November 30, 2008 - 3:33pm
Norm's Onion Rolls
I finally got the ingredients I needed to make Norm's onion rolls. I made them for Thanksgiving dinner and they turned out great. Everyone enjoyed them very much. These are the REAL THING! Thank you, Norm for the great recipe. I'll be making these regularly. And thanks to Eric Hanner for his detailed description, in his post, of how to make these rolls and the very helpful pictures.
Howard
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Don't forget that the same dough makes delicious kaiser rolls! Those are pretty terrific, too.
David
That's my next roll project, maybe later this week or the weekend. I was kidding Norm about watching the Kaiser roll shaping video in stop motion in order to see his secret thumb "extraction" trick. Now, I really am going to take another look or two at his Kaiser roll video :>)
Hang in there.
Howard
now you see it... now you don't
It made a yummy sandwich..no ? This one is on my to do list! If only I had enough time. Actually, no left over turkey. We packaged up the kids with the left overs. Turkey stock is made and frozen for when we get home. You can imagine how hard it was to smell that wonderful aroma and know that I couldn't have a nice big bowl of turkey noodle vegetable soup with a nice slice of bread and butter : (
Howard, take care not to "klop" your thumb! (is that the right term?)
Betty
Betty,
Actually, I enjoy the turkey leftovers as much as the dinner. Your soup idea sounds terrific. I was thinking...some thinly sliced corned beef on one of the onion rolls would go great with the soup.
Speaking of a nice slice of bread, at the same time I made the onion rolls I also made a couple of loaves of Hamelman's Vermont sourdough bread last week and it's a real winner. It's similar to Susan's delicious sourdough bread.
Incidentally, I'm going through the final rehearsals for the soon-to-open Kaiser roll act, practicing the "thumb extraction" trick. Got to watch Norm's video again...don't want to make the wrong move and end up getting a surly note from the Kaiser :>)
Howard
Yeah..I do like that version of sourdough, but I am still partial to Thom Leonards.
Take care with the thumb! Looking forward to your experience.
We'll be in Florida Wednesday. Gosh..no bread baking for almost 3 weeks.Then again, probably a good thing. I have way too much bread in the freezer. My friend, who is kitty/house sitting, was very happy to learn that there is a stash waiting for her!
Betty
I like the way you laid out your photos of these nicely done onion rolls. The crumb , browning, they look wonderful! I bought some very nice organic dryed onions in Jimbo's just for this recipe.... I think this one's on everyone's to do list...
Sylvia
Appreciate you kind words. Hard to believe we're almost into the next set of holidays. Jimbo's organic dried onions sound great. You'll probably get better flavor and quality than with the commercial supermarket grade. Be sure to let us know how it goes when you make the them. Also, you might take a look at Eric Hanner's post on Norm's onion rolls re: saving the soaking water and incorporating it into the dough. It gives the dough a nice flavor.
Howard
Howard, I just noticed you also make a double batch of Norms Onion Rolls...do you double the toppings in your recipe? My recipe I followed used 1/4 dried onions for the toppings...not enough for me...with the resent post/recipe...for nine roles it uses the same 1/4cup dried onions!! Just thought you might be doing the same as I did and maybe might like to double your toppings? I noticed this states for a double batch toppings! I quess I just love onions! I did use all the onion water...thanks for the suggestions. I also plan on drying some onions in my dehydrator...for the next batch.
Sylvia
Howard,
those look awesome! They are so versatile and good for everything!
E
Appreciate your complement. They are definitely good.
Howard
Howard you are going artsy on us. I like your display in the post. Those onion rolls are one of the best things I know how to make, thanks to Norm.
Good job Howard!
Eric
Actually, I started combining my pix into a collage in an effort to try to save Floyd some storage space on the old server. But because of the size limitation on a single picture (pixels) with the new system the individual photos that make up the collage come out too small. Anyway, in the future, I'm going to just reduce the pixel size and post them as half size seperate pictures in a single blog to get better size and resolution.
Incidentally, your detail instructions on the onion rolls were very helpful, and your suggestion to strain off and add the the soaking liquid from the onions to the dough mixture gave them great flavor. I like the shape of your rolls better than mine. Yours were slightly flatter and more like sandwich buns, which is the way I wanted the ones I did to turn out. Next time I'll flatten them out more.
Also, I have a quick question for you. after I finished baking it occured to me that maybe I should have tried using the under side of the shaped rolls, after they're pressed down (the side that touches the work surface during the 20 minute rest), which is more moist and sticky, to press into the onion mixture, and make that the top. My thought is more onion mixture would stick better to the moist underside. It seems like the top is drier after the 20 min rest and the underside is more tacky and the onion mixture would adhere to that side better. Any thoughts on that, and/or did you, by chance, try that?
Thanks,
Howard
Hi, Howard.
Mashing down firmly on the dough when you press it into the onion mixture may help yield flatter, less puffy rolls, but I think fully proofing them before baking is equally, if not more, important. You are trying to reduce oven spring by avoiding under-proofing.
Incidentally, since you are working up to trying the kaiser rolls, the same principle applies. In the kaiser roll case, you want just enough oven spring to open up the folds a bit. You don't want them to burst open.
You might want to read what Greenstein has to say about proofing kaiser rolls. He says that, in his bakery, they were allowed to triple or quadruple in volume. The reason to proof them to "only" double in size is that, when expanded beyond that, they are very delicate and require a very soft touch to transfer them to the oven without deflating them.
The last batch I made (my second), I proofed to double volume, and they were pretty delicate. Next time, I'm going to chance a longer proof and see what I get. BTW, Norm's video was extremely helpful. I "klopped" my rolls with fair results. I'm sure I'll improve with practice.
David
Appreciate the information. I was trying to make the onion rolls a little flatter, more like buns for sandwiches. As you recommended, I will press them down more when applying the onion mixture. One thing that occurred to me when I was applying the onion misture, is to apply it to the underside (the side that is touching the counter during the 20 minute rest) because it is more tacky and I think the mixture would adhere to that side better than the top, which is dryer. Have you tried doing it that way, and if so, did it work any better? I convinced you're right about the proofing. I should have let them proof longer. I'll do this when I make the Kaiser rolls in the near future and as you suggested, I'll allow them to at least double in volume.
I will also take your suggestion and read Greenstein's instructions on proofing the Kaiser rolls. I really like his book very much. I don't know if you have tried his Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread (page 119) but I made it a while back and thought it was really good and Charlene also liked it very much. It has a nice, firm texture and is quite good for breakfast and makes excellent toast. I must make it again, soon. I have several of his recipes tabbed for future baking. Now that things here have become less hectic here maybe I'll be able to get to make some new and different recipes. I really want to try his Bavarian Farmer Bread too, which is a light pumpernickel. Maybe I can do it over the holidays.
I saw your ficiles (sp.) that you made recently. I saw the post then couldn't find it again. I'm still getting used to the new TFL system. Anyway, I meant to let you know they looked great. It was the ones where you used the Anis baguette formula to make them. As always, you did a great job.
Regards,
Howard
Hi, Howard.
Thanks for the compliment on the ficelles!
Greenstein's verbal description of klopping kaiser rolls together with Norm's video makes a good lesson.
I haven't baked from Greenstein other than his ryes. I keep meaning to make more whole wheat pan loaves, since they are a favorite for toast. I'll keep the WW Oatmeal Bread in mind. Can you compare it to Hamelman's WW Oatmeal Bread?
David
David,
I haven't made Hamelman's WW Oatmeal Bread, so I can't offer a comparison.
Maybe the reason I couldn't find your ficelles, using the "search", is because I wasn't spelling it correctly :>)
I'll let you know how it goes when I make the Kaiser rolls. I have Norm's Kaiser roll video tagged in my "Favortes", so all I need now , as the Nike ad says, is to: "Do It".
Hang in there,
Howard