Recipes for Mud Season and More from 'My Vermont Table'

Gesine Bullock-Prado, the host of the Food Network's “Baked in Vermont,” celebrates Vermont's food scene with her newest cookbook, My Vermont Table. She joins us today to talk about the food of Vermont's six unique seasons.   Dog Team Tavern Sticky Buns MAKES 18 BUNS A Historic Vermont Recipe Excerpted from MY VERMONT TABLE: Recipes for all (Six) Seasons by Gesine Bullock-Prado Copyright © 2023. Used with permission of the publisher, Countryman Press. All rights reserved. The Sticky Buns produced by the recipe below, as found in Gesine Bullock-Prado's new cookbook, My Vermont Table. (Raymond Prado)   The Dog Team Tavern was built in the 1920s by Sir Wilfred and Lady Anne Grenfell in Middlebury, Vermont, and was made a mission house in 1931. It became a tavern in 1936 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It was a place of local legend. It had catered to the likes of Elea- nor Roosevelt and Robert Frost. And as the years passed, it was frequented by the students of Middlebury College on parents’ weekend. It was famous for its generous portions of prime rib and its “relish wheel.” But perhaps most loved were the sticky buns, served as an appetizer. How can you not love a joint that serves sticky buns as an appetizer? Tragically, the tavern burned down in 2006 and has left a community longing for the sticky buns that once were. It’s around Thanksgiving that the online groups wax nostalgic for these sweet treats, with recipes exchanged and notes passed. The thing I love most about these is that they are soft as can be from the use of mashed potatoes and starch water from cooking the potatoes. Long live Dog Team Tavern sticky buns! DOUGH 12 ounces (340 g) russet potatoes, peeled and cubed 1⁄2 cup (99 g) granulated sugar2 teaspoons fine sea salt2 large eggs, beaten7 cups (840 g) all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur) One 1⁄4-ounce packet (7 g) instant yeast (I use Red Star Platinum Superior Instant Yeast)8 tablespoons (1 stick; 113 g) unsalted butter Oil for bowlNonstick cooking spray STICKY Butter for baking pans2 cups (426 g) light brown sugar 11⁄2 cups (169 g) chopped walnuts FILLING 2 cups (426 g) light brown sugar2 tablespoons ground cinnamon1⁄2 pound (2 sticks; 226 g) unsalted butter, very soft MAKE THE DOUGH Boil the potatoes until fork-tender. Drain, reserving 11⁄2 cups of the cooking liquid (aka starch water), and allow the reserved cooking liquid to cool. Place a drum sieve or tamis over a large bowl and press the potatoes through the sieve with a bowl or D scraper. Add the granulated sugar and the salt to the potatoes and stir well to combine. Allow to cool. Combine the reserved cooking water and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Whisk to combine. Add the potato mixture and then the flour and yeast. Mix until the dough just comes together. Add the butter,a small piece at a time ,and continue to mix until the dough is very smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a well-oiled bowl and turn the dough over to coat the dough completely in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to bulk ferment until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined sheet pan, spraying the parchment well with nonstick cooking spray. Press the dough so that it’s a rough rectangle. Refrigerate to firm up the dough, about 1 hour. MAKE THE STICKY Butter two 9-by-13-inch baking pans. Divide the brown sugar evenly between the two pans. Spritz the brown sugar with enough water to make a thick, wet paste. Divide the walnuts between the two pans. FILL AND BAKE THE BUNS Roll out the dough into a rough 14-by-18-inch rectangle, about 1⁄2 inch thick. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a bowl, stirring to create a thick paste. Spread the mixture evenly over the dough, leaving naked a 1⁄2-inch strip along one long edge. Roll up the dough, starting at the long edge opposite the clean edge. Pinch the seam to seal. Cut the roll into 18 equal-size pieces. Arrange the rolls in the pans (nine in each pan with cut side down), separating slightly, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to proof until almost doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes or until the bun interior reads 200°F on an instant-read thermometer. Immediately unmold the buns onto two cooling rack–lined sheet pans.