A Belated Thanksgiving Report

RhumAndJerk

First of all, even though Thanksgiving was at my house I did not cook the turkey. That is the job of my wife’s grandmother and she does it well. I am in the gopher role for her and occasionally get to add a couple things to the pot. My contribution to the turkey was fresh ground Tellicherry Pepper and a pinch of cayenne in the gravy. The Grand Marnier poured over the turkey as it was cooking was her idea after she tasted a little. [p]One thing that I always make on Thanksgiving is batch of Parker House Rolls from scratch. I must have had Mr. Toads Pork loin on my mind, because the only creative thing that I could come up with stuffing some of rolls with raisins. Well at least that is how it started out. The night before I took some raisins, golden raisins, currents, chopped dates and chopped black mission figs and soaked them down with some Bacardi Dark Rum. I had some pecans so I dry roasted them in a cast iron skillet, chopped them up and added them in as well. I was going for sweetness not a sweet flavor. There was about a half of a cup total. I let mixture sit out all night. [p]In the morning, we made the rolls and thanks to help of the Kitchen Aid it was an easy process. When we were ready to actually form the rolls, I stuffed about a half teaspoon in the middle of each roll for about a dozen and a half. The other dozen and a half we left plain.[p]About the time we finished forming the rolls, my mother-in-law had the sweet potatoes boiled, peeled and cut ready to be candied. Now this is not a favorite of mine simply because they come out way too sweet. I took matters into my own hands. First of all the leftover rum soaked dried fruit and nut mixture was the first thing that got added to the pot. More raisins, golden raisins and currents followed this. We topped everything generously with dark brown sugar and stick of real butter. Then the Bacardi Dark Rum came back out and I think that I dumped about a cup of the stuff on. In the oven it went.[p]Which brings us to tonight, (whew…) the end of the leftovers. As we speak, my wife is completing a sweet potato pie with remains. I also get a homemade beef potpie to go with it. It should be a nice meal for a damp, dark and cold Ohio evening. It seems like a good night for Hot Buttered Rhum.[p]So how are things in your world?
RhumAndJerk

The Naked Whiz

RhumAndJerk,
Hooooeeee, I'd love to see those rolls!![p]TNW

RhumAndJerk

The Naked Whiz,
Parker House Rolls are semi-common recipe from the New England area for yeast rolls. The recipe was actually on the side of bag of Montana Sapphire Flour that I was using. Basically it is yeast dough then you roll it and cut it into rounds. You then have a roasting pan with a stick of melted butter and dip the rounds in the butter and fold them in half and line them up in the pan. Man do they come out good.[p]If you need me to post the recipe, let me know.
RhumAndJerk