The Key is Experimentation!

Day 79.

Do you know how to come up with something fabulous in the kitchen? Don't be afraid to play with your recipes! I took a standard potato roll recipe and turned it into fabulous sandwich buns. I'm glad I was careful to remember what I put in them, because this recipe was a winner. I wanted a soft, flavorful roll to hold my BBQ Pulled Pork (recipe follows), and I wanted it to be different than your standard sandwich bun. I had some sweet potatoes that needed to be cooked. So I made sweet potato rolls. I wish I could hand you one right now to try. They're soft, and yeasty, and sweet, and salty, and buttery, and perfect.

You must make these. Right away.

Go. Make rolls!

Sweet Potato Sandwich Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of warm milk (I microwaved it for 1 minute, stirred, then microwaved it another minute and it was perfect. You want it warm to the touch, but not hot)
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk (use the white for something else)
• 3 Tbsp softened butter
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potato (about 2 sweet potatoes)
• 3 2/3 cups bread flour
• 2 Tbsp melted butter for finishing (use salted. It leaves wonderful grains of salt on the bread when it "dries".  Don't skip this step.)

How it's Done:

1. Proof your yeast: In your mixing bowl, combine warm milk, sugar, and yeast. Stir it up and then let it sit undisturbed for ten to twelve minutes. It should get bubbly and double in volume. (If it doesn't, don't proceed, because it means your yeast is dead. Go out and buy new, fresh yeast. Yeast should be used by the expiration date. If you buy it in a jar, use it within 6 months of opening.)
2. Stir in egg yolk, butter, and salt. Add mashed sweet potato and stir to combine.
3. Half a cup at a time, stir in your flour. If you're not using a stand mixer, a wooden spoon is the best tool for this job. Your dough will be slightly sticky when all the flour is stirred in.
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. You could also use your stand mixer for this job. By hand, it will take about 8 minutes.
5. Form the dough into a ball. Coat lightly with oil and place in a large mixing bowl. Cover gently and let rise until doubled in size. This will take anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes.
6. Punch down your dough. Divide it into 10 equal parts. Roll each piece into a rope. Roll cinnamon-roll style, pinching the end seam to seal. Place each on a cookie sheet that's been oiled and dusted with cornmeal. Cover loosely. Let rise again, until doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake rolls 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned.
8. Immediately upon removal from oven, brush rolls with melted butter.
9. Slice horizontally to serve.

Here's what I served inside mine:

...and here's how to make it:

Slow Cooker Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 3 lb boneless pork roast
• salt and pepper
• 1 bottle barbecue sauce (I recommend my homemade recipe)
• cole slaw
• sandwich rolls

How it's Done:

1. Sprinkle pork roast with salt and pepper.
2. In a slow cooker, combine roast and 1/4 cup water.
3. Cook on HIGH one hour, then on LOW 8 more hours.
4. Remove roast to a cutting board. Empty slow cooker of all liquid.
5. Shred roast using two large forks. Return meat to slow cooker.
6. Add barbecue sauce to slow cooker. Toss meat so that the sauce is well distributed.
7. Cook on HIGH one to two hours.
8. Serve barbecue on sandwich rolls with cole slaw on top of meat. The creaminess of the slaw and the spicy tang of the sauce complement each other very nicely.