. water. Brush rolls with egg wash and bake until brown, about 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking time to ensure even baking. (meh, if you don't do it, they'll survive!) Cool on wire racks. Serve warm or at room temperature.

And there you have it, kittens. You're welcome.







Carbfest!

A few weeks ago I ventured to happy hour at BLT Steak with a few of my gal pals. That's when I discovered their popovers. O. M. G. They basically melt in your mouth and have the perfect amount of gruyere cheese sprinkled on top. I very easily could have eaten about 6 of them....if I wanted to be rolled out of there. I decided to purchase a popover pan and give this recipe a whirl.

SO, in order to be in carb heaven you will need:

Ingredients


4 c. milk, warmed

8 eggs

4 c. flour

1 ½ heaping tbsp. salt

2 ¼ c. grated Gruyere
 
and PS- I don't know what kinda popover pan their using but it says it serves 6. My second batch is in the oven and I have enough batter for 2 more batches. Hello, 2 dozen popovers!
 
 
1. Place the popover pan in the oven. Heat the oven and pan to 350º.




2. Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside. - be careful not to heat too fast or for too long, the milk will burn and then thats no fun now is it?




3. Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside.

4. Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add this dry mixture to the egg mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.



5. Remove the popover pan from the oven and spray with nonstick vegetable spray.



6. While the batter is still slightly warm, fill each popover cup three-fourths full. - If you have to make more than one batch, its ok if your batter gets to room temp.



7. Top each popover with approximately 2 ½ tbsps. of the grated cheese. My first batch I went easy on the cheese. Bad choice. Pile it on! And if any of you are familiar with gruyere you will understand what I mean when I say my house currently smells like feet.

I had to put a cookie sheet under my popover pan because of the way its made, not everyone needs to do that. And get ready to be messy. Because the pan is so hot from heating in the oven its hard to get a good grip on it to keep the batter from spilling.


8. Bake at 350º for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after fifteen minutes, until the popovers are golden brown.

My next batch I'll bake a bit longer so they get crispier. Trial and error!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go into carbiac arrest (get it, CARBiac arrest?). Ok I'm done.

Ok I'm not done. Please be sure to check out my other blog (i know i know) http://www.dudsandrags.blogspot.com/

<3

Breakfast For Dinner!

Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorite things. I found an updated version when browsing through recipes last week and wanted to give it a whirl. Its quick and easy, with not a lot of clean up!

Gouda and Egg Sandwiches with Roasted Potatoes:

You will need:

1 hot house tomato thinly sliced


2 large eggs

About 2 1/2 tbsp. softened butter, divided

About 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon minced flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

4 slices sandwich bread of your choice

1/2 cup coarsely shredded gouda cheese

6 slices crisp-cooked bacon

1/2 cup loosely packed baby spinach leaves
 
For potatoes:
 
1/2 lb fingerling potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon dried dill
 
Slice fingerlings in half- or if too small leave whole. Preheat oven to 475. Sprinkle dill over top of potatoes and roast for 35-40 minutes or until crispy on the outside and soft on inside.
 

Combine with butter while still hot to melt.
 
Sandwich:
 
In a large skillet fry your eggs to your liking. I personally like mine well done so the yolk doesn't run.

In a small bowl combine thyme, parsely, lemon juice and butter. Spread onto one side of each bread slice. Note: I found myself needing a bit more of the spread to cover all 4 slices.

Transfer eggs onto plate. Sprinkle gouda onto sandwich slice, then pile bacon, tomato and spinach.

Carefully place fried egg on top of sandwich. Cover with other bread slice.

Place sandwiches back on skillet and cook over medium heat until both sides are browned and a bit crispy. Serve with potatoes.

This was super good and great if you get home from work a bit on the late side because its quick to make!
 
I would also like to introduce you to my assistant chef, Olive! She's always in the kitchen with me when I cook. She's a little camera shy.