Soft Pretzels

Recipe: Soft Pretzels

Source: Food Network Magazine

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/soft-pretzels.html

Time: 3 hours

Ease: 8

Taste: 8

Leftover Value: Good the next day, but not for much longer. 

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!!

Move over Super Pretzel, homemade soft pretzels are here.  These came at the request of my younger brother who wanted to have pretzels for dinner.  Though I do love a good carbohydrate all by itself, I immediately knew that these pretzels would be served with burgers and hot dogs stuffed inside.

The ingredients for this recipe are so insanely basic that more than likely you already have all this on hand:

Butter
Dark brown sugar
Active dry yeast
Flour
Salt
Baking Soda

When cookbook authors talk about pantry "staples" these are the things I picture.  Not items like dried lavender, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, or canned artichoke hearts.  Believe it or not, there are some lists that actually include these things.

I found this recipe in the October 2013 Food Network Magazine, but was so happy for you that it is posted online.  The only thing I like better about the magazine layout is that they numbered the steps and matched them with pictures of the process.

I can't number the steps for you, but here are the basic pictures of the process.

An hour of the pretzel time is spent waiting for the dough to rise, however, we all know that hour is never spent sitting around twiddling thumbs.  I spent mine doing dishes and getting my hot dogs, hamburgers, and other sides ready.

 

After the dough has risen and been kneaded, divide it in half, and then divide each half into six equal sized pieces.

 

The recipe said to tape a 24-inch long string to the counter top to use as a guide for rolling the pretzels.  I did this and found that the string absolutely refused to stay in place.  If you place two pieces of masking tape 24-inches apart, there really is no need for string.

 

Shaping the pretzels was my favorite part of this recipe. 

 

It was also the most time consuming part.  The recipe makes 12 large pretzels.  

 

Which means rolling, twisting, twisting, and folding back 12 pieces of dough--each with a mind of its own.

It worked out perfectly that these pretzels, while in the dough stage have the typical two pretzel 'holes', when left to rise ended up puffing out and filling the empty spaces....like buns.

Because, after all, that was part of their purpose in my life.

Waiting another 30 minutes for them to rise was probably the most painful part of this recipe.  After already having to wait an hour for the dough to rise, 30 more minutes is torture.  Especially when all I could do was think about biting into a salty, mustardy bite of soft pretzel.

Despite the amount of time these consume, can I just pause to say: how on earth can you top making your own fresh pretzels?   

Perhaps by making your own homemade bread...without a bread machine.  More on that to follow.

I gave these pretzels an 8 for difficulty because the length of time combined with the rolling and shaping, as well as the big finish coming up of boiling and baking.  

After the pretzels sit for 30 minutes, they are then put into a boiling water bath for a total of 1 minute 30 seconds.

The recipe says to cut the wax paper the pretzels have been rising on up like so:

This makes it much easier to transport each pretzel to the boiling water.  However, the recipe also suggests using tongs to pull the wax paper away--this is completely unnecessary.  The wax paper pulled away easily using only my fingers.  Why bother pulling out and dirtying a utensil if not necessary, right?

It's all about simplicity.  As you can see, that's why I make things like pretzels that take three hours.*

*Hmmm....I think my priorities are a little confused.

The boiling water bath is the busiest time of the recipe, but also the most exhilarating because you are moments closer to eating fresh delicious soft pretzels.

After the bath, set the pretzels on baking sheets.  You should be able to use the same sheets from before.

Here is where I made a mistake the first time I made these, however, I think it was one of those mistakes that made the recipe all the more better.  In my haste to be enjoying the warm baked delight that is soft pretzels, I thought the pretzels were supposed to be brushed with butter before baking.  Turns out it is supposed to be after baking.  In my world, more butter means more happiness.  

Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

They couldn't be more perfect.  They were thick enough that I could slice them down the center and put either a hamburger or sliced hot dog in between.

Next time, I'll have to try coating them in cinnamon sugar....my second favorite way to enjoy a soft pretzel.

Baltimore Eats: Part Two: The Desserts

When people ask me what I prefer to do in the kitchen my answer is always that I like to do everything.  I'm starting to think the real truth is that I love baking best.  Let's keep that our little secret though, because regardless of how much I love to bake I still have to get dinner on the table each night.  

I probably would have sought out at least one bakery during our trip, but the copy of Baltimore Magazine in our hotel room ensured that we went to not only one bakery during our short stay, but three.  The front of the magazine pictures a stack of Berger cookies.  While I didn't try a Berger cookie during this visit, while we were at Phillips Seafood, we ordered their Berger pie.  The pie and the cookie are essentially the same thing, except our pie was warmed and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream...yum!  A traditional Berger cookie is a shortbread cookie topped with chocolate fudge.  I can't knock the cookie until I try it, but I think the pie would win out in a taste test.  

Despite having our Baltimore bakery bible on hand (well, in the hotel room), we still went to the concierge our first morning to ask what bakeries they recommended.  The woman at the desk instantly responded: Vaccaro's.*  She told us that every time she goes there, the place is packed, the line is long, and she ends up spending $30 more than intended.

*I later found out that Vaccaro's was listed in the Baltimore magazine spread that I had been using to find my other sweet treats.

It was breakfast time, but to Little Italy and Vaccaro's we went.

We were there when they first opened, so we didn't have an issue with lines or the place being packed.  We were even able to sit and enjoy our treats in their tiny dining area.  While they did serve other breakfast items like sandwiches and croissants, we both knew we would be ordering from their bakery case.  My only regret was not ordering a box of their cookies to go as I later found out that they were another one of the main attractions.  They looked it too, but I was so overwhelmed by the other delights glaring in my face, that I decided to ignore them.  Foolish girl, I know.  

Naturally, I ordered their cannoli and it was outrageously delicious.  The cream was smooth, almost like icing; and rather than a typical cannoli where it stays put in the shell, this cream ran all over the plate making me wonder how one could ever dare to eat it with their hands alone.  Perhaps this is why they also offer cannoli dip and chips.  The one negative was that our lattes cost $6 each.  This seemed extremely steep considering even Starbucks is cheaper than that.

That night, after eating seafood and looking at sea beings at the Aquarium, we set out for The Donut Shack about 25 minutes away in Severna Park.  The major reason we chose The Donut Shack was that it is open 24/7.  This is my biggest qualm with bakeries.  Why are they not open into the wee hours of the morning?  

If ever life leads me to open a bakery, you can bet that mine will be either 24/7 like The Donut Shack or open only from 5 pm-1 am.  Seriously.

Their hours weren't the only thing worth raving about.  The donuts, for 8 pm at night, were still fresh, crisp, and sugary.  The Shack had more to offer than just donuts, and it was all very tempting, but since it was just Hubby and myself and I had already talked him up from ordering a half dozen to a dozen, I figured I should quit while I was ahead.

See 'the fudgie' in the bottom left corner?  I expected that to be my favorite.  Of course, I was also expecting it to be more of a chocolate glazed donut.  We'll get back to that one in a minute.  Their honey dipped donut was the one the magazine recommended, so I ordered two, then Hubby added on a third in the end.  Among the others we ordered were chocolate frosted, boston creme, amish (oh my goodness!), and strawberry shortcake (Hubby's favorite).  By the end of taking a bite out of each donut, I decided that the honey dipped was actually my least favorite.  It was a typical glazed donut, not quite as airy though (which is a good thing to me).  However, no glazed donut I've ever had has beaten this glazed donut in Atlantic City.   The others were knock your socks off amazing.  Even the fudgie, when I took a bite out of it the next morning ready for vanilla cake insides instead of chocolate, impressed me.  

I can find only two negatives about The Donut Shack.  

1. They are cash only.

2. Their coffee is reviewed as being horrible.  Though I didn't read the reviews until later, I recognized that their coffee wasn't their main attraction when I walked in.  This lead to my decision to brew my own coffee in my fancy Keurig back at our hotel room.

The next morning we planned to go to Hoehn's Bakery.  I had checked the night before if they were open on Sundays--they were.  I had only forgotten to check exactly when they were open.  We finished breakfast at a small nook, Simply Marie's, (which was homey and surprisingly delicious) and were at Hoehn's by 10:00 only to discover they opened at 11:30.  Our shopping plans and journey home prevented us from heading back to Hoehn's, so we worked Herman's Bakery into our way home.    

The view of the bakery had much more to offer than the Donut Shack or Hoehn's.  

Once inside, I stared in awe at the cases lined with pastries galore.  We were there primarily for donuts, though they had only three choices: chocolate frosted, honey glazed, and marshmallow.  We ordered one of each, then I couldn't control myself and I ordered a chocolate muffin and a black bottom cupcake.  I looked to the case to the left and saw what had first attracted me to wanting to go to Hoehn's: smearcase.  The magazine had only listed it being at Hoehn's, so it was a delight to find it at Herman's.  Smearcase is Baltimore's own version of cheesecake. (See below).  As I was paying, I realized they made their own breads.  It didn't take much arm twisting for me to buy a loaf of their raisin bread.  

The donuts were inhaled during our ride home.

This is one bite.  One bite from Hubby's mouth.  Do you think it grants me the right to call him a big mouth? 

Probably not....

While the donut part of the marshmallow donut was more biscuit like than donut like, the marshmallow filling was wildly amazing.  I wanted scoop it up with graham crackers and dip it into a chocolate fountain.  

Now to smearcase.  From what I've discovered, it has origins with the Pennsylvania Dutch.  Unlike New York Cheesecake, it is not so sweet, making it perfect for breakfast, snack time, or dessert.  The top two thirds is creamy, and the bottom third is most easily compared to a heavier sponge cake.  

We were asked if we wanted powdered sugar or cinnamon sprinkled on top.  Hubby was feeling daring and asked for both.

If that late night bakery of my dreams ever found its way to opening, I think Baltimore would be a poor choice for location.  They seem to have some of the best bakeries sandwiched rather close together with some of the best choices in sugary goodness.  

Baltimore Eats: Part One: The Dinners

I'm not sure if it was the sea air, the bubble of Valentine's Day excitement, or the thrill to simply be away together from home, but Hubby and I came to Baltimore ready to eat.

Rather than take you on a day by day view of our eats, I'm going to break it into the two main categories that matter: Dinners and Desserts.

Though we were only in Baltimore long enough to technically have two dinners, our lunches were truly the quality level (and price!) of dinner food.  

We enjoyed our first meal in our room.  The restaurant at our hotel, the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court, was "Explorers".  Their tag line is: International comfort food with a Baltimore twist.  We started with BBQ Jumbo Sea Scallops because Hubby is a sucker for whenever I say, "Ooo, this looks yummy....but I really want this too."  Ladies, you know you do this too.

At least, I hope you do.

We have ordered breaded scallops once before and the breading completely overpowered the scallops leaving them dry and lacking of any naturally delicious flavors.  That was not the case here.  While the Panko breading was thin and crispy, the mandarin orange sauce was what really made this dish delightful.  It soaked perfectly into the breading and added a subtle sweetness to the dish.

Now you'll have to forgive me.  I told myself over and over again as I ate my scallops that I needed to take a picture of the entrees before we began to devour them.

My tummy got the better of me and you're left with the below pictures.

Hubby and I decided to share our meals because that is how we roll sometimes.  If you can find a man who will go splitsies on meals, I say grab him while the grabbing is good.  Two for one meals for the rest of your life?  It's pretty awesome.

We ordered the Braised Lamb Shank and I have to admit that as I'm writing this my mouth is salivating rethinking the goodness of this meal.*  The lamb fell off the bone which is always a good sign.  I probably could have just eaten the lamb and the jus and been set for the night.

*This could also be due to the fact that it is 8:40 pm as I write this and I've yet to have dinner yet. 

Did you happen to notice those little orange balls?  As in the pan fried sweet potato gnocchi balls?  Sweet potatoes can be hit or miss for me.  It all depends on how they are prepared.  I like sweet potato pie, I don't prefer sweet potato fries.  

This sweet potato gnocchi was incredible.  I would never had thought to pair it with something like braised lamb shank, but--wow!   

We were clearly in a meaty mood because we also ordered a 12 ounce Rib Eye Steak.  This was really Hubby's pick.  I had been eyeballing the Herb Roasted Chicken with Wild Mushroom Risotto, but he vetoed it and went with the steak.  For a steak, it was just alright.  It was a little too chewy, but was still flavorful and juicy.  The Sharp White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes made the steak worth our while.  It's pretty difficult to ruin mashed potatoes, but this place did everything more than right to them. 

Don't hate me forever, but this was the only dinner I pictured.  I still have major issues with taking pictures of my food in public.  Sometimes, I have no shame.  There are some meals that I know will be legendary, therefore requiring a picture.  Other times, I remember what I've heard about how some restaurants and chefs feel about such things as people taking pictures of their food rather than just sitting down and enjoying the meal.

Here are the other dinners we had and where we had them.

I think the best way to describe them is through a mini Orange Strainer rating system.  So here goes.  

Ratings and categories are as follows:

• Time in restaurant: 1= way too long, 5= average, but I was getting fidgety, 10= so short it was scary
• Restaurant atmosphere: 1= boring, 5= nothing to write home about, 10= this is the mood I want in my kitchen/dining room
• Taste of food: 1= I paid for this?, 5= I can cook just as good, 10= my mouth is still tingling from the deliciousness
• Price: 1= cheaper than eating at McDonalds, 5= average for eating out, 10= for that price I'll make it myself!
• Leftovers?: Were there any?  This could be a good or a bad thing.
• Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer?: To visit again or not to visit again?

Restaurant #1: Phillips Seafood

What we ate: 

Appetizer: Crab Cake Minis with homemade tartar sauce

Hubby: Ultimate Crab Cake

Me: Sweet Basil Pesto Penne with Chicken*

*I know, I know.  I'm at a seafood restaurant, one that even has the word seafood in its name, and I order Italian.  In my defense, I didn't want a big meal and I knew I'd be eating seafood for dinner.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  

• Time in restaurant: 5,  For the lunch hour, it seemed that the service moved slow.  However, we did get a complimentary chocolate covered strawberry.  It was frozen in the center, but beggars can't be choosers.
• Restaurant atmosphere: 10,  The dining area was open, with a view of the kitchen.  I got to sit on a cozy seat, so I was happy.
• Taste of food: 6,  I knew I shouldn't expect too much with my meal, because obviously seafood is their specialty.  The crab cake minis were typical to crab cake standards.  Hubby's ultimate crab cake consisted of pieces of jumbo lump crab meat topped with Panko bread crumbs.  Very different from the typical crab cake, but different in a good way.
• Leftovers?  Hubby ate all of his, I had more than half my food left.  It wasn't worth trying to save, especially considering I knew I wouldn't eat it.
• Price: 10
• Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer?  Down the Drain.  There weren't enough pluses about Phillips that would make me want to visit it again.  The main deterrent was the cost for the quality. 

Restaurant #2: Rusty Scupper

What we ate:

Hubby: Filet Mignon

Me: Chesapeake Chicken

• Time in restaurant: 10, It was obvious that most couples had saved Saturday night for their special dinner.  The restaurant was packed with couples, yet we didn't have a wait at all.  We were seated immediately, served within ten minutes of placing our order and finished and out of the restaurant within 40 minutes.  Though we didn't feel rushed, the quick pace was rather confusing.
• Restaurant atmosphere: 10, Most of the restaurant is window, looking out into the harbor.  There was live entertainment which, to me, is always a plus.
• Taste of food: 10, My chicken was delicious, yet the menu described Chicken Chesapeake as being stuffed with crab.  However, my chicken was just topped with jumbo lump crab.  Still delicious, just not matching to the description.
• Price: 5
• Leftovers? No leftovers! 
• Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer?  Keep it in the Strainer!  Though Hubby was a little sad they didn't have any steamed crabs to offer, I thought the food was well worth the price.

Restaurant #3: Costas Inn

What we ate:

Hubby: Scallops

Me: Salmon St. Michael

I chose this restaurant after our meal at the Rusty Scupper when I realized just how badly Hubby wanted to have steamed crab, specifically blue crab, during our trip to Baltimore.  It was a major let down when he asked our waitress and first, she had no clue if they had any crab, and then the other waitress she asked bluntly answered that they did not have any.  We put together that this was due to the snow storm that had occurred just days before our trip.

• Time in restaurant: 5
• Restaurant atmosphere: 1, The restaurant was a huge room with a diner feel.  The waitresses did not seem up to the quality of the owners.  They poorly communicated with tables (our neighboring table was getting up in a huff) and forgot portions of our meal (I didn't realize I was missing my rice pilaf until I was halfway through my salmon).
• Taste of food: 5, I was in love with my salmon, however, Hubby told me that anyone could make salmon taste that delicious considering it was sitting in lemon butter.  He may have been speaking out of annoyance from the lack of crab, but I also did note that I didn't enjoy his scallops as much as my salmon.
• Price: 6, For lunch, it was pricey.  For dinner, it was typical.
• Leftovers? No leftovers!  
• Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer? Keep it in the Strainer! 

Go Big or Go Home: Gram's Birthday Dinner

As mentioned over at Go Somewhere That's Green, Gram turned 81 yesterday.

Initially, my parents wanted to have a family dinner of store bought fried chicken.  While I love fried chicken, my sister-in-law, Kristina, and I thought we could do better.  Anytime I plan a meal, it can not be simple.  I suppose it's the Italian running through my veins.  It isn't a real meal if the table isn't filled with food, leaving little to no space for things like plates, silverware, glassware, etc.

Here is the menu we planned:

Appetizer: shrimp cocktail, salad, Italian bread

Main Course: fresh lobster, London broil, roast chicken (Surf, Turf, and.....Air!)

Sides: butternut squash with kale, mashed potatoes, broccoli, Red Lobster biscuits

Dessert: strawberry shortcake, chocolate trifle

Kristina was the one who thought to add lobster to the menu.  In fact, it may have been the first suggestion out of her mouth when we began planning.  We made live lobster once before and she desperately wanted the opportunity to be the one to put the lobster into the pot.  For more about this first time experience go here.*

*Looking through my old posts always makes me realize how far my blog has come.  That said, don't judge the poor layout my blog had back then.

We picked up the lobster in the afternoon, then headed to my mom's to cook our feast.

Gram loves Red Lobster biscuits, so naturally they made the menu.  They are insanely easy to make and taste exactly like the real thing.

Here's the recipe:

Red Lobster Biscuits

Hubby found this awesome parody cookbook of the book Fifty Shades of Grey: Fifty Shades of Chicken.  Not only is it hysterical, the recipes are different from ordinary roaster chicken recipes such as herb roasted chicken which I'm pretty sure everyone on earth has some variation of.  We made the first recipe: plain vanilla chicken. 

Are you ready for it?

The spread made of vanilla, brandy, sugar, and butter is rubbed, get this, under the skin of the chicken and then roasted for a little over an hour.

I had planned our menu out by the minute and found that despite the vast number of items we were making, there was a lot of down time.

After the chicken was on, Kristina began chopping veggies for the salad, while I prepared the veggies and herbs for the lobster pot.



I love the fancy way of chopping cucumber that Kristina recently discovered.  If you haven't tried this before, drag a fork down the sides of the cucumber before slicing.  

My inspiration to make lobster came from the book/movie Julie and Julia.  While I'm sure there are other guides to steaming live lobsters, I find no reason to use anything other than Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking as my guide.

We didn't want to get too fancy, so I used the steaming portion of the recipe for Lobster Thermidor.  Three cups of white wine, 2 cups of water, with sliced carrot, onion, celery, and seasonings simmers together for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, the heat is turned up until the water reaches a rapid boil.

Cooking live lobster is ridiculously easy.  It sounds like something that would be difficult, terrifying, and intimidating, but it couldn't be further from that.

Oh yeah, except for the part where you have to put a LIVE lobster into a pot.

Kristina did so good, at first.  She picked the lobster up, she held it for a good minute....but then she chickened out.  I'm not sure if it was her conscience speaking to her over the murder she was about to commit or just the thought of plopping that bad boy into a pot of boiling water.*

*Note: Last time, the first lobster I put in the pot jumped.  It was terrifying.

Kristina placed the lobster back down on the shopping bag and I had to grab him, get over the previous terror I had faced, and take care of business.

I felt like a drill sergeant as I ordered Kristina to get the second lobster into the pot.

One way or another, she made it happen.

As the lobsters steamed (and no, there are no scary shrills or sounds that come from the pot during the 20 minute steaming time) we prepared the shrimp cocktails.

I thought about being overly ridiculous and buying the shrimp fresh, but the flash frozen bag of shrimp that was on sale seemed like a better choice, all things considered.

After five minutes of thawing in water, they were ready for assembly.

My mashed potatoes were divine, the butternut squash was sweet (the kale a little under cooked--that recipe to come another time), and the chicken was moist, roasted to perfection.

And this....the London Broil.  There isn't much you can do to a London broil to make it better than it is naturally.  It was probably a little rare for some folks preferences, however, in my house we like it rare so this was a thing of beauty.

Not bad for 81, right?

My grandmother loves anything strawberry.  I usually make this Strawberry Shortcake Trifle for her.  However, on my ever growing list of recipes to try was Pioneer Woman's Strawberry Shortcake.  I figured this was the time to do it.

The icing, instead of the typical whipped cream topping that is plopped on ordinary strawberry shortcake, was made of butter, powdered sugar, and cream cheese.  The three of the most sacred things in the world of baking.

It was surprisingly delightful.