Soft Pretzels

 

 

Dough

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 7/8 to 1 cup warm water*
• *Use the greater amount in the winter, the lesser amount in the summer, and somewhere in between in the spring and fall. Your goal is a soft dough.

Topping

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• coarse, kosher or pretzel salt, optional
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, meltedhTopping
• 8 ounces boiling water
• 1 ounce baking soda
• coarse, kosher or pretzel salt, optional
• 1 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

Dough

298g King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

7g instant yeast

198g to 227g warm water*

*Use the greater amount in the winter, the lesser amount in the summer, and somewhere in between in the spring and fall. Your goal is a soft dough.

Topping

227g boiling water

28g baking soda

coarse, kosher or pretzel salt, optional

43g unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

1. To make dough by hand, or with a mixer: Place all of the dough ingredients into a bowl, and beat until well-combined. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it's soft, smooth, and quite slack. Flour the dough and place it in a bag, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
2. While the dough is resting, prepare the topping: Combine the boiling water and baking soda, stirring until the soda is totally (or almost totally) dissolved. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm (or cooler).
3. Preheat your oven to 475°F. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with vegetable oil spray, or lining it with parchment paper.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces (about 70g, or 2 1/2 ounces, each).
5. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Pour the baking soda/water into a 9"inch sq pan.
6. Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28" to 30" long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Working with 4 pretzels at a time, place them in the pan with the baking soda/water, spooning the water over their tops; leave them in the water for 2 minutes before placing them on the baking sheet. This baking soda "bath" will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color.
7. Transfer the pretzels to the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt, if desired. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
8. Bake the pretzels for 8 to 9 minutes, or until they're golden brown.
9. Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you've used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that's what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave.   
10. Yield: 8 large pretzels.

Smoky Pork and White Bean Stew

Ingredients

·         1 (12- to 16-ounce) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

·         Salt and pepper

·         3 tablespoons vegetable oil

·         1 onion, chopped

·         4 garlic cloves, minced

·         1 tablespoon smoked paprika

·         1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

·         3 cups chicken broth

·         2 (15-ounce) can white beans, rinsed (great northern or navy)

·         1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1.   1. Pat pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add pork and cook until browned all over, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to plate.

2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and paprika and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Add tomatoes, broth, and pork and any accumulated juices and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until pork is just cooked through, about 8 minutes. Add beans and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Chili Craig Clairborne

1 lb chopped thin-sliced beef
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 large can tomatoes
1 green pepper minced

In a large pot, brown onion and garlic in 2 TBS olive oil.
Add meet and brown.
Add tomatoes green peppers.

Stir in:
2 c water
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 TBS chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp basil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf

Simmer 2-3 hours uncovered.
Just before serving add:

1 can kidney beans

Moody made several chili recipes.  One with okra and this one without.