November 19, 2009 - 6:03am
Thanksgiving: Pls. give me some new ideas?
Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, and I am wondering what TFL-ers plan to bake for the holiday weekend?
Any special recommendations for old favorites or fresh new ideas?
I'm thinking of baking some old-fashioned soft white (southern style) dinner rolls, but have yet to choose a recipe (any thoughts?).
Then what else? Of course, a good sandwich bread for the day after?
And...there must be a few knock-out recipes you're going to try?
Let us know what you're planning!
Thanks! (gobble-gobble!)
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As usual, I have been assigned rolls and dessert for Thanksgiving. I am planning rolls made from the Hokkaido Milk Bread recipe, as it it soft and light and a bit sweet. For dessert I am planning to make the hazelnut chocolate tarts from "The Pastry Queen" by Rebecca Rather. I've made those before, and they are fabulous.
Sally
This year we are traveling to visit family instead of hosting here, but if Floyd doesn't make his famous sweet potato rolls I think that would make me cry. Those are seriously the best thing ever.
I'm making Mark's rolls. They're great!
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/9780/mark-sinclair039s-portuguese-sweet-bread-and-rolls
wonderful "gravy sopping" goodness about them. That buttery soft pillow of yeast roll deliciousness! I make many but they are the Holiday favorite.
Audra
I just found this recipe. Have not made it before but doesn't this sound great ?
http://pinchmysalt.com/2008/11/18/holiday-recipes-with-a-twist-sourdough-stuffing-with-apples-and-bacon/
I prefer to bake, bake, bake, but my sisters also like to bake, and so along with the requisite stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc., our Tday fest can be rather heavy on the sugar and starches when you add the assortment of desserts, quick and yeasted breads we love to bake. I'm trying instead to think green, but in my recipe search, I came upon a recipe for pumpkin crescent rolls, that are just begging me to try them out. And if my sister wasn't bringing the family favorite Pumpkin Gingerbread, I'd be making Ocean Spray's Cranberry Nut Bread---the recipe's on the bag, and it's very good.
Happy baking to everyone!
-dw
P.S. For leftover turkey, stuffing bread makes nice sandwiches:
Click here: Turkey Stuffing Bread: King Arthur Flour
Click here: Stuffing Bread: King Arthur Flour
Thanks, Debbie, for these links. Both recipes look real good.
--Pamela
I just thought of another bread that is great for sandwiches---Reinhart's Struan. Especially the version from Crust and Crumb:
Another great idea, Debbie. And Struan is one of the easiest breads to make.
--Pamela
I was going to make sourdough dinner rolls but I think I'll do them for another occasion. This Thanksgiving I'm going to try something different and bake Sourdough Sticks. The formula is here.
I'm making dinner rolls from scratch too but I'm looking for the old-fashioned very light fluffy white roll recipe. (Any recommendations on this?)
Most of the roll recipes I'm googling seem have lots of butter. In fact, for a trial run I made 'Parker House Rolls' last night for a birthday dinner using a Cook's Illustrated recipe and they were too rich (one stick of butter to 4 cups flour) for the heavy roast beef dinner.
We also made quick puff pastry for a small wheel of Brie and that appetizer turned out beautifully (but again too rich for TG.) Although, come to think of it, the puff pastry might make interesting 'bread sticks'. (I'm trying to master various puff pastry recipes because I think it is such a beautiful way to add interest to a lot of menus. And not so hard as some baker's say)
I looked up the apple stuffing links you provided and it does look delish! And the KA stuffing bread is an interesting concept. (I just sent my husband out to buy more flour to make the bread for stuffing.)
We're (daughter and I) making a pumpkin pie (and BTW I read in 'Cook's Illustrated' that if you substitute a cup or so of sweet potato for the pumpkin your pie will have much better flavor). Also pecan and a pear tart.
I am going to try to make the cranberry pecan sticky buns that I think are posted on TFL for next weekend (house guests are staying for a while so lots of chances to try recipes!)
Then back on South Beach Diet after that!
Gobble-Gobble to you too! J.
Here is how I made dinner rolls last year. Everyone said they were just as good as the white fluffy ones from the store. http://sourdough.com/recipes/dinner-rolls-croc#comment-11369
Norm's Double Knotted Rolls are some of the best rolls I've every eaten. They would be delicious with Thanksgiving dinner, but they are spectacular for making sandwiches with the leftover turkey.
And Naomi thought they were pretty good with PB&J, too.
David
Looks real delicious, David. Great idea. Great pictures too. --Pamela
that sandwich is making me really look forward to turkey leftovers! What a good bread model you have there! Naomi is a doll!
Audra
and give that child a hug!
Betty
The rolls are long gone. I'd make them again, if I would be home for Thanksgiving this year, but they stale quickly. See my Thanksgiving bread baking for this year in my TFL blog.
Hugging the girl child is definitely on the menu for this year, though! I'm taking hugs for her little sister - born a couple weeks after last Thanksgiving - too.
David
My family prefers very traditional rolls. We always make a lot so there are plenty left over for turkey sandwiches.
I only have one on the smallish side oven so timing gets pretty tight with all the various dishes. A couple of years ago I tried these rolls from Cook's Illustrated. We all thought they were pretty good.
--Pamela
MAKE-AHEAD RICH AND TENDER AMERICAN DINNER ROLLS
Makes about 2 dozen triangular rolls. Published November 1, 2007.
To ensure the softest, most tender rolls, avoid flouring the work surface during hand kneading; if necessary, flour your hands instead. The flour that you use to dust the work surface during shaping stays on the surface of the dough and is meant to give the rolls a soft, delicate look. The dough is best made in a standing mixer; there is too large a quantity of soft dough for a food processor, and it is difficult to make by hand.
INGREDIENTS1. Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Once oven reaches 200 degrees, maintain oven temperature 10 minutes, then turn off oven heat.
2. Microwave milk and sugar in microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl at full power until warm (about 95 degrees). (Alternatively, heat milk and sugar in small saucepan over medium heat until warm; remove from heat.) Whisk to dissolve sugar. Sprinkle yeast over surface of liquid, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside for 10 minutes to soften yeast. Whisk egg into milk mixture, dissolving yeast.
3. Combine flour and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment; mix on lowest speed to blend, about 15 seconds. With mixer running, add milk mixture in steady stream; mix on low speed until flour is just moistened, about 1 minute. With mixer running, add butter one piece at a time; increase speed to medium and beat until combined and dough is scrappy, about 2 minutes. Replace paddle with dough hook and knead dough until smooth but still sticky, about 4 minutes. Scrape dough out onto work surface. Knead by hand until very smooth and soft but no longer sticky, about 1 minute; do not add more flour. Transfer dough to large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in warm oven until dough doubles in bulk, about 45 minutes.
4. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Punch down dough, replace plastic wrap, and let dough rest 5 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface and follow illustrations 1 through 8 (below) to shape and cut into triangles. Transfer rolls to baking sheets, then cover each with clean kitchen towels and let rise until almost doubled in bulk, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove towels and (without pressing on the rolls) wrap baking sheets tightly with greased plastic wrap. Freeze rolls until solid, about 6 hours; transfer to large zipper-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
5. When ready to bake rolls, adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 375 degrees. Place frozen rolls on 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets; let stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating baking sheets front to back and switching positions from top to bottom halfway through baking time. Transfer rolls immediately to wire rack; cool 5 minutes and serve.
Your pic of your rolls being devoured is precious! That must be a really good recipe!
Lot's of good-looking roll recipes have been listed here since I looked last~~thanks for all the ideas. I'll certainly be able to try each one during the holiday season since we have lots of dinners to cook for in the next six weeks~~3 birthdays, our anniversary, not to mention TG and Xmas (and we're having a St. Nicholas party Dec. 6 for our nieces ~6 of them) too. Better get baking! I wonder if there are any roll recipes in the South Beach Diet book? I seriously doubt it! )-:
Thanks for posting the Cook's Illustrated recipe. That one is very similar to the CI roll recipe I baked last Thursday which every one at our house liked too. Very delicious (but not for calorie counters!). The CI recipe I followed didn't talk about how to freeze them and that's what I want to do too.
My daughter showed me Nigella Lawson's 'Quick Puff Pastry' recipe from her 'Domestic Goddess' book and we're going to make and freeze that today for pear tarts and such next weekend. And we're baking the 'stuffing bread' frm the KA link, too, today.
It's fun to have our daughter (23) and our son (28) baking and cooking with us this year!
We are traveling to Florida this year to spend Thanksgiving with my father in law. I'm going to make these KA rolls to take, http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/soft-white-dinner-rolls-recipe
I think I can pull it off. If anybody has made them and discovered somethng hideously wrong, please let me know.
In my family the bread component for the dressing was about 95% cornbread and the rest biscuits. My mom would start saving leftovers in the freezer a couple of months ahead and then make a big pan of cornbread to fill it out the week before. She might add a hamburger bun or two if it looked skimpy but no more "light bread" than that was allowed.
Good broth, celery, onion, salt and pepper were the only other ingredients, no sage allowed. The only thing I do different is to saute the onion and celery in butter before adding, mom just added it to the broth to cook a little.
One thing that always distressed me about Thanksgiving dinner was that my mom felt the dressing served as the "bread" so we had no other bread. : (
So sorry to hear about that critical TG menu omission during your childhood, Ken!
I have been studying the KA yeast roll selection too, trying to decide which ones were the best to try. I noticed they had two 'soft dinner roll' choices, the one you linked had 4 1/2 stars and the other one had a full 5 stars. I don't know what the differences are between the two (didn't compare them closely).
I hope your roll baking plan works out. Will you be freezing the dough and then baking them off at your father-in-laws?
KA has been featuring the recipe I linked to heavily so I figure it must be near fool-proof.
I'm going to bake them (slightly underdone) Monday or Tuesday evening and pop them in the freezer. They can thaw on the drive down Thursday. This is a new deal for me but based on prior experience it will be chaos there. Worst case scenario; I can take my bag o' rolls and go hide somewhere to eat them.
"They can thaw on the drive down Thursday. This is a new deal for me but based on prior experience it will be chaos there."
I'm expecting the same chaos with my family, so I baked rolls yesterday, and froze them as soon as they cooled. They'll thaw on the drive to my sister's, and if there is space in the oven, I'll reheat them there. If not, then they'll be fine at room temperature. Now I need to come up with a vegetable...
We live in Switzerland and Thanksgiving is not celebrated here although I have still invited friends. Since it is on Thrusday, a working day here, it has to be an evening meal.
For a first dish we will have a mixture of wild mushrooms sautéed with herbs. Getting turkey is not possible in the Alps so we are having venison grilled over wood coals with chestnut fettuccine. A selection of French cheeses with Engadiner Fladenbrot. It is very thin and mostly crust. It is absolutely delicious. We will also have pecan pie and cartalatta cookies for dessert. We will pair this with a selection of wines from Cina Winery in the Valais Switzerland. Cina is a very small vinter with a small production only sold here aand produces beautiful wines.
I guess it is not the typical American Thanksgiving, which I really miss. We do the best with the ingredients we can get and try to make it seem like Thanksgiving. I do get Ocean Spray crandberries for about 2 weeks and will make crandberry sauce which we will have wit the cheese.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I'll be thinking of all that stuffed turkey and pumpkin pie.
as we speak ;) How I miss venison. (transplanted German here).
Have a wonderful holiday !
Anna
Thanks Anna, you too. I'm a transplanted American in Switzerland. We had a company in Bavaria and lived two weeks per month at a small hotel in the countryside. Absolutely beautiful! They had a butcher shop and had venison year round. The chef was very well known, the real reason why we stayed there, had some fantastic meals. But I have to give it to the German's, they have some of the best bread.
Thanks for the greetings.
Patricia
turosdolci~~ a lovely European twist to our traditional American 'harvest dinner'.
Reminds me of when we lived in the UK many years ago and would drive out to Chef Robert Carrier's (who was an expatriot american) country house inn to dine on venison and partridges on TG. I don't know if he's still around these days but we have fond memories of his special TG menus for homesick Americans.
Anna, you must visit Cincinnati if you are a little homesick for Germany. Today we went over to one of the big German clubs here for their Chriskindle (?) festival. Lots of good German food there~~pretzels, stollen, pastries, and all the savouries. Didn't see venison, but everyone seems to have plenty of it around from hunting season.
Must get busy on my baking. (-:
I googled for thanksgiving dinner roll recipes and happily my old TG thread from 2009 came up--what lovely recommendations and Thanksgiving thoughts and remembrances from Fresh Loaf subscribers to look back on. They made me smile.
I'm in the throws of menu planning again (so much fun!) and am once again searching for a light and yummy dinner roll recipe. Some have recommended the "Lyon House" Roll recipe from a banquet hall and restaurant in Utah and it sounds like a keeper. Has anyone tried it?
Here's a link to a blog by a L.H. roll fan complete with freezing instructions that I thought might be worth trying:
http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2010/05/legendary-lion-house-rolls-potluck.html
and I want to share this cute video from the Head Baker at The Lyon House. She demonstrates how she forms perfect Lyon House rolls with a quick stretch and flip technique: http://templesquarehospitality.com/lionhouse/bakery/videos.php
Any more thoughts on baking for Thanksgiving? There are always so many creative bakers here on TFL so please share!
J.