Sundays with Marlena Spieler-Onion Rolls and Hearty Salads

Beetroot with Fresh Mint-refreshing!
Tunisian Potato and Olive Salad...lusty!
We wait for the dough to rise...it smells heavenly
Top with more onion and poppy seeds and wait for another rise......
Ah...they are out of the oven. When I tasted one, I wanted a bierock! I wanted to stuff the inside with whatever they put in those bierocks. Sauerkraut, ground beef...???? These rolls rock! They are huge...great for a sandwich..where in the hell is the pastrami and mustard? Get me a sour pickle please.

Recipes below:

Onion Rolls [happily made by my sweet husband, Dave]

Ingredients: makes 12 - 14 rolls

1 TBS dry active yeast
1 TBS sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
2 TBS veggie oil
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 to 4 1/2 cups bread flour (see how dough feels..not too sticky)
2 onions chopped very finely
1 tsp poppy seeds

Mix together the yeast sugar and water in a mixer or food processor with a dough hook or dough blade. Sprinkle this mixture with a little dough then cover and leave for about 10 min or until bubbles appear on the surface.

Beat 1 tsp of salt, oil and one of the eggs into the mixture then gradually add the rest of the flour and then knead in mixer for about 8 minutes or so until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl. If dough is still sticky..add a bit more flour.

Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough in it and turn to coat. cover with dishtowel and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours or until it doubles.

turn dough out onto floured area and punch down...then knead for 4 minutes and then knead half of the onions into the dough. Form dough into egg-sized balls and then press down till about 1/2 inch thick. Put parchment paper on baking sheet and then place rolls on sheet. make sure they have room to rise.

Lightly beat the last egg and add about a TBS of water and a pinch of salt. push a slight indentation into each roll and then brush with the egg mixture. Sprinkle the remaining onions over rolls and then a bit of poppy seed over each one. Leave to rise again...don't cover..about 45 more minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake rolls for about 20 minutes..or until golden brown. Serve hot with a hearty salad or two ...and I would use some butter or cream cheese..some lox too! Oh, and some pickles.

Tunisian Potato and Olive Salad

Ingredients: Serves 4-6

8 large new potatoes
large pinch of salt
large pinch of sugar
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 or 2 TBS vinegar...I used rice wine vinegar but you can choose your own
large pinch of ground cumin or cumin seeds ...I used some toasted and ground cumin
pinch of hot paprika or cayenne..to taste
3 or 4 TBS of extra virgin olive oil
3 TBS of chopped fresh cilantro or chopped fresh parsley
10 - 15 dry-fleshed black Mediterranean olives (I didn't have any..so used Greek Kalamata..but a dry more wrinkled variety would be even better...which I guess is why Marlena suggests it).

Chop the potatoes into chunks and boil until just tender. Add the salt and sugar into the boiling water. Reduce and simmer until a knife slides easily into the potatoes. Don't overcook! About 10 minutes is all it takes. Drain into colander and leave to cool a bit.

Slice potatoes thinner if you like, then sprinkle the garlic, vinegar, cumin, and paprika or cayenne over the salad. Add the olive oil over the top and then the cilantro and olives. Mix gently and then chill.

Beetroot with Fresh Mint

Ingredients: Serves 4

4-6 cooked beets, medium (or buy them vacuum-packed at Trader Joe's)
2 tsp sugar
1 - 2 TBS decent balsamic vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 TBS of extra virgin olive oil
1 small bunch of mint leaves, rolled up and then cut crosswise very thinly
salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste

*you can make it Tunisian by adding harissa to taste and use cilantro instead of mint
*you can make it Ashkenazi by adding some finely chopped onion and some dill instead of the mint.

So our wonderful adventure continues...cooking thru Jewish Cooking by Marlena Spieler and learning all about their/my culture through food. Please be sure and check out my blogger buddies, Eileen at Just the Two of Us and Shankari at Sacramento Spice to see what they are offering up today!

Your feedback helps us. Don't be shy. My blogger buddy in Missouri made the onion rolls too..check out A Fridge Full of Food..and nothing to eat.