I spent last Sunday as well as this Sunday making pretzels. They're fun! I used a recipe from Joy of Cooking and it's really simple, you just need a lot of time for rising and it helps to have a Kitchen-Aid mixer with a dough hook. I love my dough hook; it means I don't have to do any kneading by hand.
The first time I made them (last week), I made the mistake of putting too much salt on them. This time, I'll lightly salt only half the batch, and leave the rest unsalted. Guy and I had them for dinner with (store bought) Queso sauce and salad.
I like this paragraph from Joy of Cooking in their chapter on yeast:
"Yeasts are tiny single-celled living organisms with approximately 3,200 billion cells to the pound--and not one is exactly like another. They feed on sugars and produce alcohols and carbon dioxide--the "riser" in batters and doughs. But you may prefer, as we do, to accept a Mexican attitude towards yeast doughs. They call them almas, or souls, because they seem so spirited."
Oh, Beebo!
ReplyDeleteYou made soft pretzels? Yum! When we were kids, years ago, my Mom tried to once. They came out okay. Usually though, we buy them.
Now we have cheesesteak pretzels as well as the standard ones. Oh, most pretzels here especially from the Philly Pretzel Factory.