By Judyrae Kruse Herald Columnist
As luck would have it, we’ve had a heads-up on a spanking new bread recipe.
It sounds like a winner, too — a great go-with for our fall, winter and into-spring soup and stew suppers, as well as a different offering with our summertime salads.
And it’s super for sandwiches, too.
What’s more, it’s Fleischmann’s Yeast’s 1,000th recipe to be added to Breadworld.com, currently the largest source of yeast-based recipes on the web.
But really, who cares about that?
What we care about and want to or will soon make is this how-to for pretzel bread. Yes, it does all of the things above, and we not only have the how-to for the bread, but the start-to-finish recipe for sandwiches, too.
Here we go:
Pretzel bread (for loaves or rolls)
Dough:
1cup milk
2tablespoons butter or margarine
2tablespoons brown sugar
1envelope rapid-rise yeast
2teaspoons salt
3-3 1/2cups all-purpose flour, divided
Boiling solution:
3quarts water
3/4cup baking soda
Egg wash:
1egg
1teaspoon water
Heat milk and butter or margarine until warm (100 to 110 degrees); the butter or margarine will not completely melt. Combine with undissolved yeast and brown sugar in a large mixer bowl. Stir in salt and 2 cups flour; beat for 3 minutes. Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; cover and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine boiling solution ingredients and bring to a boil. Punch dough down and divide into 2 equal pieces. Form each piece into a tight, smooth ball. Boil each loaf in the solution for 2 minutes, turning after 1 minute. Remove loaves from pot using a slotted spoon and place on a greased baking sheet.
Brush with egg wash and cut a cross in the top. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 10 to 20 minutes, until the loaves are evenly browned. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.
Makes 2 (7-inch) loaves.
Variations
Rolls: Divide dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a ball. Use same procedere as listed above. Boil, egg wash, score top and bake for the same amount of time. Makes 8.
Chocolate rolls: Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Flatten each piece into a dish, place 1/2-ounce chocolate in the center of the dish, then fold up the edges to seal the chocolate in the roll. Continue with the same process for rolls. Makes 8.
Muffaletta on pretzel rolls
Olive tapenade:
1/4cup extra-virgin olive oil
1cup finely minced assorted olives
2teaspoons capers
1teaspoons dried minced garlic
1/2teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
1/2teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
Muffaletta:
8pretzel rolls
8ounces sliced mortadella or bologna
8ounced sliced capicolla or ham
8ounces sliced Genoa salami
8ounces sliced Provolone cheese
To make the olive tapenade, combine all ingredients in a bowl; let sit for 5 minutes to blend flavors. Can be made ahead of time.
Slice pretzel rolls, spread olive tapenade on bottom of each roll. Top with the mortadella or bologna, capicolla or ham, salami and cheese. Add top half of roll and press together.
Sandwiches can be served immediately, but flavors blend if sandwiches are individually wrapped and refrigerated for up to 8 hours. Makes 8 servings.
The next Forum will appear in Friday’s comics pages.
