GARLIC KNOTS

         

      I love these little goodies, popular in Italian restaurants, so delicious hot with butter and garlic all over them. But they actually are also good, in a more snacky way, left over. If you place them in a plastic bag to keep them, the garlic butter sort of melts more into the bread. They are still a bit messy and need a napkin. I do want to apologize for the quality of the photos in this article. Working with dough really requires two hands not one hand working while the other takes photos. Next time I will make dough while someone is here to help take pictures.

      This recipe takes about three hours but there is plenty of in-between time to be doing other things, like clean up and or preparing a meal. It will make 24 garlic knots. 

You will need:

ä   1 tbsp yeast. Or one package

ä   about ¼ cup very warm water

ä   1 tbsp flour

ä   1 tbsp sugar

    as well as:

ä   about 6 cloves of garlic

ä   two tsp garlic powder

ä   two sticks (1/2 lb) of butter or margarine

ä   about ¾ cup olive oil

    as well as:

ä   aprox 3 cups of flour,  plus more for kneading

ä   1 tsp salt

ä   2 tbsp sugar

ä   1 egg

ä   ½ cup milk

ä   ½ cup water

ä   3 tbsp butter or margarine

ä   3 tbsp olive oil

ä   2 tsp Italian seasoning

ä   dried parmesan cheese optional

     The first thing you want to do is make your “sponge” which should always be the first step when making yeast breads or rolls. Making the sponge gets your yeast started and also lets you know that the yeast is good. It “proofs” your yeast. Proofing can also refer to the rising of the dough when the sponge step is skipped. Many folks do just jump right into adding the yeast to the dough, but I prefer to check it and start it feeding on the sugar first as I have had my experience with not viable or killed yeast and had to knead some good yeast into the dough later,  and this is a real hassle plus you have wasted an hours rising time by the time you find our the yeast was bad.

     To make the sponge you will need a little glass dish, and yes it should be glass for a few reasons, not metal but clear so you can see from the side that the sponge is rising, and not plastic because plastic can have food residues in it even after washing that could hamper your yeast. To the dish add ¼ cup very warm but not hot water. Sprinkle your yeast over the surface of the water. Then do the same with the tbsp of sugar and that of flour. Let sit for just about a minute then with a fork blend all of this mixture well into a thick liquid. Set this aside to proof.

     Next you will work with the garlic. I use the garlic three ways to enhance the taste, one fresh, one toasted, and one powder. Peel 3 of your garlic cloves, leaving them in tact so you can slice them very thin as shown. On a small cookie sheet spray a bit of cooking spray and lay your slices around on it, lightly spray them and sprinkle lightly with salt and if you wish pepper. Place the cookie sheet in a 400° oven on a shelf in the upper portion of the oven. Toast them for five minutes then check. You want them to be just turning brown at the edges. When you can smell them they are just about right.  If you need more than five minutes check them each minute because they will turn from toasted to burnt really quickly. When they are done set them too cool. In the meantime crush the other three cloves, peel on, with the blade of your knife. This is for two reasons. One the peels then will come right off, and crushing them breaks cell walls releasing a stronger more peppery taste.   Garlic can be used in various ways to get different results, and I will talk more on that at another time.

     You now want to mince the peeled crushed garlic very, very fine and place in a little ramekin. Do this with a large chopping knife, chopping over and over the garlic in a little pile. Push the pile together again and turn your knife another way making chops crossways or diagonal from the others, and keep doing until it is like the photo. Then after putting the fresh into a ramekin, mince the toasted slices, now cooled, the same very small and place into another ramekin.

     Now you are ready to make your dough. If you have a mixer as shown then get the dough hook and attach and set the bowl in place. If not you will be doing this by hand in a large bowl at first with a whisk or pastry blender then with your hands. A large bowl will give you working room to work the dough with your hands. Add three cups of flour to the bowl. Add 1 tsp salt, and three tbsp of sugar to the flour and be sure to blend into the flour well. Add 1 of your tsp of garlic powder to the flour and 1 of the Italian seasoning.  And blend.

      In a two cup or more, microwave safe, measuring cup, place ½ cup of milk, the ½ cup of water the 3 tbsp butter and the 3 tbsp olive oil, and heat in the microwave about a minute. You want it warm but not hot. The butter should just be starting to melt on top. Set this aside for a sec to let the butter melt more.   

     Add to your mixing bowl the sponge you made which by now should be a bubbly semi solid glob, and you will see why it’s called a sponge. Blend it slightly into the flour mixture. Note: the reason the flour has to be blended with the salt and sugar before you add the yeast is because if yeast comes in contact with the pure salt, the salt will kill the yeast. Add the egg slightly beaten, and mix just a bit.  Add ½ of each of the ramekin of minced fresh garlic and the toasted garlic, saving ½ for later use. Now add the cup of milk/water and fats, and be blending into the dough the whole time. If you are doing this by hand this is where your pastry blender needs to be traded for just you hands. If in the mixer you can turn the speed up on the dough hook just a bit. This ratio of flour to liquids usually comes out about just right, keep mixing till the dough is incorporated and starts to pull away from the side of the bowl and combine into one form of dough. You want the dough to be formed but maybe just a bit sticky left, and rather soft If by chance, and it does happen depending on humidity, the dough seems too wet add a tad bit of flour at a time just until it forms well. If it seems just a bit dry add a few drips of warm water at a time until it pulls together well.

     If you did this by hand stop here and get the dough off of your fingers, and wash your hands off. Then on a floured board, no matter which method you used turn out the dough and pull it together kneading it a bit. The mixer will have provided some kneading but the hand method will require more kneading on the board. There is a technique to kneading bread dough. You want to flatten it slightly then take the end away from you and fold it towards you, then with the heel of your palm push the folded part down into the other with a motion that is pushing down and away from yourself.  I tried to photo this but it’s rather hard as it was just me here, with one hand to knead and one to photo.. Continue to turn your dough around and around doing this over and over. The dough after about 4 or 5 minutes, will start to feel differently, and hold together well.

 

     Then take the dough and make a big ball then push it down flat like a disk, turn the disk on its side and press it flat again, then roll into a ball and repeat,  do this over and over pressing the dough straight down in to itself.  Do this for about 2 or 3 minutes. Your dough should easily roll into a soft ball now and have sort of a dimply look to it and almost shiny. Grease a clean bowl and place your dough in it, then turn the dough over so all surfaces are greased. Cover it with wax paper. Most of the year when I was young we lived in an arid, dry climate so my Mom would always wet a cloth with as hot water as she could and place over the wax paper. Then cover all this with a towel and set it off somewhere where it will be warm but not disturbed so it can rise. It should rise for at least an hour. Take this time to clean up or such, but do keep your floured board  or surface as is and out as you will use it again. 

     After the dough has risen to about twice the amount, punch it down in the bowl, and turn it down on the floured board again, and knead slightly to pull it together. Roll it into a sort of log and cut the log into even thirds with a large knife or a cutter. Cut each third in half and then in quarters as shown. Roll each piece into a ball and make them as uniform in size as you can…if there seems to be a very small ball of dough take a bit of dough from one that seems too large and add the small one and re-roll both balls.…etc… you will have 12 balls of dough.  Now, as shown, roll each of the twelve balls into a snake about ½ to ¾ inch thick, and cut that exactly in half. Tie each snake piece into a knot and p[lace on a greased cookie sheet or better on parchment paper lining the cookie sheet.. always stager how you lay rolls on a sheet for baking as shown if they are all in rows they have less expansion room and don’t cook as well. 

     After all this is done and all the knots made, melt your 2 sticks of butter or margarine in a 16 oz glass measuring cup.  Cut them in one inch chunks and set in the microwave or in a small sauce pan… melt them JUST A BIT UNTIL THERE ARE STILL CHUNKS OF UNMELTED BUTTER IN THE CUP, AND JUST PART IS MELTED. You don’t want to melt them so far that the fat starts to separate out. Then take a fork or whisk and blend the rest into a smooth thick but just about pour able consistency. In this butter add the rest of your minced garlic, fresh and toasted. Add the other tsp of garlic powder and the other tsp of Italian seasoning. Blend this all well. And you may want to put just a tad of salt and some pepper your choice. 

     Brush all the knots with the butter mixture as shown with a pastry brush, but don’t put a whole lot on each as the butter will melt down the sides in the cooking and cause the bottoms and underneath to brown too much. Now let them rise undisturbed in a warm place for about another hour. If you wish you can gently lay some wax paper over each sheet of knots. When I’m cooking a large meal and making rolls, and especially if I have others around visiting, to let any rolls rise  while I cook other things, I always cover them lightly with wax paper and go set them on the washer and dryer in the laundry room. It’s completely out of the way, it’s warm and no one would be washing clothes at that time. …Just a hint that works for me and gives more usable space in the kitchen. 

     With the melted butter you have left, add to it as much olive oil as the amount of butter left…up to two cups. Mix it well and set this aside. After the rolls are all done you may want to warm it a bit if it’s gotten too hard or cold. 

      When it comes time to bake your knots heat the oven to 375° and bake them for about 20 minutes then check. They should be baked nicely though maybe not browned. but here if the bottoms are browning too much, take them out and position a shelf in the top most part of your oven and return them there to brown. They will probably need about 5 to 10 more minutes to brown, and you can turn the heat up to 400 to help this process but be checking them every few minutes. While they were baking get a large, ideally metal bowl to hold heat. As the rolls are done place a few at a time in the large metal bowl and pour a bit of the butter olive oil mixture on them. If you wish sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on them here as well.  Repeat until all the rolls are in the bowl and all the butter is used. You may even want to roll them gently with your hands over in the bowl to coat them. Serve immediately or cover with a bit of wax paper and a towel to keep warm until serving.

     These are great along side Italian food, or anything really. They are also great as hors d’oeuvres or an appetizer, maybe with some marinara sauce to dip.

  Blessings mes amis