Dinner Rolls

Put the milk into a saucepan and bring just to the boil. Pour 4 Tbsp of the milk into a small bowl and let cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile cut the butter into pieces. Add the butter and sugar to the remaining milk in the pan, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted. Let cool to lukewarm. Sprinkle the yeast over the 4 Tbsp milk and let stand, stirring once, until dissolved, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, beat eggs just until mixed. Add the cooled sweetened milk, salt and dissolved yeast. Stir in half of the flour and mix well with your hand. Add the remaining flour, 2 ozs at a time, mixing well after each additions. Keep adding flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl in a ball. It should be soft and slightly sticky. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface. Sprinkle the dough and your hands with flour, and begin to knead by holding the dough with one hand and pushing it away from you with the other. Continue to knead by peeling the dough away from the surface. Give the dough a quarter turn, and knead until it is very smooth, elastic and forms a ball, 5 - 7 minutes. If the dough sticks while kneading, flour the work surface. Wash the large bowl and brush it with melted butter. Put the kneaded dough in the bowl, and flip it so the surface is lightly buttered. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Brush 2 baking sheets with melted butter. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead with your hand just to knock out the air, 15 - 20 seconds. Cover the dough, and let it rest, about 5 minutes. Cut the dough in half. With your hands, roll 1 piece of the dough into a cylinder about 2 inches in diameter. Cut the cylinder into 8 equal pieces. Repeat to divide the remaining dough. To shape round rolls, cup a piece of dough under the palm of your hand, and roll the dough in a circular motion so it forms a smooth ball. Arrange 8 rolls on each baking sheet. Cover with a dry tea towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 425 F. Make the glaze by beating the egg yolk with the water until frothy. Brush the rolls with glaze, then bake them in the oven until golden brown, 15 - 18 minutes. Turn the rolls over and tap the bottoms with your knuckles. They should sound hollow when tapped.