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Posts Tagged ‘recipe’

The King of Salt and Dough

The German-speaking countries of Europe are full of very interesting baking creations. From rye bread to pumpernickel, croissants to Frankfurter Kranz , fruit cakes like zwetschgentorte, dumplings in their huge variety to just regular brötchen (potato breads, too), the list is enormous. But if there is one that sticks out as representative of German baking it’s the pretzel. We know it here as a salty, hard snack that goes well with beer, which is great in its own right. However, in Germany, especially in the south, it is a high art form that bakers spend considerable time perfecting. As of late, I have been doing some practicing myself and, along the way, have learned some very interesting things about this ages-old form of bread.

Pretzels are basically bread dough that has been dipped or boiled in some sort of a salt solution. If you open a cookbook and proceed to make them, the salt will be sodium bicarbonate, otherwise known as baking soda. The formed pretzel is dipped or boiled in the solution, then baked. I like these and like making them, but I always wondered why they never came out that deep, mahogany brown that I know to be the distinguishing color of pretzels I get at the German deli. Then I found out from a German baker why; I’m using the wrong salt. To achieve this color, one must use instead sodium hydroxide, otherwise known as lye. That’s right; the same thing that cleans out drains also makes beautiful pretzels. It’s not poisonous, once baked it converts to bicarbonate, a rather harmless substance. That does not mean that one does not proceed with utmost care when making them. Since I can, I’m going to make them both, as the only difference is the salt. That way I can show, side by side, the difference. I shall then allow you to decide.

Start with basic white bread dough. You can pre-buy this, pre-make and refrigerate it till ready or make it fresh; it just needs to be at room temperature before you start. For our purposes we’ll assume the dough has gone through its first rise and has been punched down and start there (if you have questions on how to make a basic dough let me know; we bake all of our own bread and have it pretty well down. And a Kitchenaid makes it a snap).

Preheat oven to 450⁰.

Take four cups of water and add 1/3 cup of baking soda to it. This is for our baking soda pretzels. Set this aside. In a stainless bowl, add 4 cups of warm water. To this, add ¼ cup of lye SLOWLY. Stir with a wooden spoon and when dissolved, set aside.

Divide the dough, enough for one loaf, into 12 equal parts. The parts should be balls of dough about 2” in diameter. On a smooth, non-floured surface, start rolling the dough into an even strand that is 12-15 inches long.

rolling the dough for pretzel

Try not to add flour, as you want it a little sticky so the pretzel form will not fall apart. When the strand is made, fold it into a pretzel shape. I couldn’t take pictures of this while doing it, as I only have two hands, but here is a little diagram I absconded with from another website:

The mystery revealed

All pretzels made? Ok, take two cookie sheets and lightly grease. Place the baking soda water on the stove and bring to a boil. When boiling, add the pretzels one at a time and boil them for two minutes, turning once. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and place on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt to your liking, and place in the oven for about ten minutes or until brown.

Boiling pretzels in water and baking soda

Now, the others. Put on some painters gloves to protect yourself. With the lye water, place pretzels in the bath and let them sit for 1½ minutes. Fish them out and place on the cookie sheet, salt and bake for about 10 minutes.

The Outcome:

Left: Lye Pretzel Right: Baking Soda Pretzel

Well, they are different in appearance, but not too much in the taste department. I guess I would make the baking soda ones more often, as they are a little easier to make. But I must say that they never last long whichever one I do make. Also, we go through more American prepared mustard when I am on the pretzel-making kick. Enjoy!

Our friend Jack just posted the link to this site on his Facebook, and one of the comments he received was “This is food porn.” If there could be such a thing, they’re right.

Market Day Potato and Leek soup from kissmyspatula.com

Check out this recipe, story, and photographs of “Market Day Soup“

The core Foodnuts met last week and had a great foodie evening.  It is raining like crazy here in Southern Cal right now, so what could be better than soup and sandwich, only upgraded to divine gourmet.. the meal was followed by a great glass of port, and –are you ready? Girl Scout Cookies, as they are in season right now. We were so entranced with the food that we did not even take photos. I do have a couple nice shots of  the leftovers though.
Here goes.

Dutch Onion Soup

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 55 Minutes
Makes: 6 servings
4 sweet onions, sliced
3 T vegetable oil
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
½ cups port wine
6 cups Wolfgang Puck Organic Beef-Flavored Broth
2 springs fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
¼ t. ground black pepper
12 slices French bread (1/2 in thick)
1 ½ cups grated Gouda cheese-hence the “Dutch”

Heat oil in 6 quart saucepot over medium high heat. Add onions and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring often
Add celery and cook and stir for 3 min. Add port, broth, thyme, bay leaves, and pepper , stirring to scrape up browned bits from bottom of pot.
Reduce heat to low. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove thyme and bay leaves and adjust seasoning with salt. Heat broiler. Sprinkle bread with cheese Broil until cheese is melted. Put soup into 6 bowls, top with bread and any extra cheese.

Copyright 2005, Ina Garten. Delicious! My daughter made these for me one evening this summer and it was just wonderful! Didn’t include resting time of 20 minutes.

45 min | 20 min prep   SERVES 4         ( We served 7!)- Louise

BEEF

• 2-3 lbs filet of beef, trimmed and tied
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room at temperature
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons fresh coarse ground black pepper

SAUCE

• 3/4 cup good mayonnaise (Hellmans)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon white prepared horseradish    (or to taste)-Louise
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• kosher salt

FOR THE SANDWICH

• 1 loaf unsliced health bread or unsliced multi-grain bread (or french rolls or other hearty bread) -Louise
• arugula
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. TO COOK THE BEEF:.
2. Preheat oven to 500ºF.
3. Place the beef on baking sheet and pat the outside dry with a paper towel.
4. Mix the unsalted butter and mustards together in a small bowl and spread the mixture over the beef with your hands.
5. Sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper.
6. Roast in the oven for exactly 22 minutes for rare and 25 minutes for medium-rare.
7. Remove the beef from oven, cover lightly with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest at room tempearture for 20 minutes. Remove the strings and slice fillet thickly(personal preference, I like mine thin).
8. SAUCE:.
9. Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Serve at room temperature.
10. TO MAKE THE SANDWICH:.
11. Cut the bread into 1/4″ thick slices.
12. Spread 4 of the slices thickly with the Mustard Horseradish Sauce.
13. Top with slices of beef and arugula and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
14. Spread 4 more slices of bread very lightly with butter and place butter side down, on top of the beef.
15. Enjoy, they are divine!

Sorry- You had to be there--Make your own!!!

Tupperware Leftovers

My daughter called me at the office, concerned that as her mother is feeling very poorly today with a classroom-petri-dish-induced cold, we needed to come up with something yummy for dinner to sooth her condition.

We’re going to make one of Roz’s favorites, an old formulation I believe comes from Karin Knight’s Baby Cookbook from forever ago: Lime-Dill Chicken.

Take chicken breast, slice it very thin (perhaps 1/8-1/4″). Roll in egg, and dip in italian bread crumbs to fry in a little olive oil until browned. The sauce is a combination of butter, lime juice, and dill weed (fresh if you have it).

We’re going to serve it with mashed potatoes (the lime-dill sauce is an excellent topping for the taters, as well, but then we’re huge lime fans around the Denny house) and perhaps a side of some sort of fresh green veg to be named later.

I’ll try to update this post with some pics during the production of dinner.

PS. She felt far too crappy to appreciate an actual meal, so we made her toast and oatmeal and suchlike; hopefully tomorrow night will render her able to enjoy the lime dill chicken. And yes, Becca, it’s made with actual butter, not just the leavings from the chicken pan. Michael needs to get with the program.

PSS. Sunday update: Megan and I decided to reprise the goat-cheese and sun dried tomato chicken, and potato salad a la Roslyn. The chicken turned out great; the tater salad turned out to be mashed potatoes instead, which was actually a great side for this dish.

The period from the Civil War to 1912 was defined by the Legislative branch of Federal Government. It starts with our first impeachment of a President, and ends with the election of a President that would begin the ascending power of the Executive branch. During this era Congress would wield its greatest power ever in history. The 20^th century would be defined by its slow loss of power to the Executive branch. Never again, after the election of Woodrow Wilson, would Congress ever wield such power.

If the Congress was all powerful, who, therefore, in Congress, would have been the most powerful? Well, that would be the speaker of the House, of course, or didn’t you stay awake in government class? And of all the speakers of this era, none had the power and used it like Joseph Gurney Cannon of Illinois.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Known as Uncle Joe, he used his power as a tyrant over the House. No bill saw the light of day without him allowing it, as he was also head of the Rules Committee. Nothing in Congress happened without his permission. At times, things came to a standstill, loggerheads being broken only on his whim. Finally, the situation became intolerable, something had to give.

Like Humpty Dumpty, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. As the story goes, Uncle Joe got up from his speakers seat to relieve himself due to “nature calling”. When he left the chamber of the house, the members present, both Democrats and Republicans, quickly put together a resolution to remove him as Speaker. Upon his return, his supporters initiated a filibuster to block the resolution. After 26 hours, the filibuster ended, but the damage was done. Uncle Joe was no longer speaker of the house, and the era that was born in the tragedy of the Civil War came to an end. The rise of the Executive’s star was to begin, and we would enter an era defined by regulation. In history, even the greatest changes can come about for the simplest of reasons.

You must be asking yourself “What’s with the history lesson? Isn’t this a food blog? Well, Uncle Joe is famous for something else, and that’s Senate Bean Soup. Apparently one day he entered the dining room, looked at the menu, and exclaimed “Thunderation, I had my mouth set for bean soup! From now on, hot or cold, rain, snow or shine, I want it on the menu every day.” And it’s been that way ever since, never has a day gone by without it on the menu.

Dedicated cooks doing a daily routine

I love this recipe; it has become a staple at our house, our children call it “so good bean soup”. It is great on a cold winter night, and is pretty much a meal in itself. I try to make it as authentic as possible, which means making like they do in Washington, so I follow this recipe:

• 1 pound dry white beans, soaked overnight
• 1 meaty ham bone or 2 smoked ham hocks
• 3 quarts water
• 3 onions, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 stalks celery, with leaves, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup cooked mashed potatoes
• salt and pepper to taste

To begin: soak the beans overnight. In the morning, rinse beans, add to a stock pot with 3 quarts of water and the ham bone or hocks. Cover and simmer 2 hours.

Stir in the mashed potatoes and cook over low heat until the beans are almost tender, about 30 minutes. Add onion, celery, garlic and continue to simmer about an hour, or until the beans are tender. Remove the bone or hocks, clean of meat, dice it and return meat to the soup (I always add more ham to it than the bone will have). Salt and pepper to taste, and then serve. It’s very hearty and a wonderful meal. It also goes well with a salad tossed in a strong vinaigrette.

A great legacy left by a man of power, almost forgotten in our history books. Though, like Humpty Dumpty, he fell, the difference is in his case the king had no desire to use his men and horses to put him together again.