Parker House Rolls

The kitchen takes on a special shine at Thanksgiving. Time transitions from the ghostly gaming of Halloween to the rarefied stillness of November chill. In Thanksgiving homes, guests pile in seeking the sustenance and solace of togetherness, many of us needing that hominess this year more than ever. We hosted Thanksgiving in New York City for years, long before it was taggable as Friendsgiving. That tradition followed us to Los Angeles, where the day isn't as gray and clear as a New York Thanksgiving, but as warm as sunny days and as cozy as chilly nights.

Amid the blooming smells coming from the Thanksgiving kitchen are Mama Diva's greens, warm pies in cinnamonny apple or clove-laced pumpkin, roasting turkey, cream gravy, and a tray of dinner rolls rising under a flour-dusted kitchen towel on a sideboard. Just before dinner, while a guest of honor is saddled with the distinction of carving the turkey, the host slips the tray of dinner rolls into the oven, where a few minutes later they emerge warm and buttery, golden shells hinting at sweetness, crowned with a dusting of flour, onion seeds, rock salt. However full their plate, everyone takes a dinner roll as they're passed, leaning in to take in the soul-stirring aroma of freshly baked bread.

It's not that common to make dinner rolls any more, but there was a time when baking bread was an expected skill in a home cook's repertoire. At the American table, the availability and variety of bread reflect the cultures of settlers just as baking bread is a cornerstone of American cooking. There are sliced loaves from farm table white to San Francisco sourdough, from hearty wheat to old-world rye. There are sweets from cinnamon rolls to monkey pull-aparts, and quick breads in every flavor from autumnal pumpkin or applesauce to springtime lemon. There are thin flat disks of wheat crackers, perforated squares of saltines, octagonal coins of oyster crackers. There are biscuits both layered and fluffy with every secret ingredient from buttermilk to cream cheese.

Not that long ago, the home cook was expected to bake a selection of these, in part because if not, there might not be any bread at the table at all. A typical American cook's bread-baking included white bread and rolls, with a house specialty bread thrown in due to popularity, to preserve a tradition, or both. In Astoria, Greek Easter Bread was a sure sign of springtime and one of my first assignments as a food writer online. In California, sourdough is as ubiquitous as West Coast Pride. In Solvang, Danish kringles appear at the holidays, and on our holiday table, Christmas morning breakfast is bagels with gravlax. And in New England, the official dinner roll is the Parker House.

The Parker House in Boston has at least two claims to fame: it is the oldest continually operating hotel in the United States (est. 1855), and it is the birthplace of the Parker House roll. The most told story of their invention involves a chef in a fit of temper, throwing rounds of dinner roll dough at the wall. One shudders to think about wall rolls being cooked and served, but upon that wall, the Parker House dough stretched into the roll's signature oval. I had to move north to have my first Parker House roll; they are as quintessential New England as biscuits are Southern. As if there weren't enough carbs on the table, Mama Diva always served Parker House rolls at Thanksgiving, from a floured towel right next to the equally yankee Waldorf Salad.

Parker House rolls are light and slightly sweet. They take a little time and effort, and they must be served warm. But when that signature fold opens and a pat of butter glides in, these rolls are the very soul of that most fundamental of foods: bread and butter. Many a dinner roll – popovers, clover leaves, brown and serve – finds its place on the Thanksgiving table, and while they all deserve a place of honor, Parker House rolls occupy a unique niche both by shape and by history. Here is Mama Diva's recipe for Parker House rolls, with a variation that agrees nicely with any table, from Thanksgiving dinner to dinner party.

Parker House Rolls

A clip-on candy thermometer is a good way to measure the temperature of warm milk for bread baking; you can obtain a good one here. Heat the milk to 110 degrees F; don't vary or the yeast won't behave.

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

6 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups whole milk

1 package active dry yeast

• Cut the stick of butter in half. Melt one half (4 tablespoons) stick butter; set aside.
• Warm the milk over low heat until it reaches a temperature of 110 degrees F. Remove the milk from the heat and pour the warm milk into a large mixing bowl.
• Add the sugar and salt to the warm milk. Break the yeast over the warm milk and stir to dissolve. Set aside for 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes, check the yeast mixture; it should be foamy. Stir the cooled melted butter into the mixture.
• Measure 3 cups of flour into the bowl containing the yeast mixture. Use a wooden spoon or paddle the stir the mixture together until well incorporated, approximately 2 minutes. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and set aside to rise until doubled in bulk, approximately 1 hour.
• Once the mixture has doubled in bulk, use your hands to knead in as much of the remaining flour as the dough will allow, typically 2 – 3 cups. The dough will let you know when it is at bulk by refusing to absorb any more flour.
• Flour a wooden bread board or a clean tea towel and turn the dough onto the floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with flour and flour your hands. Knead the dough by pulling ½ of it towards you then pushing it back over and pulling the new section towards and over. Do this about 10 times.
• Cover the kneaded, elongated dough with a clean floured tea towel and let rest 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, check the dough. It should be smooth and workable. If not; repeat the pull, push, and fold method above about 5 more times, and allow the dough to rest, covered, for 10 more minutes.
• Cut, prepare, and bake the rolls per the instructions below.

Parker House Rolls

• Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Melt the remaining ½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter..
• Roll the dough until it is about 3/4 inch thick.
• Use a biscuit cutter or the rim of a water glass dipped in flour to cut the dough into circles.
• Gently flatten each circle into an oval about ½ inch thick.
• Brush the center of each oval with melted butter.
• Fold each oval so that it forms a pocket with the rounded ends of the oval matched. Press the matched edges down.
• Place the rolls 1 inch apart on a buttered cookie sheet. Dust the tops of the rolls with flour.
• Bake 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown and fragrant.

Onion rolls

• Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Melt the remaining ½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter.
• Roll the dough into a rectangle about 1.2 inch thick.
• Use a pastry wheel or knife dipped in flour to cut the dough into rectangles 2 inches wide by 4 inches long.
• Brush the center of each rectangle with melted butter. Lightly sprinkle the buttered center of each rectangle with onion seeds.
• Fold each rectangle so that it forms a pocket with the short edges of the rectangle just slightly unmatched. Press the unmatched edges down.
• Brush the top of each roll with melted butter. Sprinkle the rolls with onion seeds and gently press the seeds into the dough.
• Place the rolls 1 inch apart on a buttered cookie sheet.
• Bake 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown and fragrant.

Resources

Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits

Cheddar Biscuits

Wheat and Rye Bread