Kitchen Conundrum

NaBloPoMo- Challah And Apple Jelly

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DSC_0427There is nothing better than the smell of fresh bread wafting through the house. I’m pretty sure it’s one of those things that realtors use, like chocolate chip cookies and vanilla scented candles, to invoke subliminal emotions of family, warmth and a sense of home to prospective buyers. Never mind that the house only has one bathroom, I smell bread baking-sold!

I used to make challah every week. Everyone loves it when I do but it has been a while since I’ve made it.  The weather has turned chilly here so I’m all too happy to keep the oven on throughout the day now.  Inspired by a new cookbook I received to review about the art of making bread, I decided to revisit my old, trusted challah recipe first.

It’s quite simple and takes just a few minutes to prepare the dough. But it does take a good two hours for the dough to rise. While you could spend that time reading or sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of tea (in my dream life), I find that keeping on top of the ever growing pile of laundry takes precedence and this recipe gives me enough time to throw a load in, make the dough, switch the load, clean the kitchen, fold, braid, twist and bake the bread, put the laundry away and have a slice of freshly baked bread the minute it’s done.

A wonderful reward!

I made two loaves on Friday and one was devoured with dinner last night. The other I started late this afternoon with large melty pats of Beurre d’Isigny (a luxurious French butter) and a hefty spoonful of apple jelly (David Lebovitz’s divine recipe) that I made a few weeks ago after going apple picking.  It was hard to only have two pieces!

Apple Jelly

My photos for the original challah recipe post are terrible-it’s one of my first recipes on the blog- and I had no idea what I was doing back then. Funny though, I was so caught up in the making of my dough and trying to make a tiny dent in the laundry that I actually didn’t shoot new ones yesterday as I intended. Ah well. These things happen.

I did remember today, though barely -the one photo at the top- taken with my iPhone- as I devoured a slice. One of these days I will reshoot the entire recipe.

The new book looks wonderful and I feel like I have the hang of baking bread back. So, I’ll mix my dough tomorrow night after I get home from a day trip to Philly and hopefully will get to bake it Monday. I am excited to see how it turns out. These I will take pictures of!

 

Day #2 NaBloPoMoNaBloPoMo_November_large_0

Lazy Sunday French Toast Recipe

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DSC_4332The perfect and easy recipe for left over challah bread or any rich egg bread is Lazy Sunday French Toast.  Start it Saturday night because it needs to sit in the refrigerator overnight, thus leaving your Sunday morning for lazing around instead of laboring over making breakfast. You can use this recipe as a base and make it with many additions, such as chocolate chips, nuts, cinnamon, ginger or fresh fruit. It really just depends on your tastes.

 

Ingredients

1 Cup Maple Syrup

1 Medium Loaf Challah, sliced 1 1/2 inch thick

4 Eggs

1 Cup Half & Half

2 Teaspoons Vanilla

2 Teaspoons Bourbon*

Pinch of Salt

Powered Sugar for Garnish

* You can omit or replace the bourbon with rum, orange-flavored brandy liqueur, or orange juice.

Method

In a 9×13″ baking pan pour the maple syrup to cover the bottom evenly. Arrange the sliced challah or other bread into the bottom of the pan in one layer squeezing them slightly to make them fit. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, half & half, vanilla, bourbon, and salt.  Pour over the bread. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight, or a minimum of eight hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove pan from refridgerator and uncover. Place in oven and bake for 35-40 until golden brown.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve while hot.

Then go, enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

 

Sweet Egg Challah Recipe

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There are as many Challah recipes as there are stars. Ones that have been passed down from generation to generation. Ones that have been hand written in the beautiful script from years long gone on worn recipe cards. Ones that have no recipe but are made weekly by memory. Unfortunately, our family does not have recipe like those.  I have painstakingly made hundreds of recipes over the years, tasted countless challahs, some good, some inedible. I have changed recipes adding a bit more this and a lot less that. Last year, I finally had created a recipe that was consistently good. Not too eggy, sweet, but not overly so, a bit heavy and more like cake. It has become my family’s favorite and I try to make it every week. I think this will be our recipe that gets passed down. My family does not like raisins, so we never put them into our challah. But you may certainly add raisins, dried apples or whatever fruits you may like. Chocolate chips are always a welcome addition. If there should be any leftover pieces, it makes great French Toast.

 

Ingredients

Activate The Yeast

1 Teaspoon Granulated Sugar

1 1/2 Cups of  Warm Water

2 Packages of Instant Yeast

Dough

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

5 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 Tablespoon Salt

1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/3 Cup Honey

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil + 1 Tablespoon to oil the rising bowl

3 Whole Eggs

3 Egg Yolks

Egg Wash

1 Egg Yolk + 1 Teaspoon Granulated Sugar + 1 Teaspoon Water Mixed in a Small Bowl.

Method:

In a small bowl, activate the yeast by adding 1 teaspoon sugar to 1 1/2 cups warm water.  Stir the yeast into the water with a fork. Set aside to bubble and grow.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 5 cups of all purpose flour. (You may also do this without a mixer and blend by hand and knead by hand.)

Add salt, sugar, honey and oil.

A trick to get every last drop of honey is to use the same measuring cup for the oil and add the oil first and don’t wash it in between.

Add eggs and egg yolks.

Save the egg whites! You can also freeze them for later uses. Meringues, omelets, etc.

Add the activated yeast. It should have bubbled and grown.

Turn on the mixer and let it knead the dough until the sides of the bowl are clean of dough.

Take the dough out of the mixer and give it a few kneads by hand to shape it into a nice ball.

Add a tablespoon of oil into a large bowl. Place the ball of dough into the bowl and roll it around to coat with the oil.

Cover with a clean, damp towel and place in a warm spot to rise for an hour. After one hour, punch it down and let it rise again for another hour.

At this point, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Punch the dough down and divide into two halves.

Divide each half into three equal parts.

Roll each part into a long, thick strand of dough. Make a braid with the three parts squishing the dough together at one end and tucking both ends under when you are done.

Repeat with other halve of dough to form 2 loaves. Place in a greased pan.

Use a pastry brush to apply the egg wash.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom.

Remove from pan to a cooling rack and cool for a few minutes before slicing. If you can help yourself.