Sage And Onion Bread Rolls
bread veg
"Fresh from the oven, the scent is intoxicating. Lovely with a creamy autumnal soup, but delicious hot and buttered, too."
Makes nine rolls

Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
5g dried yeast
10g fine salt
- this recipe needs a generous amount of salt use 2 teaspoons - approx 12 grams
1 egg, beaten
300ml warm water
25g butter, melted, plus a bit extra
2 medium onions, finely chopped
- don't worry if this looks far too much before frying. Two medium (not small) onions will be about right
Olive oil
Black pepper
12 sage leaves, finely chopped
- I used around 18
Method
In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast and salt. Add the egg, then the water and melted butter. Turn out on to a clean surface and knead until smooth and shiny (about 10 minutes). This dough is fairly sticky, so use a little extra flour if need be. Put the dough in a clean bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warmish place until doubled in size (at least an hour).

Meanwhile, fry the onions gently in a little olive oil until very soft and lightly coloured (about 20 minutes). When done, add a little butter, grind in lots of pepper and stir in the sage.

When the dough has risen, punch it down with your hands, then tip in the onions. Squeeze and knead until well mixed in (I needed to add quite a lot more flour at this stage to make the mixture dry enough to knead).
Divide into nine and shape into rounds. Roll in flour, arrange on a board or linen cloth dusted with more flour, and leave to prove.

Meanwhile, put a baking sheet in the oven and heat it to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. When the rolls are nearly doubled in size, transfer to the baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Cool on a rack.

These were really tasty. If you want a bit more of a crust cook for a little longer - 25 minutes seemed about perfect.

Traditional Scottish White Rolls
bread
Lion. Rampant.
Lifted from the Rampant Scotland website. Which features a Lion Rampant.
Funny - I rather thought that was Richard I's symbol?
See that Lion Rampant? We invented that.

Anyhoo, according to the website: There are a number of special regional rolls (such as the Aberdeen morning rolls or "Rowies") but this a recipe for plain white bread rolls. The finished rolls should be light and airy.

Unfortunately they don't offer a recipe for Rowies.

Makes 16 rolls

Ingredients
Method
Dissolve the yeast and sugar into about half the quantity of warm water in a jug and leave in a warm place with a cloth over the top. The yeast will begin to froth in about ten minutes. The flour should be in a large bowl with the salt added and mixed. The flour should preferably be slightly warm too.

Pour the yeast mixture into the flour and knead, either by hand or with a mixer with a dough hook. Add more water to make the texture so that it does not stick to your hands but is moist. Once it is well kneaded, form it into a ball, cover the bowl with a cloth and leave in a warm place. When the mixture has risen to about double its original size, knead it again until it has returned to its original volume.

The dough can then be divided into 16 and formed into individual balls. Pull the dough from the top to the bottom so that the top looks smooth. Place on lightly oiled oven trays, leaving space between each one, and cover with a cloth. Leave the rolls to rise again in a warm place, for about 30 minutes. Finally, bake in a hot oven, 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 for about 20 minutes, until brown on top - some people prefer their rolls "lightly fired" while others prefer to bake them for longer and have a more burnt surface.