Conversation Rolls (with wild onion!)
Fluffy, buttery rolls with a delicious herbal garlic flavor are all dressed up for the feast! They’re not empty-handed, though: they’ve also got a fun activity rolled right into them.
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I was in the middle of a first date, comfortably lounging on a picnic blanket and listening to my picnic partner talk when I suddenly realized that the blade of grass I had been absentmindedly twirling around my fingers smelled of onion. I leapt up, startling the poor gal in mid-sentence, and exclaimed “Oh my goodness, a wild onion patch!! That’s so exciting!” In my enthusiasm, I had completely forgotten my manners and I apologized sheepishly while she laughed. In retrospect, the wild onions have had much more staying power in my life than the date… we just didn’t click, but I go visit my allium friends just about every season. In the spring, I find tender greens perfect for adding flavor to soups and salads; the summer gives lovely blossoms to garnish anything savory, and in the fall and winter, I gather the bulblets for my own flavorful onion/garlic powder to add to anything that needs a boost. It’s particularly marvelous in soft, buttery bread rolls, which of course I decorate with some of nature’s gems and fill with a little surprise.
Here’s the cool thing about wild garlic and onions: if it looks like an onion AND smells like an onion, you can eat it. There are toxic look-alikes, but none have that distinctive onion or garlic fragrance. Rather than digging up the bulb and killing the plant, I like to wait until the flowers mature into bulblets in the fall, which are the way that Allium canadense spreads its seed! Each little bulblet has a strong flavor, like a tiny garlic clove. They are easy to harvest and so much fun to bake into bread.
There is something so exciting to me about finding surprises in my food. I love reading about various traditions all over the world where things are tucked away in special or not-so-special meals, from the lucky almond in Norwegian Yule rice pudding to the sometimes-hilarious fortunes inside fortune cookies at take-out Chinese restaurants. Why not create your own fun holiday tradition around this idea? I present to you: soft, buttery dinner rolls containing a surprise to enjoy, all dressed up for the feast. These aren’t just harboring a little trinket, though, they offer the gift of conversation. Inside each roll is a question designed to promote an interesting discussion. Get to know your family members better! And better yet, once Uncle George goes off on yet another political ramble at the Thanksgiving table, hand him a roll and change the topic of conversation to something everyone can enjoy. Ah, now isn’t *that* magical?
This recipe is based off of my mom’s famous potato rolls, but I’ve dressed them up a bit with some parsley, pomegranate, and wild onion. If you don’t want to take the time to decorate them like I did, that’s fine! They still taste absolutely delightful. Below I’ve included some suggestions for questions to include, but get creative and brainstorm some of your own if you’d like!
Ingredients:
1 small potato
1 Tbs. active dry yeast
¼ c. sugar
1 tsp. Salt
¼ c. butter
1 egg
3 - 3 ½ c. flour
2 tsp. Wild onion powder
1 tsp. Dried thyme
1 Tbs. Dried nettle leaves, ground
To decorate:
1 egg
Flat leaf parsley
Wild onion bulblets
Fresh pomegranate seeds
Directions:
Peel, chunk, and boil the potato in a couple of cups of water until soft. Meanwhile, add the yeast to ¼ c. lukewarm water.
Let the potato cool, then add to a blender with ½ c. of the water it was cooked in, the sugar, salt, butter, and egg. Mix until smooth, then pour into the bowl of a stand mixer.
Make sure the mixture is lukewarm (not hot) and add the yeast water.
Add half of the flour and blend on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until nice and stretchy. Add the rest of the flour, the wild onion powder, dried thyme, and dried nettle leaves and mix well. Knead for a couple of minutes - the dough should stretch and then tear.
Cover the dough and put it in the fridge to rise until double (about 2 hours), then punch down. Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, or use immediately.
Divide the dough into 15-18 even pieces and keep the rest covered while you shape each one. Roll one piece into a ball, then flatten into a disc. Place the conversation paper in the center and pinch the roll up around it. Pinch the bottom closed and set the roll aside, covered, while you repeat the process with the rest of the rolls.
Let the rolls rise until doubled, about half an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400F.
Mix the egg with about 1 tsp of water and beat until smooth. Using a clean pastry brush, brush the tops of the rolls with the egg wash. Place parsley leaves on top and brush more egg wash over the top. Stud the rolls with wild garlic bulblets.
Bake for 9 minutes, then take them out of the oven. Working quickly, poke a few holes in the top of each roll with the end of a chopstick and insert a pomegranate seed into each. Quickly brush one more layer of egg wash over the top, then bake for another 3-5 minutes, until golden. Let cool slightly before serving.
Conversation Suggestions:
If you could turn into any cryptid, which would you choose?
What is something you do when nobody is watching?
If you could forever be changed into any magical creature, which would you choose?
If you could time travel, when would you go, and why?
What is your favorite smell, and what memories does it conjure?
When was a time you felt proud of yourself?
How did you spend your free time as a kid?
What do you think your 8-year-old self would think of you now?
When was the first time you realized you love yourself?
What was the best day of your life (so far)?
What was the first music album you purchased?
What was the best piece of advice you ever got?
What is the best mistake you ever made?
What do you daydream about most often?
What is your favorite story about yourself?
Can people change? Why or why not?
What do you value more in a person? Their intention or their action?
Do you believe in the concept of soulmates?
What’s the biggest decision you’ve ever made so far?
Can you love someone without respecting them? Why or why not?
If you could visit your past self, what age would you visit and what would you do or say?
What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?
What is something you are obsessed with?
What does “self care” mean to you?
When is the last time you laughed until you cried?
Where is your favorite place in the world?
What is “home” to you?
What is something people are surprised to learn about you?
What superpower do you wish you could have?
What is the best holiday? The worst?
What hobby do you wish you had more time for?
When do you feel the most creative?
What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
What’s the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
If you could do anything illegal without getting in trouble, what would you do?
If you were famous for something, what would it be?
If you had to pick a fictional character who is most similar to you, who would you choose? Why?
If you were an animal, what kind would you be? Why?
What was your worst fashion disaster?
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Join me for a little winter night magic as we bake this cake full of rich seasonal flavors and black cocoa!