Sunday, July 05, 2009

Baking the Bookmark: Carrot Herb Rolls

The thrill of looking at new posts on the blog aggregator and the ceremonial bookmarking of recipes that catch my eye- these are my small pleasures in life, a happy way to spend some time in the wee morning hours as I sip my first cup of chai for the day.

I took some time to browse through my folder of bookmarked recipes recently, and stopped counting at 550! I'm only glad this is a virtual folder or I would have no space to put it. The first bookmarked recipe in my folder is this one, from August 2007 and the last is this one, from just a few minutes ago. So now I am a girl on a mission, to cook and bake through my bookmarks, to actually try out the recipes that I loved enough to want to save for another day. This way, I will either love the recipe and will have tried something new and good, or I'll just delete the bookmark and get on with my life.

I'm kicking off Project Bookmark with these Carrot Herb Rolls. Actually, many posts on that blog are worth bookmarking- gorgeous breads, useful baking tips- but these rolls caught my eye because carrots are a staple in my fridge and I was intrigued by the idea of these pretty yellow-tinged rolls. This is the first time I baked bread in months- I've been too busy most of this year. Plus, living right around the corner from a wonderful bakery where I can buy quality bread whenever I please only added to my lethargy. But the bags of flour stuffed in the freezer were mocking me, and I'm glad I tried this recipe, because it gave me fantastic results.

My only modification- I used cilantro instead of all the herbs specified in the recipe. Well, I made other inadvertent modifications such as not letting the flours from the freezer come to room temperature, so that when I added the melted butter, it solidified in clumps. Etc. Sigh. My point is that it is a forgiving recipe.

The dough puffed up very obligingly during the first rise:
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And was quickly deflated with a few sharp punches...
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I brushed the rolls with salt water before baking them, as suggested in the recipe. Here are my (ahem) rustic rolls, just out of the oven.
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We enjoyed them as part of a light impromptu supper, using them to make sandwiches with pesto (left over from the pasta salad) and onion-green pepper omelets. I was completely delighted by the crunchy crust and soft inside of the rolls.
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I put the remaining rolls in the freezer. Last night, we reheated them in the toasted oven (straight from the freezer) to use as burger buns and they were as good as new.

I'm sending these rolls to YeastSpotting.
"YeastSpotting is a weekly showcase of yeasted baked goods and dishes with bread as a main ingredient".

I have spent many happy moments ogling at beautiful baked creations, thanks to YeastSpotting, and it is my first time participating in this event.

Do you regularly bookmark recipes from blogs and websites? Do you just collect them or get around to trying them out? What's the last recipe you bookmarked and why? I'm just curious...

37 comments:

  1. The rolls look fantastic, Nupur, and what a great idea to freeze it. The colors are really beautiful.

    Unfortunately, my bookmarks are also growing unmanageable. Now it just seems like a dark hole into which I drop recipes, never to see light again! :)

    I bookmark based on simplicity, photos and the availability of ingredients here.

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  2. THIS one! :) Because, man, the rolls look gorgeous!

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  3. I don't regularly bookmark recipes - only ones I KNOW are a must try...and even then sometimes I usually rely on my memory and try to search for them when I actually want to make them. Of course this means I must be forgetting a lot of nice recipes, but there's only so much one can do ! :)

    Those herb rolls looks absolutely gorgeous! Funnily enough, I made the same rolls for my daughter's 3rd birthday last year and it was very popular with the kids and adults!

    http://peppermill-miri.blogspot.com/search?q=carrot+herb+rolls

    The recipe was from the same book but the blogger I bookmarked it from was Farmgirl Fare - another fabulous baker...

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  4. Wow, I love the last pic. :) I am horrible at bookmarking stuff where I ended up loosing some of my favorites once or twice and it is so difficult to get them back, :(. Nupur, how do you bookmark the recipes? I just need a neat way to do that.

    ...and thanks very very much for offering the kolhapuri masala. I actually dreamt about it, the day I read your post.

    Best,
    Siri

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  5. yum yum...i am a champion of bookmarking! not only recipes...but my current passion is 'things to do in Nyc'..yep..i have so much bookmarked under that majority of them are places to eat!! i am however yet to try even one...but the bookmarking goes on :)

    The rolls look amazing...and kudos to you to tackle ur bookmarked list...inspires me to do something about it...i said inspire :D

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  6. Great idea! I don't bookmark recipes as much as I used to, but I don't think I've ever gone back to review the ones that I have - could be very interesting!

    Looking forward to seeing your take on these recipes - especially those with the Nupur seal of approval :)

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  7. oops... me again (sorry), I forgot to say those rolls look awesome - must bookmark ;) - and to answer your question. The last recipe I bookmarked was not from a blog - I actually learned of it by way of Twitter yesterday. Everyone who went to TNNA has been going on about Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream in Columbus, OH, so when Amy Singer (of knitty.com) posted a link to recipes for Jeni's ice creams, I pounced on that bookmark button. The last food blog recipe I bookmarked was on 5/31 and was 101 Cookbook's Dukkah recipe (sort of an Egyptian version of a podi I guess) - just because it was easy and Heidi made it sound so good.

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  8. I'm delighted to see you posting again. I really missed your recipes and posts Nupur. I know what you mean about having loads of bookmarked recipes! And of course, I'm wanting to bookmark this one too :)

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  9. I bookmark so many recipes.. but I bookmark more than I can possibly try. I usually mark those that seem to be an authentic version of a regional Indian recipe or sometimes healthful ones like baked dahi vadas:-)

    Your post may prompt many like to me to try out what we have found interesting.

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  10. This is my latest bookmark, have many just in that one blog, and the whole folder itself is humongous! I need to start turning it into an assignment or I'll never get done. It helped that my browser crashed a few months back, taking with it a bunch of my bookmarks :-P

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  11. Heh, heh, heh...I'm a luddite and print them out. the alst time I organized them all was in 2006 (!), and my summer project is to integrate the additions. Erp...that's all 8" of the stack of stuff added since 2006. The last one I printed out was Indira's lime pickle - for this week's project as I have fresh limes from my neighbor's tree.

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  12. hey those are really yummy crispy rolls... now I am bookmarking this recipe :)

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  13. yummy... I should try these soon.

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  14. i think i am going to bookmark this recipe! i do often bookmark recipes while surfing the blog - however, i rarely get around to cooking them all :-( and when i do i use the basic idea and go a whole different route. but this is a good one - bread and baking is different i do stick very much to the recipe. got to try these!

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  15. Wonderful rolls! I remember once reading in your posts that you dream about your cakes rising to sky and breads with wonderful crust and crumb and I guess you have reached that goal.

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  16. I love having salad rolls for lunch, your rolls look delicious!

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  17. Looks really healthy and nice :)

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  18. Arundathi- Like you, I bookmark based on simplicity and availability of ingredients- anything with khoya or special flours etc. is out.

    Shyam- I know you like baking rolls and savory scones etc, and I have a feeling you will love these :)

    Miri- This recipe is by the same blogger- Farmgirl Susan! She cross-posted it on her blog and also on the group blog she belongs to, which is where I first spotted it.
    Yours look wonderful too, what a great idea to make them for a birthday party- these would certainly appeal to all ages. Next time, I'll bake them in a round pan where they can be pulled apart, as you did.

    Siri- I just made a folder on my internet browser and creatively named it "food" :D When I click on the 'add bookmark' button, I choose that folder as the location of the bookmark so that all the recipes are in the same place. That's the extent of my organization! One can search the folder for particular names of ingredients etc.

    Rajitha- I can imagine how the "things to do in NYC" folder would quickly get out of control!!
    If you want to add more to that folder, I'll tell you all my favorite places to eat in NYC :D

    Cathy- Reviewing the bookmarked recipes is half the fun! And can keep you busy for hours...ask me how I know :D
    Twitter- I have an account but never use it :( what's your user name? Ooh, that ice cream link is awesome and I bookmarked it although I don't own an ice cream maker. The dukkah recipe looks very interesting too...I have SO many recipes bookmarked from Heidi's blog!

    Parita- Thanks!

    Lisa- Thank you and it is wonderful to see you here :)

    Mika- I agree, the authentic regional recipes and healthy versions certainly get bookmarked in a hurry!

    Priya- Same pinch!!! I have the very same zucchini strand spaghetti page bookmarked as well :) and yes, like you, I have 5-6 recipes bookmarked from just that one blog.

    Diane- LOL I can just imagine your stack and if I were to print mine out, a lot of trees would have to sacrifice their lives! But I can see how this could be a very fun summer project.
    Ooh, lime pickle sounds excellent, especially with your limes that are as local as you can get.

    Chaklere- These rolls are definitely worth making!

    Raaga- I know you like savory rolls, and you'll like these, I think!

    MeetaK- I agree, sometimes it is nice to use the basic idea and play with it. I'll have to live to be 200 to be able to make all my bookmarked recipes!

    Nirmala- Thank you so much :) but I have a long long way to go before I get to be a good baker!

    Rose, Nithya- Thank you :)

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  19. What a wonderful idea to cook your way through your bookmarks. I'm going to think about maybe trying that (see how committed I am?!).

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  20. Nupur....I would love to know your favorite places...actually that would be a good starting point for me..coz it is tried and tested :D

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  21. hey those rolls look very nice.

    there was a time when i'd bookmark almost every recipe that looked nice - the list grew almost unmanageable. No bookmarks anymore for me!

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  22. Nupur, thanks for bookmarking my recipe and hope you like it.
    My bookmarks are totally out of control. We have 2 laptops and 1 desktop and I have them bookmarked all over the place. I need to organise a lot.
    I am impressed by the way you have bookmarks, term it Project Bookmark and consider it simple pleasures :-)
    I have meaning to bake breads and this looks like a wonderful recipe.

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  23. Hey Nupur,

    Its good to have u blogging again. When you were on a loooooooong break, I moved to India and have been lazy trying ur new recipes. Looking forward to put my laziness aside and start trying ur recipes. Can u let me know how to bake this bread in the microwave cum conventional owen available in India. Tnx. Priya

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  24. They look great Nupur. I will have to try these soon.

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  25. Delicious and amazing, good luck with project bookmark!

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  26. You've inspired me to create a 'Food' folder under bookmarks!! At the very beginning of cooking from blogs, I used to print out recipes (I think I printed out 3-4 so hopefully not too much damage done)..Now I just go directly to the blog containing the recipe I want ..I have bookmarked a few recipes- but I rarely pull them up- I forget that they are there!
    These rolls look yummy! I've never baked bread (I need to be extra careful while baking anything- as I have a tendency to add my own creative flourishes..lol..which isn't recommended while baking..:))

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  27. Lydia- LOL well, I have committed to it on the blog, but let's see if I can actually follow through!

    Rajitha- Sent you a long list via e-mail!

    Aquadaze- Well, I try to be more selective about what recipes I bookmark these days.

    Red Chillies- Having bookmarks on multiple computers makes things too complicated, I agree! This is why I am only using my desktop for all bookmarks.

    Priya- Please consult the oven's instruction manual.

    Shilpa- Well, you are such a wonderful baker- these are easy and I think you will like them.

    Katerina- Thanks!

    Lavanya- I know- now that I make a conscious effort, I am discovering really great recipes in my bookmarks.

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  28. Would you believe that Farmgirl just delivered some things to my house including a loaf of her bread (not the carrot bread but still!) and it's sooo good, I already had three slices. Save me, Nupur, save me!

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  29. wow these look gorgeous. I just like to bookmark recipes that I think we'd like to eat. Anything nutritious (or indulgent) and easy usually fits the bill for me.

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  30. Those rolls are to die for! I love What a great way to get carrots into something yummy for those who don't eat their veggies! I have a recipe for carrot, honey, yogurt rolls that I may blog soon, but for now..I'm fascinated with yours. Great photos too!

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  31. What a delicious recipe for rolls!

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  32. It's so funny, I just started digging into the giant pile of recipes in my bookmarks, files and old cookbooks too. There are just too many good recipes out there!

    The picture of your egg sandwich is to die for!!

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  33. Alanna- Oh my! Well, I can do you a favor and take that bread off your hands ;)

    Bharti- Me too, anything with a nutritious twist is quite likely to be bookmarked.

    Lisa- Oh those rolls sound good, and I do hope you blog about them! Meanwhile, this is a fantastic recipe, I can't wait to make these again.

    Stefanie- It really is delicious! I hope to participate in your event this month :)

    Mimi- You are so right, there are so many wonderful recipes out there and I don't want to miss trying them!

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  34. I bookmark so many recipes that I know I will never make them all - some I make quickly and others can be around for a year or two until I suddenly must make or lose interest altogether - now I want to add these carrot rolls to my bookmarks as the latest addition!

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  35. Johanna- I am the same way, some get made quickly and other bookmarks sit there for years, that why I am now enjoying pruning them a little by either cooking them or deleting them :)
    These carrot herb rolls are fantastic- I hope you give them a try!

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  36. Hey Nupur,
    I just sent you an email. Leaving you a comment here incase you dont receive it.

    Just wanted to let you know that I tried your carrot herb rolls few weeks back and they were awesome.

    Thanks
    Rachana

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