soft pretzels.

well friends, i've been raving for long enough without sharing the love with you all. it's finally time to let you in on all my soft pretzel secrets so that you too can participate in the epic-ness that is super sexy soft pretzel wednesdays. the reason it has taken 5 weeks for me to share this with you is because it took me 5 tries to get the recipe perfect. but let me assure you, friends, that is in fact perfect. 
don't question me on this one.

ingredients

soft pretzels:

1 ½ cups warm water

2 ¼ tsp. yeast (1 package)

1 tsp. oil

1 tsp. honey

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. sugar

4 cups flour

½ cup baking soda

1 egg, beaten

coarse salt

cheese sauce:

velveeta cheese

black pepper

greek seasoning

photography by kelli

1. mix water, yeast, oil, honey, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. cool tip: pour the oil first, then use the same tsp. for the honey and the honey won't stick. by the time you'v added all the ingredients, the yeast should have gotten a little foamy.

2. add 4 cups of flour and mix with a large spoon until dough is thick. then use your hands to begin kneading the dough. i usually take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 10 minutes, adding a little bit of flour as needed so that dough isn't too sticky. roll into a ball. about now is when you should get a big pot of water boiling on the stove.

3. cut the dough into 8 pieces using a serrated knife. i just cut it right through like a pizza--all the way down the middle, and then each piece in half two more times. math and geometry and stuff.

4. this is the fun part! (and the part that i'm worst at...) roll out each piece of dough into a long snake and twist it into a pretzel shape. lyss is the pro at this, so she usually makes mine for me. #realtalk: my pretzels are horrifically ugly. lyss says it's best to roll the dough inside-out, so that when you press the ends together, they stick and the pretzel keeps its shape. 

5. this is the hardest part. once you have your pretzels shaped, pour ½ cup baking soda into your boiling pot of water. using a large spatula (or two, if you're being extra careful) lower one pretzel at a time into the boiling water. let it sit for 30 seconds, and then carefully lift it out of the water onto a pan covered with parchment paper. be careful with this step!!! if you're not super careful in lowering and lifting the pretzels in and out of the water, they will fall apart and lose their beautiful pretzel shape.

6. after your pretzels are all boiled and laid out on cookie sheets, rub the top of each one with beaten egg. as you can see in the pictures, we usually use a folded napkin to do this, because we are domestic college students and stuff. except i just recently purchased a basting brush and it was an awesome gift to myself, so pretzel night just got a little classier, folks. after the pretzels are egg-washed, sprinkle them with coarse salt. i just use sea salt and i use it generously.

7. bake at 375° for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. basically these are going to come out looking like pure heaven, and you might not be able to handle it. it's okay. i've been there.

8. while the pretzels are baking, i make the cheese sauce. i slice up a chunk about 2 inches thick of velveeta cheese, add a few Tbs of milk, and heat on low in a sauce pan. once the sauce is all melted together, i add a dash of black pepper and greek seasoning. most people don't have greek seasoning, but i'm gonna tell you right now that its the secret ingredient in this cheese sauce. i'm 100% convinced that greek seasoning can fix almost every culinary disaster there is. 

9. eat up!



i'm so happy i finally get to share this with you guys! super sexy soft pretzel wednesday nights have been the highlight of my weeks for the past month, and we all know how much i love sharing what i love with everyone else. so make some pretzels this wednesday and tweet me with the pics so i can be a part of your super sexy soft pretzel wednesday too!

chicken enchiladas.

so hey guys!

remember when i fangirled about my own homemade enchiladas in this post?

well i decided to make them again and to document it this time so that i can share the recipe with y'all! 

this idea came after my boss was astounded that i had made homemade enchiladas just cause my brother JR wanted them. i'm sorry, but how else would you make enchiladas? is it really an arizona thing to know how to whip these bad boys up in an hour flat? i thought everyone was obsessed with them like i was, but my boss seems to have fallen folly to the myth that chicken enchiladas are hard to make.  

myth debunking now: chicken enchiladas are not hard to make.  

and i'ma prove it to you.

homemade (GASP! I AM SHOCKED AND IN AWE!) chicken enchiladas

ingredients:

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 Tbs butter

garlic salt

cayenne pepper

ground black pepper

greek seasoning (on mexican food? yes. on all food.)

ground turmeric

2 cans diced green chiles

3 green onions, chopped real tiny

lots of shredded medium cheddar cheese

8-10 flour medium-sized tortillas (mission brand are always the best)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

(utahrds....no western family brand. don't do that to yourself.)

1. cook your chicken breasts. you're probably as sick of me telling you how to do this as i am of telling you, but i'm gonna reiterate it again, cause i have this process down to an art. thaw your chicken, cut each breast in half, throw in a couple tbs butter, and stick in the oven at 350° for a couple minutes until the butter is melted. then take it out, flip your breasts around (i cannot believe i just typed that phrase) until all covered in butter, and then go crazy with your spices. i just did a couple big dashes of each spice and made sure all sides were covered. except go light on the turmeric. that stuff is cray.
stick them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. please, please, please don't overcook them! if you can get them just right, your chicken will be so juicy and moist. i always cut the thickest part of the thickest breast to check them, and i take them out right when the juices run clear. 

2. mix up both the cans of soup in a small bowl. spread part of that mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 glass casserole dish. you just want enough of the soup on the bottom to keep the tortillas from sticking.

2. next, shred all your chicken and mix it with both cans of green chiles and the diced green onion. add some garlic powder or cayenne pepper if you feel so inclined.

3. the assemblage! a couple big scoops of the chicken/chile/onion mixture and a big sprinkle of cheese in the center of each tortilla. 

then roll those enchiladas and place them edge-down in the casserole dish.



my pan fit 9. sometimes it fits 8, sometimes 10. doesn't matter.



if i have leftover chicken at the end (and i usually have a bit since i tend to try really hard to not overfill the tortillas and over-compensate), i just scoop it into the ends of some of the smaller enchiladas with a spoon.
who am i kidding? i use my hands.

4. now you can scoop the rest of your soup sauce onto the top of the enchiladas. i use a spatula to push some of the sauce down in between each enchilada and all around the sides. (the scraping kind of spatula, not the flipping kind. let's just take a moment and all question together, why the heck are these two utensils called the same thing?!?! i digress.)



5. now put these beauties in the oven for about 15 minutes. technically, nothing in them is uncooked, so the oven is really just heating everything and drying out the sauce a bit. take them out after about 15, sprinkle copious amounts of cheese over top, and then bake for another 5.



and then....BAM!



homemade chicken enchiladas!
serve with homemade guac, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

two things:
1. consider this my profuse apology for how pretentious i get over mexican food.
2. if you want my guacamole recipe, i am prepared to share it with you. however, that act will feel like giving you the key to my soul, so you have to really want it. if you ask, i will provide.

chicken pesto buns.

YOU GUYS. 

i did something amazing. 

i've literally been thinking about this recipe idea for the past two months, and a couple of weeks ago, i actually did something about it. 

and it was ~heaven. 

if you actually know me in person, you know that when something i create turns out the way i want it to, i have an endless stream of mini heart attacks any time i look at it. and i may or may not bounce up and down in excitement, smiling, laughing, and heaven-help-me, even squealing, because when the vision meets reality, it's like a little piece of heaven manifest in my kitchen. 

but whatever. 

chicken pesto buns 

i've been trying to come up with something to call these things besides 'chicken pesto balls' since i made them, and finally settled on the canadian word for rolls, i.e. buns. something this delicious just shouldn't be referred to as balls, amiright?

ingredients:

rhodes rolls
cooked, shredded chicken

kirkland pesto sauce (the best pre-made pesto i've ever tried. you can get it at costco and i am highly recommending it.)

italian seasonings

minced garlic

butter

shredded mozzarella cheese

parmesan cheese to top (optional)

1. lay your rolls out in a greased pan, cover with a greased piece of saran wrap and let them thaw.  when i make rolls out of these, i let them thaw and rise for about 4 hours, but i really only let these sit out for maybe 2? they were thawed completely, and risen just a little bit. 

2. while the dough is thawing and rising, take all of the other ingredients besides the cheeses and mix together in a bowl. i just cooked my chicken in a small saucepan with water, a little butter, and some italian seasoning for about 15 minutes before shredding it. also, i didn't really measure anything so....sorry, guys. but i used a couple tablespoons of melted butter, LOTS of pesto (the more the better), one large chicken breast, about a tsp of fresh minced garlic, and a few good dashes of italian seasoning.

note: if you prefer a bite-sized snack, follow this next step. if not, skip it.

2. cut each roll in half with kitchen scissors. (that was big, i know.)

3. flatten out your dough into little circles with enough room to add filling. not too thin though, or the dough will tear. 

5. add as big a spoonful as your dough can handle in the center, and a nice big pinch of mozzarella as well. and then probably add more mozzarella, because like, is there anything better than cheese? no. 

6. now you are going to grab the ends of your dough, stretch them into the center, and pinch them all together, like so:

(blurry, but you get the gist.)

7. once you fold all the balls buns up, place a whole crapload of them on one greased cookie sheet, because they barely expand at all. then bake them at 350° for about 15 minutes.
i totally don't know if that's how long i cooked them so.....

 


oh my gosh, i'm getting excited just by looking at them again.

8. when they are done, rub a little butter and sprinkle a little parm on top of each one, then dip them in some marinara sauce, and enjoy with friends! because food is like a thousand times better when your friends are there to compliment you on it uplift and edify your life by enjoying it with you.



also, i've officially decided that death by good food is the way i want to go, you guys. mmm.....