Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
1,000 Jewish Recipes (268 page)
1.
Prepare dough. Then, lightly oil a baking sheet. After dough has risen twice in a bowl, knead it lightly on a work surface, flouring lightly only if dough sticks.
2.
Shape dough into a rough cylinder. Cut cylinder into 3 equal parts.
3.
Knead 1 part briefly and shape it into a cylinder. Roll cylinder back and forth firmly on the work surface until it forms a smooth rope about 20 inches long and about
3
â
4
-inch wide; when rolling dough, press it with your hands held flat and elongate the cylinder from its center to its edges. Taper the rope slightly at its ends. Roll the other 2 parts into ropes.
4.
To braid the dough, put the ropes side by side, with one end of each closer to you. Join the ends farther from you, covering the end of the rope on your right side with the end of the center rope, and on top of that, the end of the left rope. Press joined ends together. Bring the left rope over the center one. Then bring the right rope over what is now the center rope. Continue bringing the outer ropes alternately over the center one, braiding tightly. Pinch each end. Tuck ends under- neath loaf. Set the braided bread carefully on the oiled baking sheet.
5.
Cover the challah with a warm, slightly damp towel and let rise about 1 hour or until nearly doubled. Preheat oven to 375°F.
6.
Brush risen loaf gently with beaten egg and sprinkle with seeds, if using. Bake in center of oven about 40 minutes or until top and bottom of bread are firm and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom. (Remove bread from oven before testing.) Carefully transfer bread to a rack and let cool.
This beautiful challah is sprinkled with both poppy and sesame seeds. It is best baked on a baking sheet so the heat penetrates evenly. I like to shape the dough as a braid but you can also make it into a braided crown or a round challah. Because this is a large quantity of dough, a mixer is most efficient.
3 large eggs
2 to 3 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 to 3 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 envelopes dry yeast or 2 cakes fresh yeast
About 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1
â
2
cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
1.
Set aside one egg for glaze and the sesame and poppy seeds for sprinkling. Using remaining ingredients above, prepare
Basic Challah Dough
, prepared by mixer.
2.
Lightly oil a baking sheet. Knead dough lightly on a work surface, flouring lightly only if dough sticks. Shape dough in a rough cylinder. Cut cylinder into 3 equal parts.
3.
Knead 1 part briefly and shape it into a cylinder. Roll cylinder back and forth firmly on the work surface until it forms a smooth rope about 20 inches long; when rolling dough, press it with your hands held flat and elongate the cylinder from its center to its edges. Taper the rope slightly at its ends. Roll the other 2 parts into ropes.
4.
To braid the dough, put the ropes side by side, with one end of each closer to you. Join the ends farther from you, covering the end of the rope on right side with the end of the center rope, and on top of that, the end of the left rope. Press joined ends together. Bring the left rope over the center one. Then bring the right rope over what is now the center rope. Continue bringing the outer ropes alternately over the center one, braiding tightly. Pinch each end. Tuck ends underneath loaf. Set the braided bread carefully on the oiled baking sheet.
5.
Cover the challah with a warm, slightly damp towel and let rise about 1 hour or until nearly doubled. Preheat oven to 350°F.
6.
Beat remaining egg with a pinch of salt. Brush risen loaf gently with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame and poppy seeds. Bake in center of oven about 1 hour or until top and bottom of bread are firm and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom. (Remove bread from oven before testing.) Carefully transfer bread to a rack and let cool.
The traditional challah to celebrate the Jewish New Year is often sweeter than usual and round in shape. Actually, it is a spiral mounded in a dome. The rounded loaves are made plain or with raisins and are popular also for Yom Kippur eve.
To make sure the challah has a light texture, you let the dough rise twice in a bowl and once after shaping the loaf. The challah tastes best on the day it is baked but you can wrap it and keep it 1 day at room temperature, or freeze it.
I like to make this sweeter, stickier dough in a mixer with a dough hook. You can also make it by hand (see recipe for
Basic Challah Dough
).
3 large eggs
1
â
3
cup raisins (optional)
1
â
2
cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 envelope dry yeast (
1
â
4
ounce or 2
1
â
2
teaspoons)
About 3 cups all-purpose flour
1
â
3
cup vegetable oil
1
1
â
2
teaspoons salt
1.
Set aside 1 egg for glaze and raisins, if using. Using remaining ingredients above, prepare
Basic Challah Dough
, prepared by mixer.
2.
If you're adding raisins, rinse, drain, and dry them on paper towels. Oil a baking sheet.
3.
Knead dough lightly on a floured work surface. Pat dough into about a 9-inch square on work surface. Sprinkle evenly with raisins, if using, and pat them into dough. Roll dough up tightly from one end to the other, lightly flouring work surface if dough begins to stick.
4.
Roll dough back and forth on work surface, pressing with your palms, to form a smooth rope about 28 inches long. Wind rope around one of its ends in a spiral. Tuck other end underneath and pinch firmly to attach it to dough. Press whole loaf firmly with your hands to give it an even round shape. Carefully set loaf on oiled baking sheet.
5.
Cover shaped loaf with a warm, slightly damp towel. Let rise about 1 hour or until nearly doubled. Preheat oven to 375°F.
6.
Beat remaining egg with a pinch of salt. Brush risen loaf gently with egg. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F. Bake about 30 more minutes or until top and bottom of bread are firm and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom.
7.
Carefully transfer bread to rack and cool.
Honey gives this challah a distinctive pleasing flavor. The dough is a little stickier than most bread doughs and takes a bit longer to rise. It's easiest to bake in a simple loaf pan, as in this recipe, but if you like, you can form it into a round, following the directions in
Round Rosh Hashanah Challah
and bake it for the Jewish New Year. To emphasize the bread's sweetness, you can add raisins if you like. Honey makes the dough easiest to make in a mixer. You can also make it by hand (see recipe for
Round Rosh Hashanah Challah
).
3 large eggs
1
â
3
to
1
â
2
cup raisins (optional)
1
â
2
cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 envelope dry yeast (
1
â
4
ounce or 2
1
â
2
teaspoons)
About 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1
â
4
cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1
â
4
cup liquid honey
1
1
â
2
teaspoons salt
1.
Set aside 1 egg for glaze and raisins, if using. Using remaining ingredients above, prepare
Basic Challah Dough
, prepared by mixer through step 5, adding honey after oil.
2.
Put raisins, if using, in medium bowl. Add enough warm water to cover and soak them for 15 minutes. Thoroughly oil or grease an 8 Ã 4-inch loaf pan. Drain raisins well, put on paper towels, and pat dry. Sprinkle about half of raisins over dough and knead in lightly by slapping dough in bowl. Repeat with remaining raisins. Turn dough out onto work surface. Knead thoroughly until raisins are well distributed.
3.
Pat dough to rough 8 Ã 4-inch rectangle. Roll up from longer side into a cylinder, pressing firmly. Pinch ends and seam tightly. Then roll cylinder again on work surface to press seam further. Place in pan seam-side down.
4.
Cover loaf with a warm, slightly damp cloth and let rise until nearly doubled, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°F.
5.
Beat remaining egg with a pinch of salt. Brush top of risen loaf gently with beaten egg. Bake bread 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Bake about 35 minutes or until top and bottom of bread are firm and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom; if loaf browns too quickly, cover loosely with brown paper or foil. Turn out of pan; if bread appears to be sticking, run a metal spatula or a thin knife carefully around bread. Cool on rack.
Keeping Homemade Breads
Since homemade breads do not contain preservatives, they taste best when served fresh. This is true for challah, rolls, bagels, and pita bread, but if they are well wrapped in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature, they also taste very good the following day. After two days their quality is acceptable if they are toasted or heated slightly, but if you know you're not going to eat them after one day, freeze them.
The smaller a bread is, the faster it dries out. Naturally, sliced breads dry much faster than whole loaves.
I slice whole loaves before freezing them so they can be heated easily in the toaster.