1 karen mintzias
2 tbsp dry or cake yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cup milk, warm
3 tbsp sugar, -or-
5 tbsp sugar, if making koulourakia
3 tbsp butter, margarine or oil
3/4 tsp salt
7 cup all-purpose flour, unsifted
1 egg
TOPPING
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sesame seeds
Directions
Melt yeast in warm water. Set aside. Bring milk to
boil. Add sugar, butter and salt. Allow milk to cool
slightly.
Put flour in a large bowl leaving about a tablespoon
of it in the measuring cup for hands and make a hole
in the center. Pour liquid into it. Add yeast and
egg. Start mixing with spoon or paddle, pushing flour
from all sides into center. Dough will be sticky
until flour is absorbed. Begin kneading dough in the
bowl and then transfer it to a lightly floured board.
Continue kneading until dough is smooth and elastic,
about 20 minutes.
Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with towel
dampened with hot water. Set aside in a warm place to
rise until bulk has doubled, about 4 hours.
Punch down in the middle. Knead for a few minutes and
shape into a round loaf or into individual rolls (see
below). Using fingers, rub top with egg yolk and
sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place in greased baking
pans. Let rise once more, uncovered, in a warm place,
approximately 1 hour.
Bake in preheated oven at 375 F for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven; allow to cool 10 minutes before
removing bread from pan.
To Shape Traditional KOULOURA: Divide dough into 3
long ropes. Braid together. Place braid in a greased
tube pan or a large round baking pan. Stretch dough to
make ends meet. Use egg yolk to stick ends together.
To Shape KOULOURAKIA Rolls: Pinch off pieces of
dough. Roll on board with the palms of your hands to
make a rope 6" long. Twist it into a hairpin, coil
the ends around each other and stick the tips together
with a dab of egg yolk. Or coil it like a snake,
round and round; or roll into small round balls using
the palms of your hands. Do not flatten or press down
as you roll.
Source: The Complete Greek Cookbook - by Theresa Karas
Yianilos Avenel Books, New York
Typed for you by Karen Mintzias
Servings: 1 servings
Kouloura Rolls & Buns Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads
The History of Recipes
We are able to follow the history of meal recipes way back into distant history, certainly as far back as early Egypt, and maybe further still. In practice though, sadly, these ancient recipes were just basic hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for meal preparation.
During Roman times 25BC a roman called Apicius created a collection of documents showing how to cook the recipes prepared by wealthy roman citizens. In his publication, Apicius describes how the roman meals were separated into hors d`oeuvre, entrees and afters, something we still use today. Additionally, he describes how the chefs of Roman times were skilled in the use of many different spices, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens such as thyme, fennel and parsley. During the succeeding few centuries, the rich and powerful families of the West strove to lay on the most extravagent banquests, and consequentially the best chefs and their collection of recipes were much in demand. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the 1800s that cooking and recipe books rose to prominence. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to collating, testing, and recording popular recipes of the day. Like it or not, the introduction of TV gave us celebrity TV chefs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the internet revolution, allowing everybody to access massive numbers of recipes like those on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this Kouloura Rolls & Buns recipe.
