Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper Chips

To carry on with trying a few new variety of chips, I tried some Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper chips. MUCH better than the sea salt and vinegar chips! There was a distinct red pepper taste, but it wasn't overwhelming. I actually kind of like it and I don't usually like chips.

Sea Salt and Vinegar Chips

I don't like to try things that are meant to taste like vinegar. I don't like the smell of it, so I figure I won't like the taste either. Well, Lee was eating some sea salt and vinegar chips, and I tried one. YUCK!!! Note to self: don't try chips that are meant to taste like vinegar, because they really do have a big vinegar flavor!

Pringles Loaded Baked Potato Chips

Oops! Time is flying! I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd posted!

Well, last Thursday I ended up making a dish we'd had before, so I made sure to try some of the loaded baked potato chips by Pringles. I was lucky to get a chance to have one because Lee ate so many of them! Anyway, they didn't taste like loaded baked potatoes to me. We both thought they tasted more like sour cream and onion chips, without the onion. So basically they tasted like sour cream! Not the best flavor in the world. We both decided we'd pass next time.

Tomato Mozzarella Pringles

I hatch chicken eggs every year with my class. Yesterday, I drove out to get the eggs, so I ended up just grabbing food afterward. It was only about 25 miles to the farm, but it's all back roads and driving through town centers, so it takes about an hour.

Pringles were on sale, and I had a coupon (not the best coupon, but a coupon nontheless), so I got three different types. I bought Pizza, which I knew I liked, Loaded Potato, which will probably be another post on another day, and Tomato Mozzarella. The loaded potato and tomato mozzarella didn't sound exactly the best, but I like the real thing so I thought I'd give them a try. Lee was skeptical too, but we both ended up liking them.

They are a bit different...I can taste tomato for a second, then a hint of mozzarella, tomato, hint of mozzarella....

These aren't my favorite snacks in the world, but I do like these and would eat them again.

A New Chocolate Chip Cookie

Tonight I decided to bake. I really wanted to make S'more cookies, but couldn't figure out how I wanted to do them. I was browsing Recipezaar and I found a recipe for applesauce cookies. I thought they sounded very...interesting. I wasn't sure I would like these, but I have been playing it pretty safe the past couple of days and I really need to expand my horizons. I wasn't sure about the combination of the applesauce, nutmeg, cinnamon, and chocolate chips. I thought it sounded pretty strange.

I had some original applesauce and some cinnamon applesauce in the fridge, but went with the cinnamon just because it was slightly simpler than measuring out cinnamon from the container.

The batter was very soft and moist. I used my cookie scoop, which scoops out about a tablespoon of dough, and I couldn't use it the way I usually do with cookies. I usually press the scoop on the side of the bowl to level the dough, but when I did that with this batter, the dough stuck inside the scoop and it was difficult to get it out on the cookie sheet. It worked best to just scoop it out like a spoon and let it fall out onto the cookie sheet.



They actually tasted pretty good! I thought the nutmeg was overpowering and would reduce it, but Lee loved them, so I will definitely make them again.

Here is the recipe as I would try it again:

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup applesauce
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (omit if using cinnamon applesauce)
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 400F
   
2. Mix shortening and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
   
3. Add applesauce and mix until blended.
   
4. Pour in the two beaten eggs and blend.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients.
6. When fully blended, stir in the chocolate chips.
   
7. Bake on lined cookie sheet for about 8 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Twinkies...

Have you ever watched a TV show that reminded you of a childhood favorite and you just HAD to run out to get some? I was watching one of those shows on the Food Network that talks about how food is made and they talked about Twinkies. I was excited to have some again and got a package at the convenience store. Well, I was very disappointed. I hadn't had them in years and my more adult, sophisticated ;-) taste buds thought they were gross!

Now, does this count as a new food when I hadn't had it in years and years? I'm thinking it does...

Heaven in Pretzel Form

Picture it. New Bedford. 2002. I had just taken the children I used to nanny for apple and pumpkin picking followed by a hayride. We went to pay and what to my wondering eyes to I see? Many large pretzels with apple inside. I was intrigued. I was unsure. I had to have it. I was deLIGHTed when two of my favorite tastes came together in my mouth...apple and soft pretzel.

I have longed for these scrumptious creations ever since and finally decided to do something about it. I have long since moved away from New Bedford, and haven't made a trip back to an apple orchard, but wonderful Recipezaar to the rescue again. I found a recipe for apple stuffed pretzels with streusel topping!

I had a big baking weekend and my Kitchen Aid got a fair amount of use, but my taste buds thank it. I had to get the Daring Bakers challenge out of the way yesterday, so today I went for the pretzels.

These were pretty easy to make, but took about 2½ hours in all. The only thing I would change would be to add a little more of the apple filling to the pretzels. I had quite a bit left over, which made for a great munch while waiting for the pretzels to cook, but would have been better inside the pretzel itself because some bites had more pretzel flavor than others.

Dough
2 1/2	teaspoons yeast
1	tablespoon sugar
1	cup warm water
1 1/2	cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2	cups bread flour
1/2	teaspoon salt
2	tablespoons vegetable oil
Filling
3	small granny smith (or other cooking) apples
1	tablespoon butter
2	tablespoons brown sugar
1/2	teaspoon cinnamon
1	pinch ground cloves
Streusel
1/2	cup flour
1/2	cup brown sugar
1/4	teaspoon cinnamon
4	tablespoons butter
1/2	cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
Additional ingredients
1/3	cup baking soda
2	cups water
1	egg white

1. To prepare dough:
2. Combine yeast, sugar, and water and allow to rest for 5 minutes until foamy.
3. Meanwhile, mix the flours, salt, and oil in a mixing bowl, then add proofed yeast mixture.
4. Stir to form a dough.
5. Place onto lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes until a smooth, but slightly sticky dough is formed.
6. Place into a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and let sit until doubled in size (45-60 minutes).
7. Use the rising time to prepare the streusel and filling.
8. To prepare filling:
9. Peel, core, and thinly (1/4" thick) slice the apples and then cut each slice into 8 pieces. (I cut into 8 slices with my apple corer/slicer, then cut them into thirds width-wise, then half length-wise, and finally into cubes.)
10. Sauté the apples with 1/2 of the TBS of butter, cinnamon, and cloves until the apples are tender, but not mushy.
11. Remove from heat and add the additional 1/2 TBS of butter.
12. To prepare streusel:
13. Combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon.
14. Cut in the 4 TBS of butter to a crumb consistency.
15. Stir in the chopped pecans.
16. Back to the dough:
    
17. When dough has risen, punch down, place on lightly floured board, and cut into 8 equal pieces (mine were 95-98g each).
18. With hands, roll each piece into a 15" long cylinder.
19. Flatten the cylinder down with a rolling pin to measure 3" wide by 17" long.
20. Place 1 1/2 TBS of the filling mixture along the length of each piece and fold the long edge over to meet the other side.
21. Pinch along the seam to thoroughly enclose the filling.
22. Roll the dough with your hands to form an even cylinder and fully encapsulate the filling.
23. Form into a pretzel shape and press to seal.
24. Place on a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet.
25. Repeat for all 8 pieces.
26. Allow to rise on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes.
27. Preparing the baking soda mix:
    
28. While they are rising, boil the water and add to a bowl with baking soda.
29. Preheat oven to 425°F.
30. Prepare for baking:
    
31. Beat the egg white with water and lay it on a flat plate or shallow bowl.
32. Lay the streusel topping on a flat plate (I used an 8"x8" cake pan).
33. When the pretzels have fully risen, drop one at a time into the boiling water for 10 seconds.
34. Remove with a large slotted spatula/spoon to drain slightly and then drop into the egg white, turn to coat, then drop into the streusel and turn to coat.
35. Lay each pretzel on the lined cookie sheet.
36. Repeat this procedure until all pretzels are finished.
37. Place into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes (check on them at 12 minutes, mine only took 12).
38. Remove from cookie sheets and place on racks to cool.

Oreo® Jello Pudding

I used to not like pudding. I used to never want to try it. Then came my discovery of pudding cups when I worked in daycare. Turns out I just didn't like instant pudding with the plasticy film on top. I loved the Dulce de Leche pudding and when I got a coupon for pudding and it was on sale, Lee and I decided to try Oreo® pudding too.

I think this pudding is ok. It has a bit of Oreo® flavour, but not as much as I was looking for. I will, and have, eaten it again.

Kashi Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I was working with a collegue on curriculum work and we both got a little hungry. She had some Kashi chocolate chip granola bars in her classroom, so she went to go get them and I got to try some. I thought they were ok, but very sweet. I was surprised to find that I couldn't finish eating the bar in one sitting because of the sweetness. I don't think I'll eat them again.

Dulce de Leche Pudding

Well, we were going to have a Kerry Apple cake recipe I found for St. Patrick's Day, but I didn't feel like cooking. I just tried some of the Jello Dulce de Leche pudding. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but it was fantastic! I now consider this a pantry staple and we haven't been out of it since!

Pretzels, Pretzels

Well, after a tutoring job this morning, I was looking forward to coming home to bake some brioche as I've eaten the last of the rolls I bought in England. Alas, I could not find a recipe online that had the ingredients listed on the Tesco bag and I've decided to wait until a day when I have a bit more courage and time, maybe during February vacation in a couple of weeks.

In my quest to find inspiration for a baking challenge today, I came across the Daring Baker's Blogroll and saw that they were first started by a pretzel competition. I love the big, soft pretzels and try to get them whenever I'm in a mall with an Auntie Anne's or other pretzel shop. Since none of the malls closest to me seem to have an Auntie Anne's, I vowed to learn to make my own and I felt like today was the day!

I tried to find a pretzel recipe that was easy to follow, being the pretzel-making virgin that I am, and came across this recipe on Recipezaar.

Before I started the pretzel dough, I got started on the pizza sauce since I love to dip my pretzels in that. I've found that the quick sauce recipes I've tried just don't have much flavour and that they taste better the next time I use it, so I wanted to give the sauce as much time as possible.

I didn't have any bread flour, so I just used regular all-purpose flour for my pretzels. My dough still looked pretty floury when mixed, but the recipe said not to mix it too much, so I just tried to trust the recipe.

While the dough was rising, I preheated the oven and added some extra tomato paste and Italian Seasoning to the sauce since it didn't have a lot of flavour. I also prepped the baking soda and water mixture. I always read all of the reviews on Recipezaar before I try a recipe because there tend to be helpful tips and a few people said they halved the water mixture or thought there was too much. I didn't find that to be the case. I have plenty left over, but I felt I needed that much water and baking soda to easily dip the pretzel.

I saw that the nutrition facts on Recipezaar said a serving size is 70g, so I took out my scale and measured each wad of dough as close to 70g as possible. I then tried rolling the dough into ropes. That wasn't very easy. In my mind, rolling meant that the dough had to roll completely over since the ropes are round. I found that the key to rolling them easily was to just rock the dough and not completely roll it. By rocking it, I got that round, rope shape and didn't break or squish the dough.



I put them in the oven and found that portions of the parchment paper seemed to burn. I was worried at first that 500F was too high, but then realized it was water spots from the dipping mixture. My fears over the parchment paper made me take the pretzels out of the oven a little earlier than I probably should have, but they looked done and I thought it had been 4 minutes. As I was dipping them in the butter, I realized they were a bit sticky and soft still, but I didn't think I could put the back in the oven at that point. I didn't have any large pretzel salt, but I did just use some regular coarse salt and that seemed to work just fine.


Even slightly undercooked, these pretzels were so good that I ended up eating all five! My boyfriend was still at work, so couldn't help me and they are best when hot. I have a lot of dough left over, but I'll save that for dessert tonight and will just leave them in the oven a bit longer this time, when the whole pretzel is golden brown instead of just portions.

This was so easy once I got the hang of the rolling that I will definitely plan to make these again!

Updated to add that the second batch turned out better than the first. I cooked the remaining six pretzels at 475°F just in case the oven had been too hot. They turned out perfect and my boyfriend enjoyed them as well.