#86 A Brunch Pizza and a German Twist

Now, just because of their shape don’t think pretzels are hard to make. If you try to make them just once you will see that it is a fun activity and comes in handy as a snack any time. Normally pretzels come out chubby, soft and chewy when I make them using a real pretzel recipe.  It is just that for a regular pretzel I need to twist them up and boil them in water for 50 seconds before brushing with beaten eggs. I started this dough with the idea of making two small Brunch-Style Veggie pizzas, but I since I ended up with left-over dough, I twisted it into pretzels. But the crusty and soft pretzel dipped in some spicy mustard was just a lovely treat with coffee.

Crust:

1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 envelope Fleischmann's Pizza doughYeast(I used the regular "Active Dry" Yeast )

1-1/2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup very warm water

3 tablespoons oil Toppings and stuffing 1 small can sliced black olives. Dill-1 tspn Onions sliced- ½ Red Bell pepper sliced- ½ bell pepper Grated Pizza cheeses- ½ cup Egg- 1 beaten

Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved Pizza Dough yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Add very warm water and oil; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Dough should form a ball and will be slightly sticky. Knead on a floured surface, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes.

If using Regular Yeast, dissolve it in sugar and warm water and let proof for about 15 mins before mixing with the flour.
Pat dough with floured hands and divide into two small and 1 large ball. Spread the small balls into elongated discs on a baking sheet.  OR roll dough on a floured counter to 12-inch circle; place in greased pizza pan or baking sheet. Form a rim by pinching the edge of the dough. When the dough has risen in 15 mins top the pizza with the cheese, onions, Red Bell Pepper and black olives and bake in the oven for 20 mins or until edges are brown. Remove from the oven and make gashed on the top of the pizza. Pour beaten egg onto each disc  making sure that it does not spread outside the bread. Place in the oven  For another 5 mins to broil and cook the egg. Remove and serve with green salad.

In southern Germany pretzels have traditional meaning.  Some people give each other lightly sweetened yeast pretzels on New Year’s Day for good luck and fortune. The “Palm Pretzel” was made for Palm Sunday celebrations in Catholic homes.  In  Luxembourg, on the fourth Sunday in Lent there is a festival called “Pretzel Sunday” where boys give their girlfriends pretzels or cakes in pretzel twists as a symbol of their love. And so the history goes about the twisted pretzel bread.

German immigrants introduced the Pretzel to North America in the nineteenth century. The Pennsylvania Dutch make handmade pretzels using fresh farm ingredients and these can never be beat. There is a place that we like to haunt very often for homemade German treats. The Lancaster County Dutch Market in Germantown , Maryland is worth spending a few hours looking for vegetarian fed, farm raised chickens, apple cider, breads and the sausage and cheese filled pretzels are “out of this world” fantastic!! Wicked awesome fried chicken too   
To make pretzels from leftover dough:

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 12-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 a greased half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with Cheese or kosher salt. Bake at 450 degrees F until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.