Ballpark ... Bread?

With spring training in full swing, I'm conjuring up images of my favorite ballpark foods. Maybe it's the snow we've had over the past few days, but I'm longing for a sunshine-y day at the ballpark with a Summer Shandy in one hand and a soft pretzel in the other. So when I happened upon this recipe in one of my daily Food Network emails, I got excited.

Homemade soft pretzels have been on my recipe wishlist for about a year now, and now seemed like as good a time as any to try them out. I'm very happy to report that my first swing at pretzel-making was not a strikeout! (It also wasn't a home run, but probably a standing triple, so that's pretty good!) If you're wondering where I fell short, it was in the pretzel shaping department. Who knew it was such hard work to stretch and roll a rope of pretzel dough? I got impatient, so my pretzels ended up sort of squat, looking a bit more like rolls. I felt a little better when I stumbled across a picture of Alton Brown's homemade soft pretzels and they looked a lot like mine do - we'll call them rustic rather than refined.

Squat or not, at least they taste delicious! They have the same pull, the same slightly sweet crust, and the same soft and chewy interior as the real thing! Now to figure out how to replicate the little cup of nacho cheese ...

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 package active dry yeast

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 1/4 cups flour, plus more for kneading

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons baking soda

Sea salt

Directions:
Warm milk in a saucepan to about 110 degrees. Pour into medium bowl and sprinkle in yeast. Let yeast soften, 5 minutes. Stir in brown sugar and 1 cup flour. Soften butter and stir into mixture. Add remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and salt to make a sticky dough.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed (and I needed a lot of it, probably close to 3/4 cup), until smooth but still slightly sticky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a greased bowl, loosely cover and let rise in a warm place (like on top of the stove) until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grease a large baking sheet. Punch dough down, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough seems tight, cover and let rest until it relaxes, about 5 minutes or so.) Divide dough into 6 pieces, then roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope (my ropes were probably closer to 20 inches because I got impatient). Form each rope into a pretzel shape. Arrange pretzels on prepared baking sheet.

Dissolve baking soda in a cup or so of warm water. Liberally brush each pretzel with soda solution, then sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, then play ball!

Chowd-ah Pow-ah

Years and years ago, when I cooked only occasionally, I remember making a corn chowder recipe. I'm pretty sure it involved a can or two of creamed corn, some chicken broth, an onion and a red bell pepper. It was good, but it didn't seem like authentic corn chowder. So, wanting to make something a little more traditional and a bit more challenging, I added corn chowder to my recipe wishlist.

I recently saw this recipe in an old issue of Cook's Country and thought it fit the bill ... well, maybe not in the "traditional" department. I selected a variation of the recipe with chorizo and jalapenos, making it more of a Bobby Flay-ed, Southwestern version of corn chowder. But at least it involved fresh corn, which earned points in the "challenging" department!

I, as usual, didn't stay entirely true to the recipe as it was printed (which I'm beginning to think is a good thing ... at least America's Test Kitchen can't accuse me of plagiarizing!). I made a couple tweaks, which I noted inside the recipe directions.

Corn Chowder with Chorizo and Chiles
Ingredients:
5 ears fresh corn
2 (18 oz.) cans whole kernel corn, drained
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 lb. ground chorizo
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper
1 lb. red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Cut kernels from ears of corn; reserve cobs and kernels separately. Puree canned corn and 1 1/2 cups broth in food processor until smooth. (Note: I read this wrong and ended up pureeing the fresh corn instead of the canned. Whoops.)

Cook chorizo in Dutch oven over medium heat. Using slotted spoon, transfer chorizo to paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Cook onion, jalapeno, corn kernels, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in chorizo fat until vegetables are softened and golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add potatoes, corn puree, remaining broth, and reserved corn cobs to Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Discard cobs and stir in cream. Season with salt and pepper. (This is where I decided I wanted a smooth instead of chunky soup, so I broke out the stick blender and blended the soup until it was mostly smooth.) Stir in chorizo and serve.

Always mommy's helper, Lola takes a snooze on the recipe!

I have to say, this soup would have been very good had I followed the recipe exactly, but I think I made an excellent choice in using the stick blender. Really, I just like to bring it out because it's fun, and I don't find a lot of excuses to use it. But having had corn chowder leftovers for lunch today, I'm convinced that it helped the flavors concentrate and become that much more yummy overnight. It's the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, and the potatoes and cream give it just enough richness while still tasting fresh. Way better than any canned creamed corn version of chowder you'll find!

It's Good to Have Goals

A while back, I think I mentioned that I was building a list of foods I want to cook at least once in my lifetime. I was inspired by a post like this that I saw on another blog and immediately started jotting on all of the delicious things that came to mind. My goal is to reach 100 and eventually cross them all off the list. Unfor

I'll cross them off the list as I make them and post links to my posts about them (I already have one down with the polenta!). I'll also continue adding to the list as my wheels churn, but I could definitely use your help! Let me know what's missing from the list and I'll consider adding it. I only have two simple criteria:

1. It has to be delicious (or at least have the potential to be delicious!)
2. It has to be a challenge (and I'm not talking crazy-hard, but definitely on the other side of easy)

Here's the growing list:

My Top 100 Desired Dishes
1. Arancini Made it!
2. Steamed Dumplings
3. Egg Rolls
4. Cheese Fondue
5. Au Gratin Potatoes
6. Homemade Potato Chips
7. Corn Chowder Made it!
8. Fritata
9. Polenta Made it!
10. Homemade Manicotti
11. Homemade Fettucini with Vodka Sauce
12. Stromboli/Calzones
13. Chicken and Dumplings Made it!
14. Bacon-Wrapped Filets
15. Popovers
16. Croissants
17. Bagels
18. English Muffins Made it! (Though I'm still on the quest for nooks and crannies!)
19. Sourdough Bread (Not yet, but I did get my hands on some starter for sourdough pancakes!)
20. Irish Soda Bread Made it!
21. Frozen Yogurt
22. Gelato
23. Cannoli Made it! (Although in shortcut form ... will make the real thing someday!)
24. Chocolate Fondue Made it! (And without actually intending to!)
25. Chocolate Mousse
26. Hot Chocolate Souffle
27. Salted Caramel Brownies
28. French Silk Pie
29. Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie (I made Banana Caramel Cream Pie, which is close!)
30. Coconut Cream Pie
31. Dutch Apple Pie
32. Lemon Meringue Pie
33. Fruit Tart
34. Lemon Cheesecake
35. Mini Cheesecakes Made it! (But still need to perfect it ...)
36. Angel Food Cake
37. Rum Cake
38. Bread Pudding
39. Paczki (jelly doughnuts)
40. Kringle
41. Kolache
42. Fortune Cookies
43. Doughnuts (I made one attempt that failed. And then succeeded with mini doughnuts!)
44. Homemade Vanilla Extract
45. Sio Bao
46. Corned Beef
47. Homemade Gnocchi
48. Rye Bread
49. Soft Pretzels Made it!
50. Apple Strudel
51. Homemade Jam Made it!
52. Thin Crust Pizza Made it! (On the grill, no less!)
53. Tiramisu
54. French Macaroons Made it!
55. Chilaquiles
56. Homemade Pita Bread
57. Stollen
58. Baklava
59. Spanakopita
60. Banana Pudding
61. Bittersweet Chocolate and Stout Beer Ice Cream (thanks to Tanya T. for the recommendation!)
62. Frozen Custard Made it!
63. Graham Crackers
64. Spaetzle