A great cookbook and incredible dinner rolls

We had a nice quiet Christmas dinner at home.  I made a more formal dinner for the occasion, and made a decision to include homemade rolls on the menu.  Being that it was Christmas weekend, I wasn't able to find time for any yeast breads, so I decided to hunt down a good recipe from my collection of books.

One of the books I perused was Lee Bailey's THE WAY I COOK.  It's a large collection from several of his cookbooks, all combined into one.  My aunt gave me this cookbook many years ago, when she lived in the area, and I'm so thankful to have it in my collection- it is timeless.  I recommend this book to people who want a comprehensive cookbook that will be a standby for years to come.  There are no pictures, so you have to imagine everything.  In the case of our Parmesan Onion Puffs, I'm so glad I imagined... and so was the family!  Even my kids loved these, despite the presence of onion.

The great thing about the puffs is that they are really simple to make, and it makes a lot of them, which is good because you will not be able to keep hands off of them!  The recipe says it makes ~18, but I'd say it was more like 24 or so.  I used my medium Pampered Chef scoop to make life easier.  These would be great for a dinner party.

Parmesan Onion Puffs

Saute 2 cups coarsley chopped onions in 4 Tbsp butter until wilted, about 5 minutes.  Set aside.

Next, make the PATE A CHOUX:
1 stick unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
1 cup sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
4 eggs, at room temperature

Put 1 cup water, the butter and salt into a saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Dump in the flour all at once and stir vigorously over medium heat until the paste begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Off the heat, beat in the eggs, one at a time.

To finish the puffs, add in 1 cup freshly grated parmesan and the sauteed onions.  Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets (*I used parchment on mine).  Brush tops with milk and then sprinkle with additional parmesan.  Bake until golden and fluffy, about 35 to 40 minutes.