I love homemade bread straight out of the oven. Who doesn’t, right? So when I can build bread dough and shape it one day and bake it off the next, I call that a jolly good thing! And when the bread tastes as good as my slightly modified version of Bradley Ogden’s recipe for herb rolls that I found in Sunset Magazine a few years back, I am just one happy camper. You see, I am a proponent of doing as much prep work ahead of time as possible. And this bread, which truly benefits from some down time in the refrigerator, fits my style perfectly. Because you see, I consider myself a fairly good practitioner of the ancient French art of mise en place. (In fact, if they gave out belts in mise en place the way they do in karate I’m sure I would be at least a red belt!)

Now I know at least some of you are wondering what the heck I am talking about. And even though you may not know the term mise en place, many of you are already experts in the field. All mise en place means is that you have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go before you start to cook. And because I entertain large groups of people on a regular basis, I take the concept one step further. I prepare as many dishes and do as much prep work as possible before the day of the dinner party. (And yes, some would say I’m just lazy and don’t want to get up at o-dark-thirty on the day of the gathering. Well of course, that is absolutely true! But I prefer to think of all my hard “pre-day of party work” as the logical and intelligent way to help prevent a fiasco!)

So if you too would like to exude a fascinating aura of mystique at your next dinner party, do as much kitchen work as possible ahead of time. And these delicious rolls should help you with that mission. Then when your guests arrive, greet them at the door as if they were entering a 5 star restaurant, with you being the executive chef. After all, that’s what you are! (Of course you’re probably also the prep chef and the soux chef, but you don’t have to go into that with your guests.)

• ¼ c. slightly warm water
• 1 T. or 1 pkg. active dry yeast
• 2 T. sugar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 T. minced Italian parsley
• 1 T. minced fresh dill
• 1 T. minced fresh chives
• 1 T. minced fresh rosemary
• 2 T. soft unsalted butter
• 2 lg. eggs, divided
• 1 c. half-and-half
• 3½ c. un-bleached all-purpose flour or more as kneaded (sorry, couldn’t resist!)
• coarse salt for sprinkling (I use course kosher salt)

In the bowl of your mixer combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand for about 5 minutes or until the yeast starts to foam. Add the 1 teaspoon salt, herbs, butter, one of the eggs, half-and-half, and most of the flour. Knead dough on medium speed, adding more flour as necessary until the dough is smooth and soft, but no longer sticky to the touch. Shape into 24 small balls and place in a well greased 9×13-inch pan.

Cover with plastic wrap (do not let rise) and refrigerate overnight. Remove from refrigerator about 2 hours before you want to bake the rolls. Replace the plastic wrap with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft free place.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the remaining egg and brush the rolls evenly just before sprinkling lightly with coarse salt. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a lovely golden brown. Serve the rolls hot, warm, or at room temperature. Best served the day they are baked.