Joy the Baker » snack

Mini Pretzel Dogs

joythebaker — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:15:02 +0000

I think I’d like to write a book about how to make friends, entitled How to Make Friends, the almost fairytale.

Chapter One

Once upon a time there was a lonely girl who had but one friend… her snaggle-toothed mother. One day, in the kitchen, she stumbled upon a rare and delicious combination. A combination never before discovered in the land of Lonleyia. Warm, soft, salty dough met with… hot dogs.

It was as though rainbows, unicorns, and friendly hobbits had descended upon this special girl. People came from far and wide to sample her new found delicacy and friendships blossomed abound. It was like Springtime. Springtime of friendships.

Even the girl’s snaggle-toothed mother made a friend or two.

Never again was the lonely girl lonely (or hungry)…

The end.

Yea… my next book only has one chapter, one recipe, and about 34 words. No biggie.

So! You have two options here. You can re-read this story and go take a nap OR (and I totally suggest this next option) you could make these pretzel dogs this weekend, serve them with spicy mustard and cold beer, and make (or solidify) friendships of your own.

Choose your own adventure. No bigs.

Essentially, we’re wrapping soft dough around hot dogs. It’s nothing more complicated than that.

If that doesn’t sound like the best thing to happen all week, I invite you to come back in two days from now.

Ps. I love you.

Don’t be fooled by the twisty and golden brown nature of pretzels… they’re actually really simple to make.

It all starts with yeast, warm water, and flour.

At first the dough is shaggy shaggy.

With a little work of the dough hook, it will come together!

This is the luscious dough before rising.

It should feel light and soft. This will be a tender dough. It will be slightly sticky, but not sticky enough to actually stick to your hands.

It’s like a little dough pillow.

If your first instinct is to rest your head on the dough… you’re on the right track.

This is real life.

It’s juuust dough. Back off, kitten!

Beautifully risen dough.

It’s like magic in a bowl.

My trick?

I leave dough to rise in an OFF gas oven, or on the back burner of my stovetop with the oven left on at 200 degrees F.

Cut the soft dough into 16 pieces (for 1/2 hot dogs) or 8 pieces (for big ol’ whole hot dogs).

So light and tender.

But don’t eat it yet!

Rolling the dough into ropes.

Channel your Play-Doh days.

Ropes get rolled 12-inches long for half dogs, and 24-inches for whole dogs. It’s science… or not at all.

If this seems like SO MUCH FUN to you… I consider us friends.

Just make sure that the ends are sealed and pressed together.

The next step is boiling!

If the dogs aren’t sealed up tight they might unravel a bit… which is totally not the end of the world, ps.

Pretzels are boiled in a baking soda and water solution.

The baking soda changes the alkalinity of the outside of the pretzel. Baking soda is what gives pretzels their distinctive chewy crunch and golden color.

Baking soda is what separates these pretzel dogs from bagel dogs… and these are most certainly NOT bagel dogs.

Although… if you’re interested in bagel pizza… I was too.

Serve these pretzel dogs to many. You’ll need to share. Don’t be like me and eat too many. While you’re in the kitchen making awesome, you might also consider these Fried Pickles!

These pretzel dogs are so warn, tender, and utterly delicious. I promise that these darlings will find you friends, lovers, and stalkers of the feline variety.

ps. Leave Me Alone, Kitten!

Pretzel Dogs

makes 16 pretzel dogs (made from cutting hot dogs in half)

recipe adapted from Alton Brown

Print this Recipe!

1 ½ cups warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F)

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 ¼ teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast

22 ounces all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 cups)

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

about 14 cups of water

1 cup baking soda

1 large egg, beaten, with a splash of water

salt and pepper for topping

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture will begin to foam and froth. If it doesn’t, throw the mixture away and start again with new yeast.

Once the yeast and water is frothy, add the flour, salt, and melted butter. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until it is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, creating a ball of dough around the dough hook. Beat on medium speed for approximately 4 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl. The dough will be soft, pliable, and just a bit sticky. That’s perfect. Scrape any residue out of the bowl and coat the bowl with a bit of vegetable oil. Place the dough back in the bowl, sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and store in a warm place to rise. Allow dough to rise, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Place baking racks in the center and upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and lightly brush the paper with oil. It’s important to brush the parchment paper or the pretzels will stick!

Combine water and baking soda in a large pan (8 quart is fine) saucepan and bring to a boil.

While the water comes to a boil, turn the dough out onto a clean, slightly oiled work surface. Divide dough into 8 or 16 pieces, depending on how large you’d like your pretzel dogs. 8 pieces of dough for whole hot dogs. 16 pieces of dough if you’re doing to slice the hot dogs in half.

Start with the fingers of both hands in the center of the dough, and roll, moving your hands outward as you roll. Roll the dough along the oiled surface until you have about a 24-inch or 12-inch piece of rope (depending on how large your piece of dough was… the more dough the longer the rope).

Wrap pretzel around a hot dog, making sure to seal the ends.

When water has come to a boil, gently lower a few pretzel dogs into the boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds. Remove carefully, using a flat, slotted spatula. Place on prepared baking sheet. Brush boiled pretzels with beaten egg, and add coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Bake until deeply golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for a few minutes before serving warm.

Soft pretzels are best enjoyed the day they are made.

If you’re not going to enjoy all your pretzel dogs, double wrap them in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer out of plastic and into a piece of foil. Wrap well and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes, or until heated through.

Barbecue Onion Rings: baked and fried

joythebaker — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 07:01:17 +0000

Uh-huh.

It’s onion ring time.

Were you the little girl that would put a small onion ring on her ring finger and pretend that she was married?

Yea… me neither. That’s weird.

… And I definitely didn’t do that today, as a grown-ass lady. That would be even more odd.

Except I totally did. Yea. So what.

Onion rings can be baked. Onion rings can be fried. Onion rings are always delicious. Especially when eaten off your finger.

I love to smash barbecue flavor into my homemade onion rings. Smash!

With chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, and hot sauce, we can totally simulate barbecue flavor.

Fried up or baked crisp, onion rings just work. They make you prettier and more popular. Totally true.

I dipped the baked rings in a mixture of sour cream and barbecue sauce. I now want to dip everything in sour cream and barbecue sauce. Whatever.

Fried Barbecue Buttermilk Onion Rings will make you a hero! You’ll need a fry thermometer and a good amount of oil. They’re hot and crisp and totally worth the frying effort.

Baked onion rings are infused with flavor and coated in panko. They’re crisp and crunchy, and strangely reminiscent of coconut baked shrimp. I dunno. They really are delicious, and don’t require a ton of oil. Super easy, simple, and yumtown!

Barbecue Baked Onion Rings

serves 3 or 4 people

Print this Recipe!

2 medium yellow onions, sliced into rings

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 large egg

1/4 cup buttermilk

dash of hot sauce

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, and hot sauce.

In a separate bowl, place bread crumbs.

Slice onion into rings, and separate into separate rings.

Using one hand, and leaving one hand clean, dip onion rings into the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, then coat in panko crumbs. Place in a single layer across the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven, carefully flip the onion rings, and bake for another 10 to 12 minutes, until rings are browned and crisp.

While the onion rings bake, stir together sour cream and barbecue sauce.

Remove onion rings from the oven and serve immediately with sauce.

Eggy Breakfast Pizza

joythebaker — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:05:05 +0000

I’m not sure I’ve eaten anything this weekend.

Well… I’m not sure I’ve eaten anything beyond chips, gummy bears, coffee, and gin.

I definitely didn’t eat this gorgeous breakfast pizza.

Really, it’s no one’s fault but my own.

There was arugula on this breakfast pizza.

Ps. That totes makes this vegetables for breakfast. Get into it!

You’ve seen the small picture.

Now… here’s the BIG picture.

Cooking with friends. And cheese. And cameras.

Can I tell you why I made a breakfast pizza and ate gummy bears and drank gin?

Tracy and I, along with a bunch of other people from Homefries threw a weekend retreat in Palm Springs.

It was major. Thirty of us hung out, ate Tracy’s salad, had cookies and milk, painted our nails.

People took pictures of me taking pictures of pizza.

It was totally meta.

We talked about photography. We cooked brunch together. We made friendship bracelets. We learned about wine. We drank gin. We learned things about each other.

Ps. If you’re not hip on Homefries, get on this. We’ll be throwing another retreat in the Spring. Real.

This about sums up the weekend.

Yea. Welcome to this.

Laughs and breakfast pizza. All dang weekend.

Eggy Breakfast Pizza

makes 1 pizza

Print this Recipe!

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

For the Toppings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

1 cup grated mozzarella

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

throw on some:

caramelized onions

sauteed peppers

2 eggs

fresh arugula

This is totally easy!

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the warm water and olive oil. Using a fork, bring together the dough so that all of the dry mixture is moistened by the water and olive oil.

Dump shaggy dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about two minutes until the dough comes together into a ball. The dough may be slightly sticky, that’s fine!

Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the large bowl that the dough was mixed in. Use your fingers to spread the oil around the bowl. Place the dough into the bowl, sprinkle with a bit of flour and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place and let the dough rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

When dough has doubled, remove from bowl and place on a lightly floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a 1/4-inch thickness. The dough can be rolled perfectly round, but a rectangle, or totally odd shape is fine as well.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Flip a cookie sheet upside down and sprinkle with flour. Place pizza dough on baking sheet.

Sprinkle with olive oil, garlic slices, chopped rosemary, and cheese. Top with whatever toppings strike your fancy. Crack two eggs onto the unbaked pizza.

Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until crust is golden brown and crisp and eggs are cooked to over easy/over medium.

Remove from oven. Allow to cool for a few minutes then slice and serve. Breakfast pizza is best served the day it’s made. Heck yes.

Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup and Kale Chips

joythebaker — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 06:17:43 +0000

Eight Things

One. When did I get so annoyingly healthy? Let me just tell you… eating wholesome Vegan Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup makes Nachos with jalapenos, sour cream, and extra guacamole taste AWESOME! I know this to be true.

Two. Does this shadow make me look fat? Don’t answer that…. unless you want to say that I look skinny. Then you can totally answer it. This is me and my best friend Rachel. Rachel just moved to Missouri. I didn’t cry when she drove away with her car packed to the gills with her belongings…. except I totally did, I just didn’t want her to see me.

Three. It’s hard when people go and you’re left to stay. It makes me want Nachos with jalapenos, sour cream, and extra guacamole.

Four. I spend more time than I would ever want to at the laundromat… that’s because I love clean sheets, and I don’t own 7 sets of clean sheets. There are a lot of lines at the laundromat. Lines of tables. Lines of tiles. Lines of baskets. Lines of Venice beach weirdos. There is time at the laundromat to sit without computers. There is time at the laundromat to stare at the swirling dryer… it’s like yoga, but not yoga.

Five. Why is it so hard to mature, and learn, and grow when it’s so easy to flub, slip and regress? The growth, the maturation, the learning…. man oh man that takes courage. The flubbing, the stumbling, the regression…. blerg… recognizing that takes courage too.

All of these things I told you about Turning TwentyOne… trust me when I tell you that I only know these things from thoroughly and frequently falling on my face.

Six. There is a certain amount of kindness that you must grant yourself to keep learning and growing… and slipping and flopping.

Kindness and green things. Give this to yourself.

Seven. There’s a lot I can learn from this animal: eat everyone’s food and always assume that everyone wants to play with you.

Eight. When in doubt… because we’re all in doubt sometimes… think of yourself as the underdog, play the Olympic theme song in your head, and root for yourself like crazy. That’s what I’m doing. It’s working. Know why? Because underdogs always win, even when they dont.

….and it’s totally ok if you’re looking at me like I’m crazy right now.

Vegan Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup

This soup is the picture of health. Sweet carrots are cooked down and mixed with spicy ginger and creamy coconut. It’s vegan. It’s healthy. Your insides will totally throw a parade in your honor. I like to serve this soup with crusty bread… I like to serve everything with crusty bread.

Print this Recipe!

serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 tablespoons minced ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground coriander

4-5 cups diced carrots

3 cups vegetable broth

1 cup light coconut milk

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add ginger and saute for another 4 minutes, until softened and fragrant. Add coriander and diced carrots. Stir to incorporate. Add the vegetable broth, reduce heat, and simmer mixture until carrots are completely softened, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Using a blender, blend soup in batches until smooth. (You can also use an emulsion blender in the pot and never have to move the soup… if you’re into that sort of convenience.) Return soup to pot, stir in coconut milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup warm with crusty vegan bread.

Kale Chips

These are not potato chips. Don’t let anyone tell you that they taste as good as potato chips. They don’t. Potato chips are uuuuhhhh-mazing. These chips are also delicious. Believe it or not, kale bakes up into a crisp paper, chip-like consistency. The flavor is light, but green… and you can add just about any seasoning you’d like. Old Bay Seasoning? A total dream come true. Try them. The crunch is addicting. Oh! I like using dinosaur kale (the flatter kale variety) because they leaves are more easily removed from the stalk. Try any kale you can get your hands on!

Print this Recipe!

1 pound bunch of dinosaur kale

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

any seasoning you’d like: Old Bay Seasoning, Grill Seasoning, smoky paprika, chili flakes, sea salt and coarse black pepper.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Thoroughly clean and dry kale leaves. Remove the fiberous center stalk from the kale by tearing the leaves away from the stalk. The center stalk will bake up very tough, that’s why we remove it.

Place kale leaves on one or two baking sheets. Leaves should be in a single layer for the most part. Sprinkle with olive oil and seasoning. Toss with your hands. Add more seasoning if you’d like.

Place pan(s) in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove sheet(s) and toss leaves with tongs. Return to the oven to bake for another 15 minutes. after 30 minutes of baking, turn the oven off and allow the leaves to dry in the cooling oven for another 30 to 45 minutes. They’ll be crisp and ready to snack on in no time!

Store kale chips in an airtight bag. They’ll last anywhere from several minutes (because they’re an irresistible snack) to several days (because your husband doesn’t like kale).

Fresh Tomato and Arugula Bagel Pizzas

joythebaker — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:06:08 +0000

This is the end. This is the end of my day. This is the end of the week. This is the end of a pizza bagel before it meets my belly.

The end looks like a toasted bagel with fresh, seasoned tomatoes, salami, melted fresh mozzarella, and lemon pepper arugula.

The end. The end tastes toasty, fresh, salty, and melty. The end also has Project Runway reruns. The end is pretty good lookin’.

This is the beginning. The beginning of my day. The beginning of my natural and unrelenting carb cravings. The is the beginning of a bagel pizza.

Now…. just to clear the air: Yes. Yes… I come to you with bagel pizza pictures. This has to be ok, because this is how I live. If you don’t crave pizza bagels on a daily basis then… I don’t even know you anymore. I just don’t.

I love bagels… but I sometimes take the soft inside bits out. More room for good filling. Fresh, unevenly sliced tomatoes. Go!

Salt and pepper are totally necessary. This already looks good. It’s just tomato and bread.

Tomato and bread and meat and cheese.

It’s just like a best friend party!

These loaded bagels get placed on parchment paper and put under the broiler. They’ll get toasted and melty.

What could go wrong?

Um… I’ll tell you what could go wrong!!!!!!!

If you put parchment paper under the broiler, it will catch on fire and you’ll burn your house down.

I’m not joking. I know this to be true… because I totally almost burned my house down.

That’s an exaggeration, but I really need you to understand. No parchment paper under the broiler. Don’t be like me.

Ok… don’t burn your house down like me… but you should totally eat like me.

Make yummy choices that include things that melt.

Top those melty things with arugula that’s been sprinkled with fresh lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

My neighbor walked by my house extra extra slow as I was taking pictures of these little bagel darlings. It looked like he might have even combed his hair and buttoned his shirt up past his belly button this time. Well played, neighbor sir. I look nice, but I’m not sharing.

Oh! There’s no traditional recipe for this bagel creation. It’s all you! Grab a bagel, tomato, salami, cheese and greens. Make delicious!

Maple Bacon Kettle Corn

joythebaker — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:31:20 +0000

Things that I’m really good at:

cooking bacon, eating popcorn, writing on graph paper, text messaging, and typing simple equations into my calculator.

Things that I really suck at:

math.

I already have a serious problem with kettle corn.

A few months back I ate only kettle corn for a week straight.

You think I’m kidding. I’m not.

Now I’ve gone and cooked the kettle corn in bacon fat and added crisp bacon bits and maple syrup.

This can’t end well.

It will surely end with one sticky computer.

Oh well.?

Maple Bacon Kettle Corn

Print this Recipe!

4 slices bacon, cooked, fat reserved

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/2 cup corn kernels

1/4 cup cooking fat (use the reserved bacon fat and extra olive or vegetable oil to make 1/4 cup of popcorn cooking fat)

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt (depending on your taste)

Cook off bacon until brown and crisp. Set aside to cool. Once cool, chop into small bits and toss with maple syrup.

Carefully measure out the hot bacon grease. If you don’t have 1/4 cup of fat, add some vegetable or canola oil to make 1/4 cup of oil for cooking the popcorn.

In a large pan over medium high heat, heat the bacon fat and oil mixture. Add the corn kernels. Sprinkle over the sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and wait for the popping to begin.

Once the popping begins, use two good pot holders the hold together the pan and the lid and shake the pot. Feel free to take the pot off the flame to give it a good shake. Just be careful and then return the pot to the flame. Shake often throughout the popping process. This will help ensure that the sugar doesn’t burn the pan and the popcorn.

Once finished popping remove the lid and salt with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon more salt. Use a large spoon to stir the popcorn. You don’t want the hope sugar to burn you. Pour in the bacon and maple mixture. Toss together and serve.

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

joythebaker — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:01:53 +0000

I’m full of all sorts of good ideas.

Like… the good idea I had to cream two stick of butter with two cups of sugar.

Like… the good idea I had to add eggs and vanilla extract.

Like the awesome idea I had to add oats and flour and spices.

And chocolate. That was totally a good idea.

Putting chunks of dough in the oven? Also a great idea.

Yea… I was on a good idea roll.

The best idea ever? Putting these warm cookies in my mouth and calling it dinner. Excellent.

Just thought I would share my good ideas with you. Yea… I’m kind of a show off.

I’d like to introduce you to my new favorite cookie. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here…. I’m just trying to coax good cookies out of my oven.

These cookies are soft and hearty. I like using old fashioned oats because they add all sorts of body to the cookie dough. It’s also nice to use the best chocolate you can get your hands on. It just makes life better. These cookies bake up soft, slightly chewy, with a depth of sweetness and a hint of spice. They’re sort of my version of a granola bar… but really, I know better. Yum. Seriously.

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Southern Living

makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Print this Recipe!

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups uncooked oats

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Beat the sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Beat until creamy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat until blended.

Whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Add to the butter and egg mixture slowly beating on low speed until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and pecans last.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 to 13 minutes or until they’ve reached your desired doneness. I like mine a little underdone and cook them for 10 minutes. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Or you could just eat them warm. That’s probably the best idea. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Homemade Caramel Corn

joythebaker — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:30:55 +0000

I cooked some sugar.

I cooked some sugar and poured it over salted popcorn.

Holy moly. Hot sugar.

I need to talk to you about hot sugar.

I need to tell you that hot sugar on you hand… not cool… at all. Hot sugar on salted popcorn is a dream come true.

If you can’t already tell, I burned myself while making this popcorn… for breakfast. Don’t judge. The burn was totally worth it.

I learned the value of a giant bowl of ice water in the making of this popcorn. I’m just sayin…

Here’s how to cook some sugar and make it even more delicious. Just be careful.. k?

It all starts out innocently enough. Sugar. Water. Heat.

After ten minutes of cooking, the sugar is looking like a lean mean sugar bubblin’ concoction.

Twenty minutes. Watchyoself.

My sugar took about 25 minutes to reach this lovely shade of amber. And then it burned the heck out of me. Sad and true…

and worth it.

Homemade Caramel Corn

makes about 6 cups

adapted from foodnetwork.com

Print this Recipe!

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup water

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

1/2 cup roasted almonds

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt, depending on how salty you like your life

bowl of ice water

This recipe requires that you work quickly and carefully. I don’t want you to hurt yourself. ok?

First, make the popcorn. Place oil in a medium to large saucepan over medium high heat. Add one kernel of corn and cover pan. When the single kernel pops, add the 1/2 cup of unpopped popcorn and cover. Use a pot holder to lightly shake the pan as the corn pops. When the popping stops, turn of the heat, remove the pot from the burner and shake the popcorn into a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1/2 to 1 teaspoons of sea salt… depending on how salty you like your popcorn. Set popped popcorn aside.

Prepare a bowl of ice water and set aside. If you get any hot sugar syrup on your body. Ouch. Stick it in ice water… fast.

Measure out the butter, vanilla extract, nuts and salt. Set aside. In a medium saucepan add the sugar. Pour the water into the pan with the sugar, but pour the water towards the side of the pan… not directly on top of the sugar. Mark an X with your finger through the sugar and water.

Place saucepan over medium-high heat and let cook. Swirl the pan every few minutes Swirl, don’t stir. The sugar and water will cook down and bubble and slowly begin to caramelize. The process takes 20-30 minutes of cooking and swirling. Be patient but keep an eye on it. At the 20 minute mark, you’ll begin to smell caramelization. When the sugar reaches a caramel color, remove from the heat. Add the butter and vanilla extract. The mixture will bubble up. Give it a few good swirls.

Working quickly and carefully pour the hot caramel mixture over the popcorn. If any hot caramel gets on your skin, immediately immerse in the bowl of ice water. Ouch! With two spatulas stir until most of the popcorn is covered in hot caramel. Carefully pour out onto a silpat or foil lined sheet pan. Break up any large clumps with the spatula, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sea salt and let come to room temperature.

Proscuitto Dijon Gruyere Puffs

joythebaker — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:56:43 +0000

Three things are true. Let’s go over some facts.

I’m gullible. I prefer to think of it as less naive and more trusting. If you tell me something, in all likelihood, I’ll believe you. For this reason, let’s keep the April foolery to a minimum this morning. It’s not really my style, and chances are, if you try to fool me with falsehoods or pranks today, it’ll work. Let’s not and say we did.

This day reminds me of one particular April Fool’s Day many years back. I thought playing a prank on my little sister would be ripe with comedy. It involved a toilet seat, petroleum jelly, and her resulting slippery bum. As I giggled with success, my little sister busted out her fake (but oh so convincing) cry and I was in a heap of trouble with Mom. She’s brilliant with the fake cry… award winning. Well played little sister… I see how you turned that around… Well played.

Lastly, and this is no petroleum jelly joke- I was featured in the London Times this week! Check out the interview and the photos… and say hello to London. Normally I’d tell you how being in the London Times makes me want to yell, and jump and otherwise spaz with excitement.. but I’m trying to play it cool. You know.. like wearing sunglasses at night, or wearing Converse sneakers with a fancy dress, or putting ham and mustard in cookies…. cool. Let’s play it cool.

A friend affectionately called these savory pastries, Ham Cookies. While the name is less than enticing, the description is just about right. I combined my favorite Dufour Puff Pastry with lovely Dijon mustard, thinly sliced prosciutto and Gruyere cheese. Roll the dough in towards each other like you would a Palmier, and you’ve got a savory breakfast snack, or a super easy appetizer. Easy and impressive… that means we all win!

Prosciutto Dijon and Gruyere Puffs

Print this Recipe!

1 package Dufour Puff Pastry (It’s the best store bought pastry around. If you can’t find it, go for a brand that uses all butter, and not the fake fat stuff.)

8 slices Prosciutto di Parma

3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

flour for dusting

fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Thaw puff pastry in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. Once thawed, carefully unfold and lay on a floured work surface. If the pastry tears at the seam in the unfolding process, it’s not the end of the world, but try to keep it in one un-torn piece. Dust flour on top of the pastry as well.

Puff pastry will already be very flat, but with a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 11×9-inches. Layer the eight slices of prosciutto on top of the puff pastry. Using a butter knife, layer the mustard on top of the prosciutto slices. Top with grated cheese, and as much fresh ground black pepper as you like.

Begin to roll the right side of the pastry in towards the center. Next roll the left side of the pastry in towards the center. Press together. Dough will not stick together, but if you brush away some of the excess flour on the center dough pieces, they will stay together better during baking.

With a sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place on a baking sheet lines with parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes, until a deep golden brown. Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from baking sheet and serve warm or at room temperature.

Soft Seasoned Pretzels

joythebaker — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:39:33 +0000

I must be out of my mind. It seems that even the deep August heat can’t curb my constant craving for homemade carbohydrate treats.

Last week I slaved over a pot of 350 degree vegetable oil to fry some fresh doughnuts and this week I hovered over a pot of boiling water cooking up some traditional soft pretzels.

I will admit that these pretzels weren’t nearly as satisfying as the homemade doughnuts. I found the shaping and the subsequent boiling a little bit trying of my patience. I realized half way into the pretzel making process that I was in not mood for shaping and tending to yeasted dough. I was in the mood for instant carb gratification. I should have just hit up the drive through for some french fries.

Begrudgingly, the pretzels got made and adorned with grill seasoning instead of pretzel salt. I like the course flakes of salt, pepper and spices. Of course, served warm with a little brown mustard, my frustrations mostly melted away. The mess in my kitchen…. that was another story entirely.

Do I sound cranky? I certainly don’t mean to.

I say give these pretzels a try if you have a lazy Saturday afternoon, sometime in cool, crisp late October, not (not!) mid August. Silly silly Joy the Baker.

For a much cooler treat check out my Blueberry Mango Frozen MiniPops over at FoodProof.

Soft Seasoned Pretzels

adapted from Gourmet, March 2004

Print this recipe!

1 tablespoon sugar
1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pretzel salt or grill seasoning

1 heaping Tablespoon baking soda (add it to the boiling water just before throwing in the pretzel dough!)

Stir together sugar, yeast, and 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (105 to 110°F) in a glass measuring cup, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Whisk together 3 1/2 cups flour and 1 tablespoon table salt in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it forms a dough. Dust work surface with 1 tablespoon flour, then turn out dough and knead, gradually dusting with just enough additional flour to make a smooth sticky dough, about 8 minutes. (Dough needs to be somewhat sticky to facilitate rolling and forming into pretzels).

Return dough to bowl and cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Turn out dough onto a clean work surface and cut into 8 equal pieces. Using your palms, roll 1 piece back and forth on a clean dry work surface into a rope about 24 inches long. If dough sticks to your hands, lightly dust them with flour. Twist dough into a pretzel shape. (Dough will retract as you form the pretzel.)

Transfer pretzel with your hands to an oiled baking sheet and form 7 more pretzels in same manner with remaining dough, spacing them 1 1/2 inches apart.

Let pretzels stand, uncovered, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 425°F. Bring a wide 6-quart pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add heaping tablespoon of baking soda.

Using both hands, carefully add 3 pretzels, 1 at a time, to boiling water and cook, turning over once with tongs, until pretzels are puffed and shape is set, about 3 minutes. Transfer parboiled pretzels to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining 5 pretzels in 2 batches.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and oil paper, then arrange pretzels on sheet. Brush pretzels lightly with some of egg and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Bake until golden brown and lightly crusted, about 35 minutes. Cool 15 minutes, then serve warm.

Cooks’ notes:
• Dough can be mixed and kneaded in a standing electric mixer fitted with dough hook.
• Pretzels are best the day they are made. (When they are kept overnight, salt may dissolve.)