Overnight guests gave me an excuse to cook an interesting breakfast and my significant other requested the roulades I had made for a get together in San Diego. Sara Moulton made them with Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese but the great thing about this recipe is that you can put anything inside.This is the third time I made them and was not worried because they came out both times. My secret weapon was silicon parchment paper, but this time I used Easy Release foil, and adjusted the recipe for medium eggs. Perhaps the earlier successes made me a little cocky and I rushed a bit. When I tried to do the rolling a lovely split showed up. A little extra cheese hid most of the damage but the spiral really didn't show up very well when they were cut. Today, instead of the ham and cheese I put in sausage and cheese. I also made a small one for a non-cheese eater. That one at least looked good.
Roulades:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1 1/4 cups whole milk, heated
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Filling:
2 cups coarsely grated cheddar cheese
3 ounces cooked breakfast sausage
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a buttered 15 by 10 (1-inch) jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper, dust with flour, and tap out the excess.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Increase the heat to high, whisk in the milk, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and whisk in the egg yolks 1 at a time. Season with the salt and pepper. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in the rest. Pour the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan and smooth gently with a metal spatula. Transfer to the oven and cook until golden and firm to the touch, about 15 minutes.
Increase the oven heat to 375 degrees F. Cover the egg sponge with a buttered piece of parchment paper, buttered side down. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and invert onto a work surface. Peel off the paper from the top.
Sprinkle the cheese over the sponge, leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides. Arrange the crumbled sausage and on top. Place a flat baking sheet next to the sponge. Starting with 1 of the longer sides, use the towel to help roll the sponge up jelly roll fashion. Carefully roll onto the baking sheet pan. Return the roulade to the upper third of the oven and bake until the cheese has melted, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a serrated knife to cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
I made biscuits too. The biscuit recipe I use is the result of a quest started by a challenge from my significant other. He remarked, after my first attempt at biscuits, that the best biscuits he ever ate were at the Homstead in Jacksonville Beach. I researched flour types and different recipes. I was about to order some White Lilly online when Alton Brown gave me some great clues in a biscuit episode. He suggested mixing cake flour with regular flour to get close to the kind of flour used in true southern biscuits. I tried about a dozen recipes before my S.O. proclaimed them satisfactory. Here's the winner, adapted from my good ol' Betty Crocker cookbook.
Baking Powder Biscuits1/4 cup shortening (I used Crisco sticks)
1/4 cup butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
Heat oven to 450. Cut shortening and butter into dry ingredients. I use a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the milk and pulse 2-3 times just until barely combined.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead very lightly turning about four times. Pat into a rectangle about 1 inch thick and cut into 8 large square biscuits. Brush with butter. Bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. (You may notice I forgot the butter today.)
