Game Day Food

Apparently there's some sort of big game this weekend?  Or maybe a commercial showcase extravaganza?  I'm not real clear on the nature of the event, but I understand an awful lot of people are going to spend Sunday sitting on the couch, stuffing their faces, and screaming excitedly at the magical picture box.

Sounds like a good day for pretzels! (source: bread book)

2 t dry yeast (or one packet, whatever)
1 1/4 C warm water
3 3/4 C flour
1 1/2 t salt
egg glaze (beat an egg and 1/2 t salt in a tea cup, coffee mug, or small measuring glass.  Not right now--make it when you need it, just before baking)
sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or coarse sea salt, for topping

• Sprinkle yeast into 1/2 C water in a small bowl.  Let stand 5 minutes, then stir to dissolve.  While you're waiting, mix flour and salt in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center and pour in the dissolved yeast.
• Use a wooden spoon to draw in enough of the flour to form a soft paste.  Cover bowl with a dish towel and let "sponge" about 20 minutes.  The wet paste will become frothy and risen.
• Mix in the rest of the flour.  Stir in remaining water, as needed, to form soft, sticky dough.
• Knead 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic, then put the dough in a clean bowl and let rise until doubled in size (1 1/2 to 2 hours).  Punch down dough, then allow it to rest for 10 minutes.  (I usually need to sit down for about ten minutes after getting punched, too, depending on where I get it)
• Divide dough into eight equal pieces.  Roll out each piece with your hands--remember making snakes with Play-Doh?  Same deal--until the dough snake is about 16 inches long.  Form the snake into pretzel shapes.  The easiest way is to copy the technique you see at the mall food court, though maybe at a slower speed.  Bring the ends close, give them a full twist around each other, then fold the twist back towards the loop you've made and press the ends into the dough of the loop, making the shape below.

• Place the pretzels on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet (I always use parchment paper on baking sheets when making bread.  I may not always need it, but it sure is handy), cover with a clean dishtowel, and allow to proof (proofing is a secondary rise, after the dough is formed) until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425F and make your egg glaze.
• Brush the pretzels with egg glaze and sprinkle with whatever toppings you like.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and delicious-looking.  Cool on a wire rack.

Get the mustard.  GET IT NOW!!

The first time I made pretzels was nearly a decade ago, when I was still getting the hang of bread dough, and I got very frustrated, and a little annoyed.  Since then, I've gotten better with bread dough, and now I love making pretzels.  This batch was made when I decided to make bagels, then changed my mind just before I started.  Admittedly, they close up quite a bit while baking, and the end result is more like a pretzel-shaped sandwich bun than an actual pretzel, but I don't see how that's a problem.  Pretzel buns are very trendy these days, and it gives you some options for how to eat them.

Beau Thai

For a long time, we had a can of coconut milk in the kitchen cabinet.  Long enough that it has lived in at least two different apartments (which means the Chief Taster might have been living with that coconut milk before she was living with me).  Every once in a while, I would move it aside to get to something else and be reminded that I needed to do something with it, even if that something was just to move it to the back of the cabinet, out of my way.

When the Chief Taster discovered I could make chicken pot pie, it became one of the dishes which excited her enough to clap a lot when I suggested it, but it wasn't something she ever remembers to request.  One time, I suggested it, and she was thrilled at the impending pastry, but while I made the grocery list, I looked at the other side of the page in the BC cookbook, and saw Thai-Style Coconut Chicken, which requires one can of coconut milk.  It also called for serrano chilies; thanks to Dad's garden, we had a sack full of them in the fridge, waiting for a good use.  For a month or two, I'd slip a couple mystery peppers into whatever I cooked, and never told her about it, but the food was always tasty.

1 T vegetable oil
1 lb bite-size boneless skinless chicken chunks (I like to use thighs)
1 t grated lime peel
1 t grated ginger root (don't use ground ginger--they're not the same thing.  Peel the root before grating, and save the rest in the freezer.  It'll keep.)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 fresh serrano chilies or 1 jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped (I used three serrano, but I think mine were a little on the mild side)
1/4 C finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 can (about 14 oz) coconut milk
1 t packed brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1 T soy sauce
1 C sugar snap pea pods
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch cubes (that's what the book says, but anyone with a little math knowledge and experience with a green pepper will tell you that's impossible. Point is, big chunks of pepper are ok)
1 medium tomato, chopped (3/4 C)
1 T chopped fresh basil
hot cooked jasmine rice

• Heat oil in wok or 12" skillet over high heat.  Add chicken and stir-fry until the chicken is no longer pink.  Add lime peel, ginger root, garlic, chilies, and cilantro.  Stir-fry 1 minute.

• Pour coconut milk over chicken (it will come out in a big glob unless you do as the can says and shake the bejeezus out of it before opening.  Then, it still might come out in a big glob, but the heat will soften it and you can stir it in).  Stir in brown sugar, salt, soy sauce, pea pods, and bell pepper.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are crisp-tender.  Eat a couple to make sure.  Nobody will know, I promise.  Stir in the tomato.

• Spoon into bowls of rice.  It will be almost like soup, but that's ok--a lot of Thai food is like that, and the broth is very tasty.  Top with basil.