A Love Affair With Southern Cooking_ Recipes and Recollections - Jean Anderson [166]
5. Toward the end of rising, preheat the oven to 375° F. Brush the rolls gently with the melted butter and bake on the middle oven shelf for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned.
6. Serve hot with plenty of butter.
Food—two banana cakes and a baked ham, a platter of darkly deviled eggs, new rolls—and flowers kept arriving at the back, and the kitchen filled with women…
—EUDORA WELTY, THE GOLDEN APPLES
SWEET POTATO YEAST ROLLS
MAKES 2 DOZEN CLOVERLEAF ROLLS
This recipe is adapted from one sent to me by the North Carolina SweetPotato Commission. This southern state tops all others in the production of sweet potatoes and the commission’s mission is to spread the gospel of the golden tubers: their impressive nutritional value, their round-the-calendar availability, their easy-on-the-budget price, and, not least, their delicious versatility.
Two ¼-ounce packages active dry yeast
1/3 cup granulated sugar or raw sugar
½ cup very warm water (105° to 115° F.)
¾ cup very warm milk (105° to 115° F.)
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup puréed cooked sweet potato
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
5 to 5½ cups unsifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1. Spritz 24 standard-size muffin pan cups with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Combine the yeast, 1 teaspoon of the sugar, and the warm water in a small bowl, and set aside to “work” for about 5 minutes. It will bubble and froth.
3. Meanwhile, beat the remaining sugar, the milk, 1/3 cup melted butter, sweet potato purée, salt, lemon zest, and nutmeg in a large electric mixer bowl at low speed just enough to combine. When the yeast mixture is good and frothy, add and beat until smooth.
4. With the mixer at low speed, add 2 cups of the flour, then beat for 2 to 3 minutes at moderately high speed until elastic. Continue adding the flour, about ½ cup at a time, until you have a soft but manageable dough.
5. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead vigorously for several minutes, adding only enough additional flour to keep the dough from sticking.
6. Shape the dough into a ball, place in a buttered bowl, then turn the dough in the bowl so the buttered side is up. Cover with a clean, dry cloth and set in a warm draft-free spot for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in bulk.
7. Punch the dough down, turn onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for about a minute. Divide the dough into 24 pieces of equal size, then from each piece, shape 3 same-size balls. Place 3 balls in each muffin pan cup and brush with the remaining melted butter.
8. Cover the rolls with a cloth and set in a warm, draft-free spot for about 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Toward the end of rising, preheat the oven to 375° F.
9. When the rolls are fully risen, bake in the lower third of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely browned and hollow sounding when thumped.
10. Serve hot with plenty of fresh sweet butter.
FARMHOUSE BREAD
MAKES THREE 8 × 4 × 3-INCH LOAVES
“My Aunt Zella Gray was a marvelous cook,” Florence Soltys told me when she handed me this old East Tennessee recipe. A maiden lady, Zella Gray lived near enough to the dairy farm where Florence grew up to share the loaves she baked. Now living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Florence still bakes Aunt Zella’s bread whenever her busy schedule permits. And lucky the family and friends who get to eat it.
2¼ to 2¾ cups very warm water (105° to 115° F.)
¼ cup sugar
Two ¼-ounce packages active dry yeast
8 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
½ cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup firmly packed vegetable shortening or ½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into pats
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TIME LINE: the people and events that shaped Southern Cuisine
1946
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