Pesto Challah

I love garden season!  Our basil has been going a bit crazy lately, so the thing to do is... of course... make homemade pesto.  And when one has fresh pesto, the thing to do is... of course... make pesto challah!

For this challah, you can use your own fresh pesto or store-purchased pesto.  When I make pesto at home, I leave out the cheese to make it parve and then freeze it.  Then I add parmesan later.  It's really up to you, but keep this in mind in case you want to serve your pesto challah with a meat meal.

 

3/4 c water 2 1/4 tsp active dry or instant yeast (1 packet)
1/4 tsp sugar
1 egg plus 1 more for egg wash
3 tbsp olive oil
3 c flour (for this recipe, I used 1/4 c white whole wheat and the rest a mixture of bread flour and unbleached all-purpose flour because that's what I had... you can use any proportion to your taste)
1 tsp salt (you may want to omit this depending on the salt quantity in your pesto, especially if it is store-purchased)
2 tbsp prepared pesto

For the homemade pesto, you'll need...

2 BIG handfuls of fresh basil
Pine nuts (about 2 tbsp)
2-5 cloves of garlic (we like it garlicky)
olive oil
pinch of salt
parmesan cheese (if desired)

To prepare the pesto, wash the basil and place in food processor. Peel and roughly slice the garlic and add with the pine nuts. Add a pinch of salt and pulse until finely chopped. You may need to wipe down the sides of the food processor with a spatula. Through the feeder tube, add the olive oil slowly to your desired consistency.

I'm always blow away that two huge handfuls of basil produce such a small amount of pesto. My yield was this little teeny tupperware full... which I divided into a mere 6 ice cubes (freezing is a great way to get just the right amount. You can freeze in ice cube trays and then pop out and put into a plastic bag).

For the challah, add the yeast and sugar to warm (but not hot) water in mixing bowl. Allow yeast to proof about 10 minutes. In the meantime, you can retrieve your pesto from the freezer and thaw it in the microwave if need-be. I used two ice cubes which was equivalent to about 2 tablespoons of pesto.

Mix the pesto into the proofed yeast. Add the egg. Since the pesto already has olive oil, I went easy on the amount of oil in this challah, adding just 3 tablespoons.

Add the flour and salt (if using). At this point, you can also add parmesan cheese if you want to make your challah for a dairy meal. Mix by hand or on a stand mixer until a ball forms. This dough is a bit more relaxed than most of my other doughs.

Place in oiled bowl and cover in plastic wrap or a towel. Allow to rise at about an hour and a half, until dough has doubled in size. Braid as normal.

Allow to rise an additional 20-30 minutes. Top with an egg wash and parmesan cheese if you like. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Surprisingly, the flavor of pesto challah is milder than the taste. You do get your garlicky goodness (which we luuuuurve!), but you can add more or less pesto to your own taste. The result is really fun and the color of the pesto plus the additional olive oil, gives the bread a lovely shade.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE garden season?

Shabbat Shalom from our bayit to yours!

Lemon and Lavender Scented Challah

Garden Season continues!  The basil, thyme, and sage are going crazy.  The tomatoes are starting, and the peppers are gaining color.  When we first planted our garden, I added a little lavender plant.  One year later, the plant has increased in size probably ten-fold and I've never used it for anything.  Time for that to change.

Most lavender recipes out there are for fresh or dried lavender flowers.  I had a great time exploring all sorts of different recipes and information links here, here, and here.  I ultimately decided that I wanted to use various Lemon Lavender muffins as an inspiration.  I've used lemon once before, although the result wasn't very successful.  Last time, I used so much lemon juice that the dough was extra soft, and the lemon scent was overpowering.  This time, I decided to pair the lavender leaves with the zest of a lemon.  Additionally, I added quite a bit of sugar to this recipe and used warmed milk instead of water to proof the yeast.  I think the yeast may have under-proofed a bit, because my resulting challah was dense, almost like a tea biscuit... which was really my goal.  This is the kind of challah that I want to slather with lemon curd and serve with Earl Gray tea.

1/2 c milk (I used skim)
1 tsp active dry or instant yeast
1/4 c plus 1/4 tsp sugar
1 egg (split, I beat it then used "most" in the dough)
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of half of 1 lemon
Leaves of 1 sprig of fresh lavender

I based this recipe off of my REALLY Small Batch Challah, as I did earlier this month with Strawberry Basil Challah.  One small-size loaf.

Finely chop the lavender.  Place lavender and milk in a small sauce pan on the stove and warm.  Add the yeast and 1/4 tsp sugar.  Let rest for about 10 minutes.  Add the egg, rest of the sugar, and lemon zest.   Add the flour and salt.

Knead with a dough hook on 2 or by hand until the dough holds together as a ball.  {You can see how small this batch is here.}

Cover and place in a covered, oiled bowl. Let rise until doubled bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. As I said, the dough didn't seem to really rise... but I just went with it.  Braid as normal.

The Hazz also made me a little "A," perfect for a pre-Shabbat sampling...

Let rest for about a half hour. Egg wash with the reserved egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.

I love this challah. It's surprising. It smells like tea time. It just feels fancy. I'm calling it a success. Can't wait for more challah from the garden throughout this summer.

Shavua Tov, from our bayit to yours!!!

Strawberry Basil Challah

So, apparently Strawberry + Basil is a trendy combination of flavors.  And all of these look really awesome.  Strawberry Basil Lemonade sounds very refreshing.  However, when I started seeing some baking recipes with this flavor, it got me thinking... could I turn Strawberry Basil Scones and Strawberry Basil Cupcakes into Strawberry Basil Challah?  Well, I gave it a go...

One of thing things that I love, love, love about warm weather is my garden. The Hazz gave it to me for our first anniversary last year {coming up on two years on June 13th!}, and it's one of my favorite places.

And one of the best things about the garden is the herbs... particularly... THE BASIL!

I was very excited to spot these sweetened dried Strawberries at Trader Joe's, similar to the dried blueberries we used in Wild Blueberry Challah in April. A combination of both berries in one challah... definitely coming up in a next few months! Yum!

1/2 c water
1 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 tsp white sugar
1 egg (split, I beat it then used "most" in the dough)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
Small handful of fresh basil, chopped
Dried Strawberries

I based this recipe off of my REALLY Small Batch Challah, a challah I created to "test" recipes. I was apprehensive about this recipe working... so the yield is low. One small-size loaf.


The method here is similar to other challah, but since the recipe is so small, you might need to mix by hand instead of with a hook if the dough ball is too small for your mixture. Proof the yeast in the hot water with the sugar. While you're waiting, chop the basil and strawberries.

After the yeast is frothy, add most of the egg (reserve a small amount to be used in the egg wash), vanilla, and oil. Stir in the flour, salt, and basil.

Knead with a dough hook on 2 or by hand until the dough just starts to hold together but is still shaggy. Add the strawberry pieces all at once. Continuing kneading until the dough holds together as a ball.

Cover and place in a covered, oiled bowl. Let rise until doubled bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Turn the dough out on a floured work surface. Braid as normal, trying to keep the strawberries on the inside of the dough.

Let rest for about a half hour. Egg wash with the reserved egg. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.

This challah is really different. The basil aroma comes across much more than the basil flavor. The whole result--the fresh basil marrying the sweet strawberries--is a lovely combination... I completely understand why the flavors are so popular. I think when I make this challah again, I'll add more strawberries and perhaps put a little vanilla in the egg wash to sweeten the whole thing up. I also tried it toasted with a bit of lemon curd... delicious and it made me feel so fancy!

Are YOU incorporating garden fresh ingredients in YOUR challot?

Flax Seed and Millet Bread

Sometimes, during the middle of the week, you just need fresh baked bread. And sometimes, you decide that two hours before dinner is supposed to be on the table. (So you can't make that wonderfully amazing 18-hour Hunger Games bread.) So you improvise with all the random grains you have in your cupboard.

Here's what I came up with to go with a Thursday night mushroom and white bean soup... Flax Seed and Millet Bread with white whole wheat!

3/4 c warm but not hot water
2 1/4 tsp active dry or instant yeast
1 1/2 tbsp basswood honey
1 egg, beaten and divided
1/4 c neutral oil (I used canola)
1 c bread flour plus a little more
1 c white whole wheat flour plus a little more
1 tsp salt
1 heaping tbsp flax seed
1 heaping tbsp millet

I found some basswood honey at one of our fancy local grocery stores. I love the strong, almost tang of basswood honey, and I think it matches well with whole wheat.. tames it a bit of if you will.

Proof the yeast in the warm water and basswood honey.  Let rest for about 10 minutes and then add the oil.  I beat the egg in a small drinking glass and poured most but not all of it in the mixture, reserving a small amount for the end to wash the bread.

Add a heaping cup of white whole wheat flour and a heaping cup of bread flour.  Sprinkle in the salt, flax seed, and millet.  Mix by hand or in a stand mixer on 2 until the dough holds together as a ball.  Add more flour as needed.  I think I was under a total of 3 cups, but I'm really not totally sure.  I was improvising after all.

I was feeling festive but didn't want to make the loaf too Shabbos-y (yes, I just turned that into an adjective).  So, I gave it a round braid.

As with most round braids, you need to bake them just a touch longer and usually foil them on top so they don't over brown with the inside doughy.  Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, turning halfway.

Enjoy with a yummy dinner. Here's a link to the soup recipe (which is even pareve!).

What breads have you improvised recently?  Did they turn out?  Were they soft and chewy like this one with just a little crunch of those millet and flax seeds?  I could definitely see this one as a challah for a nice, healthy Shabbat dinner.

Shabbat Shalom from our bayit to yours!

Wisconsin Maple Syrup Challah

Did you know that we live in Wisconsin?  I don't know if I ever mentioned that.  Well, we do, and we love it here.  When I was seven, our entire second grade (also including my mom's second grade class -- she's helping me remember this story) went to a nature center to learn about maple sugaring.  The two highlights of the trip were putting your tongue right under a tapped tree to taste the raw sap and eating pancakes with real maple syrup.  If you didn't make sure your plate was completely clean, the lumberjack who served you up your pancakes (perhaps I'm exaggerating on the lumberjack part) would make you lick your plate clean.  Yum!

Anyway, my mom recently pointed me to an article in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on how terrible the maple sugaring season has been this year.  We've been enjoying unseasonably warm weather reaching as high as the 80s a few days this week.  Buds are opening on trees, and we're all excited for this early spring.  Unfortunately, is that maple syrup season has suffered tremendously.

When the buds open, the sap turns bitter, ending the maple syrup season. That's happened already in some parts of Wisconsin, though hard maple trees bud later than soft maples. Some sugar bushes - forests filled with maple trees - still may have a chance, but only if nighttime temperatures fall below freezing again, and the buds don't open first. {source: jsonline.com}

The fragility of nature is amazing. It takes a whopping 40 gallons of sap to make only one gallon of maple syrup.  Wow.

Now that you know why maple syrup (the pure stuff, the good stuff, the only stuff you should ever purchase) is so expensive and so precious, I present to you Wisconsin Maple Syrup Challah!

2/3 c water
2 1/4 tsp active dry or instant yeast
1/4 c pure maple syrup plus about 1 tbsp more for egg wash
1 egg plus 1 more for egg wash
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 c bread flour
1 tsp salt

I recently switched to a new brand of yeast that is store in the freezer and instant.  I realized this morning that I've been treating it like active dry yeast and proofing it, but now I'm second guessing whether I should be doing that.  Do I still have to proof it?  Am I wrecking it by proofing it?

Proof the yeast with the hot water and maple syrup.  Let rest 10 minutes or until foamy.  Add the egg and oil, mixing gently.  Add the flour and salt.  For some reason, my dough was extremely, extremely tough, so I added a little more oil and water, but then needed a bit more flour.  Use your judgment.  Knead by hand or with a dough hook until a ball forms.

Let rest in a covered, oiled bowl for about 1 1/2 hours.

(In the interest of full disclosure, we did a refrigerator overnight rise this week... and I hated it.  It was a logistical thing, because today I'm writing this post away from home and will likely not be home until this evening right when Shabbat starts.  So I wanted to bake the bread this morning.  But it took FOREVER for the dough to reach a workable temperature when I took it out of the oven.  Any tips on refrigerator rise?)

Braid as normal.  Mix the beaten egg with a healthy dollop of maple syrup (about 1 tbsp) and brush over the dough.  I added sesame seeds to one loaf, but I think cinnamon might be great!  I also think I might try maple chips in this dough to really sweeten it up.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches at least 180 degrees.

How do you show YOUR home state/town pride in your baking?  Shabbat Shalom!