Crusty Dinner Rolls

Yesterday was President's Day and both my husband and I had the day off, while my poor son had to go to school :)  So, my husband convinced me to go look at a truck that he's been eying.  Why do guys like trucks so much???  I agreed to go with him as long as we could go to a particular store that I've been wanting to go to for a while now.  It's kinda far away so I figured this would be a good time to make the trip...husband gets what he wants and I get what I want.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way.  We left the house at 9:30am and spent the entire day messing around with this truck, which he ended up buying!  Didn't get home until 5:15pm....whole day down the drain and I didn't even get to go to the store I wanted to go to. When we got home my son was so excited he ran outside to greet us and said "This is the best day of my life!"  Really???  The best day of your life is today because we bought a truck???  Poor thing!

Anyway, here's a recipe for crusty dinner rolls.  These are my husband's favorite rolls - for some reason he likes the crunchy ones better than the soft ones.  I happen to think they each have a purpose - soft dinner rolls are good with a holiday meal, and the crunchy ones are best with soups and stews.  But, they are both good and go well with anything.  I made these to go with the Shepard's pie we had the other night - a favorite meal in this house, and since the boys spent the day working on the deer camp they are building I figured I'd be nice and make them one of their favorites....yeah, I'm good like that :)

Crusty Dinner Rolls

1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
5 1/4 + all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in bowl of electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Stir in sugar and salt, and add the flour one cup at a time.  Turn mixer to med-low and let the mixer knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil. Form dough into ball and place in bowl and turn over once. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about an hour).

 Punch down dough, and turn out onto floured surface. Cover with towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and sprinkle on a layer of cornmeal. Shape dough into 12-14 rolls, place on cookie sheet and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400. Slash roll tops in 2-3 places with a sharp knife, and brush rolls with a little water. Optional - sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs or coarse salt. Place a pan 1/2 filled (or 1-2 inches) with boiling water onto lower rack in oven. Place rolls on upper oven rack and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.