Hawaiian Dinner Rolls + Overnight Sliders

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Football fever is running hot in my neck of the woods and food is a must for those who watch the games from the comfort of their own homes. I always serve something while we watch the game, but this week I wanted to breakaway from standard football fare and serve something that had a surprise value. I've been eyeing a recipe for sliders that are assembled the night before they are baked and I thought today's game would be the perfect time to give them a try. I did, however, run into a problem while assembling the ingredients needed to make them. Our local markets had no dinner-sized Hawaiian rolls, so I had to make my own. I used a recipe that I found on La Petite Brioche and several hours later I had the rolls I needed to proceed. The rolls, which are easy to make,  are similar  to  King's Hawaiian Rolls but they are a bit less sweet. There are no tricks to making them, save for the need for patience. The rolls are slow-risers, but if you want light and fluffy rolls you have to make sure they  double in size before proceeding with the next steps. These rolls are really versatile.  I'm including the slider recipe I used today, but these would also make a great base for pulled pork,  and, if drizzled with a confectioners' sugar glaze, I think they'd make wonderful breakfast sweet rolls. First things first. Here is the recipe for the rolls. The recipe for the sliders will follow that.

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by La Petite Brioche

Ingredients:
6-7 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups pineapple juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 (1/4 ounce) envelopes yeast or 4-1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 cup butter (one stick) melted

Directions:
1) Beat eggs. Add pineapple juice, sugar, salt, ginger, vanilla, and butter.
2) Place 3 cups of flour in a large bowl. Stir in egg mixture until well-combined. Sprinkle in yeast, one packet at a time, and mix. Add the remaining 3 cups of flour and mix in. If dough is sticky and difficult to handle, add more flour. Dough should be slightly tacky, but not wet. Knead dough for 5 minutes until it forms a smooth ball. Place dough in a greased bowl and set aside to rise until doubled in size (about 1-1/2 hours).
2) Punch dough down and either divide into three equal parts for bread loaves or 24 balls for dinner rolls. Place in greased loaf pans or shape into rolls. Cover and place in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. Be patient. These rolls are slow risers, but it is important to let them double in size before baking.
3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4) Bake for 25-30 minutes or golden brown. Brush tops with melted butter. Serve warm.Yield: 24 dinner rolls or 12 sandwich buns.

Following Photo and Recipe Courtesy of KING'S HAWAIIAN

King's Mini Baked Ham Sandwiches
Ingredients:
1 pound deli ham shaved
1 pound swiss cheese thinly sliced
1-1/2 sticks butter
1-1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons minced onion dried
12 Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls

Directions:
1) Melt butter and mix in mustard, sauce and onion.
2) Cut rolls in half, horizontally (keeping all top and bottom halves separately in tact).
3) In a 9 x 13-inch pan, place bottom half of rolls and cover with ham and cheese.
4) Cover ham and cheese stacks with top half of rolls.
5) Drizzle butter mixture over top of rolls, making sure onion is evenly distributed.
6) Refrigerate over night.
7) Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes and, once finished, separate for serving. Yield: 12 servings.

If you have enjoyed your visit here, I hope you'll take a minute to...

      

One Year Ago Today: Slow-Cooker Weeknight Chili

Two Years Ago Today: Cranberry Mousse

Three Years Ago Today: Plum and Tomato Chutney

Four Years Ago Today: Creamy Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

Frugal Foodie Friday - Slow Cooker Smoky Navy Bean Soup

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This soup was a delightful surprise. I can be quite critical when it comes to bean dishes, because more often than not, I'm disappointed in the way they taste. The financial constraints of SNAP challenge, however, made it necessary for me to experiment with bean recipes and this soup was one of my happier discoveries. I found the recipe in Family Circle magazine. It caught my eye because the soup is made in a slow cooker and uses common ingredients that, in the relative scheme of things, are quite inexpensive. The recipe is straight forward and easy to follow, though I did find the soup was done long before the time suggested in the directions. My batch was ready to serve after 6 hours in the pot. Had I let it simmer longer than that, the beans and vegetables would have completely dissolved and the soup would be more of a bean puree than the soup I was expecting. Despite its truly peasant nature and having to fiddle with the time, this is a delicious soup that I'll be making often. I really hope you'll give this recipe a try. I think you'll enjoy the soup as much as I have. Here is how it is made.

Slow Cooker Smoky Navy Bean Soup...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Family Circle magazine

Ingredients:
1 pound navy beans, soaked overnight
2 ham shanks (about 1-1/2 pounds)
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes with chipotle or jalapeno pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (5-ounce) bag baby spinach

Directions:
1) Coat slow-cooker bowl with nonstick cooking spray.
2) Drain beans and add to slow cooker bowl. Stir in 6 cups water, ham, onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes and thyme. Cover and cook on LOW for 10 hours.
3) Remove ham shanks from soup and shred meat. Remove 2 cups of soup, puree and return to slow cooker along with shredded ham. Add  vinegar and salt and pepper. Add spinach by the handful and stir until wilted. Yield: 8 servings.






One Year Ago Today: Champ: Irish Scallion Mashed Potatoes for St. Patrick's Day














Two Years Ago Today: Chicken Stroganoff















Three years Ago Today: Roast Lamb

Ferran Adrià's Tortilla Española (Spanish Potato Frittata)

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...In an earlier post, I mentioned that the recipes I'd be featuring for the week would be very simple. I neglected to mention that one of them was developed by a man who is an undisputed master in the culinary world. Tonight's recipe is the creation of Ferran Adrià who made the now defunct el Bulli a culinary mecca. Everyone who loves Spanish cooking is familiar with the lusty Spanish potato frittata, or Tortilla Española. It's an omelet that is made with layers of thinly sliced and fried potatoes, so there is a lot of work involved in its preparation. Adrià wanted to simplify the procedure and began to experiment. In one of those Eureka moments he seems to have more often than the rest of us, he decided to use store-bought thick-cut potato chips instead of the older peel, cut and fry variety dictated by tradition. In order to produce potatoes that would have the proper consistency, he hydrated them in the omelet mixture before cooking the frittata and his version of Tortilla Española was born . I love the simplicity of this recipe and I make it often for breakfast, brunch or dinner. This recipe is a real time saver and the only caution I have to share with you regards its cooking time. Please follow the times suggested in the recipe. If the frittata overcooks it will be dry and you'll wonder what the fuss is about. Despite the warning, I really hope you'll try the Tortilla Española. It is delicious. Here's how it is made.

Tortilla Española (Spanish Potato Frittata)...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Ferran Adrià and Saveur magazine

Ingredients:
4 ounces (about 2-1/4 cups) crushed thick-cut potato chips, like Cape Cod brand
2 ounces thinly sliced serrano ham or prosciutto
1/4 cup finely chopped canned piquillo peppers or pimentos
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dry
8 eggs, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
1) Heat broiler to high.
2) Combine potato chips, ham, peppers, thyme, eggs, and salt and black pepper in a bowl and let sit to allow chips to soften in eggs, about 5 minutes.
3) Heat oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add egg mixture and cook, without stirring, until bottom begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to broiler, and broil until set and golden on top, about 3 minutes. Cut into wedges to serve. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

One Year Ago Today: Tortellini with Garlic and Sage Butter

Two Years Ago Today: Sonoran Hot Dogs

Three Years Ago Today: Mexican Black Bean and Vegetable Soup

SNAP Challenge - Menu and Recipes for Day Two

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Well, Bob and I made it through the second day of the SNAP Challenge, though I came close to a major rule violation this morning. Without thinking, probably driven by the aroma of coffee that costs more than $4 a pound, I forgot the rules and grabbed a cup at a meeting I had to chair. Fortunately, I caught myself before I took a sip, and can report I'm still with the program that irrationally prohibits free food or drink that comes from sources outside the boundaries of the SNAP allotment. Two of the pillars of my meal plans for the week are milk and potatoes. I took advantage of both of them today to produce a filling, if unusual, main course for our dinner this evening. It was a thick potato soup, made with a quart of milk and extended with lots of vegetables and a small, very small, amount of ham and Parmesan cheese. It's really good and although it was developed for this challenge, I probably will make it again. It takes all of 30 minutes to move from the pot to the table and it is, quite simply said, delicious. For breakfast, I pulled another old-fashioned recipe from my files and made Bob, eggs en cocotte. Between you and me, my mother would have called these shirred eggs, but I thought the Frenchification would make them more appealing to him. It worked. The goal was to bake the eggs until the whites set but the yolks were still runny and could be sopped up with toasted bread strips. I really enjoyed the eggs and will definitely be making them again. Lunch was leftovers that reheated nicely. Bob finished the Island Chicken and I had some of the noodles left from yesterday's lunch. We are both still with the program.

I wanted to let you know a little about the folks for whom  SNAP is a reality rather than a one-week challenge. A lot of people assume that the benefits we stuff into a category collectively called "welfare", go to folks who are not working. That simply is not true. The minimum wage in the United States averages about $7.25 an hour. A minimum wage worker who does not miss a single day of work in the course of a year makes about $15,000 for his efforts. That is enough to keep a family of two above the federally defined poverty level, but when that family size increases to 3 or 4 that income drops well below the poverty line. For 2012, the Federal poverty guideline is an annual income of $23,050 for a family of four. When a person has a full-time job but his income falls below the poverty line, they are what sociologists call the working poor.

It is interesting to know that 76% of SNAP households include a child, an elderly person or an individual who is disabled. They are considered to be vulnerable households and they receive 83% of all SNAP benefits. Most folks who are temporarily unemployed, move out of the system within 3 to 9 months and 40% of SNAP beneficiaries live in households that have earnings which are their primary source of income. Only 10% of participants receive cash welfare.

It is important to know that fraud within the SNAP system is extremely low. With the introduction of the EBT cards, most opportunities for fraud have been removed, and an electronic trail now exists to facilitate tracing abuses in the system. According to a recent USDA analysis, SNAP reached a payment accuracy of 96.19% in 2012. While there will always be room for improvement, the integrity of the SNAP program is currently functioning at the highest level it has ever seen.

I'll wager I've fed you enough numbers for the day and that you want to see the menu and recipes that we actually used to keep hunger at bay on this second day of the challenge. So, without further ado....

                                                 Menu for SNAP Challenge Day Two 

                                                                     Breakfast 

                                                                  Orange Juice
                                                                      Coffee
                                                                       Toast
                                                 *   Eggs en Cocotte (Shirred Eggs)

                                                                        Lunch

                                                               Leftover Noodles
                                                 Leftover Island Chicken and Rice

                                                                        Dinner

                                            Small Chopped Salad with Boiled Dressing
                                 *  Creamy Potato Soup with Mixed Vegetables and Ham
                                                                       Croutons
                                                                   Corn Muffins

                      Creamy Potato Soup with Mixed Vegetables and Ham...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or margarine
2 cups chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 (8-ounce) baking potatoes peeled and cubed
4 cups milk
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups frozen mixed peas and carrots, thawed
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
Optional: 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces diced ham
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1) Heat oil in a 4 to 5-quart saucepan until it shimmers. Add onions and cook over moderate heat until limp and translucent, about10 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Add potatoes and cover with water. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and onion mixture, reserving liquid. Rinse saucepan.
2) Return potatoes to pan. Pour in 2 cups reserved potato water and 4 cups milk. Bring to a boil over moderate heat. Puree mixture using an immersion blender. Add celery, peas and carrot, corn, red pepper flakes, and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I have found that 2 to 3 teaspoons of salt and a teaspoon of pepper are not excessive.) Bring back to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add ham and Parmesan cheese and heat thru. Serve hot in large bowls. Yield 4 to 6 servings.

 
                                                                Eggs en Cocotte

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons butter or margarine + more for preparing ramekins
4 teaspoons Parmesan cheese, divided use
4 large eggs
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:
1) Preheat toaster oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 (6-ounce) ramekins with butter or margarine. Place 1 teaspoon margarine and 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese in bottom of each cup. Carefully crack two eggs into each ramekin. Season with salt and pepper. Top each ramekin with 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon milk. Place ramekins on toaster oven tray for ease in handling. Bake until whites are set, about 12 to 15 minutes for runny yolks, 15 to18 minutes for soft-cooked yolks or 20 minutes for hard-cooked yolks. Remove ramekins from oven and serve immediately. Yield: 2 servings.

One Year Ago Today: Pork Bourguignonne

Two Years Ago Today: Maple, Walnut and Fig Bread

Three Years Ago Today: Marinated Mushrooms

Swedish Christmas Ham + Dopp i Gryta

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...While it's called Christmas Ham, this lovely roast is perfect for any occasion when you have a crowd to feed. If you are planning to host a party for the New Year, you might want to consider adding this ham to your menu. While simple to prepare, ham can be tricky to serve because it can be dry. Not so, with hams made using this method favored by Marcus Jernmark, the chef at Aquavit in New York City. He recommends oven-poaching the ham in an aromatic soup before it is covered with a fabulous mustard glaze and toasted bread crumbs. You will need a ham that has been brined and lightly smoked (this is what you typically find when you ask the butcher for a ham), not a salt-cured "country ham." A brined, smoked ham is considered "partially cooked" and needs only to be heated to 135 to 140 degrees. Many of us have used this method and had uneven results. That's because we neglected a crucial final step and removed the ham from its broth before it had cooled to room temperature. As ham cooks, it loses its ability to hold on to liquid, but as it cools it starts to soak it in again. This simple step will make dry ham a thing of the past. In Sweden, the ham would typically be served with dishes made from other parts of the same pig. A favorite accompaniment would be headcheese. Hogs heads are difficult to find here, said she with tongue in cheek, so I served the ham with grainy mustard rather than headcheese. While rarely seen in the United States, another traditional accompaniment is dopp i gryta, or dip-in-the-pot. This is a fondue-like creation made from the strained and reduced broth in which the ham is poached. It is served with chunks of bread that are dipped into the pot and eaten like fondue. I'm told it's great with beer or aquavit. It's also further proof that peasant and farm kitchens let nothing go to waste. I do hope you'll give the ham a try. Here's the recipe for Swedish Christmas Ham.

Swedish Christmas Ham...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Marcus Jernmark and Saveur magazine

Ingredients:
Ham
1 brined and lightly smoked ham (6-9 lbs)
3 quarts boiling water
2 onions, peeled and speared with cloves
1 large carrot, chopped
Glaze
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon honey
1 shot espresso
1/2 cup mustard (preferably Swedish)
1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs

Directions:
1) To prepare ham: Set oven to 200 degrees F. Place ham in an oven-proof pot with the onions and carrot. Insert an oven-proof thermometer into thickest part of ham, and pour in water. Bake ham in water until thermometer reads 167 degrees F, about 2 hours. Remove from oven and cool ham to room temperature while still in pan and covered with water.
2) To prepare glaze: Stir together egg yolks, honey, espresso, and mustard. Increase oven temperature to 450. Gently lift ham out of its water bath and place it on a roasting pan, reserving cooking broth for dopp i gryta (see below). Carefully remove ham rind. Brush top of ham with glaze mixture, and then top with breadcrumbs. Bake ham until glaze becomes golden brown, about 8 minutes. Serve sliced, with more mustard for dipping.

Dopp i Gryta (Dip-in-the-Pot)

Ingredients:
Reserved ham broth
Aromatics to taste (fresh bay leaf, dill, parsley, etc.)
Good, crusty bread, cut or torn into bite-size pieces

Directions:
Strain vegetables and other solids from reserved ham broth. Pour broth into a stockpot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add aromatics and let mixture simmer uncovered for one hour, stirring occasionally until liquid is reduced; it should be rich and flavorful. Strain out aromatics and serve clear broth in a fondue pot or another serving vessel, accompanied by bread squares. To eat, spear bread squares with fondue sticks or forks and dip in the liquid.

One Year Ago Today: Individual Chocolate Souffles

Two Years Ago Today: Wilted Spinach Salad

Three Years Ago Today: Sugar Snap Peas with Sesame Seeds

Effortless Ham and White Bean Soup

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...When our fall rains begin, the sun moves behind banks of clouds and hibernates until prevailing spring winds blow away its cover. While it rarely gets truly cold here, the pervasive Pacific damp still chills the bones, and whets appetites that now need more substantial fare to satisfy them. Slow cookers come off the shelves, and soups and stews fill gaps left by the abandoned grills and salads of summer. The tempo of the kitchen and the aromas emanating from it change with the season. I have bread baking in my oven as we speak and I've just finished the first of my winter soups. You can't imagine how good my kitchen smells right now. I made an almost effortless bean soup that I found in Family Circle magazine. I've just had my first taste of it and I like it well enough to share with you. My version is not as thick as some. If you prefer a thicker soup, mash a portion of the beans until it reaches the consistency you like. While the beans for this soup soak overnight, the soup can be made in 15 minutes and the slow cooker does the rest of the work. This soup ages wonderfully well and, like almost all soups and stews, its flavor improves with time. If you are looking for a bean soup, I hope you'll give this one a try. Here's the recipe.

Ham and White Bean Soup - Slow Cooker...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Family Circle magazine

Ingredients:
1 pound dry cannellini beans
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can (14 1/2 ounces)stewed tomatoes
1-1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
8 ounces low-sodium ham, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Crusty bread (optional)
Fresh parsley (optional)

Directions:
1) Place beans in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to boiling, cover and turn off heat. Allow to soak overnight.
2) Coat slow cooker bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Drain beans and add to bowl. Add 4 cups water, onion, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and ham. Stir to combine, breaking up tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
3) Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours.
4) Season with salt and pepper; mash beans slightly to thicken soup. Serve with crusty bread and garnish with parsley, if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

One Year Ago Today: Cranberry Almond Coffee Cake

Two Years Ago Today: Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

Three Years Ago Today: Berry Patch Cake

Ham: Again and Again and Again - Pink Saturday

Photo Courtesy of Renee Comet

"Eternity is two people and a ham."



Glazed Ham Loaf



Scalloped Ham and Potatoes with Cheese

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Bob and I don't eat a lot of ham. There is just too much meat for us to handle, so we reserve it for an occasional company meal. I made a ham last week that, in its first iteration, fed eight adults. It also made pea soup, ham salad, scalloped ham and potatoes and a lovely glazed ham loaf. You all know how to roast and glaze a ham. I'm pretty sure you have your own version of pea soup and ham salad, so I wanted to share two other recipes that you can use to finish up the last bits of the feast. The scalloped potatoes are based on a recipe from my childhood, but the ham loaf comes from a deli near the campus of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Years ago, we dropped in to try their version of Pittsburgh's infamous ham barbecue and were struck by the number of people who were picking up a ground meat mixture from the meat counter. Never shy when it comes to food, I asked what it was. The deli mix was actually an unformed ham loaf that folks took home to bake and glaze. Of course I had to try it and it turned out to be surprising nice. Now unless you are from Pittsburgh, this will not be on the list of foods you request for your final meal. I think you will, however, be pleasantly surprised by how good this loaf actually is. It and the scalloped potatoes are really easy to do and I thought you might like the recipes for them. Here's how they're made.

Glazed Ham Loaf...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
Ham Loaf
1 pound ground baked ham
1 pound ground fresh pork
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Glaze
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sherry wine vinegar

Directions:
1) To make ham loaf: In a large mixing bowl, combine ground ham, ground pork, eggs, and milk in a large mixing bowl. Mix gently to incorporate ingredients. Add breadcrumbs, parsley and pepper and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Shape mixture into loaf form and put it on a pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
2) To make glaze: Combine brown sugar, dry mustard, ground cloves, water, and vinegar in a medium saucepan. Slowly cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Set aside.
3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place ham loaf in oven and bake for two hours, basting with glaze every 15 minutes after first hour of cooking. Remove loaf from oven. Mix remaining glaze with pan juices and serve with ham loaf. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Scalloped Ham and Potatoes with Cheese...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 large)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1-1/4 cups milk
4 cups (about 1 pound) thinly sliced potatoes
12 ounces cubed or shredded ham
1 cup shredded cheese (I use Monterey Jack)

Directions:
1) To make sauce: Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Add cheese and stir until melted. Set aside.
2) Place half of sliced potatoes in a greased 1-1/2 quart rectangular dish. Top with ham and half of sauce. Top with remaining half of potatoes and sauce.
3) Bake, covered, in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 to 50 minutes more or until potatoes are tender. Let stand, uncovered, for 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 4 to 5 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
How to Make Ham Stock and Recipe Ideas Using Ham Stock - Kalyn's Kitchen
Frugal Uses for Leftover Ham - Frugal Families
Ham Cheese and Paprika Muffins - Cook Sister
Doe Run Inn's Country Ham Balls - Courier Journal
Restaurant-Style Ham Fried Rice - Favorite Family Recipes
Ham and Split Pea Soup with Bacon - Food and Wine Blog

This post is being linked to:
Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.