We saw an interesting way to cook spaghetti, yesterday, on Milk Street TV… I suggested that Victor make it for dinner, tonight – that shall be a later post.
My contribution to dinner is a variation of a corn roll I found on La Cucina Italiana…
Their recipe was a soft roll. I wanted a crusty-crunchy roll. I played, a bit…
The original recipe called for corn flour. I have two – a white corn flour and a stone-ground yellow corn. My first thought said soft interior=the white corn. The white, however, does not have as much actual corn flavor. I never buy white corn anything if I can help it…
Anyway… I went with the white and did, indeed, have a beautifully-soft crumb. I also wanted a crusty crust, so I omitted the oil in the recipe, used 200 g 00 Flour, 100 g Bread Flour, and 100 g White Corn Flour, added more water to the dough and autolyzed for 20 minutes, – the three different flours do absorb water differently, so this is a good step. I baked at 425°F for 30 minutes on a baking stone with a steam pan in the oven. I also Nothing like following a recipe, eh?!?
Corn Rolls
the La Cucina Italiana recipe before I started playing:
Ingredients
- 300 g special (00/AP) flour
- 100 g fine corn flour
- 20 g brewer’s yeast
- extra virgin olive oil
- fine salt
Directions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the two flours with the yeast dissolved in 220 grams of warm water, a tablespoon of oil, and a pinch of salt. Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment until the dough becomes smooth.
Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise for an hour in a warm place. Then transfer it to a pastry board, knead it briefly to deflate it, and finally divide it into 16 portions and shape them into buns.
Place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, make two crosswise cuts, and let them rise, covered with the same damp towel, for about 40 minutes. Sprinkle with water (to keep the crust soft during baking) and bake at 180°C for about 35 minutes.
No idea what the original tastes like, but my adapted version is pretty good!
Oh… I also only made 12 rolls – not 16. 12 fits better on my baking stone…
Next time I make these, I’ll go with the stone-ground yellow corn and see how they differ. I figure they’ll be good no matter what…
