Last minute Thanksgiving recipes comin’ at ya!

Yep. I decided (at the last minute) to celebrate Thanksgiving. Am I in the US? Nope. Am I from the US? Nope. Am I Canadian? Nope. Is there any cultural reason why I would be celebrating this Holiday? No, there is not. But the idea of a feast, the whole point of which is to celebrate feasting? That’s just too good an opportunity to pass up. And of course, I have a lot to be thankful for.

I am thankful that I found a recipe for bread rolls that takes 40 minutes (find it here). After a little tweaking, I learned that I could make it in 30 MINUTES, if I pulled my socks up. Yup, from putting the flour into the mixer to pulling hot bread out of the oven – 30 minutes. That made me really thankful.

From there, I decided to Parker House Roll-ify the recipe, and add in two of my favourite Holiday flavours, sage & onion. What I ended up with was a cross between a dinner roll, an onion bagel and brioche all suffused with the taste of stuffing.

These rolls are the best friend of every food on your Thanksgiving plate, and you don’t even know it yet! They were born to be dunked in a little gravy, or to mop up the last of the mashed potatoes, or just to fill the gaps in between bites of turkey and sweet potato.

And of course, if you have any leftovers (HA! ‘if’), these are a leftover sandwich waiting to happen. Look at them, they are like little pockets, desperate to be filled with turkey and stuffing and cranberry. It’s what they were born to do!

So let’s run through some likely scenarios.

Problem: your Great Aunt Myra was bringing her famous biscuits to thanksgiving, but now she can’t make it because of an emergency lip replacement.

Solution: 30 minute Sage & Onion Parker House Rolls

Problem: it’s Turkey Day, and you’re just running over the menu last minute when you realise that there is no-one bringing any biscuits, bread, rolls, and that the gravy on your plate will go undunked!

Solution: 30 minute Sage & Onion Parker House Rolls

Problem: the rosemary-scented sourdough wreaths that you’ve been working on for the last 3 days were forgotten in the oven and now they’re basically carbon.

Solution: 30 minute Sage & Onion Parker House Rolls.

Or, you might be like me and you literally only just then decided you wanted to be a part of Thanksgiving. Either way, the important thing to know is that all is not lost. You have a friend, an ally in the kitchen, and it is these rolls. They just won’t let you down.

As for my Thanksgiving, well, I couldn’t track down a turkey at late notice, so we’re having roast duck with glazed carrots, roast garlic mashed potatoes, these rolls, and green beans with almonds. It’s just me and my man-friend, and in all honesty, I am ridiculous-level excited. I can’t wait to see our families at Christmas, but a little Thanksgiving for two is going to be heaps of fun. I hope yours is fantastic too! How are you celebrating?

xx Sarah

30 Minute Sage and Onion Parker House Rolls

An original recipe by Sarah Coates for The Sugar Hit.

Makes 12

INGREDIENTS

150g (1 1/2 sticks) butter

2 tbsp chopped sage leaves (about 15 leaves of sage)

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tbsp + 1tsp dried instant yeast

2 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

1 egg

250ml (1 cup) warm water

1/2 onion, grated

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Place the butter and sage in a small pan and place on the stove to melt. Meanwhile, place all the remaining ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer, and begin to mix in low speed with the dough hook. By now the butter should be melted. Measure 1/3 cup of the butter-sage mixture and pour it into the dough. Continue to mix just until the dough comes together.

Remove the dough from the mixer and divide into 12 pieces. Flatten out each piece into an oval shape with your hands and brush liberally with the melted butter, before folding them each in half and placing them on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the buns with the remaining butter and leave to prove for 5 minutes. Once the proving time is up, bake the rolls for 10 minutes, rotating them halfway through. When they come out of the oven, brush any remaining butter over the tops of the rolls and serve!