Month: September 2017

Hot, Salty, Soft Pretzels Are YUM!

Get Your Hot Pretzels!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or, better yet, make your hot pretzels.

My youngest calls them “prentzels” and we let her because it’s cute.  Her little linguistic gyrations will come to an end soon enough so there’s no reason not to enjoy it.

When I was a kid in Sterling Heights, MI, a suburb of Detroit, my dad and I would venture on occasion to the Oakland Mall.  Two stores were the most important to me: Sander’s Ice Cream Parlor and Hot Sam’s Pretzels.  They were great: big and soft and hot and salty and chewy and, with a bit of yellow mustard, probably the best thing ever.

As an adult I visited that mall, but somewhere between us moving away and my return, Sam’s went away too.  Soft warm salty yeasty chewy pretzels seemed a fondness of days gone by.  I’ll eat a crunchy pretzel, but my fondness was for that Proustian connection to the soft pretzel.

My kids like to watch the Tasty videos of food.  Probably more for the sped up camera which makes mixing really cool to watch.  They ooh and ahh at some things, and my wife sends them to me.  One was the soft pretzel.  The younger one really likes to help with everything and has to have her eyeballs right there.  Driving a screw, “I wanna watch.”  Throwing darts, “Can I do it?”  So, mixing dough was going to be a two person job.  She did fine.

We let our dough rest in the refrigerator overnight.  If you do that, allow it an hour to warm up a bit before you work with the dough.  It’s much easier to get the long ropes needed for big pretzels.  Also, pretzels, properly done, require a special kind of lye-caustic soda-in the water when you boil them.  It does make a difference and purists will scoff at you for not using it. If you use lye, do take care as well.  It is caustic.  Not time for silliness.  You can get some at the link below, but if you prefer to use baking soda instead, it does work.  A word of caution, however, about the soda: it is a leavener which means it makes air when it hits the hot water, the air takes the form of foam and it might overflow the top of your pot a moment.

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Soft Pretzel Dough

Of course, soft pretzels are fabulous, but so too are pretzel buns.

I don't boil the buns.  I prefer a softer roll for sandwiches, but of course, that is a personal preference.

Course Bread
Cuisine American
Keyword Pretzel, Pretzel roll, Soft pretzel
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Fermenting and proofing 2 hours
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 8 5 oz rolls or pretzels
Author Dann Reid

Ingredients

Pretzel Dough

  • 720 g Bread flour
  • 411 g Room temperature water
  • 17 g Salt
  • 11 g Sugar
  • 21 g Oil
  • 6 g Instant yeast

Topping

  • 2/3 C Baking soda
  • 1 each Egg, beaten
  • Coarse pretzel salt Kosher will work

Instructions

  1. 1.  Heat oven to 450°F.

  2. 2.  In a bowl, mix flour, salt, and sugar, yeast and 2 tablespoons of oil. Mix thoroughly until a dough forms. Transfer the dough to the counter and kneed it for about 3 minutes to really work the dough and develop the texture. You will also start to feel the dough get a bit warm and smooth.

    Pretzel dough is a stiff dough and my small counter top mixer gets a bit taxed here.  A good kneed on the counter ensures a good dough.

  3. 3. Lightly oil the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl (it's okay if it isn't washed out). Place the dough into the bowl, roll it around to coat it in oil.

  4. 4. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place for 1 hour.

  5. 5. Cut dough into 8 pieces (about 143 grams or 5 ounces) and roll them out into thin ropes, about 14 inches long. If your dough is a tad cool, it is acceptable to let the rope rest, covered with plastic wrap, and let it rest a few minutes. Turn and fold the two ends to form a pretzel shape.

  6. 6. Add baking soda to a large pot of salted water, and bring to a rolling boil. Boil each pretzel for 30 seconds per side.

  7. 7. Remove pretzels from the water and place on a baking sheet. Brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with coarse salt. You can really individualize the pretzels: sesame seeds, garlic powder, cinnamon sugar. Invent.

  8. 8. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.

  9. 9. Enjoy!

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

I love a good pretzel roll, or pretzel, for a sandwich or a snack.

Experiment with different coarse salts on top and different dipping sauces for the pretzels.

Try some sticks as well as the traditionally shaped pretzels.

 

Shaped pretzels proofing. Soon to be boiled.
Boiling the pretzels. The foam is partly from the baking soda and partly from the flour. This is normal.
One kid smelling the yeasty goodness, the other egg washing before she cinnamon sugars her’s.
Lots of cinnamon sugar.
Salt on one, cinnamon sugar on the other two. Mine, as samples for how-to, are at the top. They both got salt and one garlic powder.
Yum! The kitchen smelled grand and when they were still warm, well, just heavenly. For the adults in the room, a beer is perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For another option, make rolls.  These are my version.

Pretzel rolls with smoked sea salt.

I scaled them at 4 oz, and, save the one round one, rolled them into a rectangle and folded them long edges to the middle then the ends to the center to create a rectangular roll.

Proof seam side down.  When almost ready to bake, press them with a flat pan, egg wash, salt and bake.  I baked them about 18 minutes.

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Corn Maque Choux

Corn Maque Choux

I love corn maque choux. It is a Louisiana dish, likely a mixture of at least two cultures, Creole and American Indian. The French sound is possibly their best attempt to speak what was unpronounceable to them. Fun stuff for a food anthropologist, but let’s eat it instead of talk about it.

The single best thing you’ll need to make spectacular maque choux is fresh corn. The cob retains a starchy milky liquid which comes free when you scrape the cob with the back side of your knife. Use the same technique for creamed corn.

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Corn Maque Choux

A staple of Creole cuisine and a wonderful flavor accompaniment to any plate, corn maque choux is easy to make and well worth it.

Course Vegetable
Cuisine Creole
Keyword Cajun, Corn Maque Choux, Creole, Vegetable
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 6 people
Author Dann Reid

Ingredients

Corn Maque Choux ingredients

  • 5 ea Ears of corn, shucked
  • 1/2 C Bacon fat or lard or butter
  • 2 C Medium diced onion* I prefer red for flavor
  • 1 C Medium diced green pepper*
  • 1 C Medium diced celery*
  • 1 C Medium diced fresh tomatoes Canned if needed
  • 1 T Sugar
  • 2 T Coarse corn meal
  • 1 C Heavy cream
  • as needed Salt and pepper
  • * Dices the same size as the corn kernels

Instructions

Make the corn maque choux

  1. Cut the corn from the cob. Hold the cob in a work bowl or pot large enough to hold lots of corn. Place the edge of the knife blade near the tip of the corn and, cautiously, press forward and down in short motions as you slice the corn from the cob. Get as close as you can to the cob to get as much of the kernel of corn. If you strike the cob, just pull back a bit and continue.

  2. Once all the corn is removed from the cob, use the back of the knife and, in the same pan or bowl, scrape the cob to remove all the creamy starchy goodness. That is what helps make the dish creamy when it is done and a delight to eat

  3. If you used the pot for the cutting of the corn, remove the corn to another container, wash the pot and put it to heat on the stove. When it is hot, add the oil or bacon fat. Then add the onions, peppers and celery. Allow to cook until the onions start to turn translucent, but not start to brown. Add the corn, the corn squeezings and the sugar. Stirring often, allow this to come to a boil.

  4. Add the tomatoes, corn meal and cream. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 1 hour.

  5. Check in the first 15 minutes often to make sure the corn isn’t sticking or burning. Just before serving, add the spices. Enjoy.

This is a grand side dish (you can add a pork product of your choice, tasso or Andouille being obvious first picks to make it a meal) for ribs or baked or grilled chicken.  Also, pretty tasty under some crab cakes.

If it’s February and you simply must make maque chop and there is no fresh corn about, use frozen, add a 1/2 cup of water and double up the corn meal.  It will more than serve but fresh is best.