Dinner Rolls

Recipe: Dinner Rolls

Prep Time: 4 Hours  |  Cook Time: 20 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 24

Print Recipe3"x5" Cards4"x6" CardsFull Page

Ingredients

• 4 cups Milk
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 9 cups Flour
• 2 packages (4 1/2 Tsp.) Active Dry Yeast
• 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 2 Tablespoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Pour 4 cups of milk into a stock pot or Dutch oven. Add one cup of sugar and 1 cup of vegetable oil. Stir to combine. Now, turn the burner on medium to medium-low and “scald” the mixture/lukewarm (between 90 and 110 degrees).

Before the mixture boils, turn off the heat. NOW. Very important stuff here: walk away. Walk away and allow this mixture to cool to warm/lukewarm. The mixture will need to be warm enough to be a hospitable environment for the yeast, but not so hot that it kills the yeast and makes it inactive. I don’t usually use a thermometer, but if you’d like to, a good temperature is between 90 and 110 degrees. I usually feel the side of the pan with the palm of my hand. If it’s hot at all, I wait another 20 minutes or so. The pan should feel comfortably warm.

When the mixture is the right temperature add in 4 cups of flour and 2 packages of (4-1/2 teaspoons) of active dry yeast. After the yeast and flour are nicely incorporated, add another 4 cups of flour. Stir together and allow to sit, covered with a tea towel or lid, for an hour. After about an hour it should have almost doubled in size. If it hasn’t changed much, put it in a warm (but turned off ) oven for 45 minutes or so. When it had risen sufficiently add 1 more cup of flour, 1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder, 1 scant teaspoon of baking soda and about 2 tablespoons of salt. Stir (or knead just a bit) until combined.

Butter 1 or 2 muffin pans. Form the rolls by pinching off a walnut sized piece of dough and rolling it into a little ball. Repeat and tuck three balls of dough into each buttered muffin cup. Continue until pan is full. Cover and allow to rise for about 1 to 2 hours.

Bake in a 400-degree oven until golden brown, about 17 to 20 minutes.

Spaghetti Squash Sausage

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Sausage Recipe
YIELD: SERVES 3-4.TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR
There are lots of recipes quickly microwaving spaghetti squash to cook it, but I just like the taste and texture of roasting the squash better. It brings out the aromas and fills the kitchen. If pressed for time to make dinner, since the squash is warmed in the pan with the sausage at the end, one could always roast the spaghetti squash ahead of time and then quickly heat it with the sausage at dinner time. Try not to over cook the squash until it becomes overly soft.  It should still have a bit of a bite to the texture.

ingredients:
1 Spaghetti Squash (@3lbs or 1365g)
2 T (30ml) Olive Oil (divided in two parts)
5 or 6 medium Shallots, thickly sliced
3 cloves Garlic, crushed or finely minced
3/4 lb (340g) uncooked Sausage (any kind you prefer)
1 c (60g) coarsely grated Parmigiana Reggiano
1 T finely chopped Oregano, or other complimentary herb to the sausage
Sea Salt and fresh Cracked Pepper to taste
directions:
Preheat Oven to 375°F. Oil a sheet pan with first 1 T of olive oil.
Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. (Use the tip of the knife to first pierce and get the cut started. Once you get the first cut started the rest of the squash should slice easily.) Scoop out the seeds and strands, then place cut side down on the prepared sheet pan.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until the squash flesh separates easily into strands with a fork. Finish loosening and removing the "spaghetti" from the shells and set aside.
Onto a large sheet of butcher paper or similar, pinch and pull small balls of sausage out of the casing, laying them so they stay slightly separate. Continue for all of the sausage.
Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Heat second 1 T of olive oil in pan, then add shallots and garlic. Cook until soft, stirring every 30 seconds, then add sausage. Cook untouched until bottom side of sausage starts to brown, then stir. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the sausage is cooked through (@2-3 minutes depending on heat and size of sausage).
Add spaghetti squash strands to the sausage and continue cooking until heated (usually less than a minute.)
Remove from heat. Toss in Parmigiana Reggiano and oregano.  Season with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper (remember the cheese will have a bit of "saltiness" to it already.) Serve immediately.