Easy Soft Pretzels with Cajun Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

The smell of rain in the desert, making snowmen, antique shops, super red lipstick, giant soft pretzels fresh out of the oven...these are a few of my favorite things.  I honestly think I have a bonafide addiction to pretzels. Big pretzels, little pretzels, hard pretzels, honey wheat pretzels, pretzel crusted French toast, I could go on forever but my absolute favorite are those huge soft pretzels you can get at malls and concession stands all over the place. I've been known to make a special trip to the mall just to grab one. If you knew me you would know how big a deal that really is since I absolutely avoid the mall at all costs normally but when you have a hankering for something pillowy and hot and buttery and salty you do what you have to do.

I have quite a few pretzel recipes I use but I thought I'd share my easy small batch recipe this time. It only makes 6 pretzels and takes about an hour and a half start to finish (20ish mins prep, 1 hour proof, and 10 minutes baking time) so it's something you can throw together fairly quickly. Another reason I live this recipe is that you will most likely have everything you need on hand already.  The only thing that this recipe doesn't achieve is the even chewy exterior of other pretzels.  This doesn't mean they aren't still super delicious but if you are looking for that chewy textured outside, keep tuned I'll be adding a recipe for that but it is a bit more involved as a recipe go so I totally recommend this recipe to get you started on your pretzel making adventure!!

There are a bazillion different dips perfect for pretzels out there. Everything from sweet to savory, but since I'm a bit of a spicehead I came up with a Cajun twist to a honey mustard dip which goes perfectly with these pretzels.

Enough gabbing...onto the recipes!

Easy Soft Pretzels

 Yield: 6 pretzels

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Prep: 20 minutes

Proof: 1 hour

Bake: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

3 TBSP brown sugar, packed

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 tsp Kosher salt

1/3 cup baking soda

2 TBSP coarse sea salt

Directions

Warm the milk in microwave for about a minute until around 110 degrees, it will feel just a little warmer than your body temperature when tested with your finger. Pour milk into the bowl of your stand mixer. 

Add the yeast and a pinch of the brown sugar (be sure not to add the salt yet as it will kill the yeast) and give it a quick stir. Allow the yeast to proof for about 5 minutes. 

When the yeast looks bubbly and frothy add the rest of the brown sugar and about a cup of the flour. Mix slowly with the dough hook attachment until flour is fully incorporated. 

Add the cubed butter and mix again until the butter is incorporated. Add the rest of the flour and the kosher salt and knead the dough with the dough hook for at least 5 minutes on a medium speed. Your dough has been kneaded enough when you can slowly stretch a small piece without it tearing (see picture). 

Your dough will be sticky, this is a good thing. Lightly oil a bowl and add your dough to the bowl, cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm spot to allow the dough to proof, about an hour. 

*Time to go to sleep little dough ball* Nite Nite termite! 🌜

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment, silpat or ligtly spray with cookng spray. 

In a shallow dish, mix 3 cups hot water with 1/3 cup baking soda. When your dough has doubled in size, punch down (conjure up any leftover angst from your teen years 💀) and turn out onto an un-floured surface and divide into 6 pieces. To keep the dough balls from denying out, cover with the damp towel you used to cover the proofing bowl. 

Slowly roll the pieces into long snakes approximately 30 inches long (I use a 10 inch chopstick to help me measure how long my snakes are). When all the pieces have been rolled out quickly dip the snakes in the baking soda solution. 

Place on baking sheet and form into desired shape. Sprinkle the coarse salt onto the pretzels. 

Bake until golden, 10-12 minutes. 

Cajun Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

1 TBSP mayonnaise 

1 TBSP horseradish mustard

1/2 TBSP yellow mustard

1 TBSP honey

1 tsp Cajun seasoning (like Tony Chachere’s)

1 scant pinch Kosher salt

Directions

In a small bowl combine all ingredients, mixing well. Adjust heat level by adding more Cajun seasoning until desired heat level is reached. 

**A few wee tips:

~ In the picture of the finished pretzels, the darker ones had a few second bath in the baking soda solution while the lighter ones were more of a  "dip your toe in the pool, find out its freezing and you yank it out and run to bundle up next to the fire pit" kinda dip.  I know some people don't care for dark pretzels so now you too can indulge in some pretzel-y goodness too!

~ If your pretzel knotting skills are not up to snuff or if it really bothers you to see things in knots (hey I'm not judging...remind me to tell you about my utility-cover-thingys on sidewalk issue one of these days) or if you just have one that turned out ridiculously ugly then I have a fix for that too!  Just roll them into a snake and take a pastry cutter or a knife and chop them into a bite size nuggets.  Continue with the rest of the steps and voila...poppable nugs of pretzels!  Now you know my secret as to why I have nuggets in some of my pictures...Picasso would probably have been super proud of my effort but that one pretzel was pretty much too scary to eat.

~ Obviously the best pretzels are the ones that come straight out of the oven.  Now I'm well aware that sometimes the universe conspires against us and you are unable to indulge on lava dough and you have to settle for pretzels that have been stored in a baggie  Never fear!  Super Kat is here to help (that's me btw) not that I have any semblance of an ego or anything.  The best results will come from the oven method; take a piece of foil and put your knot o' goodness on it.  Curl the edges around the pretzel to keep it in place but leave the top uncovered.  Spread a little butter (who are we kidding, slather that puppy up!) and if you wish sprinkle a few sprinkles of coarse salt on top (I've found that the original salt from the first bake has a tendency to melt both in the storage baggie and in the oven for the second bake) and pop in the hotbox at 350 degrees.  If you had the foresight to turn the oven on and let it preheat (I rarely have said foresight) it will take about 8 minutes to heat through if the pretzel was at room temperature, if you did't preheat the oven, it will take 10-12 minutes to heat through.  Then its yummy in my tummy time!  Err yummy in your tummy time...unless your're gonna share, need I remind you of how nice it is to share with your friends?  :D

Orange Cleopatra

 

I am pretty sure the only time I've stepped foot in a mall in the last 15 or so years was on my last birthday where a good friend took me out to a fancy schmancy dinner to celebrate, it just happened to be in the forum shops of Caesar's Palace.  I did spend quite a bit of time in malls when I was in high school and I really miss the food court, not the throngs of people and expensive clothes and those perfume ladies who you'd basically have to bob and weave just to get out unscathed and un-fragranced.  

So back to my story, I loved hot dog on a stick (I totally just found out that there are two stand alone hot dog on a sticks complete with drive to in Vegas now!  Color me tickled.  I also loved those giant pretzels slathered in butter and salt.  But most of all I love love loved Orange Julius!  So after a bit of tinkering I've found a recipe that just about fills the bill. So here it is ladies and jellyspoons, my version of the Orange Julius drink, the Orange Cleopatra..

Orange Cleopatra

Ingredients 

2 eggs*, separated (you only need the whites, use the yolks for pasta carbonara for dinner)

1-1/4 cups orange juice, freshly squeezed is best, but use the best OJ you can afford)

1 cup cold water

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp honey

Pinch of salt 

1-1/2 tsp vanilla

Three large handfuls of ice (more or less depending on the texture you prefer

Directions

Add all the ingredients into a blender and zizz it (technical term) till no more chunks of ice remain, test for sweetness and adjust if necessary, serve immediately.  (Yes that is a mason jar with a sippy cup and straw attachment, super cute huh?)

*Use raw egg whites at your own risk, see tips below for substitution ideas.

** A Few Wee Tips:

~ If using raw egg whites bothers you pasteurized egg whites, egg white substitute or meringue power may be used.  I have a vanilla meringue powder I got from Williams-Sonoma which is so delicious in this recipe!

 

~ I have used flavored orange juices with great success in this recipe.  My favorites so far are Orange Pineapple and Orange Mango...yuuuum!

~ For a creamier drink, substitute milk for the water or add a spoonful or two of cream or half and half.

I will be posting my carbonara recipe soon, to use up all the egg yolks :). Enjoy!

Bumblebee Salsa

Most people who believe in past lives will usually claim to be an exotic Pharoh or a wealthy world traveler.  Me?  I'm pretty much convinced I was a bumblebee in a past life.  I've always been fascinated by them, the fact that such a tiny insect has such profound impact on our species (no bees=no pollination=no plants=no food) and how the colony survives by each little bee doing their part for the common good.  Plus honey!  I have lost many summer hours sitting on the porch reading a good book to the sound of buzzing as the busy little fellas flower hop, it's practically hypnotic.  One of my favorite quotes and a personal mantra of mine features bees:

"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway." -Mary Kay Ash

This salsa recipe is one that I like to have in the icebox during the summer for those days when it's so hot you don't want to turn on the oven or stove.  It's great with chips, as a topping for fish tacos, a filling for a quesadilla or just by the spoonful.  The vibrant yellow of the corn against the black beans is how this summertime staple got it's name.  It's a huge bonus that it doesn't take long to throw together and most of the ingredients are pantry staples.

Bumblebee Salsa

2 cans black beans
1 can corn
2 large tomatoes
3 green onions, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, minced (remove the seeds and veins unless you like it spicy)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons vinegar
1 lime
Salt to taste

Drain and rinse the black beans and set aside.  

Cut the stem and core out of the tomatoes and squeeze the juice and seeds into a large bowl.  

Chop the tomatoes and add to the bowl along with the onions, garlic and jalapeño.  

Add the black beans and the drained can of corn.  (Can ya tell how I came up with the name now?)

Stir well and add the oil and vinegar along with the juice of the lime.  Add a fairly large pinch of salt (like salting potatoes it takes more than you think it will) taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.  

Keep in mind that this salsa gets better with age and the flavors will intensify as it sits so err on the side of caution at this stage, you can always add more heat or salt or vinegar later.  Cover and refrigerate, stirring occasionally. After a few hours in the icebox check and adjust seasoning.

A few wee tips:

Use caution when handling jalapeños, the juice can easily blister your skin especially if you have sensitive skin. It's a good idea to use gloves when cutting them.  Keep your fingers away from your eyes or nose (I have awful memories of jalapeño fingers and contact lenses...believe me, not fun!) and keep in mind that oil rubbed onto your skin may help to dilute the capsaicin (the stuff responsible for the burn) since it is an oil soluble substance.

In my experience, jalapeños are the pepper that has the most inconsistent heat level so when using them in a recipe it's a good idea to take a nibble so you can judge how much you will need.  The jalapeño I used to make this batch was a particularly spicy one so I only used half of it.  On an interesting side note, the heat level (scoville heat units) is somewhat influenced by the temperature that they are grown in, so peppers I grow in my backyard in Las Vegas will be spicier than the ones my dad grows in Colorado.  The more you know!

Praline'd Plantains

Texas meets Cuba in my twist on sweet plantains!

Many moons ago I lived in Florida, let me rephrase that, I was trapped in Southern Florida.  But it gets worse...you know that part of the map of Florida where it looks like they ran out of ink, that giant hole is called Lake Okeechobee. It's not so much a lake as it is a glorified swamp with a fancy name.  

On that lake is a town called...wait for it...Okeechobee (yeah the naming committee stretched for that one huh?) and that is where I found myself for about a year.  Now I'm a proud hillbilly, on a good day I might even resemble a redneck but native Okeechobeeians (totally just made that up) are a whole different breed.  It could be the heat and the humidity that stews their brains, the fact that at any given time you might just find a giant alligator in your back yard (no joke! Can't count the times one took a siesta in my back yard) or it could be the fact that instead of watches they scheduled events by thunderstorm, "See ya at the Pizza Hut at stom number 3 o'clock."  Now I hated the heat, the humidity was torture, the bugs the size of house cats were terrifying but there was one little treasure that I happened upon that I've been addicted to ever since...plantains!

Plantains are one of those things that can be found in just about any market but most people don't know what to do with them.  When they are green/yellow they are starchy like a potato and my favorite way to eat them is twice frying them (tostones) they are a nice change from potato chips next to a sandwich.  The sweet ones are the ones I'm utterly obsessed with.  It took me a while to figure out how to cook them just right but now that I've got it down its one of my go-to quick midnight snack recipes.  It just happens that anything with praline in the name makes my little Texan heart go all a flutter, so it's a win all across the board. 

There are two rules when it comes to sweet plantains.  First, the peel has to be black. Like really black.  A good rule of thumb is to wait till they look like they should be taking a trip to the garbage dump, and then wait two days.  They might be a little bit squishy, that's ok.  The riper the plantain the sweeter it is.

Second rule, most of the time when you fry something you fry hot and quick...throw that rule away for this recipe.  You want to develop the caramelization slowly.  This recipe is for my Praline'd Plantains, if you don't want the extra sugar, skip the sugar step and proceed with the recipe, they are fantastic that way too.  Now on to the recipe, no hatemail please when you develop an addiction. 

Praline'd Plantains

1 very ripe plantain (peel should be entirely black)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Oil for frying

In a small skillet, heat half an inch of oil over medium heat.  Cut both ends off the plantain and use the tip of your knife to cut through the tough peel but taking care not to cut into the flesh too much (it helps to split it in a few places to make peeling easier) and peel and discard the peel.  Cut into one inch bias cut (diagonal, you want the pieces to have more surface area that is flat than round). 

In a small bowl or zippy bag combine the brown sugar and salt. Gently pat the sugar mix onto each piece.  

Carefully put the pieces into the hot oil, taking care not to overcrowd the skillet (I usually have to do two batches for one plantain in my small skillet) and turn down the oil until it's a slow but constant bubbling, think hot tub bubbles.  

When lightly browned, flip them carefully, the tops will continue to cook.  Cooking time is around ten minutes but can vary depending on the oil temp, size and ripeness of the plantains etc.  Do NOT drain on paper towels (I use parchment paper) the sticky sugar will stick to the paper towel and then you will be sad.  So don't be sad, say no to paper towels when plantains are afoot. 

This recipe is more about how it looks than how long it cooks.  Done-ness is also dependent on you, I like mine black around the edges because I like the slightly bitter note you get with the sugar that dark, you may like yours more golden, just be sure they are cooked and soft through the middle. 

Crispy Green Bean Fries

When I'm not living smack dab in the middle of the desert, I love to garden.  Rows and rows of squash, peas, watermelons, cucumbers, herbs, lettuces and greens just the thought of it puts a smile on my face. In Tennessee I even had an apple tree, although the birds usually beat me to the apples once they were ripe. I have such fond memories of gardening by the moonlight since the illness I have makes it next to impossible to be in the sun for more than a few minutes.  If you do have a garden I highly suggest going out and digging around in the earth in the dark with just the moon, fireflies and perhaps a candle lantern to light your way. Even though I live in a place where it's a sign of a green thumb is more than a quarter of your yard is green, I still love making some of the recipes I came up with to use up my harvest, especially if I can get to a market that has fresh, in season vegetables and fruit. 

I love fresh green beans.  In a casserole, raw in a salad, in a curry or pasta dish they are scrumptious but oven roasting them till they are brown, blistered and crunchy is my favorite way to eat them, in fact I'd be happy to have just a plate of roasted green beans for dinner.


Crispy Green Bean Fries

1 pound fresh green beans, stem ends removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Pepper

*Optional
Red pepper flakes
Parsley
Cajun seasoning
Oregano
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese (add after beans are roasted to avoid burning)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Foil line a baking sheet (easy dinner should equal easy clean up too) and place the beans on the baking sheet.  Drizzle oil over the beans and sprinkle with salt and pepper (and other seasonings if you are using them) and toss around with your hands till evenly coated (your hands  will be happy and moisturized by the olive oil, bonus!) and arrange them in a single layer.  

Place in preheated oven.  Bake for 10 minutes then take the baking sheet out, sprinkle the garlic onto the beans (if we added the garlic at the beginning it would burn) and give them a little stir, making sure to put them back in a single layer.  Return to oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, depending on how crispy you want them.  Serve warm. If you have leftovers, re-warm them in the oven, the microwave will make them soggy.

A few wee tips...

* You can add just about any veggie to the party and cook them the same way, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc.  Just take into account how long things may take to cook.  A sweet potato wedge will take much longer than a thin slice of zucchini for example.

* To add even more crunch, after tossing in the olive oil, toss the beans with some panko bread crumbs, keep an eye on them though, burnt panko is a bit of a bummer.

* Try dipping them!  Honey mustard, ranch dressing, ketchup spiked with bourbon and  worcestershire sauce, cocktail sauce, horseradish cream, soy sauce and mirin....the sky's the limit!

Fit for a Queen (or Domestic Goddess) Scones

I have been lucky enough to have friends from all corners of the world.  One of the many perks is to be able learn about other cultures and their regional food that I may never have been exposed to otherwise.  My friend from England would send me his mother and grandmother's recipes for his favorite British foods in exchange for the newest indie metal bands that I've found scouring the Internet (yes, I do realize that I look more like a librarian than a metal-head but I like being unpredictable) and I totally got the better end of that deal.  

My favorite recipe he sent was for Yorkshire Pudding (I will share that recipe another time)...it's like a cross between a science project and a magic act how a simple batter can inflate into little dough balloons, the fact that they are delish is a huge bonus.  My second favorite recipe is for scones.  True to my modus operandi I have tweaked it a bit and what I've come up with is a lighter scone that is melt in your mouth moist and not too overly sweet, a perfect bite to have with a cuppa Earl Grey.  It's one of the recipes that I have to hide a scone or two because they get snatched up super quick.   So without further ado, my scone recipe. 

Fit for a Queen Cranberry and Orange Scones

2 cups all purpose flour

3 TBSP sugar

1 TBSP baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

5 TBSP cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 tsp orange zest

1 cup plus 2 TBSP heavy cream, divided

2 TBSP decorative sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and stir. 

Add cold cubed butter and using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the flour looks like crumbly wet sand.  

Add the cream and vanilla and using a spatula, stir just until there are no puddles of cream.  Add the cranberries and zest, stirring just a few times until evenly distributed, taking care not to over-mix which will cause scones to be dense.  

Turn out into a lightly floured surface, knead five times then form into a one inch thick round.  Cut into wedges and transfer (using a super cute ghost spatula if you have one) onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  

Using the 2 TBSPs of cream that you set aside, brush the tops of the scone wedges and sprinkle with decorative sugar, if using.  

Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes until tops are lightly browned.  

A few wee tips...

* Allow to cool on wire cooling rack and put into an air tight container or zip top bag right away to prevent drying out. 

* The scones freeze well, so make a double recipe and double bag them to freeze, allow them to thaw on the counter and place in a 350 degree oven for just a couple minutes to warm up. 

* You can substitute the cranberries for just about any dried fruit.  I've had success with dried strawberries, blueberries, apricots, dates and figs. 

* Instead of the traditional wedges, use a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter, just don't over work the scraps to avoid dense scones. 

Brown Butter Sweet Cornbread

I'm a Southern girl through and through, but I was doubly blessed because both my Mom and Grandma are amazing cooks.  I have fond memories of standing in a chair helping to stir whatever was bubbling away on my Mom's stove and decorating cookies with her on all the major holidays...there is a holiday because the grass is green right?!  I also remember my Grandma had this giant tin (nearly as tall as I was if memory serves me right) full of flour in one of the cupboard and when she asked me to count out cups of flour I knew something yummy was in my future, biscuits or pancakes or pies.  No one will ever convince me that there is a better pie out there than one that came from my Mamaw's kitchen. 

One of the many staples of a Southern kitchen is cornbread.  Serve it up with stew or chili, break it up in a bowl and drizzle it with milk or buttermilk and eat it with a spoon or slather it with honey butter for breakfast, one can always find an excuse to eat a piece of cornbread.  There are cornbread mixes out there and while they aren't horrible, they usually turn out a dry and mostly tasteless piece of bread that usually doesn't make it into the leftover section in the icebox.  The good news is that making it from scratch is super easy and will taste so good it will knock your socks off!  

This is a recipe I've been tweaking over the years and is exactly how I like cornbread, sweet and moist with a little texture from the addition of the grits and with a slight nuttiness form the browned butter.  If you don't have grits on hand, don't worry, you can use a full cup of corn meal instead, you just won't get the occasional pops of crunch.  My recipe calls for putting a cast iron skillet and butter in the oven while it's preheating, this too is optional.  I like the way the batter fries up a bit when you pour it into a sizzling hot skillet because it gives a nice crunchy crust.  If you don't have an oven proof skillet, you can use an oven proof glass pan and melt the butter in it.  As far as the liquid goes, you need a cup of something from the dairy aisle, but whatever you choose to use is up to you, milk, half and half, cream or buttermilk.  

Browned Butter Sweet Cornbread

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

3/4 cup corn meal

1/4 grits

1 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

1 cup half and half

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place 3 Tablespoons butter in am oven proof skillet and place in the oven to melt the butter and heat the skillet. 

In a bowl, add corn meal, flour, grits, sugar, salt, and baking powder and stir.  Add the egg and half and half and stir just until combined and there are no pockets of dry ingredients. 

Check on the melted butter in the skillet, once bubbly and the milk solids have begun to brown (you can see the browned bits of the butter in the pictures above and below), use a pot holder to remove the skillet and stir the browned butter into the batter.  Replace the skillet in the oven with the 2 Tablespoons left over butter until it melts.  Once the butter is melted, carefully take the skillet out of the oven with a pot holder and swirl the butter around until evenly coated and quickly pour the batter into the skillet and put back in the oven.  This should be done as quickly as you can (while still being safe) to avoid the skillet loosing any heat.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking done-ness with a toothpick. 

A few wee tips:

*If you are unsure of how seasoned (that's what makes cast iron non-stick) and you are planning to turn the corn bread out of the skillet instead of cutting slices while still in the pan, cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the bottom of your skillet.  After pouring off the first three TBSPs of butter, place the parchment in the bottom of the skillet and add the rest of the butter and continue the recipe as written.

*I find that cornbread keeps best when it is stored in a zip top bag that isn't zipped all the way.  The bread is moist compared to most breads and letting it breathe helps it from going bad so quickly. 

*If, by some miracle, you have leftovers, you can smash the cornbread into crumbs and freeze, it makes a great substitute for regular bread crumbs when breading veggies or meat.