August 8, 2012
Just because you can’t walk into the liquor store and purchase a case of beer at the age of 7 or 9 (and for good reason!) doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy foods that are cooked with it, or, under supervision, even cook with them yourself. Today was Street Eats Day! We had already planned to make some basic soft pretzels and yellow mustard when the kids, having overheard a conversation of mine (about a tailgate party), decided that if they couldn’t have beer alongside of their pretzels, they would very well have it INSIDE of them. So, I helped them tweak a basic soft pretzel recipe to suit, incorporating the last of the Creemore Springs Pilsner we had in the fridge. And we went the extra mile by adapting an established mustard recipe to taste using a can of our local Double Trouble Brewing Company’s Hops and Robbers Extra Delicious IPA.  The pretzels? Heavenly! The Mustard? Rich and deep due to the darker beer we used. 

Street Eats Day: Order of Events
Soak Mustard Seeds, Play, Make Pretzel Dough, Play, Make Mustard, Form, Boil & Bake Pretzels, Play, LUNCHTIME PRETZEL & MUSTARD FEAST! Play! Eat Dinner: Sausage & Onions with MORE PRETZELS & MUSTARD! Play! Pass Out!

Pilsner Pretzels [Soft Beer Pretzels]

Ingredients
.3 c warm water
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 pckg active dry yeast
1 c Creemore Springs Pilsner (or any beer – light or dark – of your choice)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4.5 c all purpose flour
vegetable oil (spray works best)
10 c water for boiling
.6 c baking soda
2 egg yolks, beaten with 1 tbs cold water
coarse salt or pretzel salt

Method
Combine water, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy.
Add beer (mixture will foam up lots more) and stir to combine.
Gradually add the flour and butter, adding flour by the 1/2 cup, mixing with the dough hook on low speed.
[You may not need to add the entirety of the flour to reach a smooth consistency]
Knead the dough at medium speed until the dough smooths out and begins to pull away from the bowl.
Remove dough to a clean, oiled bowl.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for about an hour, until dough rises or doubles.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with vegetable oil.
Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a long rope, about 18-20 inches long.
Bring the dough-rope into a horseshoe shape, free ends north, curve south.
Bring the free ends together and twist the rope once or twice near these free tips (but with an inch or so to spare).
Bring this knotted portion down to the middle/center of the original horseshoe.
Pinch free ends down onto edges of dough to form a pretzel shape.
If all else fails, roll out a rope and twist it into something that looks like a pretzel!
Place pretzels back onto baking pan.
Allow pretzels to rise again slightly as you…
Preheat the oven to 450.
Bring the 10 c water and .6 c baking soda to boil in a pot or roasting pan.
Add pretzels 1 or 2 at a time to the pan and boil for 30 seconds, spooning tops with boiling water.
Remove the pretzels with flat slotted spatula.
Return the pretzels to the parchment lined pans.
Brush them with the beaten egg-yolk & water mixture.
Sprinkle with coarse salt to suit your taste.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden-warm brown.
Cool pretzels on wire racks until you just can’t help yourself and dig in!!!!

Hops and Robbers Mustard [Beer Mustard]
Adapted from the Ball Book’s Oktoberfest Beer Mustard Recipe
makes 5-125ml jars
recipe may be halved for a simple refrigerator portion
[This morning, we decided to increase all elements of our recipe by 1/3 to incorporate the entire can of beer and to help the kids work on fractions and division - but we are publishing the recipe as we originally formulated it because of the simplicity of the measures. You may want to finish off the can yourself, after all...]

Ingredients
1.5 c Hops and Robbers [or your favourite beer - dark or light]
1 c/250 g mustard seeds
[choose yellow or brown seeds to complement or contrast the shade of your beer]
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 c water
.5 c malt, cider, or white vinegar
[depth of flavour or colour chosen to complement the shade/style of your beer]
.75 c brown sugar
4 tbs yellow mustard powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cinnamon [optional]
.25 tsp cloves [optional]

Method
In a medium saucepan, combine the beer, mustard seeds and garlic and bring to a boil.
Remove the pot from the stove and let stand for 1.5 – 2 hours, until seeds have absorbed the liquid.

Get ready to can by sterilizing 5 250ml glass jars in a boiling water bath in a large pot with a wire canning rack inside.
Heat the lids (the discs, not the screw cap rings) in a small saucepan of water to the side.
Remove the jars from the boiling water and set them upside-down to cool just slightly as you make your mustard.
Keep the water in your canning pot boiling.

Using a hand blender or food processor, pulverize the mustard mixture until chopped but still grainy.
[The look and texture are really up to you.]
Add the remainder of the ingredients to the saucepan, stir, and bring them to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer & stir for 10-15 minutes, until the mixture reduces by about a third.

Heat the mustard back up to just a bubble.
Ladle the mustard through a funnel into your hot jars, leaving a .25 inch headspace.
[We processed four of our five jars and reserved a final larger "cook's treat" jar of mustard to use on our pretzels, refrigerating the remnants.]
Wipe the rims of the jars clean if necessary.
Add the flat metal lids and attach the screw tops so that they secure the lids but are not extremely tight.
Process the jars of mustard in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
Remove jars and cool.

Our Street Eats Gallery

Mustard Prep:

   

Pretzel Dough Prep:

Mustard Making and Canning:
                  

Pretzel Formation, Boiling & Baking:
                                 

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