Southern Refrigerator Rolls, Potato Salad and Reubens.

[navygreen]

For St. Patrick's Day, I tried out a new recipe for homemade rolls. This dough comes together quickly, but then it raises in the refrigerator for a day or so. Because the first rise is out of sight, they seem to be much less tedious than regular double-rise rolls.


Southern Refrigerator Rolls.


Southern Refrigerator Rolls

• 2 packets of yeast


• 1 cup lukewarm water


• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 1 tsp. salt


• 1 cup boiling water


• 2 eggs, beaten


• 6.5 cups all-purpose flour

Stir together yeast and lukewarm water; put aside for 15 minutes. While the yeast mixture is resting, cream together (in the largest bowl that you have) the unsalted butter, sugar, and salt. Pour boiling water over butter mixture; let sit until room temperature. (Don't rush this step - if it is still too hot, you will kill the yeast when added later.)

Once the butter mixture has cooled, add in eggs and the yeast mixture. Mix well. Add in the flour, mixing really, really well. Cover the bowl with a double layer of plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Leave overnight, or up to two days.



To bake your rolls, preheat oven to 400°. Remove dough from fridge (it will have doubled in size) and roll out on well-floured surface. Roll to 1/2" thickness and cut your rolls. Take care not to overwork the dough. Place rolls on lightly-greased baking sheet (I used parchment paper instead). Place them very close together if you want pull-apart rolls; otherwise, leave some space in between rolls. Let them rise, covered with a cloth, in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours. (I placed my rolls on the floor of a steamy bathroom - it's the best rise every time!) Before baking, brush the tops of rolls with melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes, but watch them - they bake up quick!



I got 49 good-sized rolls, plus a half-dollar sized nugget, out of the dough. We ate about ten of them with the corned beef and cabbage, and then we used a dozen the next night for Burger Sliders. The remaining half of rolls I put in the freezer. I'd pull a handful out and microwave them for 45 seconds or so on a plate, and then serve up with other dinners. They were fresh-tasting, light, and buttery, and I plan to make more soon just to put in the freezer again.

On the 17th, the boys and I feasted on my first-ever corned beef and cabbage. Jack loved it all, but A.J. and I weren't crazy about the cabbage. The meat was seasoned fantastically, however. I couldn't wait to make my first Reuben sandwiches with the leftovers.

Now, I've never had a true Reuben in my life. In fact, just the smell of sauerkraut alone is enough to send me running from a room - ICK. I had also looked around enough to know that a traditional Reuben is served with a Russian dressing. I didn't bother searching to find exactly what a Russian dressing would be closest to, though. Instead, we each dressed up our sandwiches how we felt would be the tastiest. I pan-toasted slices of honey wheat bread in a skillet, and then I topped them with the leftover shredded corn beef and caramelized onions (which I'd been searing in another skillet to warm). I put melty Swiss cheese on mine and drizzled it with a Parmesan Caesar dressing.

OMG, it was to-die-for!


My take on Reubens.

I pan-fried the rest of the potatoes and caramelized onions from the CrockPot together and served them up as chunky home fries with the sandwiches. The entire meal was wonderfully delicious, and I can't wait to make it again. I'll forgo the cabbage entirely this time, just roasting up a nice corned beef in the same seasonings. YUM!




For Christmas, my dad had bought us one of those Burger Sliders patty-making grill presses - the kind you see advertised on TV. They make tiny burgers - one pound of ground meat makes 14 burgers - so we needed tiny buns, too. The leftover Refrigerator Rolls were perfect!


Sliders and Potato Bacon Salad.

Please forgive the end, chunky slice of tomato on my burger. I won't waste the ends, even if they don't make for a pretty picture. *wink* Also, this potato salad is my go-to recipe. I love that is has bacon, carrots, and egg in it - the taste is a winner every time.


Potato Bacon Salad

• baking potatoes (several large, cut into bite-sized chunks)


• carrots (as many as you'd like, shredded


• 4 hard-boiled eggs


• 1 box bacon (the ready-to-eat, microwavable kind)


• Miracle Whip (as much as you'd like)


• salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

Clean baking potatoes. Cut into small chunks and place on cookie sheet. Bake in oven until fork goes through and they are cooked. Turn halfway through - about 20 minutes at 375°. Allow to cool; put in large mixing bowl.

Cook bacon in microwave; cool. Crumble into pieces and add to potatoes. Add carrots, crumbled hard-boiled eggs, Miracle Whip, and spices to taste. Toss well. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Comments

[syven.livejournal.com]

All this looks great! Just a little note, in Ireland, they use thick slabs of ham, not corned beef. That might make the cabbage take better for the boys. I've done it in a crock pot and it's really a thousand times better than using corned beef.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

We do love ham, but in general, we're just not a cabbage-loving family. For all the years we worked at a Runza restaurant even, Philip and I never fell in love with the original sandwich - even though I made them every day!

[dolcedaze.livejournal.com]

I just ate a big dinner, and I'm still sitting here ready to devour my screen. Yum!

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Those rolls are mighty tempting, even to me! :-)

[mrs-picasso.livejournal.com]

Reubens are one of our favorites and I started making them when our favorite diner closed for renovations. I use 1,000 island dressing instead of Russian, as that is what I commonly see in diners. Plus, if I'm too tired to cook a real mean and come home and tell Bill that Reubens are for dinner, it will make him happy!

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

But how do you make them quickly, like when you're too tired to cook? You'd still need the corned beef going all day in the CrockPot, right?

[mrs-picasso.livejournal.com]

Actually, I use deli corned beef, which is what the local diners use. I used to grill the whole thing like a grilled cheese, which is what they also do at diners. But, I got one of those counter top grilling gadgets for Christmas one year and I use that because it means I don't have to flip the big sandwich. (I spent way too much time time working on this, as you can tell!)