Saturday, November 20, 2010

Homemade Pretzels with Black Lava Salt: International Incident Salt Party



International Incident Salt Party


Pretty mustards all in a row: Zwiebel (onion), horseradish, & Dijon
 Wars have been fought over it. People have been killed for it. In the wrong hands it can be underused, overused, or  downright abused. It is the single most important seasoning in the culinary world. Of course I'm talking about salt - the theme for this month's International Incident Party, hosted as always by our incomparable founder and host, Penny aka Jeroxie.

This salt theme has happily given me the push I (apparently) needed to fulfill a promise I made to Penny many months ago when I won The Salt Book in a giveaway she had. She asked that the winners make a dish from the book and share it with everyone. "Oh yes!" I said. "Definitely!"

Well, that was back in April ... 

... and here we are.  But I can happily say that the recipe I made was well worth the wait, and I hope you'll agree. 

I chose homemade pretzels because salt plays a starring role.  This is a relatively simple dish with few ingredients, but the salt is crucial. Without it, as far as I'm concerned, all you have is a dough blob, not a pretzel.  I went with black lava salt partly for its unexpected look, but also because it has big presence. The charcoal-y grit of the salt works so well with the fresh-baked pillow-y dough. And the salty smell of baking pretzels is ... slurp.

A word of advice: Eat at least one of them hot, fresh out of the oven.  You can thank me later.

Soft Pretzels
adapted from The Salt Book

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp table salt
1 packet active dried yeast
4 1/2 cups flour (I used pastry flour)
50 g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
vegetable oil
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
sea salt, such as black lava, fleur de sel, or pink Himalayan,  for sprinkling
one egg yolk 

My new favorite salt

In a small bowl, combine the water and sugar. Add the yeast and let sit until it foams, about 5 minutes. Sift together the table salt and flour, and add this to the bowl of a stand mixer that has been fitted with the dough hook attachment. Slowly add the water/sugar/yeast mixture, along with the butter, while mixing on low speed. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides. If it's too dry add some water; if it's too wet, add more flour. Place the dough ball in an oiled container and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place until the dough doubles in size (about an hour). 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (You could also use lightly oiled non-stick cookie sheets, it worked for me.) In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with a tablespoon of water and set aside. Bring the 10 cups of water, along with the baking soda, to a boil in a roasting pan. 

Now for the fun part! Divide the dough into eight equal sections. On a lightly oiled surface, roll one section into a rope, approximately 2 feet (60 cm) long. Pull the ends up into a "u" and then bring them back down to make a pretzel shape, like this:

Now plop the cute little pretzel into the boiling water for 30 seconds:

Remove with a flexible spatula and place on your cookie sheet, brush with the egg wash and and salt generously:

And on to the next pretzel. It is SO much fun to make these! Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until they get nice and brown on top. You're supposed to let them all cool on a rack ... but some made a detour into hungry bellies.
After experiencing the bliss that is a fresh, hot, homemade pretzel (and maybe just a couple of bites of another one ...) I made Poppa Trix take the rest to work the next day because I knew they were not going to last in my presence.  These were great with mustard, but honestly I liked them plain the best. My only regret is that I didn't have the foresight to have beer on hand to go with them ... doh! Next time. 


And speaking of next time - see you at the next Incident Party. As always, it's been fab, and thanks to the lovely Penny! And make sure to check out what everyone else brought to the party:





40 comments:

  1. Your homemade pretzels are gorgeous especially with the black lava salt! Very neat! And I love the little mustards too!

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  2. They look super delcious. Btw, your Moroccan tagine from a couple of days ago was amazing. It reminds me of the authentic ones I have everytime I go to Morocco.

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  3. Trix they are absolutely gorgeous! I can only imagine how good they tasted warm :-)

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  4. I love the fact you sent the rest with your husband to take to work with him. I do that all the time, too! LOL!

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  5. Ooooo..... I didn't even know about the existence of black lava salt! Beautiful!!!

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  6. Your pretzels turned out perfect!! I'm interested in that black lava salt, I haven't come across it before

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  7. Black lava salt, now that's a new ingredient for me. They look like poppy seeds on your pretzels, except they're not and they make your pretzels look absolutely gorgeous!

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  8. Let them cool on the rack? PAH! As if. They should make them less delicious if they want you to do such foolish things as that!

    But... no beer with them? Oh dear. Still, good excuse to make another batch post haste :D

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  9. Did I tell you I am a salt fanatic... I have an antique spice cabinet with 8 drawers devoted to different salts... I do love the lava salt but it does turn things an interesting color sometimes... best used just as you have with those perfect pretzels... awesome... and may I say your pictures are really wonderful and just keep getting better and better... good for YOU! Happy holiday!

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  10. I have some black lava salt I have yet to use...this recipe is very tempting! I have never boiled dough before either.

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  11. I love the black salt... those are some bad ass pretzels! I have always wanted to delve into the world of pretzels and bagels! And yes... the fish was worth it!

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  12. Never heard of black lava salt. It makes a great decoration to these cute pretzels. And your homemade pretzels look amazing! Bet these are perfect with a yogurt dipping.

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  13. Wow, these look amazing! Black lava salt has now been added to my grocery list :)

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  14. These look amazing! Home made pretzels are delicious! I love the black sea salt on these, it really adds a lot visually, and I love anything with big salt crystals!

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  15. wow what gorgeous presentation, not sure how you made these so perfect just amazed and in awe at these. You never cease to amaze me on your talent, breads are always perfect seasoned to perfection wow!My son Curt loves soft pretzels, you have inspired me with these fabulous pictures and instructions to try them. Hope you dont mind I am going to steal this one for sure! love it xxxooo

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  16. beautiful pretzels and you make it sound so easy to do - know these must have been killer to eat, they sure do look awesome

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  17. Beautiful pretzels - love the black salt twist!

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  18. the pretzel place near my office closed its doors for i-don't-know-what-reasons and i have been suffering from pretzel withdrawals! now i will make my own!

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  19. Wow, we're all salt shopping now :-). Your pretzels look lovely. Beautiful post.

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  20. Oh me! Oh my!!! Home made pretzels AND mustard!! You are a clever one! Love the black salt on them and that first photo is just drop dead gorgeous!!

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  21. The pretzels look great... I really want that black salt.

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  22. It's Salt party already? Where have I been? Salt is one of the ingredients that I want to collect... I think a change on the type of salt changes the flavor of the food. The pretzels looked beautiful and delicious..

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  23. How can you eat just one fresh out of the oven? ;) Yum that salt looks amazing.

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  24. I love pretzels and yours look divine... I have never tried this black salt, sooo interesting! And congrats on your top 9 ;)

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  25. great colour contrast with the black salt. Well done! :)

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  26. Trix, I have so much catching up to do with your blog! These are gorgeoussss- I love your bread recipes. They always look like they just popped out of an artisan bakery oven!

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  27. that is cool. I have never heard of Black Lava salt.

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  28. I still have never made home made pretzels, but it looks pretty easy and very very tasty. Thanks for inspiring!

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  29. Oh, Trix, your pretzels look so good! Oh, and I'm a total salt person. I love it and probably over use it (smile). I'm also trying to use nicer salts lately. The Black Lava salt sounds and looks like it would be wonderful-I'll look for it when I'm out...

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  30. these look absolutely to die for. I must bookmark this . congrats on top9! :)

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  31. You are the cutest. The little pretzel dippings are lined up so perfectly!

    I know. Come here and bring me some. Sound like a plan?

    K! See you soon!

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  32. Glad you held your promise... hehe! Home made pretzels... gosh.. now this I need to try it out too. And what a lovely salt you have there! NOMS! Thanks lovely for coming to the party yet with another wonderous contribution!

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  33. What a relief! I do have pink Himalayan salt that I bought years ago and never used! If I could make pretzels as fantastic-looking as these, i will go ahead and use this salt that cost me an arm and a leg that I never used!
    great job trix

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  34. Trix chic,.........what great looking pretzels!!!!!! and the salt topping is gorgeous too

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  35. these look fantastic! and i didn't know you were one of the winners - i still need to get that book! extra points on your salt pick; lava salt is divine.

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  36. Love! Your pretzels look amazing (black sea salt is really something, ain't it?)

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  37. Wow! These look so delicious. Pretzels are on my "to try"-list for this next year. :)

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  38. YUM! These are seriously perfect looking pretzels. We also have yet to try homemade ones. Thanks for the thought!

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  39. OMG!! these look amazing..I must make these Alan the ex NYC boy will go nuts when he sees them.

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  40. I made these today and they taste as good as they look.
    However, I baked them on parchment paper and the pretzels stuck so fast that I couldn't remove them without ripping the bottom layer of the pretzel off. I will definitely make this recipe again - it's a very nice dough - but I will bake them on an oiled cookie sheet instead.

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