As promised, we made soft pretzels, Wisconsin beer cheese soup, and in honor of Seattle, had Starbucks for dessert (no cooking involved, just a stop by the local Starbucks).
THE RECIPES:
Soft Pretzels (courtesy of Alton Brown and foodnetwork.com)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt
Directions
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup (courtesy Foodista.com):
1 tablespoon Butter
1 Onion, Chopped
2 Carrots, Chopped
2 Celery Sticks, Chopped
2 cloves of Garlic, Minced
4 tablespoons of Flour
1 cup Wisconsin Beer
4 cups Broth (Veggie or Chicken)
1/2 cup Half& Half
2 cups of Wisconsin Cheddar, Shredded
1 tablespoon Mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1/8 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Salt to Taste
Preparation
1
Start out by melting up the butter on medium heat. Add in the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook it all for a good 3-4 minutes.
2
Add the flour to the pan and stir it in well.
3
Next up you'll add in the beer and the broth. Let the soup heat up to a gentle boil.
4
Once your broth hits a gentle boil, turn the heat down to low and add in the the half & half and the cheese.
5
Allow the cheese to melt completely and then add in the mustard, worcestershire, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
6
Grab your immersion blender and smooth out your soup. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can puree batches in a blender. Just make sure you don't fill it more than a third full at a time and cover it tightly so you don't end up with a soupy mess.
7
Add a bit of salt to taste and you're ready to enjoy a big ol' bowl of true Wisconsin love.
CHANGES AND OPINIONS:
The pretzels were great and we'll make them again! I think the butter content was too high and made them a bit more rich than I would have liked. But, I prefer the stadium/street pretzels to the Auntie Anne's variety, so that's just personal taste. Very easy to make.
The soup...I just didn't love it. The mustard/beer/cheese combination was great, but not all the melted cheese incorporated with the broth so we ended up with gloupy chunks of cheese. We substituted 1/4 of the cheddar cheese with swiss. I think it might be better to turn this into a pure dip instead of a soup. I won't be making this again.
Next week: Chicago vs. Dallas
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