Spaetzle Soup with Mini Soft Pretzels

This is a dish is a family pleaser, something that I can make that everyone including picky husband and my three little ones enjoy. The soup is pretty much chicken noodle soup without the chicken and with homemade spaetzle in place of the noodles, who wouldn't love that? And serving it with mini soft pretzels just ups the enjoyment factor. Being a first generation American, I like that this gives a nod to the German food I grew up loving, and being able to share that with my kids is special to me.

For the soup I like to use this Seitenbacher broth base (it is a powder, I buy it on amazon) if I don't have any homemade vegetable stock on hand. It's imported from Germany and tastes great, on top of the convenience factor. It makes a quick meal, especially if you have some leftover spaetzle from last night's dinner, although sometimes I make spaetzle specifically for this soup. Pretty much just chop up a few carrots and stalks of celery, about 5 each -- more or less of one if you have a favorite of the two -- and cook them in the stock. Ladle your broth and veggies over a bowl of cooked spaetzle. You do not want to add the spaetzle directly to the broth pot or it will get too mushy.

My Favorite Spaetzle

recipe came with my spaetzle press, I've tried lots of spaetzle recipes and keep coming back to this one

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Whisk together eggs and milk, add flour, salt, and nutmeg, stir together until you have a very thick wet dough.

Use with your spaetzle press, drop into boiling water in batches, remove from water when they float, let drain in colander, then add to frying pan with a little bit of butter, keep on warm on low heat while you cook the rest of the spaetzle, adding the remaining batches after draining to the pan and stirring every few minutes. This makes a big batch of spaetzle -- 6 to 8 servings.

Next up is a recipe for Pretzel Rolls that can be shaped into traditional pretzels, mini pretzels, or rolls.

Mini Soft Pretzels

recipe from Chow.com

1 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 3/4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
Vegetable oil
6 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda

**The below directions are from Chow.com for a stand mixer -- I've done the dough for this recipe in my bread machine and it works perfectly!**

Place warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle yeast on top. Set aside to rest until mixture bubbles, about 5 minutes. (If the mixture does not bubble, either the liquid was not at the correct temperature or the yeast is old.)

Place flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and whisk briefly to break up any lumps and combine. Once yeast is ready, fit the bowl on the mixer, attach a dough hook, and dump in flour mixture.

Mix on the lowest setting until dough comes together, then increase to medium speed and mix until dough is elastic and smooth, about 8 minutes.

Form dough into a ball, place in a large oiled mixing bowl, and turn dough to coat in oil. Cover with a clean, damp dishtowel, and let rest in a warm place until dough doubles in size, about 30 to 35 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, coat paper with vegetable oil, and set aside.

Once dough has risen, punch it down and knead it on a floured, dry surface just until it becomes smooth and springs back when poked, about 1 minute. Divide dough into 8 pieces and form into oblong rolls. Place rolls on the baking sheet and cut 4 (2-inch) diagonal slashes across the top of each. Cover with a damp towel and let dough rise in a warm place until almost doubled in volume, about 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 425°F and bring water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat.

Once rolls have risen, stir baking soda into boiling water (water will foam up slightly). Boil two or three rolls for 2 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon, remove rolls, drain, and place on the baking sheet, cut side up. Sprinkle well with salt, and repeat with remaining rolls.


Once all rolls are ready, place in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot.

If you give these recipes a try I hope they become favorites for you and your loved ones too! I'm sending this on over to Heather at girlichef who is hosting Presto Pasta Nights #197. Spaetzle Soup is heading to my blogging friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sundays event. And last but not least, this post is also going to Susan at Wild Yeast for YeastSpotting! Thank you to everyone for hosting :)

Beer Pizza Dough

This is one of my favorite pizza dough / crust recipes. It is from allrecipes. It makes a soft dough that is a little tricky to handle, but is absolutely worth the trouble once it is done baking. I've made this dough at least a dozen times with different beers and it always turns out perfectly.

Beer Pizza Dough

from allrecipes

1 cup warm beer -- I have just warmed it up in the microwave, original recipes uses flat beer
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Put beer, butter, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast in a bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough setting, and press Start. I've always used my bread machine for this one but I bet it would also work well in a KA mixer or by hand.

Remove dough from bread machine when cycle is complete. Roll or press dough to cover a prepared pizza pan. I like to use a pizza screen and bake on a preheated pizza stone but I've also used this recipe with a regular pizza pan or cookie sheet without the stone.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F -- If you are using a pizza stone you could up this to 500 or your highest oven temperature, it bakes faster, but also gives a great crispy outside chewy inside crust.

Spread sauce and toppings on top of dough. Bake until crust is lightly brown and crispy on the outside, about 17-24 minutes. -- If you are using the higher oven temperature with pizza stone your pizza will be done in under 10 minutes, I'd start checking it after baking for 5 minutes, it gets done very quickly.

Here is a photo of the nice crispy bottom thanks to a pizza screen and pizza stone. This crust always gives nice "pizza bubbles" too!

I topped this pizza with freshly shredded mozzarella and sliced mushrooms and homemade pizza sauce. I always sprinkle the tops of my pizzas with a touch of Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan before baking them. It really gives them that pizza parlour flavor.

This recipes doubles well, I almost always make a double recipe so we can have one veggie pizza and one with pepperoni for picky husband. The kids usually have a little of both pizzas and really look forward to homemade pizza night :)

Mushroom, Pepper, and Goat Cheese Pizza

This has got to be one of my new favorite pizzas! It's almost more like a flatbread than a pizza, but whatever you call it, it's delicious. I found this recipe for Portobello Mushroom, Fresh Pepper, and Goat Cheese Pizza on allrecipes and changed it up a bit to use what I had on hand, and came up with this yummy version...


Mushroom, Pepper, and Goat Cheese Pizza
adapted from allrecipes

1 recipe pizza crust* (I used my favorite pizza crust recipe, but I think this would work great on a Boboli crust as well)
3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves roasted garlic, mashed, or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup thinly sliced white mushrooms
1/2 - 1 cup crumbled goat cheese, depending on how much you like goat cheese ;)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

optional 1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella -- I added this the second time I made this pizza, just to make it cheesier -- photo below is of the extra cheesy version...


Whisk the roasted garlic into the olive oil and brush it evenly over your crust. Add a little of the cheese, then your mushrooms and peppers...


top with the remainder of the cheese, then drizzle with the balsamic vinegar.

*in the above photo you may notice some sun dried tomatoes, these ended up burning in the high temperature oven so I took them off

Baking times vary based on the dough you use, if you are baking on a pizza stone I'd say 5-7 minutes at 500 degrees, if you are baking on a baking sheet -- I'd say 15-20 minutes at 375. The original recipe from allrecipes calls for 15 to 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until the edges are golden brown. There are so many variables when it comes to baking a pizza at home, from what you bake it on (sheet, baking stone, sheet with air vents, etc.) and the dough you use. Just keep an eye on the pizza and take it out when you think it looks done.

I have gotten into the habit of baking my pizzas on a pizza screen on a pizza stone preheated to the highest temperature my oven goes (which is a little over 500) this ensures a nice crispy bottom and chewy crust. I have a double wall oven and the lower oven (the smaller one) is my "pizza oven" since I can get the temperature higher (it is a knob control versus the digital temperature control of my upper oven). I also keep the baking stone in the lower oven all the time so I don't forget to preheat the stone in the oven when I turn it on.


Easy Pizza Crust

3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dry milk powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon bread machine yeast

Put the ingredients in your machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer, in my Oster you put the wet ingredients first, layer the flour on top, and end with the additional dry ingredients and yeast. Set it on dough cycle and press into your pizza pan, this makes two smaller round pizzas, or one big rectangular pizza, the size of a large cookie sheet.

*This is our old standby pizza crust recipe and I usually double to make two large pizzas. Happy pizza night to you and yours :)

Cinnamon Bursts -- Cinnamon Roll / Monkey Bread Hybrids

Don't these look delicious? They really are! Soft and gooey, with a little crunch from the cinnamon sugar, the portability of cinnamon rolls and pull-apart fun of monkey bread. This recipe for Bakery Style Cinnamon Bursts comes from one of those little grocery store check-out lane cookbooks, I have a ton of them and love finding little recipe treasures hidden inside. Sometimes you have to tweak the recipes a little, but if nothing else you get a nice picture and an idea of a recipe as a jumping off point.


These were featured in a Betty Crocker / Gold Medal Flour special edition mini book called Soups & Breads from 2005. It's the same book I recently made this Chipotle Cheddar Bread from. I think I made a few things from in when I got it in 2005, but it had been sitting on a bookshelf since then -- until last month when I randomly pulled it out and found some fun recipes to try. My husband actually picked these to try, and I am sure glad he did! Not only were these treats delicious, it's always fun for me to make a recipe he picked, maybe that sounds a little corny but it's true, something about being in the kitchen, making a recipe for and picked by someone you love.


I adapted this recipe to make the dough in the bread machine on the dough cycle, I've also included the by hand directions. This would be a great recipe to do with little helpers in the kitchen who can roll the dough balls with you!


Cinnamon Bursts
adapted from Betty Crocker / Gold Medal Flour

Dough:
2 1/2 to 3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package regular or fast-acting dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast)
3/4 cup very warm water (120°F to 130°F)
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg

Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
1 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 teaspoons milk

Put the dough ingredients into your bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer (my Oster calls for the liquids first, then the flour, then other ingredients and yeast) and set it for the dough cycle.

Or by hand -- in medium bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups of the flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the salt and yeast. Add warm water, 3 tablespoons butter and the egg. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

On lightly floured surface, knead dough about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Grease medium bowl with shortening or cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until double in size. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.

Grease 12 regular-size muffin cups, 2 3/4x1 1/4 inches, with shortening or cooking spray -- I used Baker's Joy Spray. In small bowl, mix 1 cup granulated sugar and the cinnamon. Gently push fist into dough to deflate. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Pinch each piece into 6 small balls.

Roll balls in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon-sugar. Place 5 balls in each muffin cup; top with 1 ball in center. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place 30 to 45 minutes or until double in size.

Heat oven to 350°F. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. The pan will look kind of difficult to clean but it wasn't a problem thanks to the Baker's Joy Spray, and I had no sticking issues.

Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack (place rack on waxed paper to catch glaze drips). In small bowl, stir glaze ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle glaze over rolls. Sprinkles optional. Serve warm.

We all loved these as a special breakfast treat. I hope you love them as much as we did if you give them a try. Now at our house monkey bread and cinnamon buns have a brunch rival :)

Barefoot Contessa White Pizza with Arugula

I'm so excited, today is my day to pick an Ina Garten recipe for the Barefoot Bloggers! I have been a member of the Barefoot Bloggers for over a year now and have absolutely loved participating in this online cooking group. We have tried so many fun recipes that I would probably have never even attempted, were it not for this group -- and the best part is, just about all of the recipes turn out delicious dishes that I want to make over and over again.

If this is your first visit to my blog, welcome! If you've been a reader and have wondered where I've been the past month, I'm sorry to have not posted for so long. It's just been a crazy summer and after having house guests and doing a family road trip at the end of July, I just couldn't get back into the swing of blogging, and as soon as I tried, I had a computer crash! But that's all over now, thank goodness because I really missed Nummy Kitchen and all of my blogging friends :) Now let's get to the recipe -- this is a pretty long one...

White Pizza with Arugula
Ina Garten

For the dough:

1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110) water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
Good olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, sliced
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the topping:

3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces)
1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese (7 ounces)
11 ounces creamy goat cheese, such as montrachet, crumbled

For the vinaigrette:

1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces baby arugula
1 lemon, sliced

Mix the dough.

Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

Knead by hand.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.

Let it rise.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make garlic oil.

Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. * I dropped the oven temperature down to 425 * (Be sure your oven is clean!)

Portion the dough.

Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Place the doughs on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Stretch the dough.

Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 circles on each sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)

Top the dough.

Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese.


Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.


Make the vinaigrette.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

(I could only find an arugula blend -- not a problem!)

Add the greens.

When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.

TIP Make sure the bowl is warm before you put the water and yeast in; the water must be warm for the yeast to develop.

TIP Salt inhibits the growth of yeast; add half the flour, then the salt, and then the rest of the flour.

TIP To make sure yeast is still "alive," or active, put it in water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. If it becomes creamy or foamy, it's active.

~~~~~~

Phew! That was a long recipe -- please don't let it intimidate you, this is a really easy recipe and you can make the whole amount of dough and use it at a later time for any kind of pizza. I've made the dough a few times and it always turns out nicely and is very easy to work with. You can even mix it on the dough cycle in your bread machine.


Now I have a bit of Barefoot Blogger catching up to do... The first recipe for August was Mango Banana Daiquiris picked by Veronica of Supermarket Serenade -- thanks for a fun fruity pick, Veronica!

I missed posting the two July recipes but I did cook along with everyone! These were two of my favorite Barefoot Bloggers picks...


First off was an amazing and easy dish, Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes picked by Cat of Delta Whiskey . Thank you Cat, this is a new favorite for me!


The second recipe for July was picked by Aggie of Aggie’s Kitchen who picked Peach & Blueberry Crumbles -- this is just a quick photo of the crumble (I made one big instead of littles) before adding the topping. The crumble baked up golden brown and beautiful and were delicious, I love the peach and blueberry combo, what a great summer dessert :)

My Kitchen My World -- Cinnamon Sugar Bubble Bread

I'm posting Cinnamon Sugar Bubble Bread (what my kids call it) which is also known as Monkey Bread (what my husband calls it) for My Kitchen My World, this week our assignment was to make something that reminded us of our family, heritage, country, etc. -- there were lots of recipes that I thought of, but this one is special for our little 'nuclear' family :)

I make this ooey gooey sticky caramel bread treat a few times a year, it is a real favorite around here for holiday breakfasts. I had never heard of monkey bread until I married my husband, but as soon as I did I knew I would love it. I've tried lots of different recipes but this one is my favorite -- so far -- I'm not opposed to trying more :) There are tons of variations, some have nuts, raisins, even blueberries, and there is even a savory version I've tried with Italian seasonings and parmesan cheese, which is just perfect with a spaghetti dinner. I think this cinnamon sugar one is the more classic version, pretty much small pieces of dough are rolled in cinnamon sugar, positioned into a bundt or tube pan, layered with some caramel syrup, then baked. When finished in the oven you invert it onto a serving plate and watch the caramel drip down the sides, yeah, this is a messy little number. Let it cool for just a bit, you don't want to burn yourself, but this is best served warm.

Here is my current favorite recipe, Monkey Bread I've been making this one for the past few years, the only change I make is rolling the dough chunks in cinnamon sugar before putting them in the pan, then pouring a little of the caramel sauce over them dough chunks in the pan when the pan is halfway full, and then some more with the pan is completely full before the last rise. I hope that makes sense! I've made it exactly as written as well but this way tastes better to my husband, the local "monkey bread" expert :)

An easy way to get little dough chunks it to lightly flatted out your dough, like for a focaccia, then cut into strips, then cubes, with a pizza cutter, after that the kids can help by rolling the dough into little balls and dropping them into the cinnamon sugar.

You might want to have a lined pan underneath to watch out for drips that could possibly burn in your oven and make a smokey mess (yes, I've had that happen.)


I can't wait to see what family favorite recipes everyone else has to share for My Kitchen My World Be Thankful Week.

Muenster Cheese Bread

I love muenster cheese bread and after reading through a few varaitions of this old European recipe, adapted the recipes to start out in the bread machine on the dough cycle. I'm not too sure on the history of this loaf or exactly which country it comes from. Where ever it's from it is delicious and might become a family favorite like it did in our home :) It is great to serve at buffets, it looks and tastes impressive but is really easy to make! This bread is also great with soups or gravy dishes.


2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup melted butter
4 cups bread flour


3 cups shredded Muenster Cheese

Add the first 7 ingredients into your bread machine in the order your manufacturer suggests, for my Oster it is liquids first, then flour, then salt/sugar/spices, ending with yeast on top. Run your machine on the dough cycle.



When the dough cycle is done punch down dough and make into a rough circle of dough, press down the circle, almost like making pizza dough, until it is about 1/2 - 1 inch thick. This will make a big circle of dough.






Mound your shredded muenster cheese in the middle of the dough circle, then pleat the sides up, folding as you go, ending with a little knob of dough on top.



Twist the dough knob to kind of seal the bread shut.

Let rise for about 20 - 30 minutes, then bake at 350 for 50 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let cool completely before slicing, about 45 minutes on a wire rack.



The first time I made this I expected there to be a hollowed out middle where the cheese melted, but the bread actually bakes all the way down, so you will have a nice round loaf of bread with a layer of gooey muenster on the bottom.