Hometown Glory

I have first-post jitters. It's true.

And among the things I like making, a good first impression is one of them. But, I also like starting off as if we're BFF's. Ya know, with a long history of meaningful conversations and meals around the kitchen table and the kind of laughing where you're not self-conscious about snorting in front of the other person. I like that. I don't snort. But I like that you should feel totally okay if you do.

So a trip home to see the family seemed like a decent way to begin at the beginning.

Photo: allisonosterag

Pennsylvania's culinary culture is pretty dynamic and has birthed and adapted some of the most well-known and beloved American foods: cheesesteaks, Hoagies, Tastykake, stromboli, shoofly pie, pierogies, water (Italian) ice, and soft pretzels to name a few.

Photos: BirdandBanner and delovelyArts

Home is where my food passion first took root. I attribute my cooking inspiration to my mother. She was just plain ter.rib.le. No joke. She'll tell you. She will.

She'd sit you right down to a microwaveable Lean Cuisine and share about the time her restaurant order inspired her to recreate the spinach pies she enjoyed. She brought home phyllo dough that week (I know. Fancy, right? Someone should have stopped her. . . or at least given her instructions). She assembled them. Baked them. We tried to eat them. Pulling strands of soggy inedible pulp-like stuff from our mouths, we were done. No more spinach pie recreations for us. Apparently she had left the paper backing on the dough. Phyllo fail. 

Well. My mother has inspired me. I've become semi-educated in the world of ingredients and measuring cups. I enjoy it. I think that's the difference. Mom didn't have the time for it, so she made what she could. We still lived, even if without fanshy-smanshy phyllo spinach pies.

Pretzel Rolls
Food creds: Take a Megabite 

I made homemade soft pretzels. Yep. My name's not even Auntie Anne.

Philly would be dern proud.

 

You'll love baking these. You'll want to bake them at least once a week. You'll be asked to share these with your family and/or roommates and you'll secretly hesitate. The smell in your kitchen will make you think a street vendor set up camp right next to your oven.

Ingredients:

     Rolls:
               2 3/4 cups bread flour
               1 teaspoon salt
               1 envelope active dry yeast
               1 teaspoon sugar
               1 cup + 1 T hot tap water

     Boiling:
               1/3 cup baking soda
               2 T sugar

     Baking:
               1/2 cup cornmeal
               1 egg white
               course sea salt

Directions:

1. Mix bread flour and salt in a bowl with a wire whisk. Using a 2-cup measuring cup, add the sugar and yeast to the hot water. Wait for it to get foamy (approx. 5 minutes).
2. Pour in water mixture. Blend together and then knead dough into a smooth round shape. 
3. Place dough in a greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set aside for an hour until the dough rises to double its size.
4. Knead the dough down and split into 8 equal pieces. Form each into a round roll and cut an X into the top with a serrated knife. Again, cover with a towel and let rise for 30 more minutes. 
5. While the rolls are setting, bring a large pot of water to a boil and preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a baking sheet and cover with cornmeal. Add the sugar and slowly add the baking soda (it bubbles up) to the boiling water. Boil each roll for 30 seconds, then turn over and boil for 30 more seconds. Place the rolls on top of the cornmeal covered baking sheet. Brush the tops with the egg white and sprinkle with salt. Bake for approx. 25 minutes or until brown.  

Tweet