Rosie Makes Date And Orange Breakfast Rolls.

 Today's treat is Medjool Date and Orange Breakfast Rolls.

 I'm all about using what I have on hand.

 And what I have on hand today is leftover bread dough.

I never buy bread anymore.

I always make my own.

And I've got a very simple recipe for bread loaves:

Rosie's Sandwich Bread.

Usually what I do is make this basic dough

and divide it into thirds.

I use two thirds to make two loaves of bread

and I stash the remaining third, covered,

in the fridge, for later.

Generally, we make a pizza dough out of this third dough.

However, I was feeling the need for something sweet,

so I used the third dough, doctored it a bit,

and came up with Date and Orange Breakfast Rolls.

You could use any sweet dough for the base for these rolls.

Google it.  They're plenty of recipes out there.

Or, you can use my sweet dough recipe here:

Rosie's Orange Breakfast Rolls

Like I said, I'm just using what I have on hand,

which is a regular bread dough which I tweaked.

The difference is in the filling.

And I really like this filling. 

It's made with Medjool dates, butter, orange juice and zest,

brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. 

In case you're unfamiliar withe Medjool dates,

please familiarize yourself.

 

Here's my post on Medjool date and celery salad

which you'll like even if you don't like celery.

Check out the post if only for the info on the dates.

 

 Remember now, that I'm starting with stuff I already have

and taking it in another direction.

I started out with 658 grams of bread dough.

 

 Divided that dough in half.

 I put one half in a loaf pan and made this beautiful loaf.

The other half of the dough I'm using to make my breakfast rolls.

   First I started on the Medjools.

 I pitted 8 Medjool dates and put them in a small pan.

Poured about 3/4 cup water over them.

Simmered slowly about 15 minutes until the water was

pretty much evaporated.

 

 Then I added in the juice and zest of one orange.

 Placed it all in a mini-processor and puréed it.

 I added 1/2 stick unsalted butter,

one tablespoon at a time,

and processed until smooth.

  Now, let's work on that other half of dough.

 

  Into the bowl of my stand mixer:

2/3 cup warm buttermilk

1 egg

1 package yeast

2 TB honey

1/3 cup sugar

Let the yeast proof.

  

 When the yeast starts getting bubbly and poofy,

break off pieces of the original bread dough and add it to the bowl.

Start kneading.

When the mixture gets smooth,

add in:

about 1 1/2 cups bread flour

1 tsp kosher salt

4 TB unsalted butter, 1 TB at a time

Process/knead until the mixture is smooth and elastic.

 Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise

until doubled.

 Here's the risen dough about 2 hours later.

 Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board.

 Roll out dough into a rectangle about 10 x 16 inches.

Sprinkle with extra flour as needed.

 Spread the Medjool mixture evenly over the dough.

 Next sprinkle 1/4 cup (or more) brown sugar over top.

 Lightly sprinkle cinnamon over the dough.

 And sprinkle a cup or so of chopped pecans over it.

 Start rolling up.

Until you have a nice, tight log.

 

 Cut log into 16 pieces.

 

 Places pieces into buttered 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

 Let rise.

 Brush with melted butter.

 Ready for the oven.

 Bake at 350° for 20 - 22 minutes.

Until golden.

 Make a glaze:

I used about 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

with the juice and zest of one orange

and a teaspoon of vanilla.

Enough liquid until it's just pourable.

 Enjoy!

Find Comfort In Oatmeal.

Sometimes, there's just nothing better than good old-fashioned oatmeal cookies.

Especially, in these times, when everything is up in the air and you can't take anything for granted, and you yearn for a simpler life, you can still make oatmeal cookies.  And for just a little while, things are as they should be.  

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups oatmeal

Heat oven to 375°.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Place butter in medium mixing bowl and beat until creamy.  Beat in both sugars until well combined.  Add egg and vanilla and continue beating on medium speed for a minute or so, until mixture is light.

On low speed, beat in flour mixture until just combined.  

Stir in oatmeal, until combined.

Place heaping tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets.  Gently press into flat rounds, 1/8 -1/4" thick. 

Bake about 10 minutes, until top is just set.  Let sit on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Rosie Makes Enchiladas.

After having some lovely chile rellenos,

I was still on a Mexican bent, so I decided to go with enchiladas.  If you recall, I'd made a big batch of red sauce (Here's the recipe.), used some of it for the rellenos, and froze the rest.  I did save a bit of the sauce to use on these enchiladas.


















An enchilada, in case you don't know, is simply a rolled tortilla, typically filled with a variety of ingredients - meat, rice, vegetables, cheese, and/or beans, and served with an enchilada sauce, which is a savory red chile sauce.  Click here for the chile rellenos and the enchilada sauce.

For my filling, I'm simply using rice and black beans, onions and peppers.

You can use canned beans, although I've never liked them.  I use dried beans whenever I have a recipe that uses beans.  And you really don't need to soak beans overnight, like the directions always tell you to do.  Am I the only one who sees the irony in soaking beans overnight?  The reason you soak beans for a looooooong time is to shorten the cooking time.  So, like I said, you don't need to soak for hours.  Just simmer the beans longer and you'll have cooked beans on the same day you started.  Makes sense to me.

 Now, here's a Rosie Tip for faster bean cooking:  Add a little baking soda to the cooking water.  The baking soda changes the pH of the liquid and an alkaline environment causes the cell structure of the beans to break down, resulting in tender beans in shorter time.  I use about 1/4-1/2 tsp for a quart of water and a cup or so of dried beans.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer until al dente.  I like a bit of "tooth" to my beans, as opposed to al mushe.

Be sure to rinse off the baking soda after cooking and draining the beans.

For the enchilada filling, first I sautéed about 1/2 cup each chopped onion and pepper.  Then I added a cup or so each of cooked black beans and cooked rice.  Season to taste with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and a few shakes of oregano and cumin.

Spoon the filling onto the flour tortillas and...

add some shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

Roll up tortillas and place seam-side down on a pool of the enchilada sauce.

Add some more sauce on top.

And give it some more cheese lovin'.

 

Bake in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and gooey and starting to brown..

Serve with some fresh salsa and cilantro just picked out of your garden.

A little plop of sour cream never hurt anything.

Now, this doesn't have to be vegetarian.

If you wanted to brown up some hamburger meat, maybe with a bit of garlic, and add that to the beans and rice and pepper and onion, I'd say go right ahead.

Enjoy!