Restaurant Wars 2013 - Auntie Annies

Restaurant Wars 2013 continues with a mall snack, Pretzels! I don't know about you, but when I was younger, a trip to the mall wasn't complete without stopping at the pretzel place for a snack. My mom and I would shop shop shop and then get ourselves a snack pack of pretzel sticks with spicy cheese dipping sauce.

I've never thought to make pretzels and cheese dip at home because, well, I'd have to eat it all!  It's hard to make a single serving of cheese dip! This is more of a recipe that you want to make when you have a bunch of friends coming over.  You know, for game day or a baby shower.  I'm sure pregnant ladies like cheese dip.

In addition to the classic pretzel sticks and cheese dip, I thought I would make one of the sweeter treats too.  Using the same recipe as the sticks, I threw some raisins in the dough and topped the baked pretzels with butter and cinnamon sugar.  The versatility of the dough is perfect.  Next time I'm thinking of adding the cheese to the dough and making a spicy mustard!

One Year Ago: Apricot-garlic Pork Tenderloin and Potatoes and Fennel
Two Years Ago: Peanut Butter Brownies
Three Years Ago: Pork, Cranberry & Pear Salad

Pretzels

Adapted from several sources

For the Sponge
1/2 teaspoon dried instant yeast
2 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cup warm water

For the dough
1/4 teaspoon dried instant yeast
1 3/4 cup bread flour plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

For the boiling pot & bake
4 quarts water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
1 egg, beaten
Kosher or pretzel salt

For cinnamon-raisin pretzels
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon cinnamon-sugar

In a large bowl, combine ingredients for the sponge.  Stir until smooth, like pancake batter.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for 2 hours.

Add yeast, 1 3/4 cups flour, salt and brown sugar to the sponge and stir until combined and form a ball. (Add raisins if using) Work in remaining 2 tablespoons flour to form a stiff dough.  Knead dough by hand for 10 minutes (or 6 minutes in the stand mixer with a dough hook).  Divide into 6 pieces of equal weight (about 4.5 ounces) and let rest for 20 minutes.

Form each piece into a long rope, about 24 inches long.  For pretzel sticks, cut the rope into 2-inch pieces.  For pretzels, form into the classic knot shape (see great pictures here).  Cover pretzels with a damp kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 ºF.  Place a baking stone in the oven along with a broiler pan.

Bring pot of water to a boil and add baking soda and cream of tartar.  Be careful, it will bubble up!  Boil pretzel sticks in small batches for 2 minutes, flip and boil for another minute.  Boil large pretzels one at a time for 2 minutes, flip and boil for another minute.  Remove from the bath to a kitchen towel dusted with flour.  Let dry for 5 minutes before moving to a baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt.

Bake on the baking sheet, or slide onto hot baking stone.  Pour 1 cup hot water into the broiler pan and close the oven door.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the pretzels are golden brown.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack.

For cinnamon-raisin pretzels, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.  Enjoy hot!

Wilde Week #38

We are deep in the holiday season and I'm so ready! The BF and I just got back from visiting his parents for the Thanksgiving holiday and I'm so refreshed.  They live in Southwest Florida so we were greeted with warm temperatures and sunny skies. Of course since it's the Christmas season, our trip wasn't without holiday charm!

- We flew out Thanksgiving morning at 8:00am, which meant I had to get up at the unnatural hour of 4:15am! Luckily the plane was half full, so I was able to turn on my tiny TV and lean my seat all the way back and take a nap.

- I did not prepare our thanksgiving dinner. BF's parents house is not really that well stocked and it would be impossible to cook a traditional holiday dinner. We went to a local restaurant and enjoyed a relaxed thanksgiving buffet. I like a buffet for this kind of meal, it means a dozen different types of pie!

- Lots of you have already be contending with snow this season and it was just the same in Southwest Florida! Kind of. Every weekend after thanksgiving, snow falls on Naples, Florida to the delight of the kids and kids at heart. In reality it was over 70 ºF that evening and the snow is blown from bubble machines attached to the street lamps. It's adorable and fun, but I wouldn't suggest catching those flakes on your tongue.

- This weekend we had breakfast at one of my favorite places in Florida - The Lighthouse Cafe on Sanibel Island. Sanibel is like a little hidden jewel sitting in the Gulf of Mexico. The beaches are white sand and covered in shells.  It's where the BF and I took our first vacation together and will always be one of my favorite places to visit.

- Coming home, I'm ready to celebrate Christmas! With only two and a half weeks until I visit my own parents, I have a lot to get done around here.  The tree is up and awaiting the ornaments. Time to get out and get shopping, Christmas will be here before I know it!

Cherry-Lemonade Marshmallows

Sometimes it's fun to give and receive handmade gifts and nothing is more fun to make and give than marshmallows! I've made a long list of different varieties here at WITK, including peppermint, blueberry and birthday cake. These marshmallows are a little different because they contain no corn syrup!

That's right, these marshmallows are actually made using chemistry! The main ingredients for these fluffy pillows are sugar, water and cream of tartar.  Cream of tartar is actually the mild acid - potassium bitartrate. By adding this acid to the sugar solution and introducing heat, the cream of tartar actually catalyzes the breakdown of the sugar (sucrose) molecules into its components - glucose and fructose.  Do you know what is in corn syrup? It's glucose and fructose! We just made our own corn syrup, in situ! (thought I would throw in a little more sciencey verbage for you there.)

So if you aren't a fan of using corn syrup, you should give this recipe a try! The combination of cherry and lemon makes these more of a summer flavor than a winter one, but who doesn't want to be reminded of those warmer days? Whip up a huge batch of these and hand them out to your friends this holiday season! You can even use organically grown sugar and organic cream of tartar (I'm thinking it's collected from organically grown grapes?) and make organic marshmallows!

One Year Ago: Apricot-garlic Pork Tenderloin and Potatoes and Fennel
Two Years Ago: Coconut Brownies
Three Years Ago: Salted Caramel & Chocolate Crostata

Cherry-Lemonade Marshmallows

Adapted from Sweet Confections

These marshmallows came out a little airier and stickier than my usual recipe. This makes a lot of marshmallow, the recipe is easily halved if you don't want two full pans of marshmallows!

For the Lemon Layer
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons powdered gelatin
1 cup water
3 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest

For the Cherry Layer
3/4 cup pureed cherries
3 tablespoons powdered gelatin
1 cup water
3 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the marshmallow coating
2 cups cornstarch
1 cup powdered sugar

Lightly coat two 9x13-inch pans with cooking spray. Gently wipe out the excess with a paper towel.

In a small bowl, whisk together cold water, lemon juice and powdered gelatin. Set next to the stove and allow to bloom.  In a 4-quart pot, combine water, sugar, cream of tartar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Clip on candy thermometer and cook until sugar dissolves and temperature reaches 250ºF.  Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.  Add bloomed gelatin and whisk until dissolved.

Pour marshmallow syrup into the bowl of your stand mixer.  Whip with the whisk attachment on high for about 10 minutes.  Add lemon zest and whip for another minute, or until batter is shiny, fluffy and almost completely cool.  Pour into the prepared pans, half in each pan.

Clean out all your equipment and make cherry marshmallow layer!

In a small bowl, whisk together pureed cherries and powdered gelatin. Set next to the stove and allow gelatin to bloom.  In a 4-quart pot, combine water, sugar, cream of tartar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat and clip on your candy thermometer. Boil until the sugar dissolves and the temperature reaches 250ºF.  Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.  Add gelatin and whisk until dissolved.

Pour marshmallow syrup into the bowl of your stand mixer and whip on high for 10-12 minutes, until shiny, fluffy and almost cooled.  Add some red food coloring if you want a darker color. Pour cherry marshmallow batter on top of the lemon layer.  Let marshmallow sit for 4 hours to solidify.

Mix Cornstarch and powdered sugar and place in a large bowl.  Set a mesh sieve over a bowl and get a storage container ready.  Dust your countertop with some of the cornstarch mixture and remove the marshmallow slab from the pan. Dust the top and sides with the cornstarch mixture. Using either a pizza cutter or a chefs knife, cut marshmallow into 1-inch strips. Cut the strips into 1-inch cubes.  Toss the cubes into the bowl of cornstarch and powdered sugar.  Toss to coat.  Transfer marshmallows to the mesh sieve and shake off excess powder.  Transfer to the storage container.

Marshmallows will keep for 2 weeks in an air-tight container.