t o m a t o e s & t e q u i l a

I love Smitten Kitchen. I secretly want to be Deb Perlman's best friend. She is a great cook and lives in New York and I picture us at Zabar's together, chatting and shopping and planning dinner. I think she is smart and funny and I love her writing style.

My Mom got me the Smitten Kitchen cookbook for Christmas last year (and a cute cookbook stand to place my new cookbook on - Moms, they think of everything!) and pretty much everything in it looks amazing. I want to make all of it and yet somehow, I have hardly had time to make anything from it! I decided that was unacceptable and tackled her Chocolate Chip Brioche Pretzels over the weekend.

I actually had a difficult time with the dough - it wasn't coming together as I thought it should based on the notes in the recipe. In the end, I (and the hubby) had to coax it a bit. The result was a little bit dense for a brioche, but really delicious nonetheless. I will definitely try it again at some point to see if I can do any better. Frustratingly, I don't know where I went wrong! Normally I have a sense for my error, like, the butter wasn't quite room temperature or my baking soda is not the freshest (dries out like crazy in Colorado). This time, not a clue what happened. Oh well - onward!

After baking (and taste testing), I froze the remainder of the pretzels. They'll make an awesome brunch or treat for guests - I plan to just reheat in the oven and serve. I also considered slicing them like you would a bagel and making french toast out of them...and as I typed that I realized how awesome that sounds and made an executive decision to make that happen asap.

CHOCOLATE CHIP BRIOCHE PRETZELS RECIPE

So these are actually called "Better-Than-Crack Brownies" per the blog I found them on (my favorite!:How Sweet It Is), but that got to be too much to say so I just shortened the title to Crack Brownies.

These make me feel uber-American. They make me want to say "America" with a George W. Bush accent and then go do something American like, eat McDonald's or be really loud and obnoxious in public, or wear socks with my sandals (preferably Tevas, while sporting a neon fanny pack).

Why do these make me feel uber-American, you must be asking. Because they are over the top, ooey-gooey, gluttonous, peanut-buttery chocolatey richness. They are big and bold and all together just a little too much. So obviously I made these for the Super Bowl a few weeks ago. Sorry it took me so long to share them.

No, I am not dead. I bought a house which is like being socially dead for at least a month. We are finally getting settled and I am able to get back to a little cooking. Truth be told, I am also trying to eat a bit more healthfully and sometimes it's hard to find blog-worthy recipes that are also healthy and delicious. I guess that dilemma extends beyond blogging - it's hard to find delicious, healthy, interesting recipes in LIFE. Boo.

These pretzel dogs would not fall into the healthy category. But, I simply had to make them for the Super Bowl. My Niners were playing and this momentous occasion called for really good football food. I mean, I've been waiting for a return to the Super Bowl by the Niners since I was like 6 - I wasn't about to ruin the day with icky healthy food. I did have some carrots and dip though - good job me.

I was so bummed they lost and had to wonder if they would have if Alex Smith had been playing. I'm not into all the Colin Kaepernick hype. I think they treated Alex Smith kind of poorly, booting him out mid-season and all. That's enough football talk though, I don't need angry Colin Kaepernick fans leaving nasty comments on my little food blog.

Aside from a bit of cooking and pouting over my team's loss, I have been spending time debating the very important differences between grey, beige, and "greige" walls. The final color choice is TBD - I'll keep you posted.

PRETZEL DOGS RECIPE
(Joy the Baker, originally adapted from Alton Brown)


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
8 hot dogs (I prefer Hebrew National)
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! (I used baking spray and that worked fine)

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.

Serve warm with spicy, grainy mustard - YUM!