I Finally Tried This Recipe... "Spring Rolls"

I have been wanting to try this for quite some time and I finally pulled the time and ingredients together. I had originally posted this recipe back in August. I also baked instead of frying as this recipe suggested. I didn't use her filling recipe though. Instead, this is the recipe that I used for the filling.

I used rice paper for my spring rolls. METHOD:

-I dipped one piece of rice paper in warm water, holding under for about 5 seconds.

-I laid the softened piece of rice paper flat on a damp tea towel.

-I scooped about 3 tbsp. of filling onto the edge of the rice paper.

-Then I rolled it once, folded up the edges, and finished rolling in a log shape.

-Repeating until all the filling was gone, I then laid the finished rolls on a baking sheet, leaving a space between each one.

-I then brushed each roll liberally with olive oil.

-Bake at 450 degrees for about 30 min, or until browned and crisp. You may want to finish with the broiler for a few minutes to brown. I served them with a red sauce.

Everyone enjoyed them... even Wafe who is not usually veggie fan.

Cinnamon Roll Bread

I mentioned in the last post how I had been working with breads this last week. I used the Potato Bread from the last post to make a Cinnamon Roll Loaf that has received rave reviews by the family. It turned out soft and moist on the inside with a crusty outer crust. We always have a special brunch on Christmas morning and this year, I plan on serving this bread. :) It is, like most gluten free baking, best eaten fresh. Once it is a day old, warm in microwave.

First of all, I made a single loaf of potato bread, following the directions in this post. If you make the whole recipe, you will have two loaves: you can half the recipe to make one loaf...or you can make the whole recipe and have one plain loaf and one cinnamon roll loaf.

Next, I mixed the filling:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/4 cup rice flour
Use a fork to mix well and cut in the margarine.

Grease a pan to bake the bread in. I used a small oval roaster as it had a nice shape. If you use a loaf pan, use a large one - not the regular size as it will be too small.

Then lay out a tea towel that has a smooth grain (not waffled) and dust it liberally with tapioca starch.

Scrape the bread dough into a pile in the center of the tea towel. This is a very soft dough and it would be impossible to work with any other way.

With a spatula, spread the dough into a rectangle shape - about as wide as the length of your pan. I spread it about 3/4" thick. It may make it easier to keep dipping your spatula in water as you spread the dough to keep it from sticking.

Spread the cinnamon-sugar-raisin mixture over the dough, leaving about 2" at the end uncovered so it will seal after rolling the dough.

Now gently pick up the end of the towel opposite the end that you left the 2" plain. As you lift the towel, the dough will start rolling.

Keep lifting and rolling the dough until it is almost at the end. Then with one hand, pick up the bottom end of the towel, hold it over your greased pan and let the dough roll into the pan.

It should look something like this. I have made this bread three times and it rolled different every time - once tearing the dough a little... but in the end, it turned out fine and looked nice.

Let rise and bake according to the potato bread recipe instructions and ENJOY! The bread below was delicious, but the swirl was a little lopsided... my subsequent efforts turned out more even. ;) The last time I baked this, I iced the loaf which was nice.

Be sure to shake the tea towel outside to remove most of the starch before laundering. :)

Potato Bread

I did some experimenting over the past couple weeks with my basic bread recipe and this is what I came up with...

The step I added to the recipe was I first peeled, cubed &boiled a med-small potato in about 2 cups of water. When it was very tender, I dumped the potato and water into my blender and pured until smooth. I then added enough extra liquid to have the amount needed in the recipe, adjusting the temperature to have it right for the yeast.
I then mixed the bread according to the recipe, adding my potato water as the liquid. The result was light buns and lovely bread. It rose so high, had a fine texture, and a pleasant potato bread taste.

I found that I had to add a little more liquid with this method than I normally do. You will have to adjust the liquids in this recipe according to your altitude and air humidity (I live in a dry climate, at about 3,000 ft above sea level).

I'll Be Back...

I have been slow posting recipes this last couple weeks because of some family needs. Starting teaching school again, has of course taken extra energy but that is settling out.

The main challenge has been some problems with my pregnancy - it just has not been normal. Finally, on Monday last (at 22 weeks), the Dr. confirmed that our little one had died.

I had a D&C on Wednesday so I am still recovering from all this... both physically and emotionally.

Thank you for patience... I look forward to posting more recipes soon.

I had hoped to get up my Turkey dressing recipe as well as some other holiday recipes up in time for Canadian Thanksgiving, but they should be up in time for US Thanksgiving... or for sure by Christmas. :)

Jenny