By Joshua Elie
As a builder and even as a cook, I love my tools. I have spent my whole life accumulating tools and learned early in life about the importance of having good tools and the right tools for the job.
As soon as I was big enough to “swing an ax” (around 14), it became my job to split all the firewood. Did I have a wood splitter? No! According to my dad that would be way too expensive, so every morning before leaving for school, and every night before going back to my studio, I was in the woodshed with a split maul and a sledgehammer held together by duct tape.
When I first began, it took two hours every morning and two hours every night to keep the fire going. Sometimes my dad would come out to keep me company. He would sit on the tailgate and tell me everything that was wrong with my life … In time, I got better. Actually, I got really good and had it down to 45 minutes each session. I was about 19 when I went to the Dublin General Store to buy a new maul and Tom Fischer (the owner of the hardware at the time) asked, “Is your dad still making you do that by hand? I don’t know how many times I’ve told him he could borrow one of our rental splitters free of charge any time …”
I had this feeling of giddiness come upon me, and not in a positive way.
Looking back, though, those years of splitting by hand, often in the most blistering of northern Michigan weather, gave me a sort of beyond-average work ethic that has served, and still serves, me very well. I have never needed a boss to make me feel accountable or bills looming over my head to be productive. Being productive is what makes me feel good about myself. I can look around at my family’s property and see so many of my accomplishments. There are five structures and I defy anyone to find one square inch that I haven’t built, installed, fixed, worked on or am working on.
I find great joy in the culinary arts, too, especially with others — sharing the mouth-watering scent of garlic and onion frying in butter, the peaceful calm after a big turkey dinner, and the anticipation of fresh baked goods. To make this happen, you first need the desire and second, the right tools. The basics are pretty much the same for everybody’s kitchen, but I have two multi-purpose food processors that I couldn’t live without. If you really want to get into baking, you will need something that whisks, mixes and kneads, like a Kitchen Aid. If you try to do this by hand, you will quickly lose your desire.
September is National Bourbon (the “Spirit” of America) Heritage Month. This year, why wait until “5 o’clock” for a drink? Have a bite instead at any time because this bourbon glaze works well on almost any pastry, even cookies.
Bourbon Glaze
In a tall, wide-mouth drinking glass (for easy pouring), combine 2 tablespoons of double-strong coffee, a half tablespoon of bourbon (Boss’s choice: Evan Williams), and one-and-a-half cups powdered (confectioners) sugar. Stir with fork until smooth.
Elie’s “Morning After” Cinnamon Rolls
Dough
2¼ + cups flour
3 Tbs sugar
1 pack of yeast (2¼ tsp)
½ cup water
¼ cup milk
2½ Tbs salted butter
1 large egg
Filling
3 Tbs room temperature salted butter
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
In a Kitchen Aid mixer bowl, mix flour, sugar and yeast, then set aside. Heat milk, water, and butter to 115-120 degrees. Whisk until smooth, then pour into flour mixture. Start kneading and add the egg. Continue kneading, adding flour slowly — a little at a time — until the dough does not stick to the bowl. Roll into a ball, then set back in bowl for 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix cinnamon with sugar. Roll out dough to an 18” x 8” rectangle. Use a spatula to smooth softened butter flat on top of dough. Sprinkle all cinnamon sugar on butter evenly. Roll dough tightly and cut into nine 2-inch pieces. Set inside greased (I use fingers and butter to coat) 10” cake tin. Cover with aluminum foil and let rise 90 minutes or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Egg wash and bake rolls for 10 minutes with foil on. Remove foil and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from cake tin and let cool. Drizzle with coffee/bourbon glaze.
Read more stories by Joshua Elie HERE and his bio HERE
