Homemade Pretzels

I don't have the sweet tooth many people do however I have a carb tooth (or maybe 2). I cannot get enough of bread, rolls, biscuits, crescent rolls, and pretzels (especially the soft one's). Every time I go to the mall I have a battle between my mouth and my wallet as a pass the auntie ann's pretzel store.. so this Thanksgiving I decided to entire my two older nieces by making homemade pretzels. Very easy and VERY delicious I don't think any were left the next morning. The recipe we used was from the Food Network's Alton Brown whom I have a mild obsession with one because he is from Atlanta and two because he makes cooking fun and three he teaches you all the cool sciencey things behind it! What more could you want? So here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt

Directions
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Penny being good and not eating the flying dough. 

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan. 

We let the girls each have a section and make their own designs rather than doing the pretzels shapes (Much more fun!)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Eating dough while the pretzels cooked. 

Just to experiment we baked a couple without boil them in baking soda water and then didn't "puff" up as much or have the classic pretzel taste. So I would suggest not skipping this crucial step. 

Some of the girls creations - sprinkle with sea salt or topping of choice as soon
as they come out of the oven, or before the go in to bake.

Thumbs up for easy, fun, and delicious treats! Did I mention they were dairy-free? 

Homemade Butter

A couple weeks ago I made butter.  Everyone I've told seems mighty impressed.  But honestly, it's not that hard, anyone can make butter.

All you need is a good mixer, cream, and a bit of time.

Step 1: Put your whisk attachment (if you have one) on the mixer.

Step 2: Add cream to the bowl, start beating the cream on high.  Just like making whipped cream.

Step 3: Realize you've made whipped cream and stop the mixer to taste a bit.

Step 4: Keep mixing, ruining the fluffy whipped cream.  It will fall and become more dense and turn just a bit light yellow.  

Step 5: As the butter comes together, stop and check the consistency and taste until you get what you want.  About 10 minutes for me.Add salt, herbs, or anything else you want for flavored butter. 

Step 6: When you have your better as desired, strain it.  I keep the liquid for biscuits.  Most people call it buttermilk, but it's not the cultured milk you buy in stores.

Step 7: Squish the butter together to form a ball and remove the rest of the liquid.  You can be done now if you want, or rinse under cold water to clean it just a bit more.

Step 8: Form into sticks, or other shapes with a mold.  Or just stick it in a container since it won't last more than a week if your family and friends are like mine.

Step 9:  Enjoy!

Beef and Onion Stew

Today I had every intention of making a beef stew.  Then I realized that my potatoes had gone mushy.  Drat.  Time to step back and punt.

I think I could make a meal of just
caramelized onions.  Delish!

We had just picked up a new bag of onions today, so french onion soup was a possibility (and oh so yummy).  But then what to so with the already thawed beef? 

This is when I figures that if french onion soup is good with just beef broth, why not try modifying it a bit to use actually beef chunks?

So, this is what I came up with and currently have simmering in the crockpot waiting for my husband to get home.  Sorry for the bad cell phone pictures.  I didn't think about making this a blog post until about half way through and didn't want to go find the camera.  I really should just leave it out int he kitchen.

Beef and Onion Stew
approx 1lb beef, in 1/2 inch cubes
3 cups beef broth (this can be 1/2 and 1/2 with beer for extra flavor)
2 large onions
1Tbsp thyme
1Tbps mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
3 carrots (optional, I like the little bit of color)

1) Brown the beef in a skillet and place into the crockpot with the broth.

2) Carmelize the onions and add to the pot (I do this with a little butter, takes about 5-8 min)

3) Add seasonings and carrots.

4) Cook about 4hrs on high.

5) Enjoy!  To really get the french onion thing going on, serve with thick cut bread topped with melted cheese.  Delish!

Cooking away in the crock.  Looks like about enough for 2-3 servings. 
I'm going to make a veggie soup out of the leftovers.

 
Let me know if you try this out and how it works for you!