Red, White, and Blue{berry} | Part II

Sometimes, chaverim, challot just don't turn out the way I envision them.  In my mind, they're so tasty that I think I can actually sense the flavors.  In my mind, they smell heavenly.  In my mind, they're gorgeous.

This recipe totally fit that bill, but it didn't taste great.  It tasted... fine.  It smelled... fine.  Actually, it smelled a little like vegetables.  And it looked... pretty good.  But, the taste and the smell... *sigh*

There are lots of recipes out there for beet bread.  Bright, gorgeous red loaves.  I wanted to try it with my own fresh garden beets, so pretty and so fresh.

After a bit of research, I decided not to roast the beets and instead just shred them first with a box grater and then with a my food processor. Perhaps this was my first mistake. If I'd roasted them, I could have made more of a think puree. The dough was certainly lovely, if not a bit magenta-ish pink. I hoped for the best.

In the meantime, I whipped up a small batch and added some wild blueberries to half. Once the doughs were ready, I laid them out, said a few more prayers that this might work and braided!

It certainly was a lovely challah and, visually, exactly like I planned. I love the idea of braiding two different doughs together.

I baked it like normal, and soon the smell of challah beets filled my house. Uh oh.  This wasn't what I expected.  Everything I had read told me that the beets would just add color but not too much flavor.  Where my garden-fresh beets just too strong?  Had I wasted some precious, grown-from-seed beets on a challah disaster?

I kept hoping.  And out they came from the oven.

Plus a ruby red challah.

I could tell you guys that this challah is awesome. Or, I could not give you the recipe, because it's a total bummer, and I don't want you all to think that everything I make I'm totally satisfied with. I actually threw a smaller, three-strand away :( because it looked weird, and it tasted LIKE BEETS. The remnants of these challot have been saved... The Hazz hasn't tried them yet, but he wants to give them a go. I don't know. It was a firework of an idea, but a total dud in reality.

Do you ever try new challah recipes that just don't work out? Don't give up! Shabbat Shalom from our bayit to yours!