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Recipe and Newsletter Archive
2 tablespoons dry yeast Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with a pinch of the sugar. In a large bowl, beat two eggs with the salt. Beat in the sugar, the warm milk, and the yeast. Add about half the flour, and stir well. Using a wooden spoon, beat in a half cup of softened butter (1 stick). You will have a sticky, glossy batter. Keep adding flour, a little at a time, until the dough is hard to stir with the spoon. Then turn it out on a floured board and knead it gently for three or four minutes only. Do not work in more flour than necessary to keep the dough from sticking. You want it to feel smooth, tender and pliable, not as firm and springy as a bread dough. If you have flour left over, don't worry about it - the amount you use can vary, and you must go by the feel of the dough. Form the dough into a smooth ball and put it in a large, buttered bowl, turning it over once to coat it. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave it in a warm, protected spot as the dough rises to double its size, probably about an hour. Punch it down, and let it rise again, about forty-five minutes. Punch it down once more. Cut the dough into four equal parts. Melt the remaining quarter cup of butter. On a floured board, roll out one quarter of the dough into a rectangle about 18 inches by six inches. Brush it with butter, and fold it over once lengthwise. You now have a strip of dough about 3 inches wide and 18 inches long. Cut it crosswise into ten equal pieces. Take one strip of dough at a time and gently pull it out to a length of six or eight inches. Hold it by its two ends, and twist them in opposite directions a few turns. Now you have in your hands something that looks like a piece of rope. To form the roll, tie this rope-like strand of dough into a loose knot, pushing one end up through the middle. Place the rolls on buttered baking sheets, about two inches apart. Continue the same way with the remaining three quarters of the dough. Once you have made a few of these, you will find that it is not at all difficult. In fact, it's a lot of fun, and it all takes less time to do than it does to describe. Also remember that whatever the shape of your rolls when you form them, they'll look just fine when they've risen again and are baked. And they'll taste great! Cover the rolls on their baking sheets with kitchen towels and leave them to rise again for about half an hour, or until they look puffed up and soft. Beat the egg yolk in a cup with a teaspoon of water, and brush the risen rolls lightly with this egg wash. Bake the rolls at 400° for about ten minutes. They should be golden brown. This makes 40 rolls, which is not too many. Around here, half of them usually disappear as they're coming out of the oven. If you're not going to eat them within a few hours, allow them to cool on racks and then put them in an airtight container.
SCOTTISH OATCAKES I became addicted to these crumbly round crackers when I was traveling in Scotland. They're good with jam, with cheese, or plain as soup crackers. 2 cups rolled oats Combine the oats, flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the oats are finely ground. Add the butter, and process again until the mixture looks like a coarse-ground conrmeal. Add one-third cup milk and process until a dough forms. If the dough does not hold together after a few seconds, add more milk, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough forms. Turn the dough out of the food processor onto a well-floured board. If it is very soft, then form a ball and roll it out to about 1/8", always keeping it floured so that it doesn't stick or tear. Cut it out in 2" circles (a can with both ends removed is fine as a cutter), or into squares, and prick a pattern into them with a fork. Arrange the oatcakes on ungreased baking sheets, about an inch apart, and bake at 375° for 12 minutes. Don't look for browning - these do not change color much. Remove the oatcakes onto racks to cool. Makes approximately 3 dozen. |