Mouth Watering Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

There is nothing like biting into a freshly baked homemade cinnamon roll. Soft pillowy clouds of buttery and cinnamony deliciousness that melt in your mouth. So, why wouldn't you make them at home from scratch every time? Simply put time. If you want to make these for breakfast you need to be up at 3am or serve them for dinner instead. Neither are good options for me.

A week or so ago my good friend and co conspirator in culinary mischief posted Alton Brown's recipe for overnight cinnamon rolls on my wall on Facebook. I was super stoked to see it and excited to get started. This has become my go to recipe it is so simple and epically delicious. You will look like a rockstar serving these at brunch.

I added strawberries to the rolls because I had them on hand and of course yum. Some other variations you might consider: pears, apples, peaches, pecans, berries and etc..etc..etc.. The sky is the limit. I recommend thinly slicing the fruit and in this case less is more as you want to be able to roll the dough tightly.

Baker's note: it is really worth the effort to use a scale to measure out the ingredients. Baking is a science and precision matters.  

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls 

FOR THE DOUGH

1. 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
2. 1 large whole egg, room temperature
3. 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
4. 6 tablespoons butter, melted
5. 1 teaspoon cold butter for lubricating baking dish
6. 3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
7. 15 ounces all-purpose flour divided into 10 ounces, 4 ounces and 1 ounce batches
8. 1 package rapid rise yeast, approximately 1/4 ounce ( if you don't have a packet you can weigh out 0.25oz it worked fine for me)
9. 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

FOR THE FILLING

1. 8 ounces light brown sugar
2. 1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
3. 1 teaspoon ground cardamon
4. 1 pint strawberries (washed, hulled and sliced) in a bowl and set aside
5. Pinch kosher salt
6. 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE FROSTING

1. 8oz cream cheese, cold
2. ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3. 1 cup powdered sugar
4. 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
5. 2 sliced strawberries (or use what is left over from the filling)

FOR THE DOUGH

1. Combine the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter and buttermilk in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk at medium speed.
2. As the mixture comes together add 10 ounces of the flour, along with the yeast and salt and continue whisking until combined.
3. Remove the whisk attachment and replace it with a dough hook. Add another 4 ounces of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. At this point the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. If it is sticky, add a bit more flour (one ounce at a time). Knead on low for another 5 minutes or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; and form dough into a smooth ball. Transfer to a large bowl that has been lightly lubed with the vegetable oil. Rotate the bowl so that the dough ball is evenly covered. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside until the dough doubles in volume, about 3 hours. (Exact times will vary depending on the temperature of the room and the temperature of the ingredients.)

FOR THE FILLING

1. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

TO ASSEMBLE

1. Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish with the cold butter.
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently shape into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Then use a rolling pin to shape into 18 by 12-inch rectangle.
3. Brush the dough with the the melted butter, leaving a 1-inch border along the top edge.
4. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the dough, also avoiding the top border.
5. Gently press the filling into the dough. (If you tend to have hot hands, you may want to cover the filling with a layer of plastic wrap first.)
6. Place the strawberries on top of the filling in a single layer
7. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough away from you into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness.
8. Using a serrated knife, gently cut the cylinder into 2-inch rolls; yielding 8 pieces.
9. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight, or up to 16 hours.

TO BAKE

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees F.
2. When the oven has reached 200 degrees F, turn it off and place the rolls in the turned-off oven. Let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy, about 30 minutes.
3. Without taking the rolls out of the oven, increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and let the rolls continue to bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F. Remove the rolls and let cool while you make the icing.

FOR THE FROSTING

1. Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl.
2. Using a hand mixer, beat until smooth.
3. Gradually add the butter 2 Tablespoons at a time, and continue beating until smooth and well blended.
4. Add strawberries, powdered sugar and vanilla all at once. Blend until just combined.

Adventures in brunching a tale of two restaurants

What do you do if you haven't seen your friends for a while and you miss them? You could call them, send a text or e-mail, write a letter (if you have their address) and even send smoke signals. However, if you live in San Francisco, the answer is brunch. Move over Rice A Roni because brunch is the San Francisco treat.

I was lucky enough to go to two brunches last weekend one on Saturday and the other Sunday. I have plans for Sunday brunch this week too! Usually brunch is synonymous with runny eggs, french toast, potatoes and bottomless mimosas. This story is about a completely different kind of brunch. 

Saturday Afternoon Brunch

Barrel Head Brewhouse 

1785 Fulton St. San Francisco, CA 94117

My friend S and I hadn't gotten together in months. We ran into each other at Central Coffee last Sunday and decided to catch up and have brunch on Saturday. We chose the brewhouse because we each ran late. It's in the neighborhood a short walk or stumble for us to get back home. She and I had brunched here over the summer and it was a mixed bag but we felt we could avoid the things we weren't jazzed about.We were pleasantly surprised to see the menu had been updated and there weren't any items we wanted to avoid.

So, S and I arrived at the pub at 4pm we were starving and discovered that the kitchen closes from 3 - 4:30. Our waitress offered to serve us some Poutine or french fries while we waited for the kitchen to open we declined and opted for a Saison instead.   A persimmon saison that was utter delight not too sweet not too sour delicious really worth a try even if you don't drink 'that kind of beer'. The beer menu is extensive, we got half pints so we could try more delicious libations. 

The food menu is succinct. We chose some small plates and a large plate to share. First, a half dozen oysters on the half shell. They were fresh, briny and sweet totally worthy of the investment but at $3 per oyster it's a bit spendy. After having two half pints of the persimmon saison I thought I'd  shake things up a bit and got a half pint of 'Fruitfly Framboise'. It's not your traditional framboise, usually they are super syrupy and sweet. The 'Fruitfly' is crisp and fresh with a hint of sweet and tart.

Next they brought out the pig trotters and crispy Brussels salad. The trotters are like a croquette crispy outside and tender on the inside they serve them with a drizzle of smoked honey, popcorn and pickled red onions. I'll admit the popcorn sounded odd but I was intrigued to see how they would incorporate it and it was a blissful accompaniment. Just a few kernals on the plate but together with the trotter and the onion it was epic. The Brussels salad was also very delicious the crunch from being roasted combined with the creme fraiche and apple cider was perfectly balanced. I am going to try and recreate this salad for Thanksgiving this year. That means lots of Brussels roasting and experimenting. Come over and lend a hand with the cooking or the eating if you can.

We ordered the Texicali brisket for our large plate it was served atop toasted white bread accompanied by BBQ sauce, house made pickles and coleslaw. Besides pickles being super tasty they are also really good for you and have been linked to longevity.  Even though it is pretty simple to pickle things I am always impressed with house made pickles and these pickles were no exception. the perfect bite from this plate consisted of a little piece of bread, a little bit of pickle, a small piece of meat and BBQ sauce. Truly so delicious it was worth writing about. 

There was no need for dessert and we each stumbled to our apartments sated with plans to brunch next Sunday. 

A couple of tips (pretty common sense) If you want traditional brunch fare they only serve it between 11am and 2pm and bottomless mimosas are served until 3pm. They have imaginative cocktails but this a Brew house so try the beer, cidre, saison and barley wine.

Sunday morning brunch

Picaro Tapas Restaurant

3120 16th Street (between Valencia and Guerrero)

My Daughter and I went to meet her Godfather J at Picaro for some good old fashioned catching up. I don't know about you but in my humblest of opinions there is no reason to spend time waiting in line for food. There are just too many great restaurants in this city. The amazing thing about this restaurant is that unlike on a Friday or Saturday night there was no line for brunch it was almost completely empty. It was a gorgeous day so we chose to eat al fresco. Picaro's patio is, without any exaggeration,  perfect. There are trellises with foliage a little bit of statuary and it is bright without the sun beating down on you. 

J put me in charge of ordering and I put together quite a feast for us. The oysters had been so good the other day I was craving more and here they are a mere $1. Unfortunately, they were out of oysters but they were certainly not out of their delicious sangria. Every hour at Picaro is a happy hour but, they have happy hour prices for sangria that last almost the whole day, making the hours of 11:30am to 7pm happier than most. During that time you can acquire a cup of sangria for $2.50 and a carafe for $10. We can't live on sangria alone though, paired with their bread and Romesco sauce, we'd be ok for a while.

Picaro's menu is pretty extensive but don't come looking for runny eggs or french toast. In addition to a carafe of sangria, we ordered chorizo salteado (little sausages), Patatas al aioli (roasted potatoes w/garlic mayo), Calamare fritto(fried calamari), Acietunas Rellenas de Anchoa (olives stuffed with anchovies) and Lobster Paella. It might sound like a lot but if A had had her share of paella it would have been perfect for the three of us. We opted for a seafood brunch but they do in fact serve plenty of vegetarian and meat dishes. 

This is a great place for a relaxed brunch and a great place to go with large groups. They have many small plates which are great to get when you have lots of folks to share with. They also have combo plates when you go alone or with a small group (and no one can agree on tapas).  

The moral of this entry is go where you haven't gone before or when you haven't gone before and try different and/or weird stuff. You just might like it. 

Budget friendly meal - Chile Verde Scramble

This is hands down one of my favorite lean times recipe. My mom learned how to make this from her third husband while we were living in Oakland. It was my favorite of the three soupy scrambles we learned to make. Serve this with homemade tortillas (or store bought if you prefer) and it is the very meaning of comfort food.This also makes one heck of a hangover brunch and can be multiplied to serve as many hungry folks as you have.

If you feel inclined you could make the chile verde sauce from scratch. When I am preparing this dish usually it is more important for it to be ready quickly than to be made from scratch. I'll admit it is worth the time if you have it.

What you'll need:

1 Jar salsa verde
5 large eggs
1/4 medium onion (whichever color you prefer)
1 large russet potato
1/2 package of Queso Fresco or Panela
2 TBSP Olive Oil

1. Peel and cube the potato set aside. Slice onion thinly and evely.Cube the queso fresco.

2. Heat the olive oil in a 12" non  stick skillet on high then reduce the heat to medium and add the potato. You want to get the potato golden on all sides this should take a couple of minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure  they brown evenly.

3. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs

4. Once the potato is golden add the onions. Saute until they are golden. Stirring to make sure everything is browned evenly.

5. Turn the heat up to high and just before the oil begins to smoke add the eggs slowly and from high above the  pan. Turn the heat to medium and stir gently. Allow the eggs to finish cooking.

6.  Add queso fresco and salsa verde. Until the salsa is heated through.

7. Turn off the heat and move the pan to a cool burner.

8. Heat tortillas and serve warm.

Serves two and a half