Rosh Hashanah 5773 | Pomegranate Challah & A Giveaway!!! {closed}

As I wrote about in my post on pomegranate-shaped challah, it's no secret that I love pomegranates. I have a pomegranate-shaped necklace, and our ketubah has a pomegranate on the scroll. There is a powerful symbolism around pomegranates and fertility, abundance, and the new year. Many people eat them on the second night of the holiday as their traditional "new fruit." Additionally, pomegranates supposedly contain 613 seeds, the same number as the mitzvot in the Torah.

This challah turned out to be quite a challenge, but I learned a few things in the process of making it. Besides a recipe, I'm excited to share with you the amazing way of removing the seeds from a pomegranate without staining your fingers and your clothes (no kidding, I actually wore a white shirt while seeding my pomegranate... totally clean!). Pomegranate seeds--arils--are watery, sweet, and crunchy. For some reason, I sort of expected them to change consistency in baking... which they really didn't. I had an idea that they'd become like cranberry texture. They don't. But don't let that deter you. This bread is delicious and the additions of extra aromatic spices and pomegranate juice are a fun twist.

1/2 c water
2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry or instant yeast
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp sugar or more for a sweeter challah
2 egg plus 1 more for egg wash
1/4 c neutral oil such as canola or vegetable
3 1/2 c bread flour
1 tsp salt
scant 1 tsp cinnamon
pinch ground cloves (just a pinch)
3-5 tbsp pomegranate juice (I used Trader Joe's organic)
Arils (seeds) of 1 pomegranate

Yield: 2 nice-sized round challot. You can either coil or make a braided round.

Please note, adding juice to challah may change the brakha said of this bread depending on the customs of your community. Check with your rabbinic authority for clarification on the laws of challah.

Place very warm but not boiling water in mixing bowl. Add yeast and honey, mixing lightly. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes, or until the yeast is foamy.  Add eggs and vegetable oil and mix with wood spoon.  Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, and pinch ground cloves.  At this point, your dough should be on the shaggy side because it's lacking in liquid.  Don't worry too much about this.

If you have a stand mixer, beat dough hook or knead by hand. Add the pomegranate juice slowly (I poured it into a glass) until a ball forms and holds together, cleaning the sides of the mixing bowl.  This dough has a lovely dark color due to the addition of the juice.  If the dough is very sticky, add more flour.

Turn the ball out onto a floured work surface and knead a few times until very smooth.  Place in oiled bowl and cover in plastic wrap or a towel.  Now you can prepare your pomegranate!  Place a piece of paper towel over your cutting board and cut open the pomegranate (the paper towel keeps those staining juices from trickling down onto you and your clothes).  Take half of the fruit and place it a bowl of water, using your hands to break out the seeds underwater.  The heavy seeds will sink to the bottom, while the membrane and skins will float.  Amazing right?  No mess!

When you're done, you can skim off the membrane and skin and then pour the contents of the bowl through a strainer.  Ta-da!

Allow to rise at least one hour, preferably more (usually about an hour and a half), until doubled in size.   With some extra flour ready, knead the pomegranate seeds into the dough by hand and shape as desired.  I ended up adding about 1/4 c of additional flour.

Allow to shaped loaves to rise an additional 20-30 minutes. Top with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar if desired.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.  Since round challot tend to be doughy in the middle, check at 20 and 25 minutes, foiling the top as necessary to prevent over browning.  The challot are ready when internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.

As I said, these challot are different. The seeds are a little juicy and a little gummy. They pop in your mouth and have a lovely tang. The spices of the bread are aromatic which I think is one of my favorite parts along with the pomegranate juice. This particular pomegranate also didn't seem quite as ripe (the seeds weren't all bright red like you sometimes get). However, I'm calling this a success. The Hazz and I enjoyed one loaf, and we're freezing the other to serve in a few weeks. I can't believe it's already the middle of Elul!

This High Holiday season, Nirbeh zchuyoteinu k'rimon, may our merits increase like the seeds of a pomegranate.

Rosh Hashanah Blogger Party & Giveaway

This week, I am thrilled to be participating in the Rosh HaShanah Blogger Party where you'll find some AH-MAZING links to other great recipes this year for your High Holiday table.  I'm so happy to be included, and I can't wait to try some of these recipes out!

Welcome to the first ever Jewish Holiday Blog Party, hosted by Jessie of Taste and Miriam of Overtime Cook, and sponsored by Kitchen Aid! As you may know, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year is coming up, and Jewish bloggers from all over the world are celebrating with all kinds of twists on traditional Rosh Hashanah foods. 

To kick off the celebration, Levana Kirschenbaum is giving away a copy of her fabulous new book, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen to three lucky winners. To enter, leave a comment on this post sharing with me your favorite part about Rosh Hashanah (it can be food, services, family, whatever you like!). Limit one entry per reader per blog so click over to the other participating blogs below for your chance at additional entries! Giveaway ends 5 am eastern time on September 11th, 2012. 

Prize is sponsored by Levana and available to readers from all blogs participating in the Rosh Hashanah Blog Party. Prize can only be shipped within the US. 

This is the first of hopefully many exciting Holiday Blog Parties, so if you would like to join in the fun, please email holidayblogparties@gmail.com.

Stop by and check out some of these amazing Rosh Hashanah themed recipes on the following blogs: 

Challah and Bread:

Marlene of The Jewish Hostess made Apple Challah

Amanda of The Challah Blog made Pomegranate Challah

Shelly of The Kosher Home made Apple, Honey and Pomegranate Challah!

Sides, Salads and Starters: 

Sarah of Food, Words, Photos made Tzimmes (Rosh Hashanah Carrots)

Tali of More Quiche, Please made Roasted Beets and Butternut Squash

Roberta and Lois of Kosher Eye made Simanim Salad

Chanie of Busy In Brooklyn made Pomegranate Coleslaw

Rivki of Life in the Married Lane made Super Salad

Hannah of Cooking Manager made Beets Marinated with Ginger and Garlic

Sina of The Kosher Spoon made Pomegranate, Almond and Raisin Couscous 

Shulie of Food Wanderings made Rosh Hashanah Salad

Hindy of Confident Cook-Hesitant Baker made Warm Roasted Beets with Farro

Sarah of Kosher Street made Sweet Potato Apple Tzimmes

Main Dishes:

Jessie of Taste made Smoked Salmon

Samantha of The Little Ferraro Kitchen made Chicken with Dates

Michele of Kosher Treif Cooking made Coconut Chicken Strips with two dipping sauces

Melinda of Kitchen Tested made Key Lime Glazed Duck

Stephanie and Jessica of The Kosher Foodies made Chicken Braised in Pomegranate 

Liz of The Lemon Bowl made Beef Brisket

Estee of Anyone Interested? made Easy Breazy 5 Minute Brisket

Desserts and Drinks:

Miriam of Overtime Cook made Mini Apples and Honey Tarts

Laura of Pragmatic Attic made Fresh Ginger Honey Cake

Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen made Honey Caramel Apple Galette

Danielle of Hugs and Cookies xoxo made The World's Best Rugelach

Amy of What Jew Wanna Eat made an Apple and Honey Cocktail

Nick of The Baking Process made Apple and Date Honey Squares

Lisa of The Monday Morning Cooking Club made Honey Chiffon Cake and Traditional Honey Cake

Leah of Cook Kosher made Pomegranate Ice Cream

Nossi of The Kosher Gastronome made Non-dairy Key Lime Cheesecake Bar with Key Lime Caramel

Rustic Sourdough Challah

I feel a little like sourdough is a baking enigma.  Or at least some sort of dreamy mystery for most amateur bakers.  I loooove sourdough, but was completely fearful of it.  The idea that you have this yeastless base in your fridge at all times, just waiting to be feed like sort of living being.  A little scary, right?  No?  Maybe it's just me.

But, I really wanted to make Sourdough Challah happen.  The idea that villagers could just pass on the sourdough starter from friend to friend.  It all seems very shtetl life to me, a romantically beautiful notion.  When I made my most recent bread flour order from King Arthur Flour, I decided to bite the bullet and try out sourdough.  So I ordered their Classic Fresh Sourdough Starter.  (A few weeks ago, I tried making my own sourdough starter using the method from A Blessing of Bread, one of my favorite go-to challah recipe books when looking for inspiration or to have a question answered.  Needless to say, I forgot about my starter and killed it before it was ever ready... so the KAF established starter seemed like a safer bet.)

When the starter arrived, KAF gave some pretty specific instructions on feeding the starter to reactivate it.  Then, last night I set to work on making it a 100% hydration starter for my challah this morning.  To do this, I halved my refrigerated starter and added the recommended water and flour to what was left.  Then I let it sit overnight.  12 hours later it looked like this...

Ready, bubbly and time for Sourdough Challah!

I relied heavily on Sour Salty Bitter Sweet's Sourdough Challah, though this recipe is quite similar in proportions to my Basic Small Batch Challah.

1 c hydrated sourdough starter
1/2 to 3/4 c tepid water (I was closer to 3/4)
scant 3 tbsp honey
1/4 c neutral oil like canola or vegetable
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks plus 1 more for egg wash
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 c bread flour

What you really need for this challah is TIME.  The sourdough starter needs about 12 hours to hydrate, and the dough rises really slowly.  If you're making this  for Shabbat, you'll need to start pretty early in the morning.  Yield is 2 medium sized loaves or 1 large loaf.

Mix together the wet ingredients: the starter, water, honey, oil, and 1 egg + the yolks.  (This challah is much more fool proof... it's basically a dump challah.)  Mix everything together with a wooden spoon or large whisk.

Add the flourand salt, starting with just one cup of flour.  The dough is going to be more stiff than normal, so I recommend mixing it by hand initially, and then using the dough hook for the majority of the kneading (you can of course knead by hand).  The dough will feel slightly stiffer than normal challah dough.

Here's where the TIME comes in.  You need it.  Loads of it.  Some recipes say let the dough triple.  Some double.  Some simply say 8 hours.  4 hours.  12 hours.  I don't have a really good recommendation for you.  I let mine rise for 6 hours, until it just started to touch the top of the plastic wrap in the oiled bowl.  (Usually, my rises look like this.)

At this point, take a moment and smell your dough. It should smell awesome. I just love that sourdough aroma. Yum. Braid as normal. And now for more TIME. Let rest at least two hours, preferably more.  I had a casserole baking in my oven at 450, so I put the pan on top of the oven, which rushed the braided rise a bit.  Eggwash and add poppy or sesame seeds as desired.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway.

When I'm trying a new recipe, I always like to make a few rolls so I can sample before Shabbat!  Wow.  These smell like deli sourdough; I'm so pleased.  The five-stranded braid isn't as pretty as I'd like, but the challah's didn't rip in the oven, so I think they're proofed enough.  On the whole, the loaf isn't as sweet as my challahs usually are.  However, this would make a delightful sandwich bread or dipping in soup... just what I was going for.

Have YOU ever experimented with sourdough?  Did I make any egregious errors? Shabbat Shalom from our bayit to yours!

View of Shabbat: Back to Basics {Basic Challah}

You guys.  Haverim.  I have a confession to make.  I'm a little challah-whelmed.  After the last few weeks of very adventuresome challot {here and here}, I wanted something basic.  Something real.  Something safe.

I wanted to go home.

Do you ever find yourself just yearning for the simple?

I think it was a good choice.

Shabbat Shalom from our bayit to yours!

Shavuot Recipe Book: Dairy Challah

There are many stories that explain the tradition of eating dairy foods on Shavuot, but none are truly conclusive.  Some simply connect it to the idea from Exodus that the Israelites would leave Egypt and go to the land "flowing with milk and honey."  Here's another interesting tidbit if you like gematria...

A sage discovered that the initials of the four Hebrew words in Numbers 28:26, which describe the sacrificial meal offering on Shavuot, spell mei halav (from milk), suggesting that dairy food is the acceptable dinner for the festival. At Sinai, the Israelites were considered to be as innocent as newborns, whose food is milk. {Source}

Cool, right?  There's more on that link that talks about halav (milk) having the same gematria value as the number of days that Moses spent on Mount Sinai... a stretch?  Perhaps, but I do love puzzles!

(Yup!  That's a puzzle.  We're become a little... obsessed with puzzles.)

I've made challah with milk before... Sprouted Wheat with Milk and Honey Challah included milk because I read (somewhere) that milk helps relax the wheat.  I wasn't honestly convinced that it made much of a difference, but it was a fun experiment anyway!

This recipe will yield one large or two medium-size loaves.

2 1/4 instant yeast (1 packet)
3 c bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 c milk, slightly warmed (I used skim)
1 heaping tbsp basswood or other dark honey
2 eggs plus 1 more for egg wash

This challah was the first one that I actually used instant yeast like one is supposed to use instant yeast... I just mixed it in with the flour. Normally, I've been afraid of that and proof it just like active dry yeast, although you don't have to do that.

Mix together the yeast, flour, and salt.  Can you spot the yeast here?

Yeah, me neither.

On the stove in a small pan, warm the milk and honey, stirring constantly. Add the milk/honey mixture and the eggs to the flour/yeast mixture.

Blend with a wooden spoon and then knead by hand or on the stand mixture until a ball forms.

While you're mixing, you can use this time to catch up on your favorite shows... Downton Abbey, anyone?

Let rest in an oiled bowl for about an hour and a half or until doubled in bulk.  Braid as normal and allow to rest an additional 20-30 minutes.  Egg wash and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Now, here's the part where I get honest.  I have no beautiful pictures of this challah to share.  I got a little... cavalier... with my challah shape.  I read a lovely little story in Maggie Glezer's A Blessing of Bread on Ladder Challah.  Glezer writes:

The ladder-shaped challah, which is served on Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai, symbolizes spiritual ascension and Mount Sinai because the Hebrew words for "ladder" and "Sinai" have identical numerical value (as shown in the mystical study of Torah called gematria).  {A Blessing of Bread, 79.}

So, I set to work.  I started with a flattened disk and added the rungs.

It looked pretty great! I was very proud.

And oh dear. What a disastrous result.

With the popularity of Pinterest, there have also appeared a lot of Pinterest Fail Blogs that will show a picture of the goal and the picture of one's own result with the phrase, "Nailed it." I think I nailed it.  Oy.

Luckily, I also made some rolls that DID turn out quite lovely.  This challah has a sweetness to it that's a bit unexpected.  It also has a darker color, which I suspect is from the basswood honey.  It's a bit tough to work with... I think it's the lack of oil.  But, overall, I wouldn't change a thing.  It was a really nice dairy challah!

We'll be tweaking our Shavuot recipes over the next few weeks!  Have a recipe to share?  A request for something special?  Send to it me at themrs {at} thechallahblog {dot} com or leave a comment here!

View of Shabbat - May 4th

We decided to go "traditional" today... when my Mom is visiting and we're having chicken and potatoes... our basic challah seemed the best match!

Wishing you a restful and wonderful Shabbat from our bayit to yours!

Wild Blueberry and Agave Challah

I doubly experimented with this week's challah, and I'm so glad I did!  Last summer, Leigh Ann wrote a guest post on blueberry challah.  She got a pretty good result using frozen blueberries but she ultimately decided it wasn't such an amazing bread... pretty good, but not great.

But thing about this challah is? Once you finally, ecstatically, bite into it…it’s really nothing to write home about. It’s still beautiful, even more beautiful than before it was baked. Certainly, there’s nothing WRONG with it. But it’s kind of bland, with not much real character to differentiate it from other challot - a Mary Sue, if you will. (Yes. I even crack myself up.) And that’s why I’m calling this “Bella Cullen Blueberry Challah.”

Not to be deterred (am I ever?), I figured I'd give it another go when I spotted Dried Wild Blueberries at Trader Joe's this past week.  (They're even O-U!)  I also grabbed a bottle of Agave Syrup, wanting to give it a try.  A few friends have suggested to me using it in cereal or oatmeal, though I've never tried it with anything.

And then I realized I knew nothing about agave other than it's a really good V-word on Words with Friends.  Well, research is my strong suit, so I started with Chef Google and found a few things...

• Agave nectar is 1.4 to 1.6 times sweeter than sugar. {Source}
• Agave is commonly used as a Vegan alternative to honey in cooking. {Source}
• The taste of agave nectar is comparable, though not identical, to honey. {Source}
• It also has none of the bitter aftertaste associated with artificial sweeteners. {Source}
• One of the most health-promoting properties of agave nectar is its favorable glycemic profile... The carbohydrate in agave nectar has a low glycemic index, which provides sweetness without the unpleasant "sugar rush" and unhealthful blood sugar spike caused by many other sugars. {Source}

I was pretty much sold at that point. But, I'll be upfront with you... I'm not totally sure I taste a difference. The Hazz detects a texture difference, and I think I can. It's a very smooth challah. But I also masked the taste difference by tweaking my recipe a bit. I'll probably try challah next week with a basic recipe and agave instead of honey... I'll keep you all updated!  Without further ado, Wild Blueberry and Agave Challah!

3/4 c warm but not hot water
2 1/4 tsp active dry or instant yeast
1 1/2 tbsp agave nectar/syrup
2 eggs plus 1 more for egg wash
1/4 c vegetable oil
3 c flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
Dried Wild Blueberries


I proceeded normally with this challah.  Proof the yeast in the hot water with the agave.  After the yeast is frothy, add the two eggs and oil.  Stir in the flour and salt.

Knead with a dough hook on 2 or by hand until the dough holds together as a ball.  My dough was particularly soft and sticky this week.  Since I have no science skills whatsoever, I can't make any more of a guess than the fact that the agave syrup is runnier than honey.  So, perhaps it made the dough runnier?  Does that mean anything to those of you out there who understand glycemic index?  Long story short, I had to add a lot of extra flour.  Probably close to a half cup.

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.  Add generous handfuls of the dried blueberries and knead gently.  The amount you use is up to you.  I sort of flatten my dough and pour berries over top, then knead.  I try to incorporate throughout but not have too many out the outside of the dough or they singe a little in the oven.

Roll into strands and braid as normally.  Again, add flour if your dough seems sticky.

Let rest for about a half hour.  Egg was with a beaten egg, vanilla, and brown sugar {I take no credit for this idea... Leigh Ann did it in her recipe!}  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.  Check regularly to prevent excess browning!

So I'm thrilled. I kind of think this challah tastes like blueberry muffins. It's sweet, it's delicate (the agave?) and it's full of anti-oxidant rich blueberries.   I think that this challah is something to write home about... And I'm not such a dried fruit person (see here).  But this is truly a breakfast challah.  One you want to slather with butter or make into French Toast.  Or serve to your guests at Friday night dinner for a major wow factor.  I'm that pleased.

After Saturday morning Shabbat services, The Hazz asked me, "Is there any more blueberry challah?" Whoops. I'd eaten the rest. (However, there's another in the freezer just waiting to be devoured!)

Psst! We redid the photos for our Basic Challah Recipe. Check it out here!

Bagels!

We got a new oven right before Pesah!  It was really, really, really, really, really exciting.  (Did I mention I was excited about my oven?)  Our old oven was AWFUL.  It turned off regularly whenever programmed between 350 to 375 degrees... not helpful for a challah baker, right?  The temperatures were consistently uneven and the oven just didn't hold it's heat.

But our NEW oven came right before Pesah which meant... nooooo kashering!  What a relief that amongst preparing for a seder for 18 and deciding where to do my Ph.D. (!) I did not have to also kasher an oven.  Our new baby is pretty standard, nothing terribly fancy and really modest price-wise.  But it does have a continuous grate and FIVE (count 'em!) burners which is really handy.

 

So can I tell you how excited I was post Passover for our first bread baking!  Bagels!!!!

I can't take credit of this recipe.  It came straight off the back of a bag of King Arthur Sir Lancelot High Gluten Flour.  Here's a link to the recipe, and here are my adventures in making it! 

 

The dough is very tough. It almost feels too tough. But I just told myself to trust the recipe. Since I wasn't experimenting, it was my only option. This was one of the first times we actually used instant yeast as written... just mixed it in right at the beginning. I've been proofing my instant yeast for challah (basically just treating it like active dry). Anyone have any thoughts? 

The dough went around on the dough hook pretty well, and held together easily. I did take it off the dough hook perhaps a bit early. I had to knead a bit by hand, but the texture came out pretty smooth.  

There are several methods out there for making bagels. Most include rolling out long strands and pinching them together. I've done this before, but my bagels almost ALWAYS come apart in the boiling process. I like King Arthur's method better... roll out "rolls" and let rest for a half hour. 

When the half hour is nearly up, I put the water with sugar and malt powder on to boil (love my power boil on the new stove!). Then I poked holes into each of the bagels (carefully!) and let rest another ten minutes. 

The boiling process is fun, but a bit scary. I also found it very interesting to see the variety of all the different boiling times. Some recipes say 30 seconds per side. Others 2 minutes each side. This recipe said 2 minutes on side one and 1 minute on side two. That's what I did. 

 

We topped with cinnamon sugar (yum!), sesame seeds, and onion flakes. The onion flakes got a bit burnt, so I'm not sure if powder might have been a better option. We would definitely do poppy seeds in the future, but we were out this time. Also, sea salt or parmesan cheese are great options! 

 

It was hard to keep The Hazz from eating the entire plate. 

 

What did YOU do to celebrate the return of Hametz to your Post-Passover selves?