Bavarian or Roman?

Pretzels are commonly thought to have originated in Bavaria, but believe it or not—they can be traced back to the days in Roman times. A legend says that the crossed ends represent arms folded in prayer.
Have you ever made pretzels? This is one treat that is so easy to make; just allow one hour for the dough to rise. Pretzels are the must have snack at your Oktoberfest party or you can stack them up on dowels and take-along to a weekend tailgate. Mustard. Optional.

Hot Baked Pretzels Recipe
Recipe by George Hirsch | Makes 12 large pretzels | chefgeorgehirsch.com
 
1 teaspoon brown sugar
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water, 120 degrees F
4 1/2 - 5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
 
For Pretzel Wash:
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
 
For The Topping:
1/4 cup kosher salt
Optional Additional Toppings: caraway seeds, sesame seeds, Parmesan cheese
 
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and brown sugar in warm water. Let yeast bloom for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the dough is too wet add the remaining 1/2 cup a flour a little at a time. Knead the dough until smooth and it comes off the sides of the bowl cleanly about two minutes; then remove to a floured board and knead for a total of about 4-5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place (about 80 degrees) until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
When risen, turn dough out onto a large lightly floured cutting board and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about eight inches in length, and twist into a pretzel shape. With a large skimmer, dip each pretzel dough into the baking soda solution and back on cutting board, top each pretzel with salt and any other optional topping.
Place pretzels on a greased baking sheet, bake for 8 minutes, or until browned.
 
chefgeorgehirsch.com | From Adventures in Grilling Cookbook, by George Hirsch with Marie Bianco.

Emerald Isle Inspired

The east coast of the Atlantic has received an unusual amount of rain this season. Some may say it reminds them of England or Ireland. I must confess my days filming on the Emerald Isle have been filled with sunshine, warm people and yes, very tasty scones!

Watch GH Living it UP! TV segment having tea with Ireland's Rachel Allen.

Enjoy a cup of hot tea with My Irish Scone Recipe.

Park Hotel Kenmare Ireland

image, Hirsch Media

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

There is nothing better than one freshly baked cookie, well, maybe two. I can actually eat one cookie and stop but that cookie better be really good. Don’t try to pass off a mass produced preservative enriched package cookie on me!
I am very fortunate know Kathleen Tate and live in close proximity to her bake shop, Tate's. There's no mistake why her cookies happen to be world famous. Even those who bake will admit to having a sleeve or two on their countertop for an instant cookie fix, like her Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia, Oatmeal Raisin, or Shortbreads.

I’ll borrow the description of Tate’s Bake Shop from Kathleen’s website because it describes Tate's best.

If you're in the Hamptons and walk around the charming little Atlantic coast town of Southampton, you'll see a charming sage green Victorian structure with white shutters, framed in flowers, that seems to attract people like bees to a hive. It's Tate's Bake Shop, the fairytale culmination of a dream that got started when 11-year-old Kathleen King began baking cookies to sell at her family's farm stand not far out of town. Today, those amazing cookies have attracted a loyal following from coast to coast. Crispy and buttery, rich but not overwhelming, they simply melt in your mouth… and just one is never enough!

But, lucky for those who can't visit Southampton, New York or the many food markets across the US where her cookies are available, Kathleen also ships! I’m a traditionalist and her Chocolate Chip Cookies are my favorite with the perfect ratio of chip to cookie with a crunchy consistency. Tate's also bakes cakes, pies, muffins, and quick breads. 

image: George Hirsch

Community Oven

Calling all bread trucks that look like this. Baguettes, a whole mini truck filled with thick crusted bread. This is the kind of bread that was birthed from a real brick oven. This kind of baking is an art that every village should experience.

A good Idea: In Europe, communal ovens date back to the 14th-15th century, mostly owned by churches, and charged a fee to bake your families loaf. Eventually taken over by the village, the community people were then in charge of the oven + no fee. Once a week the oven would be fired up and the villagers would gather, talk + bake. Looking forward to seeing a community bread oven in a town near me soon. Unique experience that deserves the flame to fired.

image, unknown

Pain de Mie

I'm sure you'll agree the aroma of freshly baked bread is comforting during the cold winter season. Pain de Mie is just another way of saying a fresh baked pullman loaf of bread (a long rectangular loaf). Do you prefer yours toasted with butter or jam? Or, maybe you fancy a simple egg salad, tuna salad or BLT sandwich? You might want to go for the full energy classic combo of peanut butter and banana.

Baking really is a science and baking bread successfully proves that there are so many factors to consider when thinking about how your loaf is going to bake-up. For example, the air temperature, the quality of the flour, the type of liquid used - are all to be taken into consideration. But, I'll spare you and won't turn this into a Baking 101 Class. I've given you a basic but fail-safe recipe should you want to bring out your inner most boulanger (bread baker).

Pain de Mie

Recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes 1 loaf

2/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 cup water
6 Tablespoons sweet butter, softened
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons potato flour
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For Full Recipe