Tag: baked

Bread Twists

Bread Twists

What’s the Deal with Bread Twists?

Bread Twists for me, started when I was a young man.  I would camp with some friends near a reservoir we would boat and fish on, and we would twist canned biscuit dough around our Hot dog and Marsh mellow skewers to make “Bread Twists”!  Now I don’t now if this is something everyone else does elsewhere, but I’ve never seen anyone else do it since.  However, there is a local Pizza Joint here, that shall remain nameless, that has branded their very existence around them.  They are so good, I thought I’d share a real simple way to make these yourself at home.

 Rhodes Texas RollsInstead of going through a whole dough recipe and having to worry about the yeast and what not, do yourself a favor and pick up a frozen bag of dinner rolls.  I used these Texas Rolls made by Rhodes because they are 50% larger than the average dinner roll, so it gave me more Twist to work with.  The great thing about a pre-made dinner roll is that they’ve taken all the guess work out of making a fluffy light bread, which is the key to making perfect Bread Twists.  It is critical, however, to follow the thawing instructions and let the dough rise properly.  Once you’ve done that, roll them out with some flour into a long cylinder shape that you can then roll flat with a rolling pin.  Then using a Shish Kabob Skewer, pierce the tip on one end of the dough, then slide the dough to the bottom of the skewer and twist the dough to the end of the skewer and stab the tip of the remaining twist.  It’s important to let them rise back up again before baking so they remain fluffy when they cook.  I use a cake pan when I lay the Bread Twists Side ways in order for the bread to swell and cook down as well as out in every direction.  This also helps to brush the Garlic and herb seasoned butter over the top.

Bread Twists Ingredients:

12 thawed Dough Rolls and Skewers

4 tbsp melted Butter
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp dry Oregano

Parmesan (Don’t mix with the Butter)

Mix all the Butter Topping ingredients together and brush the twists on all sides before and after baking.  The twists do tend to come unraveled during the handling, but they twist back just as easily. Shake Parmesan Over the top after they’ve been basted and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes or until Golden Brown.  Because oven temperatures may vary, the time will too so watch them carefully because they cook faster when the dough has been rolled out and flattened for twists.  Bread Twists are great with Italian Pasta, Pizza or just Dipping in Marinara, Alfredo or Garlic and Olive Oil.

Cooking King Crab Legs

King Crab Legs

The Best King Crab Legs

The thing about King Crab Legs, or any crab legs for that matter, is that they are already cooked when you buy them.  I know, Shocker, right?  So all we need to do is reheat them and you just need to choose the method you’d like to prepare them.  Steaming is an easy way if you have a big enough pot that can be covered with a lid.  A few inches of boiling water in the bottom will get them done in about 4 minutes.  Just make sure that you get the water to a rolling boil before you actually add the King Crab Legs.  Most people don’t realize that you can actually cheat and take it a step further; you can usually have them steamed at the place of purchase when you are buying them.  Of course this means you need to be picking them up at meal time but if you’re waiting on the oven for bake potatoes, a quick trip to the grocery is perfect for that waiting time; just a suggestion.

Be Careful Grilling King Crab Legs

Grilling King Crab Legs leaves people oohing and awing every time you flip open the lid, but you need to be very careful not to dry them out.  Even though you tend to gain the Smokey flavor of the grill, you lose the natural flavors of the crab meat.  Remember this is just a reheat anyway so you don’t want them on the grill for too long.  10 minutes on low with the lid down, tops!

The oven will have a similar effect that grilling does if you don’t cover up the Crab Legs.  It will dry them out, and you will lose flavor.  The way I show you how to cook them in this tutorial is on a broiler pan covered with tin foil.  The reason I do it this way is because you get the best of both worlds.  By adding a half cup of water to the pan you get the steaming effect with convection as the heat rises from underneath the King Crab Legs, then the heat reflects off the foil, cooking the top.  It’s win-win.

You can do a reheat in the microwave, but I don’t recommend it.  In fact I don’t recommend that any meat go in the microwave for a reheat, EVER!  I’ll get into that at later time.

King Crab Legs and Santolla Reds

Now, the crab legs that I’m introducing are not your traditional King Crab Legs.  These are called Santolla Reds.  The reason I’m using these instead of the other is they are practically the same thing.  First off, they are almost exactly the same size; same look and everything that way.  The only difference that I’ve noticed is they are a little bit saltier, so I just use unsalted butter.  Second, it’s about the cost.  I wouldn’t be living up to my reputation as the Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen showing you recipes at “A Low Budget Wonder”, if I was showing off recipes that aren’t affordable.  Santolla Reds, if you can find them, are usually at least half the price of regular King Crab Legs.  I can pick them up at Smith’s right now, for $6.99 a pound, and that’s year ‘round!  Try getting more than a pound and a half of king crab legs at any restaurant these days for under $26 bucks!  It’s worth doing it at home, and worth knowing a few tricks to cooking King Crab Legs and other gourmet meals at a low budget wonder.