I’m all the way in. In my mind, the holidays have begun and I want everything to taste like Thanksgiving. I am making cranberry sauce by the quart and putting it on anything and everything. Peanut butter and cranberry sauce sandwiches? Oh yes. Stop laughing at me. I just really like the holidays, mostly for the food.

Before you ask, yes, I know about Turkey and Stuffing potato chips and I’m eating as many as I possibly can before Trader Joe’s rudely discontinues them for another year. Ahhh, why are they so good?!

Confession: I’m not good at lunches. I am not super enthusiastic about lunch - unless of course I have leftover soup, in which case I’m all into it. But generally, I struggle a bit. When it is just me, this isn't as much of an issue, but when guests enter the equation, the midday meal has to be a bit more sophisticated than cheese and apples.

That's when I start shoving my favorite things in between two pieces of bread.

This sandwich combines tangy cranberry sauce, creamy brie, and peppery arugula. Turkey, because it’s November, and mustard for a little spice.

We are definitely in the season of cheese trays and this sandwich is an excellent way to use up all those annoying, tiny leftover wedges of brie.

We begin with homemade cranberry sauce. Cranberry sauce is one of those things that I refuse to buy. First, the flavor is simply incomparable and second, because it’s so easy that there is really no excuse for not making it yourself. Trust me, ditch the can this year. You can do it.

Pour everything - cranberries, orange zest, water, and sugar - into a saucepan and boil away until the berries have burst and the syrup is relatively thick. I like to use an immersion blender to puree the sauce because I like mine to be fairly smooth, but you could use a potato masher if you prefer a rougher sauce.

Cranberry sauce goes on one side of the bread, and mustard on the other. Next, we layer our turkey and brie. After the sandwich has been toasted on both sides, we reopen it and add the fresh arugula. This prevents the greens from getting soggy.

Taadaa!! Thanksgiving in sandwich form.

Lunch is served.

Sincerely,

Pedantic Foodie

Turkey, Brie & Cranberry Sandwich

for the cranberry sauce

2 cups fresh cranberries
zest of one orange
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water

Combine cranberries, orange zest, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until all the cranberries have burst and the syrup has thickened slightly. Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to roughly puree the sauce. The sauce will appear thin, cover and refrigerate until cool and thickened.

for the sandwich and assembly

sliced bread (I used an Italian country loaf)
sliced roasted turkey breast
triple cream Brie
dijon mustard
cranberry sauce
fresh arugula
olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
unsalted butter, softened

Butter both sides of bread and spread a thin layer of mustard on one side and a layer of cranberry sauce on the other. Layer the cheese over the cranberry sauce and the turkey over the mustard and then press both sides of the sandwich together.

Drizzle the arugula with a bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place a medium non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Fry sandwich for 3-4 minutes on one side, and then flip and fry on the opposite side. The sandwich should be deep golden in color and the cheese melted. Reopen the sandwich and add arugula, close the sandwich and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Last week we took a look at what happened on this site in 2014. There was a lot of butter, a lot of breakfasting, and a little bit of floral-flavored magic. As I looked through the many recipes I have shared on this site, I realized that I have neglected to share one of my favorites. I have made this recipe more than any other, and yet, until now, it has been left unmentioned.

I am not even going to try to surmise the number of soft pretzels that I have made. It’s a lot. I think I have been invited to gatherings just because they want me to bring these pretzels. Whatever, I’m going to eat all your brie when I get there...

Soft pretzels are so often destroyed by frozen food companies who wish to deaden our palates with dry, flavorless shapes covered in salt. This makes me a bit upset, especially because soft pretzels are so incredibly delicious when executed properly.

This recipe is so simple and it comes together relatively quickly. The dough is pretty standard - flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and butter. It is really important that you measure the flour by weight if you possibly can. We have talked about this before... Lots of factors can affect flour and the only way to ensure that you have a precise measurement is by weighing the flour. Yada, yada, yada, you know, just grab your kitchen scale.

After the dough has risen, we shape our pretzels. I like my pretzels to be on the smaller side so I portion the dough into 10 pieces and roll them into 16-inch ropes. If you prefer for them to be larger and thinner, you could portion the dough into 8 pieces and roll those pieces into 24-inch ropes. It is entirely up to your personal pretzel preferences.

After the pretzels are shaped, they are dropped into the boiling baking soda hot tub for a quick dip. This will provide the chewy texture and distinct flavor we associate with soft pretzels. After their bath they are coated with egg wash and sprinkled with a heavy dose of course sea salt.

I like to serve my pretzels with honey mustard. *sigh* This is good...

Happy Wednesday friends!

Sincerely,

Pedantic Foodie

Soft Pretzels

recipe adapted from Alton Brown / makes about 10 pretzels

1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, roughly 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
vegetable oil, for greasing
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
egg wash (1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon of water)
course-ground kosher salt or sea salt

In the bowl of your stand mixer combine 1 1/2 cups warm water, sugar, and kosher salt. Sprinkle yeast on top and allow to sit for 5 minutes or until foamy.

Add the flour and melted butter to the yeast mixture and fit your mixer with the dough hook attachment. Mix on low speed until the flour and butter are well incorporated. Change the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. This will take about 5 minutes.

Remove the dough gently and place in a large bowl greased with vegetable oil. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and grease lightly with vegetable oil.

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine baking soda with 10 cups of water. Bring to a rolling boil.

Turn the dough out unto a floured surface and portion into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a 16-inch rope. Form the pretzels by making a U-shape with the rope, crossing the two ends over each other and pressing the ends onto the bottom of the U.

Place the pretzels in the boiling water, one at a time, for 30 seconds. Transfer the boiled pretzels to the prepared sheet pans. Brush each pretzel with egg wash and sprinkle with salt.

Bake the pretzels until they are deep golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool for several minutes before partaking.

Serve warm with lots of sweet honey mustard. Enjoy!