Rosie Makes Orange Breakfast Rolls.

 

Wanna put a hop, skip, and a jump in your morning?

Then try Rosie’s Orange Sunrise Breakfast Buns.

I love a sweet roll and I’ve made quite a few over the years.  These rank right up there with the best of them.  First the recipe, then the step-by-steps.

Rosie’s Orange Sunrise Breakfast Buns

For the dough:

1/4 cup skim milk, warmed

1/4 cup cream, warmed

1 package yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Zest of two oranges

1 egg, beaten

2 TB unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp kosher salt

About 3 1/4 cups flour

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the warm milk and cream with the yeast and sugar.  Let it sit for a few minutes until it “proofs.”  The mixture should get all bubbly and foamy and poofy, which means the yeast has “proved” it’s alive and your dough will rise.  With machine on low speed, add in orange juice, zest, egg, butter, and salt.  Gradually add in flour, incorporating it into the dough and increasing speed to medium.  You want enough flour so the dough pulls away from the sides but is still soft and tacky.  Turn out dough onto a lightly floured working surface and finish by kneading by hand, sprinkling more flour if needed.  You want a soft, elastic dough.  Transfer to a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

Rosie Note:  If all you have is whole milk, that’s fine.  I use a combination of skim and cream because that’s what I always have on hand.

For the filling:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 TB cinnamon

Zest of 1 orange 

1 cup crumbled pecans

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a 12 x 18-inch rectangle.  Using an offset spatula, spread the butter over surface of dough.  Evenly sprinkle rest of filling ingredients over top.

Tightly roll of dough lengthwise and slice into 12 equal pieces.  Place slices (swirl facing up) in a buttered 9 x 13-inch pan.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled - an hour or so.  Bake at 350° until buns are light golden brown on top - about 22 minutes.  Frost while still warm.

For the glaze:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 TB unsalted butter (1/2 stick), softened

Zest of 1 orange

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Combine cream cheese and butter.  Whisk in rest of ingredients until smooth.  Pour over warm buns.

Now for the step-by-steps:

Here’s the shaggy dough right out of the mixer.

 

Knead it by hand until you have a nice smooth elastic ball.  Add flour as needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Place in oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled.

 

 Turn out onto lightly floured surface.

Roll dough into a 12 x 18-inch rectangle.

Dot with butter...

...and spread it out.

 

 

 

Evenly sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans, and orange zest over buttered dough.

 

 

 

Tightly roll up lengthwise.

Slice into 12 pieces.

Place in 9 x 13-inch buttered baking dish.

Let rise until doubled.
And bake until golden.

While still warm, pour icing over top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I happened to have some pomegranate arils,
so I sprinkled those on top.
Pretty!

Enjoy!

The Hawthornes Love Their Ersters!

The Hawthornes love their ersters.
Raw, steamed, fried, grilled, broiled on the half shell -
you name it, we'll eat it.

We're already on our 3rd or 4th bushel
and I'm always coming up with new ways to prepare them.

Today, we're having broiled oysters on the half shell two ways.

Red and green, for Christmas.
The red ones are a tad hot - cayenne with a hint of sugar,
or you can tame them and use paprika instead.
The green ones are mild - spinach with some other stuff.

First for the green.
Chop a small onion
and a handful of spinach.

Sauté in butter
for a minute.

Add enough cream
to bind it together.
Heat through.

Ready to top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oysters. Check.
Spinach mix.  Check.
Ritz crumble/parsley. Check
Bacon. Check.

 

Spoon a little of the spinach mixture on top of each oyster. 
Add crumbled bacon.  If you don't have bacon, don't worry.  You won't really miss it.
But everything's better with bacon.
And you don't need a lot of topping.  Just a teaspoon.  You don't want to overpower the oyster.

Crumble some Ritz crackers over top.
I had some chopped parsley mixed in with the Ritz for extra flavor.

Add grated Mozzarella.

Then give
 each oyster
a pat of butter.

 

Ready to go under the broiler.
450° for about 5-6 minutes.
You want the Ritz slightly browned and the oysters still plump and juicy.

Like this.

 

Now, for the red ones.

 

In a small dish, combine about 4 TB unsalted butter with a heaping teaspoon of paprika and a heaping half-teaspoon of sugar.  Nuke it until butter melts.  Spoon mixture over oysters.  Then grate some Parmesan cheese on top.  Under the broiler until cheese melts and butter is bubbly.

If you wanted a bit of bite to this, use cayenne instead of paprika.

Or for a different flavor profile, try smoked paprika instead of regular.

This is enough for 8 or so oysters.

 

Perfect!
Enjoy!

Rosie Makes A Broccoli And Apple Salad.

I'm a snacker and I like having munchable green vegetable salads on hand.
Today I have a delectable broccoli salad in the fridge that will keep me company for a day or two.

Not too long ago, I had some yummy green bean salads sustaining me.
Recipes HERE.

Now, I'm all into the broccoli.
This is a very simple salad, but the most important part is properly cooking the broccoli.
I like my broccoli crisp-tender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil.
A tablespoon of salt per quart.
Drop in the trimmed broccoli florets and pared stems.
And cook for 2-3 minutes, depending on the size of the florets.
As I said, I  like mine crisp-tender - al dente not al mushe.

 

Drain the broccoli in a colander, then immediately immerse in an ice-water bath.

This stops the cooking and sets the bright green color.

While the broccoli is chillin', make the dressing
and prepare the rest of the ingredients for the salad.

 

For the salad ingredients:
broccoli florets and stems, cooked, 2 cups worth
1 apple, cored, peeled, and diced and tossed in lemon juice (to prevent browning)
1/2 cup toasted pecans, in pieces
2 TB raisins
2 TB dried cranberries
cooked bacon, crumbled

For the dressing:
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 TB mayonnaise
1 TB cider vinegar
2 TB honey
pinch kosher salt (to taste)

Whisk all ingredients to combine.

Now, I used the Greek yogurt because I happened to have a quart of it in the fridge.  I'd already used some of the yogurt in another dish and had the better part of the quart left, so I'm trying to come up with uses for yogurt before it goes south on me. And why, oh why, don't they package plain yogurt in something less than a quart size?  

If you don't happen to have yogurt, you can always substitute.  Sour cream would work.  More mayo with vinegar and/or buttermilk would work.  There's always something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pour the dressing over the salad mix and toss to coat.

This is perfect!

Enjoy!