So I didn't get to posting last night...maybe it was the hour it took me to make the soup, or maybe it was defeat I felt when I saw my cookie flat potato rolls that were as dense as a brownie...yes that dense. But either way I didn't post last night.
So this morning, I'm here to celebrate the soup! Yummy! I have to say every time I make this I stuff myself till I'm nauseous, and then think I'll never eat that again. Then morning comes and I make that trip into chilly kitchen, and open the fridge door and think "Yum! That soup sounds so good right now." I've made it a few times now. Its one of those great winter/fall Sunday meals, when you don't have anything better to do then peel 6-8 baking potatoes, and spend 15 minutes cooking bacon and chopping celery. However, yesterday I decided to make it while it was cloudy and predicted to storm all day. So what happened when I started to cook?? A miracle occurred! The sun broke through all those clouds, and made it warm sunny day at 70 degrees. But either way the soup was amazing. I'm not posting the recipe at this time since it is my Aunt's and I don't have prior permission, and she may want this to be a secret since she just opened her own restaurant in Oak Harbor, WA. But lets just say its like a loaded baked potato in soup form, and will do nothing but expand you waistline, but despite knowing that you still want to eat the entire pot.
Now my rolls were a COMPLETE flop. I'm choosing to blame it on my yeast. It don't think it was as fresh as it needed to be. I followed the recipe exactly, and let it rise for 2 1/2 hours and still didn't get much lift, but I was determined to try to get this on the right path. So I waited and waited, and after 15 minutes LOL, I decided to make them into rolls and hope they would rise during the next step. Nope, those things were so flat, and when they came out of the oven (I prayed some baking god would smile on me) they were flat as a cookie and as dense as a brownie. It was horrible. God love my husband, he managed to eat 3 with his soup. I, however, managed to choke down 1/2 of mine. The recipe does seem to taste like a potato roll from the store, but next time I'm using fresh yeast. So I'll keep you updated and let you know if they rise next time. Or maybe one of you will have the baking gods smile down on you and get them to rise!
Tender Potato Rolls (Ha!)
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
2 cups of water
1 package of active dry yeast
1/4 c honey
1 T. vegetable oil
1 1/2 t. salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
6 cups all-purpose flour
Place the potatoes in a small saucepan, and cover with the 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce, heat: cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Set aside liquid to cool to 110-115 degrees F. Mash potato (don't add butter or milk); set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in the reserved cooking liquid. Add the honey, oil, salt, egg, 4 cups of flour, and mashed potato. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 7-8 minutes. Place into a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 36 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place on a greased 15x10x1" baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Bake at 375 degrees f for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Tips: A great tip from my bestie, Jaime, is to spray the tops of the rolls with cooking spray which will make them softer, the same goes for bread for a softer crust which is great for picky kids.
Also you can bake this in muffin tins and get a easy roll shape.
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