Back to the Basics

I’ve always thought that the reason I liked cooking better than sewing is that every time I sew anything I spend a lot of time ripping out and re-doing, reading instructions over and over again trying to decipher what they mean and ending with something disappointing after all that work. Cooking, on the other hand, came naturally to me and I rarely had failures (not counting the fudge frosting fiasco I wrote about two weeks ago).

That rarity occurred today, however, and I now certainly can empathize with anyone who feels about cooking as I do about sewing.

I set out early this morning—a free morning as it happened—with high spirits for a day of baking. I had decided to dig out my set of Pillsbury Bake-Off books (I have most of the first 25) and do a column on “Whatever happened to those big money winning recipes?” Number 7 caught my eye—the winning recipe was on the cover and looked delicious; a pinwheel-shaped sweet roll with a filling that showed and an orange glaze called “Ring-A-Lings” which won Mrs. Bertha E. Jorgensen from Portland, Oregon $25,000 in 1956. It was an easy enough recipe, or so it seemed, but the layout of the instructions was very different from today’s standard. Every ingredient was written right in the instructions instead of being listed at the head of the recipe. At least that is my best excuse.

I had some mashed potato water in the refrigerator that needed to be used. I often make extra potatoes and after boiling them for the meal I’m making, I mash the rest of them in the water they were cooked in and save it for making bread.

Full of energy and time to spare, I decided to make the potato bread simultaneously and just have a baking day. After all, it saves cooking fuel and some work to do several things at once. Early in the day I have been known to overestimate what I can accomplish. I use my bread machines on the “dough” setting to make easy homemade bread—just dump the ingredients in the proper order into your machine, set it on the dough setting. When the timer dings, the dough has been mixed, kneaded and risen for the first time. All that’s left to do is to punch it down, shape it and put it in a greased pan or free-form it on a baking stone; let it rise again and bake it. Cheaper, easier, better—how can you go wrong?

I’ll tell you how: Get interrupted in the middle of putting the ingredients in the bread maker or answer a telephone call or get sidetracked thinking of things to do with the rest of the day and be careless—or all of the above which seemed to be the case today. I did fine with the bread until I put plastic wrap over the dough in the pan and set it aside to rise. It rose a little above the rim and stuck to the plastic wrap, thus deflating the dough a bit. Now, if I hadn’t been in a hurry, I would have punched it down and let it rise again with a towel over it. But, you guessed it, I just baked it as it was and was disappointed with the results. Sort of like letting the crooked seam stay and hoping it will turn out okay anyway.

Meanwhile I was simultaneously making the sweet rolls, hoping to have a winning recipe for the inn, a great recipe for my column, a couple for Zig and me and some to send to my Dad in Florida. Alas, due to the above distractions and increasing fatigue, not to mention a certain sloppy approach, I forgot one of the steps in the instructions called, “Let Rise.” Somehow, because it was a no-knead recipe, I decided it was a no second rise recipe, too. Then I put the glaze on the rolls before they had baked at all, only noticing that it was supposed to go on after 15 minutes of baking.

The rolls would have been delicious if done correctly with one caveat: the filling has a tendency to come out and spread on the baking sheet and burn. The recipe didn’t say so, but I should have known to seal the “Ring-a-Lings” a little better.

The moral of the story: Stay focused, don’t take on too much for one day, read through the recipe completely before starting, marking and improving any obscure or confusing directions and, oh yes, don’t get too cocky.

Here for the adventurous is the recipe, exactly as printed in Pillsbury’s 7th Grand National Cookbook:

Bake at 375 F. for 15 min. Makes 1 ½ to 2 doz rolls

Soften 2 cakes compressed yeast in
¼ cup lukewarm water, (Or substitute 2 packages dry yeast
Softened in ¼ cup very warm, not hot, water.)
Combine 1/3 cup butter or margarine and
¾ cup hot scalded milk in large bowl. Stir until butter melts.
Cool to lukewarm.
Add 1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
Add 2 unbeaten eggs and the yeast mixture.
Gradually 4 to 4 ½ cups sifted Pillsbury’s Best Enriched Flour to form
A stiff dough. Mix thoroughly. Cover.
Let stand 30 minutes. Meanwhile prepare Nut Filling
Roll out dough to a 22x12-inch rectangle on floured board. Spread
Half of dough along 22-inch side with Filling. Fold uncovered dough over filling.
Cut into 1-inch strips (crosswise). Twist each strip 4 or 5 times.
Then hold one end down on greased baking sheet for center of roll; curl strip around center, tucking other end under.
Cover with waxed paper or towel.
Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg F) until light and doubled in size, 45 to 60
Minutes.
Bake in moderate oven (375) 15 minutes until light golden brown. Meanwhile
Combine
¼ cup orange juice and
3 tablespoons sugar for glaze. Brush tops of rolls and bake
5 minutes longer until deep golden brown. Remove from baking
Sheet immediately.


Nut Filling

Cream 1/3 cup butter or margarine. Blend in 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar thoroughly. Add 1 cup filberts or hazelnuts, ground or chopped very fine. (Other nuts may be substituted.)