Bolillos

Hey, my friend, it has been a long time! I have missed you and things have changed! #1: I no longer live in Tucson! #2: You should address all things to me as Mariana, Esquire! #3: I live in Pittsburgh, PA! This is all a lot to get used to.

First, here are my new cooking digs:

I haven't been cooking very much...but your zombie post reminded me that this is something I like to do. So let me set this post up for you: before I left Tucson I spent a lot of time worrying about how much I was going to miss it—or, really, how much I would miss my life there. It turns out that I spent so much time worrying about how much I was going to miss it that I wore myself out and haven't missed it too bad at all. But, I still had enough worry in me to worry about missing arguably the best and most Tucson day of the year: the All Souls' Procession. People painted like skeletons, walking down the street, remembering people who have passed away, enjoying being alive, and in nice weather. This is generally what Pittsburgh looks like:

Luckily, through mutual friends, I've found some Tucson people here and, to stave off our sadness, nostalgia, and impending winter, we had ourselves a nice dinner of green chile stew and bolillo rolls. It kind of worked at making me feel better. You know what's more helpful than stew and rolls, though? The fact that Pittsburgh's rad!

Bolillo rolls

2 c. water

1 1/2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. butter, melted

1 package yeast

5 1/2-6 c. white flour

Make those 2 cups of water warm, then dissolve in the sugar, salt, and butter. Let the water cool to under 110º, then dissolve in the yeast. Let it sit a minute or two, sniff it and make sure it smells yeasty so that you know your yeast is alive.

Stir the yeasty water into 5 cups of flour until the dough is stiff. On a floured surface, knead the dough 5-8 minutes, until it stops being sticky and, when you poke it with your finger, the hole doesn't immediately disappear. Put the kneaded dough into a bowl, coat it with a little bit of oil on top, cover with a cloth or plastic wrap in a warmish place, and let it rise 1 1/2-2 hours.

At the end of the first rise, punch it! Now form as many rolls as you want/can, in a sort of oblong shape.

Let the rolls rise until doubled in size, about 35 minutes.

Heat your oven to 375º. Cut a slit in those rolls and maybe brush them with some melted butter.

Bake 25-40 minutes, depending on the size of the roll. Eat some spicy soup and think of home!