Our own personal Oktoberfest celebration could not be complete without a warm German style pretzel, and some fresh whole grain mustard. Agreed? While we sit and debate about a favorite Pilsner, Helles or Dunkles, there is something entirely satisfying about a yeasty, salted, doughy twist straight from the oven. While we may not be able to come up with a historically accurate origin of the pastry (Medieval European, most likely Italy, or France, possibly Germany) we could agree that Curtis made a darn good pretzel, and the mustard has gone on to many uses besides an Oktoberfest condiment. One thing to note, is that our recipe does not call for a lye glazing, which, although it gives that smooth brown shell, is a hazardous chemical and not good for home use. As a replacement, we use a baking soda bath, and a light egg wash (to more than satisfactory results, if I may add).

for the Pretzels
6-8 pretzels

1 tablespoon of yeast (1 package) dissolved in 1 cup of warm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar (proof for 5 minutes)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter (cold)
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons baking soda
3 egg whites
course sea salt

Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Break up the butter into small pieces and toss them with the dry flour mixture. At this point, you can choose to use a KitchenAid® with a dough hook for about 6 minutes of kneading, or like Curtis, you could mix in the yeast mixture and knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes. Let the dough rest for about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 425.
Shaping
Cut dough into 6-8 pieces. On a floured work surface, role the dough into rope leaving a fatter area in the center. Take each end in a hand, loop the dough away from you, forming a twist with the two ends and tuck them underneath the fatter part of the rope. Apply a little bit of pressure to make the loops stick together. You can use a dab of water to help make the ends stick. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add baking soda. Using a spatula, transfer the pretzel to the boiling water, submerging it for about 10 seconds. Remove the pretzel from the boiling water and either place on a pizza stone within the oven, or lightly oiled cookie sheet. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle the sea salt over the fattest part of the pretzel. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until surface is golden brown.

for the Mustard
2 1/2 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
3 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 small shallot, diced
1 sprig of fresh thyme

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl, and soak overnight. Using an immersion blender, or a food processor, or a mortar and pestle (if you have the elbow grease), puree the mixture, leaving some of the whole mustard seeds intact. Season with sea salt to taste.
+ refrigerate the mustard for 24 hours to mellow the spiciness.