Friday, May 25, 2012

Buttery Soft Pretzels {recipe}



These delicious Philadelphia style soft pretzels are a buttery delight. The yeast dough is easy to make and the pretzels are fun to roll and twist with the little members of your family. Serve them up with the perfectly spicy Cherchies® Hot Banana Pepper Mustard and you've got a real winner!

Buttery Soft Pretzels with Hot Banana Pepper Mustard
Ingredients:
1½ cups cool water
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
22 oz. all-purpose flour (about 4½ cups)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter melted, cooled to about room temperature
olive oil, for greasing the bowl

For finishing:
cooking spray
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp. water
pretzel (or kosher) salt
Cherchies® Hot Banana Pepper Mustard

Directions:
For the dough, in a small bowl combine the water and yeast and let rest for about a minute. Add sugar and salt to the yeast mix. In a large bowl combine flour, melted butter and yeast mixture. Knead mixture for about 5 minutes. You could also do this in a stand mixer fitted first with a paddle attachment to combine and then secondly with a dough hook on medium speed. Transfer the dough to a large bowl lightly greased with olive oil, turning the dough once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, about 90 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 450° F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large saucepan or stockpot. In the meantime, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll a segment out into a 24-inch long rope. Make a u-shape with the rope and holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and onto the bottom of the u-shape in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 or 2 at a time, for 30 seconds. Remove from the water with a slotted skimmer and return to the baking sheet. Once all the pretzels have been boiled, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake in the preheated oven until dark golden brown, about 12-14 minutes.

Transfer to a cooling rack for about 5 minutes before serving, if you can keep people away for that long!

Serve with Cherchies® Hot Banana Pepper Mustard.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Perfect Potato Salad {recipe}



BBQ Necessity! Summertime is right around the corner and that means it's time for cookouts and family picnics. Everyone loves a good potato salad with their hot dogs and hamburgers and when you serve Cherchies Perfect Potato Salad you'll show the crowd the best potato salad on the block!

Cherchies Perfect Potato Salad
Ingredients
6 medium potatoes (2 lbs.)
1 cup celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
1/3 cup Cherchies® Pretty Peppers
1 1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. Cherchies® Champagne Mustard
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Cook potatoes with peels on until tender, about 30 minutes. When potatoes are warm to the touch, peel and cube. Add remaining ingredients. Carefully fold in the eggs. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Delicious!