Soft Rye Pretzels with Sesame Seeds

 

This is another great recipe from Cooking with New York Times. The rye flour adds a nice flavor to these pretzels, but you could probably substitute whole wheat or use all white flour if you don't have any on hand.  Like any yeast bread recipe, this takes some advanced planning--about two hours all told.  We don't like salty pretzels, so I sprinkled pinch of kosher salt on top and used sesame seeds instead. I may have over done the sesame seeds, a bit--but these are really good.  Poppy seeds or, since this uses rye flour, a few caraway seeds would also be nice.  The chewy, dark crust of pretzels is made by poaching the risen and formed pretzel dough in a pot of boiling water with a hefty 1/2 cup of baking soda stirred into it.  The baking soda makes an alkaline bath that creates the browning (some recipes call for lye--no lie!). Up for a chemistry lesson?  Check out this explanation from The Salt at NPR!

Soft Rye Pretzels with Sesame Seeds
1 1/4-oz packet of yeast (I used rapid rise)
1 1/2 cups luke warm water
1 tablespoon honey
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rye flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup baking soda
1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds
kosher salt for sprinkling on top 
Place the water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top.  Add the honey and stir until well combined.  Add 2 3/4ths cup all purpose flour, all of the rye flour and the salt.  With a wooden spoon, stir until all of the flour is incorporated.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10-15 minutes, sprinkling the dough lightly with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour as needed.  If the dough is really sticky, oil your hands a bit to make it easier to knead.  Oil or butter a large bowl, place the kneaded dough in, oil the top and cover with plastic or a towel and set aside to rise for about 90 minutes. (It won't double in bulk.) 
 
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (or aluminum foil) and lightly oil or butter them. Divide the risen dough into 12 roughly equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll into a long rope--about 16 inches long.  To make the pretzel form, create a loop by folding the rope in half, leaving a wide loop at the top.  Twist the ends twice and then fold them up to meet the center of the loop. Spread the ends a bit and firmly press them into the dough.  As you make the pretzels, set them on the prepared cookie sheets. Let the formed pretzels rest, covered, for about 20 minutes.

While the pretzels are resting, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and arrange the oven racks to be in the center and top of the oven. Place a large pot filled with 10 cups of water on the stove and bring to a boil.  Carefully sprinkle the baking soda into the boiling water--it will bubble up a lot, so take care with this!  Working with about three pretzels at a time, carefully drop them knot side down into the boiling water and poach for 30 seconds.  Turn the pretzels and poach on the other side for another 30 seconds.  Place them on a kitchen cloth to drain briefly, then put them on the prepared cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and sesame seeds.  Bake for about 15-16 minutes, until they're well-browned, turning the cookies once for even baking.  Serve with spicy mustard--some honey mustard would be nice!

This recipe makes 12 pretzels.  I froze six of the formed pretzels, fearing we'd eat all 12 in a day or two if I didn't.  I can't vouch for how well the dough freezes, though.  My plan will be to thaw the dough on the counter and proceed with the recipe.  I'll try to remember to report back how well this works!
 

Honey and Balsamic Glazed Mushrooms

I had some mushrooms that were on their way south and went looking for a recipe that would use them all up.  This honey and balsamic glazed mushroom recipe did the trick, which I developed after perusing some recipes on-line.  They'd make a nice appetizer or a side dish with beef.  I made a meal out of them with a grilled cheese, onion, and spinach sandwich. Ate the whole bowl myself!  I will say that they're not very pretty, but they are very good in a sweet-n-salty way.  If you use them as an appetizer, I'd keep all of them whole and serve with toothpicks.

Honey and Balsamic Glazed Mushrooms

• 1 12-oz package of fresh button or cremini mushrooms.
• 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary (plus a bit more for garnish)
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme (plus a bit more for garnish)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Remove the stems from the mushrooms (save them in the freezer to make vegetable broth!). If serving as a side dish, quarter large mushrooms, half medium ones and leave the small ones whole.  If serving as an appetizer, leave them all whole. In a small bowl, whisk three tablespoons of olive oil, the vinegar, honey, rosemary, thyme and pepper and set aside.  In a large skillet (so that the mushrooms don't touch and have lots of room to caramelize), heat two tablespoons of the olive oil over medium high heat until it shimmers.  Add the mushrooms, toss a few times and then let them brown--about 3-5 minutes.  Stir when they start to give up their juices, then add another tablespoon of olive oil, the garlic, and sprinkle the salt all over.  Stir well, turning down the heat if needed so that the garlic doesn't burn. When the garlic becomes fragrant (a minute or so), add the balsamic/honey mixture and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly.  Cook until the balsamic/honey mixture reduces at least by half (or more) into a nice, tasty glaze.  Check seasonings. If you like things spicy, you could a pinch or so some ground hot red pepper now.  Sprinkle a little rosemary and thyme on top to serve.  Serve hot or at room temperature.  Serves two as a side dish, perhaps four as an appetizer, or one hungry diner for a meal on her own.

Cherry Tomatoes in Honey Brine

As I lamented in a previous post, we lost all of our tomato plants to the destructive late blight.  I was particularly sad to say good-bye to two vibrant yellow cherry tomato plants.  We'd been enjoying these sweet-like-candy tomatoes throughout August.  This recipe for brined cherry tomatoes gave me a chance to use some of the not-quite-ripe tomatoes still left on the vines.  In fact, this recipe requires not-quite-ripe tomatoes.  Ripe tomatoes will get too mushy in the brine, but those that haven't ripened fully keep a nice crunch.  This is, admittedly, a recipe for adventuresome cooks (and eaters). It's very simple to do, but requires patience (time for the tomatoes to soak in the brine) and the result is crispy, salty, piquant pickled tomatoes--a few go a long way.  They'd be great as part of an antipasto platter, or served with cheese and crackers, or gracing the side of grilled cheese sandwich or added to a leaf lettuce salad.  Use them where ever you'd use a dill pickle.

Cherry Tomatoes in Honey Brine

1 1/4 pounds half-ripe cherry tomatoes

6 dill heads (or 2 tablespoons dill seeds and about 6 sprigs of fresh dill)

1/4 cup fresh horseradish, grated (you can used bottled horseradish instead--just be sure it's not a horseradish sauce with cream)

3 sprigs of fresh parsley

1/2 fresh hot pepper, seeded (I used a Hungarian hot) and cut in a few pieces

2 tablespoons pickling salt (or UNiodized salt)

2-3 tablespoons honey

1 quart of water

In a jar that will hold two quarts, layer the tomatoes interspersed with the herbs, horseradish and pepper pieces.  Dissolve the salt and honey in the water and pour over the tomatoes in the jar.  Be sure the tomatoes are submerged in the brine--I filled a small zipper-lock bag with some water and placed it on top of the tomatoes to keep them under the brine.  If your jar has a large opening, you could put a plate or saucer on top.  Let the tomatoes ferment in the brine, unrefrigerated, for a week.  When a week is up, cover them tightly and place in the refrigerator to develop more fully.  You can taste them throughout the process--and you might enjoy the delicate flavor they begin to develop after about a day.  They should keep in the fridge for at least a month.