60-Minute Dinner Rolls (Yes,fresh baked rolls in one hour!)

April Showers have arrived, more in the form of  heavy downpours.  It's all good for our local agriculture, and I love soup on a rainy day.   I've been cleaning out the refrigerator and pantry, and I had some cremini mushrooms that had to be either used-- or tossed.   I settled on making one of my favorite recipes for  Golden Cream of Mushroom Soup.   (The soup gets it's golden color from a little tomato paste and the darker color of the cremini mushrooms.) A salad is always a great side dish, with soup.  But, fresh baked bread is something that makes it even better. 

I found this recipe on my friend's blog, Monica, from "Lick the Bowl Good", while searching for a quick bread recipe.   I decided to cut the recipe in half, because Craig and I don't need two dozen freshly baked rolls to tempt us. 

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I didn't photograph the process of making these rolls, because I wasn't sure how they'd turn out.  (In retrospect, I should have grabbed my camera.  Sorry about that.)  They were really easy to make, using a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, with a dough hook.  A few of the  "secrets" is to heat up the mixing bowl, get the liquid ingredients to about 110F.  I also like to turn on my oven to "warm" for just a few minutes-- then turn it off.  This makes the perfect incubator to speed up the proofing of the dough.

The dough rose in about 20 minutes!  The dough had a texture similar to my German Rohr Nudeln (sweet rolls with jelly).   You can make clover leaf rolls, but I prefer to cut my dough into square pieces and then shape them into roundish rolls-- well, just click here if you want to see how I shape them. 

I took no more than 10 minutes for me to shape the rolls, and then I covered them for about 15 minutes.  While the oven preheated, I set the rolls on top of my stove.  The warmth of the oven helped to proof the dough.

They baked to a lovely golden brown in about 15 minutes.  I brushed a little melted butter on them, then carefully set them on a cooling rack.

I'm not kidding-- in one hour, I baked homemade rolls and made the soup.  Ta-da!

 

Hot soup and freshly baked rolls, homemade and not from a can-- how comforting is that?!

Fluffy and tender...

TASTING NOTES:  I've made a few versions of dinner rolls, and have posted several on my blog.  These rolls are now my favorite "go to" recipe.  The texture is very tender, and they are just so darn easy to make.  I'm going to play around with the recipe to come up with a whole wheat version.  My son will be sad to see that he missed out on these, because soup and fresh bread is one of his favorite meals.   I'll just have to make it for him on his next day off.  My pleasure!  (Guess what's packed for my lunch box tomorrow, as it will be raining again? )

UPDATE:  I tweaked this recipe, using whole wheat flour-- plus, I decided to photograph step-by-step photos on how to make this. I'll be working on that post, and will link to it-- in the meantime, if you want a whole wheat version, the printable recipe card is at the end of this post or click here.

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post. If you can't view it, click here.

 

Pork Chops with Wine & Garlic

On most week nights, I still come home wanting to eat home-cooked food-- as opposed to bringing  home take-out.  I'm pretty much the Chief Cook in the house, and I need meals that come together quickly.  I often resort to pan-searing meat and making a pan sauce.  I love pan sauces.  They transform boring old chicken, pork or beef into something that resembles restaurant quality food.  It couldn't be simpler. When the Pioneer Woman recently posted this recipe, I knew that this would be dinner. That very night!

I stopped by my meat market, and picked up two luscious pork loins.  I already had the rest of the ingredients on hand-- red wine, garlic cloves, beef broth and balsamic vinegar.  So, here we go-- the pork is seasoned with coarse salt & black pepper. Then it's seared in a screaming hot skillet with a little oil and unsalted butter.

I did something a little differently that "PW" does... I prefer to sear my meats on one side until golden brown, and then put them into a 425F oven to roast them.  (I already had baked potatoes going, so it was convenient  to do this.) This method pretty much assures me that the meat will be moist.  I roasted these for about 4 minutes, then removed them and lightly covered them in foil.   (Otherwise, just flip them more a few more minutes, because you'll finish cooking the pork in the sauce.) To the skillet, I added about 8 peeled cloves of garlic, and tossed the about on medium heat until golden brown. Look at all the brown deliciousness on the bottom of the pan...flavor, just waiting to happen!

So, now I add some red wine, a bay leaf and let that bubble and reduce for a few minutes. Last, I add some beef broth and the chops and let them simmer for a few minutes more.

I add a bit of balsamic vinegar, and swirl the pan a bit...

For a final ta-da, I turn off the heat and add some unsalted butter and whisk it in.

I served this with a baked potato, and a salad with a light white balsamic vinaigrette.

TASTING NOTES:  I do consider pork to be the "other white meat" and we love it.   I realize that this isn't exactly a child-friendly dish, but my baby is already a grown young man.  The garlic was sweet, and cooking it removed any kind of strong garlic "bite".  I wish I had added even more garlic cloves. The sauce was so flavorful, with that very subtle tang of balsamic.  Loved this dish. Love, love. This recipe is going into my regular rotation for those nights when I'm hungry, but tired.  Super easy to make, and good enough to serve company for dinner.  Thanks, Ree!

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post. 

Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy -- A Ratatouille Moment

Now that the Christmas turkey dinners and prime ribs have been devoured, and the last of the Christmas cookies have been eaten-- it's time to get back to good ole regular food.  At least, that's how I'm feeling.  Yes, I gorged nibbled on some chocolates. I indulged in a cookie here and there.    At times like this, there  comes a point where I want some simple home cooking, with vegetables.  When that craving hits, I want it quickly, and I don't want to fuss over making dinner.

Cube steaks are an easy solution, because they are inexpensive and cook in a matter of minutes.  What? You've never had a cube steak?

A cube steak is either a piece of top round or top sirloin that has been tenderized with a masher.  I let my butcher do the work since he has a mechanical tenderizer.  One night, in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I spend a few dollars on cube steak with no particular recipe in mind. I'd had a long day at the office, I was tired and hungry.

I wiped each steak dry, so that they'd brown nicely in a hot skillet. Seasoning was simple-- kosher salt & pepper.  I wanted a sauce, because I wanted to make mashed potatoes. NOTE: Both steaks cost less than $7.00. 

 

So, I grabbed some beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, sliced onion and flour.  Yes, the onions could have been chopped, but I like the texture of cooked slice onion.  On another burner, I had some Yukon Gold potatoes boiling to make garlic mashed potatoes. Meat and potatoes = a sure husband pleaser.
NOTE: Mushrooms would be a perfect addition, to the gravy. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't get excited over mushrooms as much as I do. 

With a little olive oil, I seared one side of the steak until nice and brown-- about 3-4 minutes.

I cooked the other side for about 3 more minutes. (Cube steaks aren't very thick, so they cook very quickly.)  I wanted a lot of brown crusty stuff to be left in the pan, so I could get a flavorful gravy.

 ..like that.  The steaks were removed onto a plate, covered in foil and kept warm in a preheated oven, set on the WARM setting (less than 200F). I added a teensie bit more olive oil, and added one large sliced onion. These were sauteed until light golden brown-- just a few minutes.

 The flour was sprinkled over the cooked onion, and cooked for a minute or two.  Then, I added about 1 cup of the beef stock, and the Worcestershire sauce. On medium-high heat, the sauce began to thicken very nicely.

I returned the steaks, with their natural juices, right back into the pan for about a minute.  Total cooking time, was less than 20 minutes.  Because I started my potatoes, first, and they were cut nice and small, they were cooked about the same time as the steaks. Using my food mill, I had creamy spuds with a bit of butter, a touch of cream cheese, and a splash of milk...okay, a tiny splash of heavy cream, too.

This is very simple comfort food, on the table in less than 30 minutes.  Pinkie promise.  By the way, egg noodles or rice would work very well with this steak and gravy.


VERDICT:  Something quite surprising happened, when my husband sat down and took his first bite. This is a true story-- Craig had a faraway look in his eyes.  Very much like the scene from the movie "Ratatouille", where the feared food critic is served a French comfort food dish.  My husband smiled, and said that the dinner I made reminded him of his childhood in Kansas City, MO.   He remembered that his mom used to make a dinner that tasted just like this one.  Suffice it to say, that my husband loved every bite, and I was so pleased that he enjoyed it as much as he did.  As for me, this dinner reminded me of the Banquet TV dinners that my mother used to heat in the oven, when I was a kid-- yes, that was before microwaves were invented, but I was born after the horse and carriage. 


It's funny how some of the most impromptu, inexpensive and fast dinners can be the one's that demand an encore.  My husband asked me to make it, again, the very next night.  So, I decided to grab my camera, measure out the ingredients and share it with my readers. Who knows, you might have a Ratatouille Moment of your own?

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.

 

Scallops with Cherry-Tarragon Sauce

I admit that sometimes my recipes involve fussy steps.  Maybe I'm a little bit masochistic on the weekends, and I love the challenge of channeling the Martha Stewart that lurks inside me.  Then, there are times when I want things to be really simple.  I love it when I find a recipe that takes minutes to make, and turns out to have that "wow" factor.  I found this recipe when I received a newsletter from Whole Foods that Wild Caught Scallops would be on sale for $9.99 a pound-- on Friday, only.   As soon as I was off work, I skedaddled to Whole Foods and stocked up on a few pounds of what I called my "Fillet Mignon of the Sea".  Score!

... and then I spotted these gorgeous Bing cherries, for $4.99 a pound.  I loved that these were sold in a box, so I could pick out all the dark red ones. When I arrived home, I found this recipe suggestion on Whole Food's Facebook Fan Page.  I admit that at first I wondered... cherries and tarragon?  When I mentioned it to my husband, he got really excited.  So, this would be our Saturday night "Date Night" dinner at Chez Debby's.  The recipe calls for shallots, which is always in my fridge. Only, this time, I was out.  Sweet onions it was...

Fortunately, we have French tarragon that grows in abundance in our yard.  It's like growing mint, in that it can take over your garden. Tarragon is an interesting herb.  It dies off in the cold winter months, and then comes back in the spring-- like gangbusters. It's an herb that doesn't seem to be used as often as thyme or oregano.  It has a distinct but subtle note of licorice, and not nearly as pungent as fennel-- and I'm not a fan of fennel.  But tarragon, I love!  It pairs beautifully with chicken or seafood.  It's also what turns a hollandaise into a Bernaise sauce-- one of my favorite sauces of all. I digress... back to how quickly this recipe is made:

To know me is to know that I'm a gadgetholic.  Last year, I bought a Norpro Cherry Pitter.  I finally put the gadget together and I was surprised at how much I liked it. You need about 2 cups of pitted cherries, quartered.  I was scaling the recipe down for just the two of us, so I eye-balled about a cup of cherries.

Scallops can be easy to prepare. Be warned, that overcooking them turns the into chewy and tough chunks of seafood.  They're similar to cooking shrimp.  Just be sure to pat them really dry and it only takes 2-3 minutes, per side, to sear on high heat with olive oil.  I have a more detailed tutorial on one of my favorite summer pasta dishes, Scallops and Pasta (to view that, click here).  Simply season with sea salt and pepper...

...turn and sear 2-3 minutes more.

Remove to a plate, and cover with foil. I like to keep these warm in the oven, that I've preheated to WARM.

Add the shallots (in this case, I had to use onion) and cook till tender, 2-3 minutes.

Instead of using rice vinegar, I added a generous splash of white wine to deglaze the pan.  Then I added about 1/4 cup of low-sodium chicken stock and the cherries.  I simply let the sauce reduce for about 5-7 minutes...

...then added about 1 generous Tablespoon of chopped tarragon, and let the sauce cook for about a minute longer.

I served this with Yellow Rice and a chilled glass of vino.

TASTING NOTES:  The scallops were as tender as I could have hoped for.  The sweet and very slight tartness of the Bing cherries worked really well with the tarragon.  Other than a duck with a cherry sauce, this is the first time I've used this fruit in a savory dish.  This dish is fancy and impressive enough for a dinner party.  It's super easy to make.  My husband was very appreciative and pleased. So was I!  I would definitely make this dish again, and I might try this using rice vinegar-- as the original recipe included.  But, I need to do it before cherry season is gone!

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.