Saturday, January 22, 2011

Pretzel Bites

I'm warning you now... this is a dangerous, dangerous recipe. You will be fighting your friends and loved-ones for the very last nugget. Good thing this recipe makes a lot!

Don't be scared to work with dough. It's actually more difficult to mess up than you think. Just keep these tips in mind:

1. Follow directions.
2. Knead the dough for as long as you're supposed to. Not much longer, not shorter. Set a timer if you must! If you don't know how to knead dough, watch a Youtube demo.
3. Let it rest. Don't touch it, don't poke it, just let it alone while it rises.

Do that^ and your pretzels will be perfect!

Ingredients:

1 packet active dry yeast
4 cups of flour
2 tbsp sugar (white or brown)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
8-10 cups water
4 tbsp baking soda

Kosher salt for topping
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp water

Combine sugar, salt, and warm water in a bowl. Sprinkle yeast packet on top and lest rest for 5 minutes until it begins to foam. If it doesn't foam it means your yeast is dead and you need a new packet.

Add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes if using a stand mixer - 8 minutes if kneading by hand. Grease a bowl and place dough ball in it, then turn it over so it's greased side up. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a nice warm place, let it rest and rise for an hour.

While dough is rising:

Heat oven to 450. Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper and grease with Crisco, veggie oil, or spray.
Bring 8 to 10 cups of water to a rolling boil, add baking soda.

When dough has rested, turn it out onto a lightly oiled surface and cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch ropes. I use a pizza cutter to just slice up the large dough ball. Use the pizza cutter to slice the rope into 2 inch nuggets.

Drop dough balls, several at a time, into boiling water for 30 to 45 seconds. You can boil several balls at once, just don't over crowed the water... they should be able to float.
Fish them out with a slotted utensil, drain, and place onto baking sheet.

Brush the tops of each nugget with the egg yolk mixture (you can also just use the entire egg if you want, doesn't make much difference), and sprinkle with Kosher salt.

Bake at 450 for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving. You can also brush them with butter before serving, but I honestly didn't think it needed it.

You can also skip the salt and coat with sugar and cinnamon after baking.
This dough also makes a great pretzel base for pretzel-dogs, pretzel wrapped Lil' Smokies, cheese stuffed pretzel logs, ham and cheese logs, or pepperoni logs. Just flatten out the dough a bit and wrap it around anything yummy and good. You can skip the boiling stage if your going to go this route, the pretzel will just be a bit less chewy.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Creamy Tomato & Chorizo Soup


This is a simple, spicy, delicious soup that is a cinch to put together and ready in 20 minutes!


If you have access to a Trader Joe's:

2 large cartons of Creamy Tomato soup - 32oz each
12 oz of vegetarian chorizo
1 bag of fire roasted corn, frozen
1 can of Cuban-style black beans, undrained
Cheese for garnish

If you do not have a Trader Joe's:

Approximately 60 oz of any base-tomato soup
12 oz of chorizo, vegetarian or pork
1 bag of frozen corn, roasted if you an find it
1 can of black beans, undrained
Cheese for garnish

De-case the chorizo and put in the bottom of a stockpot. The vegetarian just needs to be heated through, the pork choizo would need to be cooked.
Add the undrained can of black beans
Add the tomato soup and bag of frozen corn.

Simmer for about 20 minutes to heat through and blend flavors.
Serve in bowls topped with a little cheese.

This recipe makes a ton, so you can cut the recipe in half ... but the leftovers of this soup are just as yummy and it freezes very well!

Enjoy!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Butter Chicken



1 lb chicken tenders, cut into chunks
2-3 medium red potatoes
(I like potato in mine, but this can be left out)
1 medium onion, diced
1 tbsp cumin powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar Korma simmer sauce
4 oz water
1 8oz tub of whipped cream cheese
3-4 tbsp butter
Salt to taste
(fresh lime juice, optional)

Botan (sticky) rice or basmati rice, cooked per package directions.

This is a recipe I invented to give myself a quick easy butter chicken when I don't feel like going through the hassle of making the entire sauce from scratch. Using a Korma sauce as a base and tweaking it a bit will give you a very nice dinner with minimal effort!

Directions: In a pan saute the onion, diced chicken and diced potato until chicken is mostly done and potato is softening. Add minced garlic and saute a few more minutes. Add one jar of Korma simmer sauce , which can be found in the ethnic aisle of any grocery store. Add water and cumin. Simmer on medium low for 20 minutes. Stir in tub of cream cheese until melted and incorporated into the sauce. Add butter and stir until melted. Salt to taste and serve over rice. Drizzle with a bit of fresh lime juice, if desired.

Enjoy!