Pretzel Dogs

I love big soft pretzels.  Hence, my post on making homemade pretzels here.  On an icy day, with no where to go and a package of polish sausage in the fridge, I decided to see if I could make some pretzel dogs.  There are a lot of things that I try that are flops, but I must say that these pretzel dogs are SOoOo good.  It says something if I am able please everyone in my family (which is a near impossible task when it comes to meals in my home).  Therefore, after seeing everyone's empty plates, I am pleased to say that this is an absolute winner in my family.

Pretzel Dgs

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
16 sausage or hot dogs

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 a towel and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. I used a silicon liner which doesn't require 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.

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.

Wrap the dough around the sausage or hot dog.

I used enormous polish sausage links which were nearly double the size of a regular hot dog, but if you use regular hot dogs, the dough would probably cover more of it.  Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

  

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, one by one, for 30 seconds. 

Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. I slightly drained it a bit on a cookie sheet.

 

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.

 This is an incredibly easy recipe and it turned out fantastic!

My husband asked for seconds, right after he asked me where I bought them.  He had no idea they were made from scratch!  I will be definitely making these again. 

Especially since there are no left overs ;)

Soft Pretzels

 

I love big soft pretzels.  I especially love getting them for free on pretzel day in March, but since March is many months away and my craving for this salty snack wasn't going away, I decided to figure out how to make them.  Because of the weather, I was stuck at home anyway so it was the perfect opportunity to experiment. I found this recipe by Alton Brown.  

Homemade Soft Pretzels

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 a towel and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. I used a silicon liner which doesn't require 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.

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. 

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.

 

This is an incredibly easy recipe and it turned out great!

I will be definitely making these again.

Here's A. chomping away at a pretzel.  It was an icy day so yes we had our ear muffs on :)

 

YUM-MO!

Gingerbread Cookies

If you asked me what my favorite cookie is, Gingerbread would not be it.  When I think of Gingerbread cookies, I think of crispy and hard.  We had a cookie exchange at work where each day, one person would bring in a cookie or dessert to share. 

Gingerbread cookies were brought in this week and although, they are not my favorite, I took one and was completely surprised.  They were soft and chewy.  They were really delicious so I had seconds (something I rarely do when it comes to sweets).  Since this wasn't too sweet, it made me like them even more!

Yesterday, we had an ice day.  The streets were covered with up to 4 inches of ice.  People were ice skating on the side walk (I'm not exaggerating).  You'd have to see it to believe it.  Being stuck at home, I craved Gingerbread cookies and searched high and low for a recipe.  I did request my co-worker's cookie recipe, but he had to go on vacation the rest of the week so no recipe for me!  He did mention that it had condensed milk so searching I went for a recipe that had condensed milk. 

I did find a recipe for chewy Gingerbread cookies so I decided to give it a go.  I was missing a couple of ingredients so my neighbor came to the rescue!  What luck that she had a whole bottle of unsulphured molasses to give me :)

 

After baking with A. for nearly 3 hours, what's the verdict?  They were so good!  I modified this recipe. 

Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup unsulfured molasses

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon lemon extract

4 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets if not using a silplat liner.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Mix in the melted margarine, evaporated milk, molasses, vanilla, and lemon extracts. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. The dough should be stiff enough to handle without sticking to fingers. I divided up the dough and wrapped with plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator.  This decreased the stickiness.  If necessary, increase flour by up to 1/2 cup to prevent sticking.

When the dough is smooth, roll it out to 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface, and cut into cookies.
 

 

A. had so much fun!

 Place cookies on the prepared cookie sheets.  The silplat liner does wonders in preventing the cookies from sticking and I highly recommend it for this cookie.

 

 Bake for 7 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven. The cookies are done when the top springs back when touched. 

Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

 

Thanks A. for your help!

Our Gingerbread Family

This is so good.  Since this recipe made 5 dozen cookies, I shared them with all my neighbors.  Great treat for such a cold day.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Ask my husband what his favorite thing to eat in the world is and he will always say Summer Rolls.  Since it takes quite a bit of prep time to make, I will have to sadly admit that I don't make it very often at home.   I did surprise him last week when I decided to make it for lunch.

Everyone likes to put different things in their rolls, but here is what my family likes.

 

Ingredients:

green leaf lettuce, washed and leaved

cucumbers, sliced length wise

onions, thinly sliced

bean sprouts, washed

large shrimp, peeled, deveined

crab meat, calamari, octopus (optional)

pork shoulder/butt, thinly sliced (butcher can do it for you)

rice vermicelli, prepped according to package and cooled

rice paper

butter

nuoc cham sauce recipe found here (scroll down)

The ingredient list may sound scary, but you can put whatever you want in this recipe.  For the crab meat, calamari, and octopus, I just buy a seafood medley bag I find at my grocery store.  The rice paper looks like this:

 

You can find it at any Asian grocery store.  There are a dozen brands and I just go with the one that looks the thinnest.  Typically, growing up, I would cook this meal on the dinner table among family and friends.  We would sit and talk for hours as we cook, rolled, and ate.  Fast forward in time, 4 kids later and a dozen activities to get to, I've had to speed cook and get to the rolling and eating part.  Saute any uncooked meat or seafood with a little butter.  I also saute the onions.   A healthier route would be to boil the shrimp and meat, but I'd still saute the onions or eliminate them all together.

 

Therefore, I started out with this:

and ende up with this:

 Doesn't everything look tasty?  Now that are ingredients are ready, lets roll!

Take one rice paper and wet it completely.  Lay it on a plate and place your ingredients in the center.

 

I just pile it on.  Normally, it goes all in my mouth anyways so making it line up and look pretty is only for pictures :)

 

Fold the two sides of the rice paper towards the center.

 

Then fold the bottom paper up and roll the entire roll to the top.

 

Make sure to keep it taut. There you have it, a beautiful summer roll.

Dip it into the dipping sauce and enjoy.

 

This is SOoO good.  It's probably one of my favorite recipes as well.  I remember the kids coming home and saying the house smelled so good.  It may take some time to make these rolls, but let me tell you, its so worth it.