I’ve always daydreamed of making pretzels. Then as soon as I visualize the work involved, I just go on with my day. I don’t know what I’ve been afraid of now that I’ve made my first batch. It was so fun to make, too. Plus they’re cute. [Dan laughs at me when I describe any food as "cute".]
To ease my way into the pretzel making world, I picked a recipe that didn’t require ‘cooking’ the dough on the stove. Baby steps, baby steps. Also, the scientist (or OCD?) in me kicked in and wanting to have uniform results, I weighed each pretzel dough at 50g, and I was able to produce 15 mini pretzels. They were delish and lasted us for two days.
Making pretzels
A note on these pretzels:
As I said earlier, I took the no-dough-cooking route. I’m not sure if that’s the reason, but these pretzels did not have that fine dough texture when you eat it. It’s not similar to Wetzel’s Pretzels, nor did it have a crust like Auntie Anne’s. BUT this is a pretty easy pretzel recipe with very decent homemade results — it was soft and chewy. Dan loved them. Consider this note a warning from someone who’s overcritical about her cooking.
Can you say that in one go? It refers to this mouthful of flavor-packed and devilishly smooth sensation of strawberry and honey brought to you in a creamy yogurt base, and you won’t even know that last part if nobody told you. It’s even better than our previous frozen creations — whether yogurt- or cream-based — better in flavor and texture. It’s definitely up there in the hankering-meter for both Dan and I.
We like getting feedback and ideas from all of you — it encourages us to experiment and tell you the delicious incarnations we’ve discovered. This is how this honey-strawberry variation came about. When Jen, an old pal from way back, asked about using honey with our recipe here, I just had to try it and find out the results firsthand. Or first spoonful, I guess, because that set off a multiple series of others. It was simply delectable. I fully blame the honey and the full-fat Greek yogurt that I accidentally bought. I previously usedFage Total 0% [PRONOUNCED Fa'-yeh] and had stellar results, so I didn’t think I was missing out on anything. Clearly, as Dan pointed out to me several times over the course of finishing this batch, that accidental mistake was a a great thing. Given my track record, my mistakes often end up as acts of genius in the kitchen, and elsewhere — the cosmos has a way of straightening me out. This time, I’d lightly pat myself on the back for giving this a try. [Note: I checked the Fage website and the Fage Total classic I used here was made from milk and cream.]
One snag in this honey-strawberry experiment was, and I think your inner honey-minions should take note of, the change in color color…to dirty pink. It’s easily remedied with a drop of red liquid food coloring.
Hmm…all this talk of frozen yogurt doesn’t seem right at the moment because my toes are cold from winter-like conditions here in AZ. We had a weather hiccup, and temperatures dropped from 110ºF to the 50º’s. Yes, you read that right. However, I thought it best to still post this for those of you suffering sweltering heat.
I hope you try it! Include it in your Memorial Day menu, if you like. This could very well be the reason you purchase that Cuisinart frozen yogurt/ice cream maker you’ve been eyeing. ;-) Here’s the recipe:
Last March, in the midst of my Cinnamon Roll baking frenzy, I picked up a copy of Cook’s IllustratedLight Recipes when I saw the recipe for Guilt-Free Cinnamon Rolls [which I haven't tried, of course]. What I ended up making first from the magazine were the Healthier Oatmeal Cookies, and let me tell you — they wowed me. I can’t help but take a bite…then the next, and another one, and before I knew it I ate 2 cookies already. They’re sweet, chewy and somewhat lighter without sacrificing that great texture with each bite.
To be honest with you, when I was comparing its ingredients with that of my beloved Blueberry Pecan Oaties [I'll share that with you sometime in the future], I didn’t expect much considering that there are only 4 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of (brown) sugar for 24 cookies. According to the magazine, the brown sugar made them moist — “because of its unique properties, brown sugar holds on to water during the baking process”. If you want to get technical about it, it’s caused by the “invert sugar” (found in brown sugar, but not in white sugar), which is hygroscopic, or pulls water from wherever it can be found.
It contains a cup of old-fashioned rolled oats, which I just love eating for breakfast. I like having something to chew on instead of just gulp down. For cookies, it’s no different — it makes it heartier, and gives it better texture. Yum..munch, munch.
Instead of raisins, I used dried cranberries. Dan and I don’t like raisins, and would rather have dried cranberries or blueberries. I also added nutmeg to the recipe. It’s a must for every oatmeal cookie I make.
I have to tell you, this is the ONLY cookie recipe where the number of cookies I made matched what’s on the recipe. I thought that was pretty cool. [I'm easily amused.]
For those who are curious on how to make balls out of the dough, here’s a pic for you. I use a plastic tablespoon to measure it, then have a teaspoon to scoop and mold with it.
I baked the last 4 cookie dough balls on a regular cookie sheet with parchment paper and they did not spread as much, and it turned out browner. You can see the considerable difference below:
Hope you get to try them. They’re definitely a great alternative to your usual oatmeal cookie recipe. Continue Reading
1/2 cup castile soap [I used Dr. Bronner's almond castile soap]
1/2 cup white vinegar
[optional is 20 drops essential oil like lemon, lime, grapefruit, bergamot, lavender, tea tree]
Note: If you don’t have a container to fill a gallon of water, use your big pot for mixing.
The resulting liquid is whitish (castile soap becomes foggy white with the addition of water). I’m thinking this batch will last us for months unless I go on a tri-weekly cleaning spree. I filled one empty bottle spray with the liquid, and was able to fill an empty tequila bottle and an empty bottle of soap refill with the remaining liquid. If you’re planning to make this, have empty bottles to reuse — wine bottles, milk bottles, etc.
For anyone thinking that it would be expensive to make your own green cleaners — it’s not. The most ‘expensive’ ingredient to buy was the 1qt/944ml bottle of castile soap and it will last you a long time for quite a number of uses.
After having gone ‘greener’ and biodegradable with my all purpose cleaner, the big question in my head when I started this was — Does it really clean? YES, it does! It worked on the counters, on the stove, and on the super greasy areas that were casualties of cooking. I was honestly very surprised, but it worked! I also used it to clean the microwave oven and the refrigerator.
If you’re looking to make your own, the complete list of green cleaning recipes are here. You’ll find “Green Spa” recipes from there as well.
**If anyone can enlighten me more on Borax, I’d love that. I’ve searched all over the ‘Net and found that it has a low level of toxicity, but regardless, one shouldn’t ingest it. It’s a naturally occurring compound but that doesn’t meet it’s fully safe, just like your other household chemicals. Lethal dose for humans would be 5 grams. Direct contact of pure borax with skin is not recommended because it can be an irritant. It’s not to be used by pregnant women.
The hamburger. It is one of the simplest dishes to prepare. Even in its simplicity, there are ways of making your simple ground beef become infinitely flavorful. Everyone has their idea about the right way to make a burger, there are even competitions for the “perfect hamburger.” When Joy was out, I wanted to use the grills in the apartment complex we live in now that the weather is changing.
The following is dangerous territory as it will induce Pavlov-like symptoms. Enter with caution and a full stomach. Continue Reading
When I saw the photo for this on the May 2008 Gourmet magazine, I knew I had to make it. How can I resist cheese? I’ve also been meaning to get into bread-making. I thought this would be a good start. Yes, I’ve made cinnamon rolls so many times, but it’s time to move on and progress towards my goals of baking a good French bread and soft pretzels.
This recipe was not one to disappoint as you can see. It smelled and tasted so good, and it has that rustic look and texture, it made us feel like we’re in the country as we drooled over it:
The dough was a bit of challenge to work with, I should warn you (or it could just be me, really). For my first time, I think I did good. I ‘cheated’ and used a rolling pin to flatten it out, instead of using just my hands. Having refrigerated the dough overnight, I was faced with a really tough dough.
You might be wondering how the cheese got ingrained in there. The two kinds of coarsely grated cheeses (I used havarti and fresh mozzarella chopped in the food processor) are lumped into one big ball — and you might cry when you realize the amount of cheese in there as you hold it, but carry on because this really is one mightily awesome food to reach your mouth — but as I was saying, so the ball is placed in the middle of the slightly flattened dough, then it’s wrapped and ‘tied’ at the top, then pushed back down to spread into an 11-inch disk. Makes sense? That was the most challenging part for me.
It’s baked for 10 minutes, then sprayed with olive oil and baked for another 3 minutes to brown. And then you’ll be rewarded with this:
I’m killing you now, aren’t I? Please, dig in!
You know what else you can use this dough for?
Pizza! Yup, I made this with parmesan, mozza, and turkey bacon. Great for snacks. The dough is comparable to the frozen pizza doughs you can buy, and reminiscent of Pizza Hut’s P-zone’s dough. Not too shabby since this doesn’t take a lot of effort as the other pizza dough recipes I’ve seen (and have been scared with).
Alright, after taunting you, here’s the the recipe: [And Happy Friday!]
Sprinkle yeast over warm water and stir in a tablespoon flour. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast does not activate, start over with new yeast.)
Stir together salt and remaining flour in a large bowl, then stir in egg and yeast mixture to form dough.
Transfer dough onto a well-floured surface and turn to coat with flour, and then knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form into a ball and dust with flour. Let the dough rest in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, punching down with a wet fist every hour, at least 2 hours and up to 3.
Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in middle. Turn out dough onto floured pizza pan. Turn to coat. Flatten with your fingers into a 7-inch disk.
Toss together cheeses and compact them into a 3-inch ball with your hands. Place ball in middle of dough, then gather dough up around ball of cheese, squeezing excess dough into a topknot. Press down on topknot with a damp fist to press cheese out from center. Continue to flatten dough and distribute cheese evenly, pressing outward from center, until dough is an 11-inch disk.
Cut a 6-inch X through top of dough to expose cheese. Bake until pale golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Brush/spray surface of dough with olive oil and bake until golden and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes more. Serve cut into wedges.
Notes
Dough can be made 1 day ahead and chilled in bowl (for a slow rise), covered with plastic wrap. Punch down and bring to room temperature before proceeding with recipe.
If you are using a perforated pizza pan, be sure to have a baking sheet on the rack underneath it when you bake the bread. There might be cheese dripping through the holes. On that note, the cheese might burn so be ready for a smoky oven (and kitchen, and house…).
The cheese bread reheats well in the microwave for 20 seconds.
** May 14, ERRATUM [Or where I say -- I'm so sorry!]: There was an error with the recipe I posted yesterday. The sugar and the water were lumped together under the list of ingredients. It’s supposed to be 1 cup sugar, then 5/8 cup water I’ve updated the PDF recipe as well.
In other parts of North America, it’s starting to warm up. Here in Arizona, the summer weather has already crashed the spring party with a blazing 100ºF (or 37ºC). I grew up in a tropical country (Philippines) but even this temperature is taking its toll on this South Eastern gal — super dry skin, lovely migraines, and it makes me feel super lazy (less movement = less heat). Ack. To combat this overall feeling of ick, I whipped out the ice cream maker and got this going last night:
Churning inside is a mixture of Greek yoghurt, a teensy bit of real milk (I always tease Dan about him buying skim milk, which I don’t fancy at all), pureed fresh strawberries, simple syrup, a touch of lemon and vanilla.
We don’t usually make yoghurt ice cream. However, I was inspired by Veg SF‘s recipe based on David Lebovitz‘s and her better-than-Pinkberry results with Greek yoghurt. I’ve never tasted Pinkberry, but with the news out there that this too-good-to-be-true source of the West Coast’s oooh’s and ahhhh’s is actually not that natural, I’d rather make my own and know everything that goes in it.
When we started making ice cream last year, we followed the instructions on the Cuisinart booklet — down to the high fructose corn syrup. If you’ve read Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”, you cringe as much as I do hearing/reading those four words. I stayed away from that and opted to make a thick simple syrup instead. Everything (except for the sugar) in this smooth frozen goodness is both natural and organic:
For those non-plussed about yoghurt, let me just say that Dan (the resident yoghurt-eww-er in the household) loved it. So did I.
I guess that’s what’s good about living with someone picky about food. It challenges me to stretch boundaries and look for alternatives which end up being better than if I just followed the straight and oft-taken path. Instead of just using yoghurt and sugar, I added milk and made simple syrup to add creaminess, smoothness and an even sweet taste.
You can also drizzle it with melted chocolate to satisfy the chocoholic in you:
I’m doing some “spring cleaning” around here and deleting doubled drafts and whatnot. I found this which I made last February. Heavens, it’s May already. Time flies and next thing I’m 30. The end. It all goes down to that. Eek.
As anyone who eats with me on a regular basis can tell you — I am not a big fan of sandwiches. I don’t crave for it, I don’t fantasize about making them, and I just don’t care for them much unless I make them at home with only a few ingredients that I really like. I could not stand piling up all sorts of stuff in the sandwich — I want to taste the cheese, the meat, the bread, and the leaves. I liken it to eating everything in the fridge in one bite. It’s not palatable at all. I know I have weird tastes sometimes.
This is my kind of sandwich, which I assume would be considered boring and conservative in a sandwich lover’s world:
A slice of muenster cheese slightly melted over freshly toasted whole wheat bread.
Topped with fresh spinach leaves.
Then a slice of folded roast beef with some freshly crushed pepper.
I didn’t know about this, I just found it on Serious Eats . Here is Michael Pollan, author of “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” and “Omnivore’s Dilemma” being interviewed:
Here’s part of the interview:
Nightline correspondent, John Donovan: “You think the average person can afford to eat well, eat food, as opposed to…”
Michael Pollan: “You know, it’s a problem. Real food cost more than edible food like substances by and large. You can do it but it will either — if you don’t have the money you’re gonna have to put more time. I think we need to begin to spend more on food in terms of money and time. I know that’s not a popular message. People like their convenience food, but this experiment about outsourcing our food preparation to the corporations has failed us. It’s left us really unhealthy, really unsatisfied, and I think it’s undermining family life and community.”
I have to tell you, this is the ONLY cookie recipe where the number of cookies I made matched what’s on the recipe. I thought that was pretty cool. [I'm easily amused.]
The recipe for the all-purpose cleaner called for 3 ingredients. All I had to do was mix these with a gallon of hot water:
