After being months behind on our food and beer calendar, we finally caught up right before we left Minneapolis. October’s beer and food pairing was a bock and pretzel. We’ve enjoyed the more snack type pairings this year over last year’s heavier meals, and we can’t turn down a carb.
For the beer, we went with the tried and true Shiner Bock – hearkening to our impending move to the Lonestar State. The beer is lightly hopped and finishes smooth. A perfect complement to the salty pretzels. We simply chose a highly rated pretzel recipe from Allrecipes.com, and it’s listed below if you’d like to give it a try. The pretzels are best right out of the oven; they will keep for a while but definitely lose that “fresh baked” deliciousness after a day or two.
Cheers!
Pretzels
- 1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast [or 2 1/4 t of bulk yeast]
- 2 T brown sugar
- 1 1/8 t salt
- 1 1/2 C warm water
- 3 C all-purpose flour
- 1 C bread flour [can just sub all-purpose; in this recipe I used whole wheat because we ran out of all-purpose and it turned out just fine]
- 2 C warm water
- 2 T baking soda
- 2 T butter, melted
- Coarse kosher salt
Dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in 1 1/2 C warm water and let stand until frothy (~10 min.). Add salt and flour and knead on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic (~8 min.). Place in a greased bowl, turn to coat, and let rise until doubled in size (~1 hour).
Combine 2C of warm water and baking soda in a dish. Once dough has risen, punch down and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 3-ft rope, about pencil thin, and twist into a pretzel shape. Dip into the baking soda/water mixture and place on baking sheet. Allow to rise for 20-30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with salt, and enjoy!
mattandbethtravels 