Squash Pull-apart Dinner Rolls

Yield - Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm milk
• 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup puréed squash or canned pumpkin
• 5 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 2 teaspoons poppy or sesame seeds

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, combine milk with yeast, sugar, and salt. Let stand 5 minutes, then add egg and beat well to combine.

2. Add squash and shortening; mash with a fork until shortening is in small pieces. Add 1 1/2 cups flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. Gradually mix in more flour by the cupful until dough collects around spoon and pulls away from sides of bowl (you may not need all the flour).

3. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead 2 minutes. Put dough in a greased bowl; cover with a towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 400° and butter a large baking sheet. Punch dough down, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead until dough is smooth and supple, about 7 minutes. Cut dough into 4 balls; cut each ball into 6 pieces.

5. Roll each piece into a round and arrange rounds on baking sheet so they barely touch. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds; cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.

6. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool, then pull apart to serve.

Green Chile Panini

We had this last night with leftover pot roast.
Bread (we love sheepherder's bread)
The sauce I made last night was miracle whip with taco sauce stirred into it.
Cheese - we used leftover mozzarella but anything would be good
shredded pot roast
whole green chiles

Southwest Panini

This was really inspired by Rachel who described a sandwich she had at the Cannon Center.
1 Cup of Corn and Black Bean Salsa (Walmart has a great brand - sorry Rachel)
Drain it of all the excess tomato juice
Mix it with shredded chicken
You can either put shredded Mexican style cheese in with the salsa or put a spicy pepperjack on the bread.
In case anyone out there is new to the Panini world, the first thing you do is brush one side of the bread with olive oil. I place that on the grill (oil side down) and build the sandwich on the grill. I always put my sauce, and/or cheese first so that it can be melting while I build the rest of the sandwich on the grill. When all the other ingredients are on the sandwich top with the other slice of oiled bread - oil side out on top and grill.

Montana Panini

I actually got this recipe from a BYU website. They must make it at one of the restaurants. Here goes:

1 ripe Avocado
1 TBS ranch dressing
Slices of turkey
Pepperjack cheese
Crisp strips of bacon
Sliced tomatoes
Mash avocado and mix with the ranch dressing. Put this on the bread, next cheese, turkey, bacon and then sliced tomatoes. Grill. YUM!!!

Panini Night

Since I gave dad the greatest Father's day present ever - a panini maker - we have been LOVING!!! these sandwiches. We love them so much and since Sarah loves to have leftovers in her lunch we have designated Wednesday night as Panini Night. (We have long held Monday night as soup night - at least in the fall and winter.) I am always on the lookout for great Panini recipes. I'll include our latest three.

Outrageous Brownies

These brownies are from the Barefoot Contessa. They are truly delicious. They are made in a sheet pan so it makes a lot and they are delicious day after day if they last that long.

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 pound unsalted butter
• 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 6 extra-large eggs
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
• 2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups diced walnut pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

Zuchinni Fries

Last night for our St. Patrick's day dinner I decided to make Zuchinni fries. I love them at the Monrovian restaurant. I washed and cut off both ends of the zuchinni. I cut the zuchinni into 2-3 inch lengths. I cut that in half and then in half or thirds depending on the thickness of the zuchinni (length wise). I dipped those fries into a beaten egg - just enough to moisten and then into a mixture of seasoned bread crumbs and parmesian cheese. Then I put them in hot oil and fried them until they were golden brown. We served them with ranch dressing. They were fantastic.