Baseball Happy Hour: Pretzels & Hot Dogs

Today is opening day for baseball in Colorado!  The official opening day was yesterday but the Colorado Rockies are on the roster this afternoon, playing the Arizona Diamondbacks.  With our weather expected to be in the mid 70’s (unusual for us this time of year) it should be a perfect day for baseball, and eating.  As usual, it’s all about the food for me!  When I think of baseball food, I think of pretzels, hot dogs and of course, beer (not a food, but necessary to wash the goodness down).  Thankfully, another Friday has rolled around so it’s time for a celebration with Happy Hour!  On my Happy Hour table: fresh, soft pretzels and pretzel dogs with a pale ale beer (slightly sweet, hoppy) along with some whole grain and yellow mustard.  Yum!  I can hear the bats cracking against the baseballs now…..

For the pretzel dough, I consulted a recipe from one of my favorite science chefs, Alton Brown (click on “pretzel dough” for recipe).  His recipes are always fool-proof for me and I wasn’t disappointed with this one.  This was my first try at making pretzels and they are a keeper.  I reduced the recipe by half for 4 delicious pretzels.  You have to try them fresh out of the oven, nothing like it!  For the pretzel dogs, I used all beef hot dogs and dough from one pretzel.  Wrap a thin ribbon of dough around each hot dog piece and follow the directions for cooking the pretzels; it worked perfectly.  Note the recipe calls for ingredients in weights which don’t always transfer exactly to cup measurements, 11 oz. of flour measures about 2 1/8 cups.

As for the image on the left, I couldn’t resist using the parchment paper from the cooked pretzels to write my motto!  Cheers to you….Let’s play ball!

 

For a perspective from a serious baseball enthusiast, check out Ronni’s blog: http://garlicfriesandbaseball.wordpress.com