Mesa Grill Pretzels

Adapted from Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, and Shakes, page 33.

Yield: 20 pretzels

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 oz. yeast
2 tsp. light brown sugar
1 large egg
3-4 cloves roasted garlic, peeled and pureed
Kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
Cayenne pepper

Line 2 baking sheets with Silpat liners or parchment paper that has been lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, and sprinkle with an even layer of the cornmeal over each.

Combine the water and yeast in a large bowl and mix together with your fingertips until the yeast has dissolved.  Whisk in the sugar, egg, and garlic until combined.  Add 2 tsp. salt, the pepper, 3 cups flour (add more if necessary to form a smooth dough), and poblanos; mix until combined.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth.  Place the dough in a lightly greased large bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Remove the dough from the bowl and divide in half.  On a floured work surface, roll each half out into a 12x12" square.  Cut each square into 10 even strips.  Hold the dough by the ends; stretch it to the length of one of the baking sheets, keeping the shape as uniform as possible.  Place the pretzels on the baking sheets, spacing 1" apart.  Let rise, uncovered, in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Season the tops with a combination of kosher salt and cayenne pepper.  Bake until crisp and golden brown, 20-25 minutes.  Remove to baking racks and let cool.

Roasting Garlic
Preheat the oven to 300F.  Separate the cloves of a head of garlic, but do not peel.  Drizzle the cloves with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Wrap the garlic securely in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.  Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until very soft.  Squeeze the pulp from the skins, discarding the skins.  Roasted garlic will keep covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  (If you're doing less than 1 head of garlic, you'll want to check it before the 45 minutes.)

Roasting Peppers and Chiles
Preheat the oven to 375F.  Brush the peppers with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place in the oven on a rimmed baking sheet and rotate until charred on all sides, 15-20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and place the roasted peppers in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 15 minutes to allow the skin to loosen.  Then peel, halve, and seed.  Treat chiles exactly the same way as the peppers.  Roasted peppers and chiles can be covered and stored for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Notes:
- The original recipe calles for 1 head of garlic, but that seemed like a bit much to me.  It also calls for jalapeno chile pepper, which I've never seen, so I used cayenne pepper.
- Bobby says to roll the dough out into a 12x12" square about 1" thick.  I honestly wonder if it was a misprint because I can't figure out how that would have been possible . . . unless my dough didn't rise nearly enough.  My squares were about 1/4" thick.