Happy Holidays, Astoria! Hope that everyone is enjoying some quality time with the ones you love.
In preparation for tomorrow's family party at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house, I decided to make these gourmet, hand-dipped pretzel rods. Originally wanting to make gourmet chocolate bark, I changed my mind at the last minute when I realized I had all these amazing toppings at home and went with the sweet/savory combination instead.
Deciding to preserve the Utz's packaging, I dressed it up with some festive holiday paper and stuffed the decorated pretzels back into the container. I can't wait to see how they're received tomorrow, but I've already had a happy guinea pig (aka Dan) tell me that they've passed the test with flying colors. Hope you enjoy making your own variations.
Homemade Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods
Ingredients:
Large container of Utz's old fashioned pretzel rods (you can use any brand you like, but I like Utz's since they're nostalgic for me)
1 container of dark chocolate melting wafers (such as Ghirardelli brand)
1 container of white chocolate melting wafers (such as Ghirardelli brand)
1/2 cup of artisan toasted coconut chips
1/2 cup of craisins, chopped
1 cup of maple bacon bits
Colorful sprinkles or non pareils
Truffle salt
Chopped walnuts
Directions:
Melt chocolate wafers in the microwave until silky smooth (about 1 1/2 minutes).
Dip each pretzel rod in the chocolate individually and then sprinkle with your favorite topping, above. You can also use any other topping you'd like.
Lay dipped pretzel rods on a parchment lined cookie sheet and then place into the fridge for about an hour, or until the chocolate sets. Place back into the pretzel rod container and serve.
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| Image by 5 Napkin Burger |
One of my all time burger faves in Astoria, 5 Napkin Burger never ceases to impress me with how they always keep things fresh and interesting for their patrons. Not only are they experts in juicy, succulent and creative burgers, but now they're expanding their menu to new items, which are conducive to sharing, being that they're technically small plates.
There are several categories of the new menu items including all American snacks, sushi and additional cocktails too. Here's a little taste of what you can expect, as of today.
Wasabi deviled eggs with siracha
Warm Bavarian pretzel sticks with cheese fondue
Pimento cheese potato skins (pictured above)
Pesto flatbread
Crispy fried calamari
5 Napkin tacos with chipotle chicken, pulled pork, chipotle tofu, carne asada, grilled mahi or tempura shrimp
Maki rolls, including spicy tuna-cucumber, California crab, vegetable - avocado and spicy yellowtail
Triple roasted pineapple margarita, with Hornitos Reposada tequila
5 Napkin classic margarita, made with El Jimador Silver and citrus
Tecate michelada, with Frank's red hot and salt
Diablo agave, with Tanteo jalapeno tequila, cucumber and citrus
5 Napkin Burger - 35-01 36th Street, Astoria, NY 11106
718.433.2727
N/Q Train to 36th Avenue
5napkinburger.com
Tonight was a fun night, as we spent the evening celebrating the Oscars with good friends, Kimberly and Jonathan. They graciously hosted their annual Oscar party, which is a fancy wine, cheese and chocolate shin-dig. I always try to up my game and bring something special, and last year it was the stuffed oreo cookies, while this year I whipped up a batch of homemade sweet pretzels.
While I hesitated to make these at first, as they no doubt intimidated me, I stuck with them and the end result was pretty good. The most time consuming part was carefully separating the dough into 24 equal pieces and then rolling them all out, without breaking the dough. Since it was my first time making them, I had a few mishaps and the first 2 batches looked pretty misshapen and kind of burned around the edges. However, after a few tries, they started looking better and better, and I even improvised with a few twisty shaped round ones that were pretty yummy.
I think the secret to the pretzels staying soft and moist was using good quality Greek yogurt in the dough. I also ran out of flour, unfortunately, and had to use a whole cup of matzo meal, which gave the pretzels that slightly Passovery essence - they tasted a little bit like biscuits, which was just fine by me.
Enjoy the recipe and don't be afraid to try them yourself.
Sweet Pretzels recipe, courtesy of Whole Foods
