See, I tend to think of a complete meal as x + salad. Pretty much anything, with a salad, makes a complete meal. Spaghetti with salad. Chicken with salad. Soup with salad.
Alex on the other hand always wants to know what kind of bread or roll comes with the above combinations.
Not that I don't love bread. I really, really do. I just try and keep it for special occasions, company, holidays, dinners out.
This recipe works out perfectly. It makes two dozen rolls, which I can freeze. Then, when we are having something that I consider a perfectly adequate meal, I can thaw out two or three rolls, so Alex gets his bread, and I can save my carbs for something truly worthy. Like Maggiano's. Next week. Can't wait!
Sidetracked. Sorry.
Recipe: (from Frugal Fanny)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 tablespoons oil
2 - 3 cups bread flour
In large mixing bowl, combine yeast and warm water, stir until dissolved. Let sit 10 minutes or until yeast bubbles.
Add all ingredients except bread flour and beat with electric mixer for two minutes.
Gradually stir in bread flour by hand until soft dough forms.
(Diva Note: Somehow, although I followed the recipe, the dough was very crumbly and would not stick together. I searched on the internet and the suggestion offered was to add milk. So I added a 1/4 cup of milk at this point, and the dough finally started to form. Relief!)
Turn onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, 7-9 minutes. Clean bowl and grease with butter. Place dough in bowl and turn until all greased. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Grease two cookie sheets with butter. Punch dough down. Divide into 24 equal pieces. Roll each piece in hands to form smooth ball. Place on cookie sheets and cover with towel. Let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bake rolls for 15-20 minutes, reversing trays half way through. Bake until puffed and firm but not browned. Let rolls cool on cookie sheets for five minutes then remove to wire trays to finish cooling.
Place in freezer containers and freeze up to three months. When ready to serve, remove desired portion from freezer and let stand at room temperature for approximately one hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter (I skipped that part and let Alex butter his own rolls).
Verdict:
Not super easy to make the first time. Lots of steps. Lots of hanging around to wait for dough to rise. But in the end worth it. It's nice to have an easy option for a small amount of added bread rather than buying a whole loaf of garlic bread or a bag of store-bought rolls that will go stale before they can be eaten. Plus I know exactly what is in these rolls - no funky preservatives or chemicals - and whole wheat as opposed to white for the increased nutrient factor. They are tasty, and they are easy to pop into the oven on a whim (I've even cooked them the last step with defrosting far less than an hour, and they've turned out just fine).
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