Pão de Queijo com presunto

April’s been a busy month; so I was grateful the ingredients for the Improv Cooking Challenge were simple. The real challenge with HAM & CHEESE in this house is keeping it stocked! We had a bit of ham leftover from Easter, so I made our first attempt early in the month. I tried a second one with slightly varied ingredients about a week after, but the end result of that one was not so good. Third triumphant endeavor was this morning…In researching gluten-free breads for the past few years I’d come across this recipe many times, but never made it because I assumed it would require too much effort. I was wrong ~ these are quite simple to make. The most difficult thing about them is keeping yourself from inhaling devouring consuming gobbling eating the entire batch!The base “flour” for these goodies is tapioca starch. That is what makes the inside of the roll so deliciously chewy. I used Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour for this first batch. The second notanywherenearsuccessful try was made with arrowroot (because I read a couple recipes which indicated they used that & it worked!) but the inside was terribly gummy. (Problem solved after baking by splitting & toasting…) For the third time’s a charm batch today, I simply used a bag of tapioca starch I bought at the Asian market for 79¢ !The cheese in our first bread was a Medium Cheddar. Second one we used Swiss (at the request of the youngest fella…) Today I used Pepper Jack!The rolls today omitted the ham and were baked on silicon sheets ~ now I have some delicious sandwich rounds!

Here are some more HAM & CHEESE recipes from the Challenge:

An InLinkz Link-up

Dinner Rolls

We spent a lovely Easter afternoon with friends. I brought rolls to the table. Mind you, these were not just any rolls. They were [♪♫ dun ♪ dun ♪ dunnn ♪♫] "The Spicery's Rolls."

At the beginning of our married life we were privileged to live in a hot dusty quaint old house in Historic Glendale.

Keith & Zach @ our circa 1919 bungalow (1994)

A couple blocks away was the most adorable tea room called The Spicery.

The Spicery

 Their wonderful lunch menu includes the divine Spicery roll.  Many years ago I came across their recipe in a local newspaper. This roll has been the star of many holiday feasts. Here is how I "roll"...



many thanks to Ms. Bosch for doing all the kneading...

 

after 1st punch-down

 

 

ready to form 3 dozen rolls?

 




yup! 36 rolls waiting to rise...







risen enough?



yup! time to pop 'em in the oven...

Now, you make some! Here is the recipe:

Going to link this up with Laurie, the Tip Junkie's Tip-Me Tuesday's goodness...