Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls

Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls

(8-10 servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole Milk

2 envelopes Active Dry Yeast

½ cup plus pinch Sugar

½ lb. (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened

1 tsp. plus more fro seasoning Salt

2 large Fresh Eggs

4¼ cups All-Purpose Flour (sifted)

½ cup (packed) Dark Brown Sugar

1 tbsp. plus 1/8 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1 cup Confectioner's Sugar (powdered sugar)

2 tbsp. Half & Half

Directions:

In a small microwave-safe bowl, microwave milk on high in 30 second bursts until warm but not hot. Stir in yeast and pinch of sugar and let stand 5 minutes until foamy. In a large mixing bowl (stand mixer works best) using the paddle attachment, beat one stick of butter with ½ cup of sugar and tsp. of salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in one egg at a time until blended. Add 2 cups of flour and beat on low speed until incorporated. Beat in warm milk mixture, scraping in yeast that has settled in the bottom of bowl. Now switch to the dough hook. Gradually add the remaining flour and beat at medium speed until a soft sticky dough forms (about 5 minutes). Scrape the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour). Cut four 15-inch long sheets of wax paper. When ready, turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and divide into quarters. Working with 1 piece at a time, roll the dough to a 14x7 inch rectangle, about ¼ inch thick. Roll dough around a rolling pin and unroll onto a sheet of wax paper. Repeat the process with remaining 3 pieces. Place dough on sheet pans and freeze for 15 minutes (well chilled but still pliable). During this time, blend remaining butter with the brown sugar, 1 tbsp. cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Now evenly spread ¼ of cinnamon butter mixture on a sheet of dough. Trim edges to form a 12x6 inch rectangle. Working from the long side, tightly roll up the dough. Repeat process with remaining dough and then return to freezer for about 20 minutes or until very cold. Butter a 10 inch springform pan. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces (about 48 total) and place cut side up in pan. Start on the outside and work your way around the pan ending in the center. Push together to get them all in. Cover with plastic wrap and let raise for 1 hour in a warm place. Remove plastic wrap and place in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes. Test with an instant read thermometer in the center looking for 180 degrees. While rolls are baking, mix the confectioner's sugar, half & half and remaining 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Remove rolls from oven and let stand 5 minutes. Run a knife around inside rim of pan to loosen. Release springform pan and remove ring. Slide rolls onto a plate and drizzle with the glaze. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: You could add a ½ cup of filling to cinnamon butter mixture if desired. Try a ¼ cup each of chopped nuts (pecan or walnut) and raisins. Or just do one of the ingredients.

Note: Unbaked rolls can be raised overnight in refrigerator and baked next morning. Just allow dough to come to room temperature first. Baked rolls can also be left overnight. Just cover with plastic wrap and leave set out at room temperature.

Note: I'd leave the rolls in one big round to serve for a better presentation. Let everyone just pull their own serving off the big round.

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Cinnamon Rolls for that Mother's Day Brunch too!

Last week I gave you a couple of quiche recipes for a possible "Mother's Day Brunch" you might want to try.  Well, this week I have a couple of recipes that will make nice accompaniments for those quiche at your brunch.

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These recipes actually work for many different occasions.  They are not difficult recipes to follow or make but do take a little time.  I know you can just buy them either ready-made or in a canister that just needs to be panned up and baked.  There is nothing wrong with these and convenience makes them very popular.

But I do believe that the best "Cinnamon Roll" you can eat is one made from scratch at home.  These are usually saved for special occasions.  "Mother's Day" sure sounds like one of these special occasions, don't you think?

I have two different recipes and both are very good, just slightly different.  And like anything worth doing, just take a little practice to get yourself comfortable making.  In fact, I'm sure after trying one or both of these recipes you'll be making them often.  Maybe even making up special occasions just to justify being able to eat them more often.

Of course, what makes them so good is all the butter, sugar and cinnamon that you put in them.  The first recipe tomorrow is for "Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls" and they are not big ones.  Which means you get to eat more of them.

Thursday's recipe is for "Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Frosting" and here you want to see the filling oozing out.

Don't forget that you can always customize these recipes with some changes to the fillings too.  I like to use both granulated and brown sugar in my filling.  You also can't get enough cinnamon in a cinnamon roll as far as I think.

So have some fun with these recipes and "Happy Cooking" until next week.

Hash-Brown Crusted Cheese Quiche

Hash-Brown Crusted Cheese Quiche

(6 servings)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. Unsalted Butter, softened plus more for pan

1 lb. Frozen Shredded Hash-Browns, thawed

12 large Fresh Eggs

2½ tsp. Kosher Salt, divided

½ tsp. Black Pepper, divided

1½ cups Sour Cream

4-5 oz. Soft Goat Cheese, room temperature

4 each Scallions (green onions), thinly sliced

Directions:

Butter the inside of a 9 inch (2½ inch high) springform pan and the sides of pan with waxed paper the same height as pan. Set aside for now. Squeeze excess moisture from hash-browns. In a large mixing bowl combine butter, 1 egg, 1 tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. pepper with the hash-browns. Pat into bottom and up walls of springform pan using a moistened dry measuring cup. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and into a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until set. In a large mixing bowl, whisk sour cream, goat cheese, 1½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper until well combined. Now whisk in remaining eggs and pour into the hash-brown crust. Sprinkle with the scallions and bake in the pre-heated 375 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Unmold the quiche and peel off waxed paper before serving.

Note: You could try other soft cheeses if you wish. Maybe some flavored soft cheeses.

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Deep-Dish Mushroom Quiche

Deep-Dish Mushroom Quiche

(6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

1 Pastry Shell (Pastry Dough for Quiche)

1 tbsp. Canola Oil

1 lb. Oyster Mushrooms, stems trimmed & large caps halved or quartered

1 lb. White Mushrooms, thinly sliced

as needed to season mushrooms, Salt and White Pepper

1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter

2 small Shallots, minced

1 tbsp. Fresh Thyme, chopped

¾ cup Shredded Gruyere Cheese

2 cups Milk

2 cups Heavy Cream

6 large Fresh Eggs, lightly beaten

3 tsp. Salt, divided

¼ tsp. White Pepper, divided

2 pinches Freshly Grated Nutmeg

Directions:

In a large skillet over high heat are the oil. When ready add both types of mushrooms and season with a little salt and pepper. Stir until softened (about 5 minutes) and then reduce to moderate. Add the butter, shallots and thyme and continue cooking for about 12 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Let cool before continuing. Scatter ¼ of cheese and half of mushrooms over the bottom of pastry shell. In a blender, mix half each of the milk, cream and eggs. Season with 1½ tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Process on high until mixture is frothy. Carefully pour this over the cheese and mushrooms in shell. Now top this with ¼ of cheese and remaining mushroom mixture. Repeat the process with the milk, etc. and carefully pour over items in shell. Scatter the last ¼ of cheese over top and on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 1½ hours in a pre-heated 325 degree oven or until richly browned and custard is barely set. Cool in pan until just very warm. Cut pastry shell even with top of pan and carefully remove springform pan ring. Cut into wedges and serve.

Note: You could try other cheeses if you can't find the Gruyere. Two other ones are Comte and Emmental. A less expensive Swiss cheese could be use as well. Taste will be slightly different because the cheeses are different.

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Pastry Dough for Quiche

Pastry Dough for Quiche

(1 serving)

Ingredients:

1¾ cups All-Purpose Flour

½ tsp. Salt

12 tbsp. Unsalted Butter, cut into ½ inch cubes & freeze 10 minutes before use

3 tbsp. Sour Cream

¼ cup Ice Water

1 large Fresh Egg, egg white only & slightly beaten

Directions:

In a food processor, combine flour and salt with 3-1 second pulses. Next add the butter and pulse about 10-1 second pulses or until butter is about pea size. In a small bowl combine sour cream and water. Pour half of mixture into processor and pulse 3-1 second pulses and then repeat with second half of mixture. Check dough for dry flour and whether it holds together. If so, add 1 to 2 tbsp. more of ice water and pulse 3-5 1 second pulses. Turn dough out on to a work surface and form into a 6 inch disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or until firm but not hard. Roll out dough to a 15 inch circle about ¼ inch thick. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and unroll over a 9 or 9½ inch spring-form pan that has been sprayed over bottom and all of the wall. Working your way around the pan, gently lift dough and put into pan pressing into the bottom corner. Dough should come up sides and just over the top. Cut off any dough beyond that. If dough cracks or has any holes, fix with scrap dough. Refrigerate any leftover scrap dough in case needed later. Cover the dough inside the pan with foil (spray side touching dough) and fill with dry beans (3-4 cups) for weight. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and put in a pre-heated 375 degree oven on a rack in the lower middle section. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until exposed dough is lightly browned. Remove from oven and carefully discard the beans and foil. Fix any cracks or holes with leftover dough. Replace in oven for another 15 minutes or until bottom is lightly browned. Let cool while you prepare filling.

Note: You can use this dough for pies too.

Ideas for Future Efforts

Quiche for a Mother's Day Brunch

Mother's Day is coming up in May here in the USA (2nd Sunday of May).  It's one of the busiest days in the year for a restaurant.  There are always long waits at all the good ones.  Why not skip all that this year and do a "Mother's Day Brunch" for that special woman (or women) in your life?

This week and next I'm going to offer some recipes you might want to consider for such an occasion.  There are two "Quiche" recipes this week and two different "Cinnamon Roll" recipes next week.  In each case, there is one recipe that's unique but still easy to make.  While the other recipe will take a little more effort on your part.  They're all  well worth the trying even if it's not on Mother's Day.

The harder Quiche recipe involves making the pastry dough for the it.  It's a good dough recipe and could be used for any pies you make as well.  Now you could buy some refrigerated pie dough for the recipe.  But if you do that, you'll need to use both pieces in the package.  This Quiche recipe is for a deep-dish style and you need the dough going up and just over the pan's rim.  The "Pastry Dough for Quiche" recipe will appear tomorrow.

On Thursday, the recipe for "Deep-Dish Mushroom Quiche" will appear.  It uses two different mushrooms.  If you have trouble finding both, just substitute another mushroom that you like or double the one you can find.  The recipe calls for Gruyere cheese, which is a type of Swiss.  It's price is on the high end. I mention a couple of options in the note at the bottom of the recipe by name.  They to are a little pricy and can be hard to find.  You really can use any type of Swiss cheese that you like and can find.  However, using on of the other three cheeses named will improve the taste of the dish.

A recipe for "Hash-Brown Crusted Cheese Quiche" will be on Friday this week.  This one is interesting because of using the hash-browns for the crust.  You can take this same process for the crust and use it on other Quiche recipes if you desire.  It kind of makes a statement on the plate when you serve it.

If you like the idea of having a brunch for mom (family & friends too) there are more recipe ideas you could use under the various recipe tabs above.  Because brunch usually has both breakfast and dinner items, you can find a dish or two to compliment the Quiche recipe you pick.

Here are a few recipes available in the recipes tabs that you might like to try with the Quiche.  Chicken Marsala, Grilled Flank Steak, Deviled Eggs (V), Greek Layered Dip (V), Jane's Salad or Fresh Corn Salad (V) are from the tabs above.  If you have my cookbook, here are few more to try; Italian Baked Chicken, Connie's Hash Brown Casserole and Roasted Asparagus.

I hope you will try the recipes offered this week at sometime if not for Mother's Day.  As I mentioned early, next week I'll offer a couple of "Cinnamon Roll" recipes.  In the mean time, "Happy Cooking" and please help spread the site to family and friends.

Green Salsa Verde

Green Salsa Verde

(2½ cups)

Ingredients:

1¼ lb. Fresh Tomatillos, husked, rinsed & quartered

1 cup (lightly packed) Fresh Cilantro

1 medium Fresh Serrano Chili, seeded & quartered

1 small Fresh White Onion, chopped

2 cloves Fresh Garlic, smashed

1 tbsp. Canola Oil

as needed Salt & Black Pepper

Directions:

Place the tomatillos, cilantro, serrano chili, onion and garlic in a blender and puree until smooth. In a medium sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Transfer tomatillo mixture to pan and season with salt and pepper as needed. Bring the salsa to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer about 10 minutes or until reduced to about 2½ cups. Cool in refrigerator before serving. The salsa should keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Note: You can control the heat (spiciness) of the salsa by leaving the seeds in or using a jalapeno or some other chili pepper. Leave the chili out if you don't like having some heat in your food.

Ideas for Future Efforts