Bake It!: Polish Soft-Baked Pretzels

This weekend, Boston got slammed by a blizzard. A real life blizzard. Two feet of snow, whipping wind, snow drifts, the whole nine yards.  There is something about snowy or rainy days that inspire the baker in me.  Maybe it is the cold outside that inspires to create something warm and comforting inside.

Pretzel Baking Weather

As a first-generation Polish-American, I often find myself gravitating toward recipes that reflect my heritage.  My grandfather was a baker in Poland before he came to America, so perhaps I inherited some of my inspiration from him.  I imagine that these pretzels are something he would have made and sold in his bakery in the 1950s.


These Polish homemade pretzels are called precle domowe (PRREHTS-leh doh-MOH-veh).  They are delightfully golden brown on the outside and soft, tender, chewy on the inside.  A baking soda-water bath takes the place of the lye bath common used on German pretzels.

After two hours of shoveling out my driveway, I rewarded myself with a Long Trail Ale and started my Polish pretzel making adventure.

Precle Domowe (Polish Homemade Soft Pretzels)
Yield 12 pretzels

For dough:
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
4 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled

For boiling:
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda

For topping:
1 large egg, beaten + 1 tablespoon water (aka egg wash)
coarse salt or seasoned salt like Borsari
sesame seeds (optional)

Making the Dough:

• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine water, sugar, salt, and yeast.
• Wait 5 minutes until the mixture starts to bubbly.
• Add flour and melted butter.
• Using the dough hook attachment, mix at low speed for 5 minutes, then increase to medium speed and mix another 5 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic and cleans the sides of the bowl.
• Transfer dough to greased bowl and cover with a cloth.  Let stand in warm place for 1 hour to allow it to rise.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Divide risen dough into 12 equal parts.
• Roll each piece into a rope about 24 inches long and form into pretzel shape.

• Longer the rope, the thinner and more traditionally the pretzel will look.
• Shorter the rope, the thicker the pretzel. And if its especially thick, you can use it as a sandwich roll
• Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and lightly coat the paper with cooking spray.
• In a large stockpot or dutch oven, bring water & baking soda mixture to a boil.
• Drop as many pretzels as will fit comfortably into the boiling baking soda-water mixture (my dutch oven held 4 pretzels at a time).
• Cook for 30 seconds on each side and transfer to prepared cookie sheet.
• Brush with egg wash and sprinkle on coarse salt, seasoned salt, or sesame seeds
• Bake 12 minutes or until golden.
• Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Of course, these pretzels are best warm right out of oven.  You can store the extra (if there are any left) in a air-tight container.  Reheat by warming in the toaster oven.

Tried this recipe? Leave a comment or tweet me at @lostinlaliland

Restaurant Review: The Redhead NYC

Two words.  Soft pretzels.  Two more words. Beer cheese.

Put them together and you have one of many culinary gems at The Redhead in New York's East Village.  This small, bustling eatery with a very understated store front is anything but understated when it comes to the food coming out of its kitchen.

On a recent visit to NYC, I was determined to try this place, which I'd first seen featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  After walking the four long city blocks down E. 13th from Union Square, I was greeting with this.

So, of course, I had to go in. 

My friend and I arrived about 6pm and although we didn't have a reservation, we didn't have to wait long for a table.  The bar was busy but not crazy, although I would think that making a reservation for a later time is definitely recommended.

The restaurant is small, mostly with tables of 2 or 4, with seating for a larger party across from the bar or in the back corner. The decor is warm with wood and deep red cushions.

We immediately ordered the homemade soft pretzels with the Kentucky beer cheese - this is the reason why we came, after all.  This little pieces of heaven were warm, chewy, simple delicious.  Everything you want a soft pretzel to be.  Just the right amount of salt too.  And the beer cheese was creamy and cool - the perfect accompaniment to the warm pretzel.

hello gorgeous

My friend ordered the fried chicken, which she promptly proclaimed to be the "best fried chicken" that she'd ever had. I tried the cherry lambic-braised pork ribs.  The ribs were tender and fell of the bone.  I wasn't crazy about the taste of the whole cherries, but the meat itself was well complimented by lambic.

For sides, we order the traditional biscuits and honey and fried green tomatoes, and the not-so-traditional watermelon with chili and lime.  

The biscuits and tomatoes were excellent but it was the watermelon that really caught us off guard.  The coolness of the watermelon paired with the tartness of the lime and heat of the chili was delightfully unexpected and refreshing.  Although summer is almost over, I definitely recommend trying this dish for your next BBQ or party.  

The aftermath....

Slowly, we began drifting in a blissful food coma.  To avoid the embarrassment which would come from us curling up on the velvet cushions and nodding off to sleep, we decided to skip dessert in favor of an after dinner walk.  The Redhead does offer a few options for your sweet tooth, including a bacon peanut brittle, which is quite popular and available for purchase to take home with you.

Next time you find yourself in the East Village and in search of a warm, inviting restaurant with delicious comfort food, you know where to go.

The cool peeps will be waiting for you.

The Redhead is located at 349 E. 13th (at 1st Ave)

http://www.theredheadnyc.com

Follow them on twitter at @theredheadnyc