Holla for Challah

Tags

bread, Challah, dough, food, foodie, recipe

Challah is one of my favorite breads. A few weeks ago I was reading a story with my students and it had a Challah recipe in it. It had been years since I made this beautiful braided bread, and my old recipe was nowhere to be found. So of course I used the one from the story and modified as I went.

Holla for Challah

Ingredients:
6 1/2 tsp. dry yeast, 2 teaspoons fresh ground sea salt, 4 eggs, 6 Tbsp. butter, hot water, 7 c. flour, 1/2 c. sugar, 2 egg yolks. poppy seeds, sesame seeds

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together 1 c. flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Place butter in a large measuring cup and add hot water until contents reach 2 cup mark. Pour water, butter and eggs into bowl. Slowly stir in remaining flour. Knead dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a moist towel. Place bowl somewhere warm (I give mine a hot water bath). Let rise for an hour or until doubled in size. Punch dough down and briefly knead. Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Cut each part into 6 pieces. Roll 6 pieces into long ropes. Pinch together strands at top and weave the stands together. Starting with the strand on the right, cross over two, under one, over two. Repeat with the new strand on the right. Place on pan and repeat with remaining loaves. Beat egg yolks and 2 tsp. cold water and brush on tops of loaves. Sprinkle loaves with poppy seeds and sesame seeds (I make two without, 1 with poppy and 1 with sesame). Let loaves rise in warm area for 45 minutes. Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes. Enjoy your delicious warm Challah!

Four yeasty loaves of bread later, I’m in heaven!

What is your favorite type of bread?

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Irish Soda Bread with Fresh Whipped Butter

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Baking, bread, butter, buttermilk., dough, food, foodie, postaday2011, recipe, soda bread, St. Patrick's Day. St. Patty's Day, tradition

With St. Patrick’s Day fast approaching, it’s time to make some Irish soda bread. Perfect to serve with a hot bowl of  ham & three bean soup. This recipe is a variation of one from my friend’s (Irish) grandmother. I whipped up some fresh butter serve with along with it.

Irish Soda Bread with Fresh Whipped Butter

 

Ingredients:
4 cups of Irish flour or cake flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. fresh ground sea salt, 1 3/4 c. buttermilk or stout

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425°F.  Grease and flour two round cake pans and set aside. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Stir in buttermilk to form dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead dough. Shape into a flattened ball and place in round cake pan. Using a knife, cut across the top. Cover the pan with the remaining pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Keep bread wrapped in a towel and lightly mist towel with water to keep moist.

What’s on your table tonight?

Chicken Pot Pie

Tags

carrot, celery, chicken, chicken breast, chicken stew, corn, crust, dinner, dinner recipe, dough, lunch, lunch recipe, pie crust, pot pie, potato, recipe, rosemary, rosemary pie crust, savory pie crust, wheat germ

Yesterday, I had my nieces help me with dinner. I forgot how much longer it can take to make something, when you have kids doing it for the first time. While I made the filling, I talked them through making the dough. They each made enough dough for several pot pies, measuring, mixing and rolling it out. These are not exact measurements, I definitely estimated for the filling. The dough had more precise measurements.

Chicken Pot Pie

Filling Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. chicken breasts, 2 large potatoes, 2 carrots, 3 stalked celery, 2 c. corn, 2 Tbsp. minced onions, 1 tsp. ground cumin, 2 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. celery seed, 3 Tbsp. butter, 3 Tbsp. flour, 3 c. water, cooking wine, 2 bay leaves,  2 c. milk, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper.

Filling Directions:
Cube chicken. Over medium heat melt butter, added cumin, paprika and minced onions. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan. Chop celery, carrots and potatoes. Add vegetables, water, wine, celery seeds and bay leaves to frying pan, cover and reduce heat. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaves. Return chicken to pan, add milk, flour, salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Dough Ingredients:
3 c. flour, 1/2 c. wheat germ, 1 c. butter, 1/2 c. vegetable oil, 2 Tbsp. rosemary, 2 tsp. salt, 1/2 c. water.

Dough Directions:
Mix ingredients together. Chill for two hours. Roll dough on a floured surface. Cut six smaller circles for the top crust and 6 larger circles for the bottom crusts.

Pot Pie Directions:
Preheat oven 350°F. Press large dough circle to bottom and sides of each dish. Scoop filling into dish and place smaller dough circle on top. Press seams together. Beat an egg and brush egg over top crust, cut a small slit in top of the crust. Bake on a tray for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

My nieces worked really well in the kitchen, I am impressed with their developing culinary skills (they seemed to enjoy getting their hands messy in the dough).

*I didn’t have any cooking wine on hand, I used the only open bottle of wine I had, Hazlitt’s Red Cat.

This recipe would work well with beef as well. Any combination of you favorite vegetables would work well.

What do you do with teens in the kitchen?

Savory Sunday – Cracker Recipe

Tags

cracker, crackers, dough, recipe, savory, snack

Around afternoon snack time I had a bowl of hummus, carrots and celery. I wanted crackers with it and there were none in the pantry.
Solution? Make my own.

Wheat Crackers

Ingredients:
1 c. flour, 1/4 c. wheat germ, 1/2 tsp. salt (plus additional for topping), 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 c. water, 1/2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar, 4 Tbsp. butter

Directions:
Preheat oven 400°F. Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Make sure sides are scrapped and dough is throughly mixed. Roll out on a floured surface until about 1/16″. Use lattice pastry cutter to cut crackers. I used 1 1/2″ spacers with wavy edges. Allow dough to sit for 10 minutes. Place crackers on a baking tray, sprinkle salt on top and bake for 7 minutes or until crispy.

I was floored when Hubster had nothing but great reviews after hesitantly trying my crackers. He said the crackers were really tasty, even better than Wheat Thins from the store. As he grabbed another handful, he continued saying that there’s no bad after taste like with other wheat crackers. I’m glad this was a winner for Hubster as well as me.

*This would be really great with 1 Tbsp. rosemary mixed into the dough.

What is your favorite thing to eat with crackers?