Sunday Dinner:: Pretzel Rolls & Italian Beef

So I have been craving Italian Beef for a few months now.  It's quite possibly one of my favorite meals.  We just received our meat shipment for the year and I now have roasts to work with.  (Those are usually the first thing I run out of.) Making the pretzel rolls was a fun little baking project that came from me forgetting to get hoagie rolls at the store this weekend and we were too lazy to run back to just get bread. So here we go with the recipes for all of you who asked.

 

Italian Beef

(This is my mother’s recipe that I have tweaked slightly..she does it in the oven, I do mine in the crock pot.)

1 packet of Italian Seasoning Dressing Mix (I like the zesty kind)

1 jar of your favorite brand of Pepperoncinis

1- 5-8 lb chuck roast

water

Crock pot recipe: Place roast (mine is usually frozen) in a 5-7 quart crock pot.  Sprinkle both packets of Italian seasoning dressing mix on top of the roast.  Dump both jars of pepperocinis and juice on top.  Fill both jars with water (about 2 cups) and add to crock.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 6-8 hours or all day (~10-12 hours) on LOW. ((If your roast is thawed you might have to adjust your times)) Allow to cool, before letting sit in the fridge over night.  This allows for the meat to soak in more of the favors and the fat to rise to the top for you to skim off.  Take the meat and cut or shred it as desired, taking out any bones and fatty pieces.  Warm up and enjoy!

Oven recipe: Place roast, seasonings and peppers in roast pan. Add water until roast is half way covered.  Cook at 350-400 F until medium rare (~140F).  Take out and cool.  Slice for sandwiches, adding meat back to the juices.  Times will vary depending on if using a frozen or thawed roast.

I usually try and do this all the day before. But by all means you can eat it that day as well. Also, this is the original recipe from my mother….I actually usually use 2 packets of Italian seasoning and 2 jars of peppers.  But I like it to have a little more zest/spice than most and I love the peppers.  To keep the peace so my husband and I don’t fight over who gets them, I just add more. 

Pretzel Rolls

(adapted from a Food Network recipe) make 8 larger rolls

Ingredients
1 cup milk
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 packet active dry yeast
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 small cloves garlic, grated
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting or if it won’t come off the wall of the mixer
1/2 cup baking soda
Pretzel salt or coarse ground sea salt, for sprinkling (I used kosher salt)

Directions
In a microwave safe bowl, heat the milk, 1/2 cup water, sugar and honey to 105 to 110 degrees F (about 1 min 15 sec). Add to the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the water mixture and wait for at least 10 to 15 minutes until the yeast blooms.

In saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and garlic and cook until the butter is melted and the garlic is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the flour to the bowl with the blooming yeast, and then add in the melted butter and garlic mixture. Mix on medium speed until the dough has come together and is smooth and elastic in texture and pulling away from the sides of the bowl, 5 to 7 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured cutting board and form into a ball. Cut into 4 equal pieces, and then cut those in half to form 8 equal pieces. Using your hands, roll each piece into a ball and place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cover with a dish cloth and let them rest in a warm place for 12 to 15 minutes. (again not on the stove)

Once rested, lightly dust your work surface again and roll the balls into a long bun about the size of your palm.  Place onto the other prepared baking sheet, cover, place back in the warm spot and let rest for an additional 30 minutes. (Do not put them on the oven while getting the water ready and pre-heating the oven, they will deflate when you move them…I found out the hard way.)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place one oven rack high and one low. Line 2  baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large pot, bring 8 cups water to a boil, and then add the baking soda. In batches, place the dough in the water and cook for 30 seconds on each side.
Using a slotted spatula, remove the rolls and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle the rolls with pretzel salt as they come out of the water, to ensure the salt sticks. Then cut 3 diagonal slits on top of the bread, not too deep.

Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, rotating between the top and bottom racks of the oven halfway through the cooking.

This makes 8 larger rolls.  You probably could get 16 nice sized buns if you really wanted them a little smaller.

Enjoy!