Salt 'N Pepper Soft Pretzels

We are slowly getting settled back into the groove of Bellingham. As I sit here, mid afternoon a storm is blowing in, the rain is doing what it does best here, raining. I always have loved this time of year. The leaves stating to change from green to gold, the sweet smell of precipitation soaking the dry summer earth, the fresh apples and autumn vegetables satisfy my deepest hungers for something comforting. The temperatures have not dropped and I am not bitterly cold, a walk in a windstorm is a novelty this time of year.

The sunsets this time of year stop me dead in my tracks and I dash for our porch to watch the sky light up in every shade imaginable.

As the weather tuns and winter blows in, I settle into the kitchen. I bake breads and make pots of soup. I crave big hearty red wines, candles and books. Seriously you would think it is December, not the last pieces September with this talk. I know what is about to happen to the next six months and I am just preparing my body.

I welcomed this challenge from the Bread Baking Babes for the month of September. Soft pretzels were a great treat and one that I would love to make for our next winter party.

Salt 'N Pepper Soft Pretzels

Elle’s recipe was originally found at MyRecipes. 

Yield: 12 pretzels

Ingredients

• 1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons) 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 
• 1 cup warm water (100° to 110°) 
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (about 14 1/2 ounces) 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 6 cups water
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cornmeal (I used semolina sprinkled on parchment paper)
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1 large egg
• Flaky salt 
• Fresh cracked pepper

Method

• Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes. 
• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.
• Add 3 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt to yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes). Add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly sticky).
• Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray (or oil), turning to coat top.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 40 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425°.
• Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), roll each portion into an 18-inch-long rope with tapered ends. 
• Cross one end of rope over the other to form a circle, leaving about 4 inches at end of each rope. Twist the rope at the base of the circle.
• Fold the ends over the circle and into a traditional pretzel shape, pinching gently to seal.
• Place pretzels on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 10 minutes (pretzels will rise only slightly). 
• Combine 6 cups water and baking soda in a non-aluminum Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer.
• Gently lower 1 pretzel into simmering water mixture; cook 15 seconds. Turn pretzel with a slotted spatula; cook an additional 15 seconds. Transfer pretzel to a wire rack coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining pretzels.
• Place pretzels on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. (I used parchment paper sprinkled with semolina.) Combine 1 teaspoon water and egg in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until smooth. Brush a thin layer of egg mixture over pretzels; sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
• Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until pretzels are deep golden brown. 
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Vienna Bread & Kaiser Rolls

My heart is still warm and bubbly from our Texas vacation.

As I grow closer with family, let people in and I search my soul hashing out my intent, suddenly my shoulders drop and I breathe easy. I know that everything will work out.

Everything works out in its own time.

As our future unfolds I feel increasingly certain and confident in the direction we are going. The path may be a bit rocky but I can tell you with a twinkle in my eye that we are going where the light shines and there are smiles on our faces. There are aspects that are out of our control, decisions that have been made and things that we must do. To balance that we have little obligation and wild imaginations. Our time in the desert dwindles to a few weeks. The boxes are filling and we are packing, freeing space, lightening the load. The next month will provide much needed change.

As we do what makes us happy, I hope with all my heart that you do the same.

This will probably be the last loaf of bread that I will ever cook in the Tri Cities area of Washington. What oven I will warm next is still a work in progress. Exciting to say the least.

We have been working our way through a huge batch on Vienna bread. Half of the dough was shaped into a perfect loaf that J has sliced and used to warm our bellies in the lazy weekend hours dusting a petite wedge with cinnamon and sugar and soft from a smear of butter. I just used two slices to slop up the dressing from the biggest salad bowl I could find to eat dinner out of.  The other half I shaped into four large rolls which you see. The recipe was August's Bread Baking Babes challenge. It was a great loaf in which I had not made before but will keep it in the back of my mind as a go to for a sturdy white loaf to break at a dinner party.

Check them out and bake for yourself and others:

Vienna Bread & Kaiser Rolls

I will be back in the next day to share another handful of fun photos from our time in Texas, this time we hit the streets of Austin.

 

Bread Baking Babes May Stromboli

It is that time of the month again, Bread Baking Babes takes on stromboli for the month of May.

A rather simple bread that can be easily adapted to what ever puts wind up your skirt.

A perfect picnic food, easily transportable, tote it to your favorite outdoor secret summer spot, slice and you have a sandwich.
 

You totally want to know what I put in mine, what puts wind up my skirt?

Lots of cheese and fresh herbs, light on the meat.  Fresh cracked pepper of course.

Follow directions and poke holes in the rolled dough prior to baking, this will make a nice tight roll, one that looks a lot better than mine.

Learn from mistakes. I will read directions. I will read directions. I will read directions.

 Next time.

You really don't want it to look like this.

Make sure you have plenty of people to feed when you make this, it is a foot long sandwich monster.

Adapt. Use the huge gaping hole in the bread to fry an egg in.

Stomboli cradled eggs. Can you imagine?

Problem solved!

Stromboli

Source - adapted from Ultimate Bread by Eric Treuille & Ursula Ferrigno

Ingredients:
2 tsp. dry yeast (1 packet dry yeast...I used fast acting) (7 grams)
1 ¼ c. water (268 grams)
3 ½ c. unbleached flour (470 grams)
1 ½ tsp. salt (11 grams)
3 Tbs. olive oil (38 grams)

For the filling and topping:
8 oz. smoked swiss cheese (226 grams)
3 cloves garlic, minced 8 oz. Prosciutto, sliced thin (226 grams)
4 oz. pepperoni, sliced thin (113 grams)
Handful of fresh basil leaves
~1 tsp. coarse salt
3 sprigs rosemary, stems removed
~1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Sprinkle yeast into 1 c. of the water, in small bowl. Leave for 5 minutes to then stir to dissolve.

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in center and pour in dissolved yeast and the oil. Mix in flour from sides of well. Stir in reserved water, as needed, to form a soft, sticky dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, silky, and elastic...~10 mins. Pour dough in a clean, oiled bowl and cover with clean kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2-2 hours.

Punch down and chafe* for 5 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.

Shape into a 14" x 8" rectangle. Cover w/ clean towel and let rest another 10 minutes.

Spread your cheeses, meats, garlic and basil evenly over dough. (You can use your own combination of meats and cheeses, or roasted veggies and garlic or whatever you like for filling.) Roll up the dough like a swiss roll, starting at one of the shorter sides, but without rolling too tightly.

Place on oiled baking sheet. Use a skewer or a carving fork to pierce several holes through the dough to the baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 Tbs. of olive oil, salt, rosemary and pepper.

 

Bake in preheated (400 degrees F) oven for 1 hour, until golden. Drizzle remaining olive oil over top. Slice and serve!!

Maori Style Bread

There are days where I am ten feet tall. There are weeks where I only want to wear a mini skirt and rock some heels while strutting everything I have.

Sometimes I have great hair that curls perfectly and shines golden hues in the sun. Someone once told me that my hair looks like wheat fields.

Those are the days, the days that make it all worth while.

Other days take effort.

There are other times when everything I touch falls on the floor, spilling its contents in one million directions or shatters into twenty bazillion shards of lethal glass.

My dog runs off to far away lands.

I can wear the same pair of black leggings for days on end with the frumpiest flats I can dig out of my closet.

My hair is often ignored, dry, there is grow out, dirt, frizz and general lack of control.

But I can pretend that I wear the perfect shade of lipstick that is always perfectly applied, I dress to the nines every morning by 6 am and life just seems to roll smoothly. I never over eat and there is always wine left in the bottle. I will always be a size 4. Always.

Sometimes my bread comes out of the oven in perfect condition, worthy of note and makes it into our meals. Other times I try and sabotage the bread every step of the way. Every. Step. Not intentionally, maybe I just need a challenge from the greater bread goddess. Whatever.

This dough almost went in the trash before it made it to the oven.  It made it to the oven, kicking and screaming.

This bread was doomed from the get go when I neglected to peel the potatoes. I honestly don't peel potatoes, we hardly even eat them but when they do grace our tables I make sure they are young and have very thin edible skin. I wasn't about to give them the time of day they deserved. Actually, you can hardly notice skins (fibre my friends, thank me in the morning...). Honestly I don't know where I went wrong, I measured to the gram, but somewhere along the line my dough was way too wet and I was unsure if I really should add at least another cup of flour. I should have. Also never put the rising dough over the exhaust of the oven while it is on. It may be warm, a little too warm...... Blah blah blah.

I made it this far - the bread was going into the oven. Surprisingly, the bread puffed and became a beautiful golden color. The cooled and sliced bread was incredibly moist, a perfect candidate for a sandwich or just a schmear of salted butter.

Rewena paraoa (Maori bread)

Source: Lien's Notes

makes one large loaf

"Rewena is the Maori term for the fermented potato mixture used as a raising agent to make this effect it's a type of sourdough. It's difficult to find the exact history of this bread, but it has been suggested that a flat unleavened bread was made with ground-up bullrush plant and water, baked over hot rocks. Traditionally, rewena is baked for large gatherings and the loaf is simply torn apart for sharing amongst friends and family. I have added a little fresh rosemary for flavour because this bread has little salt and can be bland. Stencilling the iconic New Zealand silver fern onto the loaf by dusting with flour and baking gives this loaf a truly New Zealand identity. This rewena needs to be made two to three days ahead."

Rewena
100 g potato, peeled and thinly sliced
165 ml water
extra water
165 g strong bread flour
1 tsp liquid honey

Dough
400 g strong bread flour
1 tsp salt
20 g liquid honey
1/4 tsp instant active dried yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
150 ml water
330 g rewena, as above
additional flour, for dusting
4— 5 ice cubes, for creating steam in the oven

To prepare the rewena, place the potato and water into a saucepan and then boil until the potato is soft, leave the lid off. Mash the cooked potato in the water and add extra water until you have 250 g in total. Put into a bowl and cool until lukewarm. If the mashed potatoes are too hot, it will cook the starch in the flour. Mix in the flour and honey to make a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until the dough ferments. After one day you'll see a few bubbles on the surface, after two days a lot. You can use it after two days or up to three, if you'll leave it longer it'll be over its strongest point.

To make the dough, put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and, using a wooden spoon, combine to form a soft dough mass. (You may need to adjust with a little more flour or water.) Knead the dough in the spiral mixer for 8 -10 minutes (starting on speed 1 or 2, halfway on speed 3) until the dough (almost) clears the sides and the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place. Once the dough has almost doubled in size (this will take approximately 1 hour), tip the dough onto the bench dusted with flour and gently knock it back by folding it onto itself three to four times. Return the dough to the lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave for a further 30 minutes in a warm place.

Fold the dough to form a large rectangle. This doesn't need to be exact, just as long as it's tight and compact. Place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to prove for approximately 60-120 minutes, depending on room temperature.

(optional) Cut a silver fern-leaf or Maori moko design stencil out of stiff paper. Remove the plastic wrap from the dough and place the stencil on the dough's surface (I sprayed the stencil with pan coating, otherwise it would have got stuck on the dough), then with a fine sieve filled with a little (white rye) flour, lightly dust flour over the stencil so you are left with a pattern on the loaf. Carefully remove the stencil. Using a sharp knife or razor blade, cut around the edge of stencilled pattern.

Preheat the oven to 220ºC with a baking tray or baking stone inside (the stone should really be hot!) and a small ovenproof dish on the bottom shelf. Place the loaf in the oven and quickly throw 4-5 ice cubes into the small ovenproof dish and close the oven door.

Bake for 10 minutes and then turn the tray around, reduce the oven temperature to 200°C and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is a dark golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

(adapted from: “Global Baker” – Dean Brettschneider)

Bread Baking Babes host: Lien