Week 6: Soft Pretzels & Currywurst

The Winter Olympics kicked off in Sochi a couple of weeks ago & to celebrate (er more of a finding a good excuse to join friends in yummy food & libations), some friends of ours hosted an opening ceremony watch part. The rules were simple. 1) Wear red, white & blue. 2) Pick a country & bring a dish from said country. 3) Drink every time the media uses certain buzz words (think Sochi, gold, Shawn White, etc.). So we wore custom Olympic ring t-shirts (see picture below), and ate delicious food from across the globe, however I think we underestimated NBC’s ability to use the 10 pre-determined buzz words…

Team Wendel Olympic Pride T-shirts (patent pending) 

Naturally, we picked Germany because of our last name. More thought should have been devoted, as in the days following our selection, I discovered I don’t really like German food. Or maybe I discovered every recipe I found had sauerkraut. I hate sauerkraut. That’s like my one food I just can’t do. I don’t care if it’s fresh or homemade or your great-aunt’s Oma’s recipe, I just can’t do it. So my requirements: no sauerkraut, travels well, reheats easily. Ummmm, yeah, should have picked Mexico…

After going back and forth and nearly rescinding our country selection, I found some German bar food I enjoy! Soft pretzels & currywurst (hashtag goes well with drinking). As I stated in a previous post, I’m quite the timid baker, but these pretzels were so simple! And the currywurst, well... I'd never heard of it. Brats & curry. Can't go wrong!

I found a soft pretzel kit from Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade line of mixes in the baking aisle. The package includes a flour mixture, yeast, pretzel salt & baking soda. The directions were easy-peasy. Stir together hot water, oil, flour mixture & yeast. Let rise for one hour. Portion out dough & roll/twist into pretzels. The mix says it makes 6-8 large pretzels, but I ended up making 16 “mini” pretzels because they were cute & more appropriate sizes for appetizers. 

Boil the pretzels in the baking soda/water mixture for 15 seconds. Place pretzels onto a baking sheet, & top with pretzel salt. Bake. Wait. Enjoy.    

These were everything soft pretzels should be — hot carby, salty, doughy deliciousness right out of the oven. Since I made them the night before, I just reheated in the oven for about 10-15 minutes & served with ground mustard/spicy brown mustard dip.

To make currywurst appetizer friendly, grill or brown bratwurst over medium heat for 30-35 minutes, rotating until cooked. After the brats cool, slice & serve with a curry ketchup dipping sauce (1/2 cup ketchup mixed with 1 teaspoon curry powder). Note: if using pre-cooked sausage, adjust cooking time based on package directions.

This week I challenge you to pick a country & make a popular dish you've never tried! Tell me how it goes in the comments below :) Dish up!