My stomach would be in knots, my nerves going beserk thinking about the play I needed to run in order to beat the top ten opponent, and my mental faculties would be in conflict as a compared the potential number of calories burned tomorrow with the number of calories lying on the family style platter of Bucca di Beppo's signature Chicken Parmesan in front of me. The fiery directions to 'eat it' came once from my left and twice from my right. There was nothing I or my digestive system wanted to do less. So to everyone's chagrin, I ate a salad.
Inevitably, as the last couple seconds of the first half of the game expired, I ran out of fuel. It happened every time. I still hadn't learned my lesson. I would turn to the stash of Cheerios I kept stocked in my stick bag - an extra 140 calories to get me through the second half. Even then, with five key minutes left in the game, my shot would turn from a goal-piercing bullet (I like to think so at least) to a lob that would have gotten my kicked out of a partner passing drill at practice. And I became, to a certain extent worthless on the field. There was no doubt about it, especially looking back now, a salad for pre-game wasn't enough.
This evening an unsettling feeling is once again taking over my core - a slight nausea as I prepare to head into the ring tomorrow evening. I will need to be on my A-game - I will need to make sure my note cards are memorized and the 'whopper' words are flowing freely. Tomorrow, I face the Board. And I've got to admit, I'm a little nervous.
So naturally, I thought back to our pre-game ritual - the good and bad of it - failures made and lessons learned - calorie battles won and lost. And I decided that if I'm going to perform well tomorrow, I will need a good, balanced meal - one that is more than the sum of a mixture of baby greens. Something with carbs for the short bursts of energy I'll need, and something with protein in case the questioning and dialogue goes long into the night. And perhaps something with the kind of international flare that would be appropriate for the global organization where I work.
Virtually and gastronomically, we decided to go to Munich by way of the Wednesday Chef for the big pre-game meal this evening. I decided to get my carbs through homemade soft pretzels, my protein through brats, and my greens through bohne. And I ate it all. Plus the remainder of Peter's pretzel.
And I'm pumped. Ready to go. Looking forward to going over my slides one last time in the morning. Confident that it will be great meeting. Thanks to a great pre-game meal.
Lo.
Pre-Game Pretzels
Adapted from The Wednesday Chef
Makes 12 pretzels
Ingredients
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
2 packets instant yeast
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Food-grade lye, for dipping (amazon.com)
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Directions
In a mixing bowl, stir together sugar, butter, yeast, 2 cups warm water and 3 cups flour. Add kosher salt and remaining flour and stir until mixture just comes together in a shaggy mass, pulling together with your hands.
Turn dough out onto counter and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and supple. Cut into 12 equal pieces and let rest 5 minutes.
Roll out each piece into a rope about 22 inches long. I had to use a little hand bowl of water to get them to roll out effectively. Fold the rope into a pretzel shape. Transfer shaped pretzels to an ungreased baking sheet and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then refrigerate them for at least 1/2 hour.
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
(I didn't do this part, because I didn't have lye. Instead, I made an egg wash.) In a deep bowl, wearing rubber or latex gloves, make a solution of 1/2 cup lye and 10 cups water (or 1 part lye to 20 parts water); pour lye carefully into water to avoid splashing. Dip each pretzel in solution, turning it over for 10 to 15 seconds, and place back on baking sheet.
Sprinkle pretzels with salt. Bake about 15 minutes or until deep brown. Remove to a rack and serve warm.`
No comments:
Post a Comment