Pretzel Dogs and Pretzel Bites

I flew out to Vegas to spend Thanksgiving with the family and  meet this little man....

Although I can't say I miss living in Vegas, I do miss seeing my sweet little nieces... and now my first little nephew.  He was even born a Broncos fan which makes him even more perfect if that's possible.  Since he's young and green though, we tried to shield him from the nausea  that tends to ensue when Brady gets a win.  I'm not going to lie to you though...Little Man spit up quite a bit during the game.  Seems he really was born with orange and blue blood running through his veins.  

When my family is together, it's pretty much guaranteed there's going to be some baking. This week's game was all about the pretzel....pretzel dogs and pretzel bites.

Love my sister's apple green mixer. 

I felt that I really needed to dirty up her mixer when she told me she's only ever used it to make fondant.  I'd call her crazy girl except she's kind of a whiz with fondant.  The patience amazes me.

Here's what came out of the mixer when I'm on the clock.  Don't worry, it tastes much better than it looks.

Boiling the pretzels is what gives them their chewy texture. Not sure what the baking soda in the water does specifically, but it makes soft pretzels taste like soft pretzels. 

While the pretzel dogs went quickly, I actually prefer the pretzel bites served with pizza sauce. 

So smushy.  My sister had major cheeks when she was little and she makes her babies that way too. Learning to hold your head up is really hard work. 

Soft Pretzels
adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 and 1/4 tsp yeast (or one packet)

1.5 tsp kosher salt
4.5 cups flour

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted plus additional for buttering bowl
1/2 c baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
salt for sprinkling

10 hot dogs cut in half (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. 
2. Add the flour and butter and using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. 
3. Increase mixer to medium speed and mix until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 6 minutes. 
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and butter mixing bowl well. 
5. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place until double in size (or about an hour
6. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
7. Fill large stockpot halfway with water and bring to a rolling boil. Add baking soda. The boiling baking soda water can make quite a mess--definitely stick with a big pot filled halfway full if you can.    
8. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 10 equal pieces. 
9. Roll out each piece of dough into a 14 inch rope. If making pretzel bites, cut rope into 1/2 inch pieces.  If making pretzel dogs, cut rope in half and wrap around hot dog halves, taking care to press and pinch ends to seal well.
10. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan and continue with remaining hot dogs. 
11. Place the pretzel dogs/bites into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water with a large slotted spoon. 
12. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle with salt
13. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 15 minutes for pretzel dogs or 10-12 minutes for pretzel bites
14. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Cardamom Cinnamon Rolls

I dream of pantries and efficient kitchen storage the way some women dream of spacious closets.  The KitchenAid mixer shelf that raises out of the cupboard when you want to use it and then pivots back into it's own cupboard when you are done?  Seriously, I want to marry the person who thought that one up. 

While my kitchen feels far from efficient or spacious, I cleaned and decluttered a bit...all the resulting workspace made me want to bake, bake, bake.  Wide open counter space is just a canvas screaming for a rolling pin and baking sheets....and cinnamon rolls.  Life in general just screams for fat, fluffy, gooey cinnamon rolls.  

Have you ever tried cardamom?  It's common in middle eastern and indian cooking and is especially fantastic in baked yeasty breads.  Or so I think. 

Unfortunately cardamom is a relatively expensive spice, but if you buy the pods, they last for quite awhile and you really use very few pods in most recipes.  This whole recipe uses just 15 pods.   You pop them open and the inside contains little black seeds that you can throw into a grinder.  You can also buy ground cardamom but I think the pods retain their flavor longer. 

And if you don't like cardamom, you can of course skip it altogether.  Just add a 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg in its place. 

I'm not always the most patient when it comes to the multiple risings of yeast breads so I love to make the dough the night before and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight.  I wake up, roll it out and only have one rising to wait through. 

This recipe uses an entire stick of softened butter spread evenly over the dough.   The original recipe called for 12 tbsps of butter so I really just made it healthy by cutting out 1/3 of the butter.  Obviously. 

There's something just so comforting about looking over and seeing cinnamon rolls rising on the counter.  This is of course surpassed by the comfort of the warm smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven.  

Yep lots of frosting.  This recipe is based on a Food Network Cinnabon copycat recipe and I think FN nailed this recipe. The cardamom just adds a bit of a twist to an already perfect food. 

Not convinced?  Want to see it up close and personal?  Good stuff right? Don't let the 20 steps fool you into thinking Cinnamon Rolls are tons of work.  They are as simple as having the KitchenAid make your dough, letting the yeast do its magic while you sleep, and then just rolling these bad boys out.  Easy peasy and so worth the effort. 

Cardamom Cinnamon Rolls 

adapted from Food Network

For the Dough:
1 cup whole milk
 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
1/4 cup plus 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more if needed

15 green cardamom pods (1-2 tsps ground green cardamom)
3/4 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:
8 tbsp softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

For the Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Crack open cardamom pods and remove seeds.  Add seeds to spice grinder and grind well. 
2. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over low heat until it reaches about 100. Remove from the heat and sprinkle in the yeast and 1/4 teaspoon sugar (don't stir). Set aside until foamy, 5 minutes. 
3. Whisk together the melted butter, egg yolk and vanilla and add to milk and yeast.  Whisk well. 
4. Sift the flour into stand mixer bowl.  
5. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cardamom, and salt to flour. 
6. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk and yeast mixture. 
7. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until thick and slightly sticky. 
8. Knead on medium speed until the dough gathers around the hook, 6 minutes. Add a bit more flour, tsp by tsp, if necessary.
9. Butter a medium sized bowl.
10. Remove the dough and shape into a ball and place in bowl.  Turn to coat the dough in butter. 
11. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise overnight until doubled (or 1- 1.5 hours depending upon kitchen temp
12. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12-by-14-inch rectangle with the longer side facing you.
13. Spread with the softened butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border on the far long edge. Mix the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the butter.
14. Spread with the softened butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border on the far long edge. Mix the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the butter.
15. Brush the unbuttered far edge with water. Roll the dough away from you into a tight cylinder and press on the long edge to seal.
16. Cut the cylinder in half with a sharp knife.  Cut each half into half again to form 4 equal sections.  Cut each section into three equal pieces for 12 cinnamon rolls. 
17. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan; place the buns cut-side down in the pan, leaving space between each. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 40 minutes. 
18. Preheat the oven to 325.
19. Bake the buns until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cool in the pan 15 minutes. 
20. Meanwhile, make the glaze: Sift the confectioners' sugar into a bowl, then whisk in the cream and melted butter. Transfer the buns to a rack and spoon the glaze on top while still warm.

Southwestern Chicken Soup

Do you remember Ross's Thanksgiving sandwich with the "moist maker?"  Oh Ross...I miss him.  And while he and most people I know fall into the camp that is super duper excited to eat those Thanksgiving leftovers, I'm pretty much in the opposite camp. I've never been a huge leftover fan--In  my opinion, Italian is the only food that remotely tastes delish reheated.   And reheated poultry--can't stand it.   I will leftover chinese straight from the fridge before I will ever reheat chicken.

Soup is the exception. 

Yep, soup is the perfect way to eat leftover chicken or turkey. 

My friend made this soup for me years ago and it was love at first bite.  When she told me it was as easy as opening a couple of cans and jars,  I knew it was destined to become a quick kitchen staple.  Even if you love your day after Thanksgiving sandwich, this soup  is the perfect  easy and tasty way to use up the day three turkey leftovers.  

Who doesn't want easy eats after a some serious Thanksgiving cooking?

Southwestern Chicken Soup
adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients
1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 12-ounce jar salsa verde
3 cups cooked leftover chicken or turkey
1 15-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 quart container of chicken stock
tortilla chips and sour cream for serving

Directions

1. Heat stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add cumin and stir, cooking until fragrant.
2. Pour salsa verde into pan
3. Cook for 2 minutes then add the chicken, beans and broth. Bring to gentle boil
4. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20-30 mins.  Soup can be eaten after 5-10 minutes but I like to reduce the broth a bit.
5. Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream if desired.

Persimmon Turnovers

Have you ever had a persimmon?  Right around November, these bright orange beauties start popping up in the stores and I go a little over the top.  This season I've already managed to eat over 20lbs of these....by myself.  If they weren't fruit, I'd be ashamed at my lack of control.  

It's difficult to describe the flavor to someone who's never had one...it's definitely nothing like the tomato it resembles.  

Or clarification...the Fuyu persimmon resembles a tomato.  This kind of persimmon can be eaten at any stage.  I start eating them as soon as they first hit the market in bulk and at that point they are a little green still and not the slightest bit soft.  I think they are still pretty fabulous in this stage...apple like in crispness and you can eat the peel just like an apple.  As the season progresses though, these become bright orange and when they are ripe, they are squishy, yummy sweet soft.  The peel never softens so I stop eating those once the texture of the inside fruit becomes softer than the skin. 

The Hachiya persimmon however, is shaped a lot like a human heart and requires that it be completely ripe or you are in for one nasty, astringent, cottony textured surprise.  When ripe though, they are even sweeter than the Fuyu.

I usually just stick to the Fuyus because they are easy . And after eating my 20lbs this season, I thought I'd try baking with these little babies....finally.  I say I'm going to bake with them every year and then I can't seem to sacrifice even one to the baking sheet. 

I used super ripe sweet persimmons with a bit of cinnamon, salt, flour and brown sugar and cooked for about 5 minutes until flour thickened.  If I were baking a pie, or using pie crust, I probably wouldn't have pre-cooked the filling.

A few premade puff pastry sheets and these came together pretty quickly. 

I adore puff pastry.  Or any pastry really.  

The result wasn't too bad.  Il oved the cinnamony goodness and I pretty much like anything wrapped in puff pastry.  Truthfully though, I'm really just as happy snacking on a persimmon in its raw and perfect state.  If you like to mix it up though, this is quite reminiscent of an apple pie, with a bit of a flavor twist. 

Random dog picture.   

Because I can. 

Persimmon Turnovers

4 ripe Fuyu persimmons, peeled and diced
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 tablespoon butter

puff pastry sheet cut into squares

1 egg white with 1 tsp water, well beaten

Sugar in the raw for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a medium saucepan combine persimmons, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, orange peel and butter.  Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until flour thickens.  Depending upon ripeness of persimmon, you may need to add 1 tbsp of water.
3. Spoon filling into center of puff pastry square.  Dip your finger in water and run around the edges of puff pastry dough. Fold puff pastry over diagonally and press all edges to seal
4. Brush top with egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar in the raw. 
5. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. 

Buffalo Chicken and Potatoes

Sometimes Game Day Eats should be made for one. And sometimes, they can even be made on a bye week when your team is not playing.   I love a lazy Sunday and I love Buffalo chicken so I decided that I'd bring those two things together.  

This was a Pinterest find (of course) and what drew me to it was that it wasn't just buffalo chicken--but also buffalo potatoes.  Genius. 

Buffalo sauce.  Seriously, I think I would eat shrimp if it was coated in Buffalo sauce.  That might be stretching it, but I absolutely adore that vinegary, spicy goodness.   You can buy the actual Buffalo wing sauce premade or you can buy the Red Hot sauce and mix it with some melted butter and make your own.  Yes, my high school years of working at Shakey's Pizza taught me how to mix butter(they used margarine) and hot sauce to make wing sauce.  I checked a bottle of pre made sauce and the one I picked up used butter flavoring and lots of other ingredients.  I feel better just mixing in my own butter--and you can control the ratio. 

It took a crazy amount of self control and logic to stop myself from eating these raw potatoes with buffalo sauce.  

The other perfect part of this recipe is that it has lots of cheese, bacon and green onions.  

The recipe calls for cooking the potatoes first until they are browned and crispy.  

You then top with raw diced chicken and the cheese and bacon.  It goes back into the oven for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is bubbly. 

It comes out of the oven as a cheesy, bacony buffalo sauced delicousness.  This might be one of the world's most perfect eats. 

Buffalo Chicken and Potatoes

adapted from Cook Lisa Cook

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 medium potatoes

1/3 cup hot sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder

Topping:
1 cup shredded cheddar jack
5 slices of crispy bacon crumbled
1/2 cup sliced green onions

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees
2. Dice potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes
3. In a large bowl whisk hot sauce, butter, olive oil, pepper,  paprika and garlic powder until well blended and smooth. Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat. 
4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer potatoes into lightly greased casserole dish or oven proof pan (I used a cast iron pan).   
5. Bake the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until cooked through and crispy & browned on the outside. 
6. While the potatoes are cooking, add the cubed chicken to the bowl with the leftover hot sauce and mix well to ensure evenly coated.  I sprinkled additional hot sauce onto the chicken because I could.   Once the potatoes are brown and crisp on the outside and tender inside, remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400F. 
7. Top the cooked potatoes with the raw chicken. 
8. Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the topping is bubbly

Coconut Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I can't explain why it delights me to dress this girl up every year.  I also can't explain why I spend the $ to buy something that she will wear for exactly 5 minutes.  But delight me to no end it does. Wearing costumes once a year for 5 minutes is how this dog earns her keep and pays me for a year's worth of room, board and puppy treats.  

Yes, this is the look of death I get from Ms. Snarl Tooth  every Halloween. 

And when Brooklyn became the owner of a costume that she hated, I became the owner of PJs that I adore.  Thank you Nick and Nora--Boston Terrier costume goodness and Boston Terrier PJs in one happy Target trip.    Seriously, Boston Terrier Pajamas...can you believe it? Happy Halloween indeed.

So the food part of the post.  

I saw a recipe on pinterest for PB and oatmeal bars made with coconut oil.  It was touted as health food.    I wouldn't go that far, but it was very similar in concept to my Grandma's chocolate coconut oatmeal bars which made me wonder what would happen if I swapped out the butter in my Grandma's recipe.

The warehouses are starting to carry Coconut Oil in bulk...I saw the big tubs in both Costco and Sams.  It seems coconut oil is the current food phenomenon. 

 My grandma made these Coconut Oatmeal Fudge bars EVERY Christmas so this is one of those recipes that has a bazillion memories attached to it.  When my grandma passed on, my mom and my aunts made this every Christmas.  I can't recall a Christmas Eve ever when we didn't have these bars on the cookie tray.    I was a little hesitant to mess with nostalgia, but thought that since it wasn't technically Christmas, it might be okay.

These are a no bake bar so this recipe is really as easy as melting the oil with sugar and cocoa, bringing to a boil and then adding the remaining ingredients.  It takes 10 minutes tops and I truthfully couldn't tell the difference between the butter version and the coconut oil version.  These are definitely not health food given the 1 1/3 cups of sugar, but I loved that coconut oil could easily be subbed for butter.  I don't have the world's biggest sweet tooth so I've adjusted the sugar in these bars.   My grandma's recipe calls for a full 2 cups of sugar.  If you like your sweets, this recipe will work perfectly with 2 cups of sugar as well.



While we always had these for Christmas, these are not the typical Christmas cookies that you can whip up and leave in a Christmas tin throughout the holiday season. These are gooey and soft the first day but the oatmeal quickly begins drawing in all the moisture in the bars and these are pretty dry by day three.  If they last that long---but they never did at our house.

Coconut Oatmeal Fudge Bars

Ingredients
1/2 cup coconut oil

1 1/4 c white sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla 

3 cups regular cooking oats
1 cup coconut plus more for topping

Directions

1. Heat sugar, milk, cocoa powder, vanilla, and coconut oil to gentle boil over medium high heat.
2. Boil for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly 
3. Take pot off stove.
4. Stir in vanilla.  Mix in oats and coconut.
5. Spread in greased 8x8 pan and top with additional coconut
6. Let cool before slicing.