Recipes
MINI PRETZEL ROLLS
Mini Pretzel Rolls
We recently hosted a party for my dear friend Lisa in celebration of her graduation from culinary school. As you might expect, it was all about the food. Chef Lisa, who will be opening her restaurant Bread & Wine in Chicago this fall, planned the party menu and shared her vision with me. With forty of her closest family and friends planning to attend, including her business partner and friend Jenny, it was a perfect opportunity to test prospective menu items for their restaurant. I was in charge of executing her plan. Yikes.
At the top of Lisa’s party wish list was the “Bread & Wine” Burger served on a pretzel roll. “Are you sure you want a pretzel roll?” I asked. It’s time for a confession: I don’t care for pretzels–not soft ones, not hard ones, not minis or sticks, not sourdough, not Bavarian. You get the picture. It’s nothing deeply rooted like my absolute disdain for Jello; there are simply far more edibles I prefer over pretzels.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Lisa said. I reminded myself that it was her party after all. Besides, I’m always game to try something new, including pretzel rolls.
We wanted small bites and nothing that would require—heaven forbid—putting your cocktail down. So we scaled the burger down into a slider. Then came the challenge of finding pretzel rolls small enough for sliders. After too many phone calls and bakery visits, I came up empty handed. “I’ll just make them,” I said to my husband after another dead end call. He tried to talk me out of it. He’s watched my good intentions in the kitchen crash and burn—literally—one time too many. To put his mind at ease, I vowed to do a test batch before the big day. And guess what? They were easy—24 piping hot, deeply golden rolls in just under an hour. An hour! But the biggest surprise came when I tasted one; they were amazing. The crust was thin with a delicate crunch that gave way to a light and slightly sweet interior. Chef Lisa knew best—they were the perfect partner for the “house” burger.
The party was a success thanks to Lisa’s delicious vision and the wonderful friends who helped pull it all together. And I’ve added pretzel rolls to my list of favorites. This is why I love to experiment; the more things I try, the more I realize what I’ve been missing.
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