Soft Pretzels

I have a huge hankering for pretzels lately - specifically to use as sandwich bread *yum*! We love any recipe by Alton Brown so, of course, we used his recipe for Homemade Soft Pretzels.

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one 1/4 oz packet)
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces salted butter, melted

Vegetable oil spray
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt (optional)

Pour water into mixer bowl, then sprinkle sugar and yeast on top of the water. Let sit for 5 minutes, until frothy. Then add flour and butter. Mix on low until combined, then on medium for 4-5 minutes, until dough forms a smooth ball. Put dough into a greased bowl, cover with saran wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (about an hour).

Preheat oven to 450. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with oil. Bring water and baking soda to a rolling boil.

While waiting for the water to boil, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a rope. Twist into the shape of a pretzel, or other desired shape. Place onto the sheet pan.

Place pretzels into the boiling water, one by one, for 30 seconds. Remove them using a large, flat spatula. Return back to the sheet pan, brush the top with the beaten egg yolk, and sprinkle with salt if desired. Bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before eating.

Sizzling Prawns

Tonight I was looking for a quick and easy main dish. I picked up a recipe book I've never used before: Cooking In Spain. We've had this recipe book since we got married, since Mike is sentimental toward anything Spanish (on account of his two year mission to Barcelona). On a whim, I looked through it and found this fantastic recipe, "Gambas Al Pil Pil".

It's so easy, it wasn't even laid out in the traditional recipe format - just a short paragraph describing it: This dish is supposed to arrive at the table "pil-pileando", a word that sounds like spluttering oil. It is traditionally made in individual ramekins and topped with a plate of chunks of bread for sopping the savoury juices. One daren't remove the plate nor taste the first morsel until the oil stops sizzling, for fear of singeing the tongue.

Per serving:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped clove of garlic
1 teaspoon crushed chili pepper
pinch of smoked paprika
10 peeled shrimp
Heat oil, garlic, pepper, and paprika in a pan until quite hot, then add shrimp. Cook only until they just turn pink and curl slightly. Serve immediately!

Spaghetti Sauce Mix

In a pint size mason jar, combine the following:

1/2 cup dried minced onion
1/2 cup dried parsley flakes (one 2.75 oz bottle)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. pepper flakes (green if you want mild, red if you want a little spice)
1 Tbsp. dried minced garlic (or 1 1/2 tsp. powdered garlic)
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp. kale powder (optional)
1 tsp. white pepper

Shake well. To make spaghetti sauce either add 1/3 cup of the mix to one 29 oz can of tomato puree, or 1/3 cup of the mix to one 15 oz can of tomato sauce and one 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes. Simmer on low until warm.

Gourmet Caramel Apples

A friend of mine makes tons of Christmas candies and sweets. She graciously agreed to teach a group of ladies how to make caramel apples ala Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. These were delicious, and much better than what you will buy at the aforementioned candy shoppe. It did take time, since you are making the caramel from scratch, but it was well worth it. She got her recipe from Our Best Bites (love their blog).

It would help if you have a candy thermometer.

1 pound dark brown sugar (about 2 cups packed brown sugar)
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt

12 medium sized apples (that’s a pretty conservative measurement, this makes a lot of caramel)
popsicle sticks or chopsticks

12 oz bag chocolate chips (milk, dark, white, whatever you prefer)

I covered my apples with cinnamon sugar, but you can use any optional toppings for dipping (toffee bits, chopped nuts, coconut, crushed cookies or candy bars, etc.)

DIRECTIONS:

Wash and dry apples; place sticks in cores and place on a baking sheet in the fridge to chill. Prepare all toppings in bowls and have them ready to go.

To prepare caramel, combine first 8 ingredients in heavy 2 1/2-quart nonstick saucepan (about 3-4 inches deep, at least). Stir with wooden or silicone spatula over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves (no crystals are felt when caramel is rubbed between fingers), occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush or scraping with spatula, about 15 minutes.

Attach a clip-on candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat to medium-high; cook caramel at rolling boil until thermometer registers 236°F, stirring constantly but slowly with clean spatula and occasionally brushing/scraping down sides of pan,  about 12 minutes. Pour caramel into a bowl. Submerge thermometer bulb in caramel.  Cool to 200°F, about 20 minutes.  If it cools too much just heat it up a little.

While caramel cools, line 1-2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or buttered foil.  Set up decorations and melted chocolates.

Holding stick, dip 1 apple into 200°F caramel, submerging all but very top of apple. Lift apple out, allowing excess caramel to drip back into bowl. Turn apple caramel side up and hold for several seconds to help set caramel around apple.  If needed, gently scrape the bottom of the apple to remove excess caramel. Place coated apple on prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining apples and caramel, spacing apples apart (caramel will pool a bit on foil). If caramel becomes too thick to dip into, gently heat in microwave, or add 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream and briefly whisk caramel in bowl over low heat to thin.

By the time you have dipped all the apples, the first ones should be ready partially set enough to add toppings.  If not, chill in fridge for a few minutes.  Lift 1 apple from foil. Using hand, press pooled caramel around apple. At this point you can either add toppings to the caramel, or dip the caramel-coated apples into melted chocolate and THEN add toppings.

Chill until toppings are set, about 1 hour. Cover; chill up to 1 week or wrap in cellophane bags for gift giving.