Homemade Pretzel Bites

Here's an easy, fast, and inexpensive treat that you can also serve for the BIG upcoming football game, (or anytime your little one are looking for a treat).  The local vendors are selling very small bags of pretzel bites for $3.99, but you can make a whole tray for under $1.00 in under 1 hour.

You will need:
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 packet active yeast (2 1/4 teas)
1 1/2 teas salt
1 Tab sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup baking soda
1 egg
coarse salt (kosher or sea salt)

In a small bowl add the packet of yeast to the water, (the water should be about 80 degrees - in other words warm to your wrists, but not burning).  Let the water and yeast sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.

Notice how the yeast is already starting to come back to life?  Now add the 1 Tabs of sugar to the yeast and stir.

In a large bowl combine the 4 cups of flour and salt.  Whisk together well.

Now add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture.

Stir and knead for approximately 5 minutes.  (note:  if you want to do this in your mixer with the dough attachment you can).  I just use a spoon, rather than drag out another piece of kitchen equipment that I have to clean and put away).

Once the dough starts to come away from the sides, I use my hand to knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together and forms and nice ball.

In the meantime, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil on the stove top over medium high heat.

I have kneaded my dough, and it's a nice smooth ball and not sticky.  Turn the dough out onto your work surface.

Using your dough cutter, (or scissors or knife), cut the dough into 8 equal pieces.

Now roll each piece into ropes that are about 15 - 20 inches long.

By now your water should be at a good boil, add the 3/4 cup of baking soda.

Warning: there will be foaming when you add the baking soda, (don't be alarmed).  This is the secret to making good pretzels. The foam will subside.

 Cut the pretzel ropes into 6 or 8 pieces, (depending on how big you want your bites).

Now preheat your oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

With the tip of your dough cutter, (or if your using scissors or a knife), make an "X" or a small slit in the bite to allow for dough expansion.


Gently place the pretzel dough in the boiling soda water and cook for 30 SECONDS.  I only cook 8 pieces at a time, (that way I can keep track of how many are in the pot and make sure I get them all out before I put the next batch in).

Remove, shake off excess water.

I place my pretzel bits on a rack to drain, while I cook the rest of the batch.


No, your eyes aren't deceiving you - I did make my husband a couple of traditional pretzels.

Once all the pretzel bites are boiled, in a small bowl whisk the egg.

Brush both sides of pretzel bites lightly with egg and place on parchment lined baking sheet.

Lightly sprinkle coarse salt over tops of pretzel bites.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes,

The pretzels are all puffed up, and slightly browned.  Now we're going to put them under our broiler for 1 minute to brown the tops.

 Here they are after 1 minute under the broiler.  The tops are nicely brown.  At this point, I give the tops a very light brushing with some melted butter.

If you want you can make a cinnamon and sugar mixture and sprinkle on top - YUMMY
Or try some garlic powder -  OH so good
Or make a cheese sauce for dipping
Or make a marinara sauce for dipping

The list is endless....

 So here is my tray of pretzel bites, all ready to dig into.

But first I need to do a "quality control check"

Oh man, is that ever SO good.!!  The inside is light and fluffy, the outside is toasty with just the right amount of saltiness.  It's just like you get from the vendors.

Friends and family are gonna' love these, if they last that long!!

Give these a try and let me know what you think.

ENJOY !!

Homemade Pizza Bread

This time of year, people are starting to think about what to serve in a couple of weeks for the BIG football game.  After all what's a Superbowl without food?  Here's a pizza bread that you can put together using either store bought bread dough or making my attached bread dough, (a very easy version).  What you put inside is up to you!  You can go with vegetables, pepperoni and cheese, (like I'm going to show you), or several kinds of meats and cheeses.  This is a great break away from the traditional pizza, and serves a large crowd easily.  Make up some marina dipping sauce and you've got a touchdown winner for sure.
Let's start with my dough, (if you're not going to buy frozen dough.).  If you buy frozen dough, just thaw out the dough.

You will need:
6 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of warm water
5 teas yeast (2 packets)
6 Tabs olive oil
4 teas salt

In a small bowl, add yeast to warm water and allow to sit for about 5 minutes, (so the yeast can bloom).

Your yeast will look like this.  It has come back to life and developed a foam.  You will be able to smell the yeast.

In a large bowl, combine 3 cups of flour and the salt.  Mix together and make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

Your flour mixture will look like this.

Add the yeast to the flour well.

Mix the yeast and the flour together.  It will be very wet and loose.

Add the olive oil.  Stir the mixture well.

Now working 1 cup at a time - add more flour to the flour mixture.  Stir, incorporating the new flour into the flour mixture.  Once all the flour has been mixed in and the dough is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl, (you may have to add a little less or a little more than the 3 remaining cups of flour that you have, depending on the humidity and how much water your flour is holding), the dough will start to form a nice ball.

This is what your dough will look like.

Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until it is no longer sticky and is nice and smooth, (like a baby's bottom).

 When I knead my dough, I like to use my finger tips to pull the dough towards me and the heel of my hand to push the dough away.  I do this 3 or 4 times, then rotate the dough 1/4 turn and repeat the process.  I keep doing this over and over again.

 Eventually my dough will look like this.

 Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a clean towel.  Set in a warm, draft free area of your kitchen for about 1 hour until double in size.  (see, that wasn't hard, was it?).

 It's been 1 hour, time to roll out the dough and assemble our pepperoni bread.  If you purchased your frozen bread and it's thawed out, you will begin from this point.

Preheat oven 350 degrees

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray coat it.  On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a long rectangle.

Spread marina sauce, (homemade or store bought), over the dough, about 1 cup, (almost to the the edges).   Place a layer of pepperoni slices over the marina sauce, (about 1 cup), or whatever meat, (ham, sausage, etc), or sliced vegetables.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top, (or layer several different type of cheeses for more depth of flavor) about 1 1/2 cups of cheese.

Starting at the long side of the dough, tightly roll up the dough to the opposite end.

Pinch the ends after you get it all rolled up.  This will help to hold in the filling.   Now move your dough to the cookie sheet with the seam side down, and bake 25 minutes, until golden brown and the dough is cooked completely.

If you find any holes, (like this one), pinch it closed before baking, so it doesn't explode and spill out in the oven.

Once your pizza bread is done, remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.  Then slice with a serrated knife and serve with marina dipping sauce.  Delicious anytime!!

Enjoy!

Stuffed Eggplant

We have a local market that regularly sells eggplant for 88 cents each, and I always buy a couple to make my Eggplant Parmesan, (everyone loves it and it's a good meatless meal).  Add when I saw a sale on eggplant for 69 cents each, I got to thinking about stuffed eggplant and that it had been ages since we had it for dinner.  (This dish is similar to my stuffed baked zucchini that I posted last summer.)  And the great thing about this dish is that you can make it with or without meat.  This recipe will feed 4 - 8 people, (depending on how large the eggplants are, and if you cut them in half after cooking them).
First preheat your oven to 350 degrees

You will need:
2 eggplants
2 medium onions
2 - 3 cloves garlic (your taste preference)
salt and pepper
2 Tabs olive oil
1 green pepper
1 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups boxed stuffing mix (I use chicken flavor)
3/4 cup chicken stock

Wash the eggplant, cut off the blossom end, then cut the eggplant in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the inside of the eggplant, (I use a spoon to cut around the edge, and gently scoop under the meat of the eggplant, then lift it out).  Make sure to leave a little edge all the way around, (so it looks like a little boat).  Cut the center portion of the eggplant into small pieces and set aside.

Chop your onion, green pepper, and garlic.

In a large skillet heat the olive oil, over medium heat.  Add the onions, peppers, and garlic.  Add a sprinkling of salt and pepper, (about 1/2 teas each).

 Stir and cook until the onions are starting to get translucent, (about 5 minutes).

Add the chopped eggplant pieces and another sprinkling of salt and pepper, (about 1/2 teas. each).  Stir and cover with a lid and cook until the eggplant is soft, (about 5 minutes).

Note: if you are cooking vegetarian:  substitute more vegetables for the chicken, (i.e.: spinach, parsley, basil, tomatoes, more cheeses), substitute seasoned bread crumbs for the stuffing mix, and substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.  Just boost the flavors - that's what I do for my vegetarian grandson when he comes over for dinner.

 Add the stuffing mix, chopped chicken, and chicken stock

Note:  I am using some of the excess stock and chicken from my homemade chicken soup that I posted last week, but you can use canned stock and any leftover or canned chicken).

Give everything a stir.

Now add 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese.  Save the remaining 1/4 cup for the top.  Give everything a stir, and turn off the heat.

Give it a quick taste for seasoning.  It shouldn't need any more salt, (but base that on your family's taste - if it needs more add it). Man does this taste good all ready!

I have even taken it at this point and put this mixture in a casserole dish, topped it with the remaining cheese, baked it and served it for dinner.

Place your eggplant halves on a baking sheet and generously stuff them with the mixture.

Top the eggplants mixture with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese divided evenly among the 4 eggplant halves.  Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

When they come out of the oven the cheese will be all melted and just starting to brown, nicely.   And your dinner is ready.

Add a nice side salad and your meal is complete.  You can cut each eggplant boat in half and easily feed 2 people or 1 hearty person.


Enjoy.