Carrot, Prune and Potato Tzimmes from Mama's Meichulim by Sadie H. Rivkin

Tzimmes is an eastern European recipe for honey baked carrots. The Yiddish word "meren" means carrots and to increase. Carrots symbolize our hope that we increase our good deeds in the coming year. Some tzimmes recipes add prunes, sweet potatoes or even meat to the sweet carrots. This is a meat recipe. You may leave the meat out for a parve version, substituting the shmaltz (yes, the chicken fat) for oil. If your menu is milchig (dairy) you may indulge in butter (forget the calories).

Ingredients:
- 1 lb carrots
- 1 1/2 lb flanken
- 1/2 lb dry prunes
- 3 white potatoes
- 3 sweet potatoes
- 2 tsp chicken fat
- 1 medium onion
- 1 tbs salt
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup tomato juice
- 2 tsp honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 tsp sugar / 2 tsp water for color

Preparation:
Trim meat of all fat. Shred carrots and onions and sauté in chicken fat. Cut potatoes into medium-sized chunks. Put meat at bottom of pot, then arrange layers of potatoes, prunes, sweet potatoes and all other ingredients and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.
Put 3 tsp of sugar and 2 tsp of water on high flame - get the sugar burned - themn pour 1/2 cup of cold water over the burned sugar and add the liquid to the tzimmes before putting tzimmes into moderate, 375 degrees Farenheit oven for 1 1/2 hours. And this is the final result:

Like the recipe? Any suggestion to improve the blog? Just to say hi? Drop me a line: jewishcookingworld@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.

Mama's Meichulim: Traditional Jewish Cooking Made Easy by Sadie H. Rivkin

I am happy to make the review of a much beloved book of mine, an old, well-worn, old school pillar of ashkenazy Jewish cooking. This jewell gave me much of my knowledge of what authentic ashkenazy cuisine is all about. It is old, and therefore divided into sections ( Introductions - Thoughts about food - Time Savers - Fish and Appetizers - Soups - Poultry - Beef - Veal - Side Dishes - Chollents and Casseroles - Stuffings - Cakes and Desserts - Salads and Relishes - Food for Holiday Thought - What made Mama Mama - Index).
The book is compiled and edited by the author, printed by Thomas Yoseloff, New York - London.

About the author:
Born in Russia, Sadie H. Rivkin came to the United States when she was eight years old. Although she had to leave high school after one year of work, when her first son was born she attended and graduated cum laude from law school. Having practiced law with her husband for a year, Mrs. Rivkin decided being a full-time mother was more important, and having raised three wonderful children, she has never regretted her decision. During World War II, she served as a volunteer worker at the naval base in Bayonne, New Jersey. Later, at the suggestion of her son-in-law who taught social work at the Hebrew Educational Alliance in New York, Mrs. Rivkin herself started a class at the Educational Alliance in traditional Jewish cooking.

Now that you know Mrs. Rivkin I want to share with you one of my favourite recipes from her little book. It is Carrot, Prune and Potato Tzimmes. You will find it in my next Post. Enjoy it as much as I did.

From Israel with Love: Meaty Hummus

This recipe was given to me by my dear friend and teacher of Judaism, who lives in Israel and was so kind to share it with me. I have never seen this combination of hummus and meat; I think it is very creative. Let's call it Meaty Hummus. Ladies and Gentlemen,

Meaty Hummus

"When I make this for 2-4 people, I freeze half.  6 or more people, I use it all.  We like it and can make a meal of the meat and hummus on my challah ... and sometimes we do when it is just the two of us.  We will have soup and this dish.

 Put your hummus on a platter making a well in the center as usual, but instead of adding oil, fill the center full of the meat mixture and when you take the hummus to put on the challah, take the meat mixture with it and smear them both. 

 Ingredients:

  1/2 kilo (one pound) of ground beef, chicken or turkey or a combination of meats

1/2 Tbsp chicken soup powder (I use Osem, no MSG)

1/2 Tbsp paprika

1/4 to 1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 to 1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 Tbsp honey

1/4 Tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp basil

optional : fresh coriander leaves chopped -one or two branches

optional:  few drops of Tabasco

1 large onion --chopped small (minced)

Preparation:

Fry the onion in a little oil (I always use olive oil). Add the ground beef and cook until done. Stir to keep the pieces small. Add the spices and mix well and cook for another minute or two and you are done.

I make ahead and refrigerate and put on the blech Erev Shabbos. I add it to the hummus before motzei. "

Looks like heaven to me ... :)

Baba Ghanuge - Recipe from the book Syrian Cooking by Grace Sasson

A very interesting thing happened to me today. While having coffee with my friend Lilly E. We started talking about Syrian food. I was excited about the cook book I received from my husband as a birthday gift (Aromas of Aleppo, which I will feature in this blog soon) and she in turn showed me her Syrian Jewish cook books. The oldest one she owned was given to her by her mother, born in Aleppo, Syria. It is called Syrian Cooking and the author is Grace Sasson. It is an old and beautiful simple book, the phonetic of the recipes a little weird for our modern standards, and I have chosen to feature one of her recipes (page 19), Baba Ghanuge, as I said from her book Syrian Cooking (RGD Publishing). This is the front of the book, followed by the recipe:

Baba Ghanuge

(Eggplant & Tehene Salad)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

- 1 medium size eggplant - broiled, 5 minutes on each side

- 2 tbs. tehene

- 1 garlic clove

- 1 lemon

- 1 tsp snowbar-pinenuts

- few springs parsley

Preparation:

Wash the eggplant. Then broil on top of stove. Scoop it out from shell in a deep plate. Add salt to taste and crush garlic and add. You can add garlic or onion salt if you prefer. If you do, the ammount I'd say is the tip of a teaspoon.

Now chop it while it is in the plate with tip of knife. Make a paste of the tehene with a tablespoon of water and add it to the eggplant; garnish with the chopped parsley and snowbar.

Serve either chilled or at room temperature.

Note: Eggplant is placed directly on stove, no pot or pan. Skin will burn, but inside of eggplant will be tender and done just right.

Thank you Lilly for share the book with me, and thank you Grace, where ever you are.

Jews Cooking Part 2: Pasta Frola

Pasta Frola is a very typical Argentinian dessert, also popular in Uruguay, as far as I know. In the Part 2 of Jews Cooking my friend Silvina Holzman agreed to share her recipe on this blog. She is an awesome cook and I had the opportunity to enjoy her pasta frola so I can vouch for it. With no further ado, 

Pasta Frola
Ingredients :
300 g.  self-raising flour
150 g. sugar
150 g. butter
1 egg (yolk and white)
1 yolk
zest of 1 lemon
salt
dulce de membrillo (quince paste)
white wine

Preparation:

1. In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Make a hole in the middle to add the wet ingredients.
2. In another bowl mix the butter with the eggs and the lemon zest.
3. Mix wet and dry ingredients very well (you can use a tbs or two of tepid water). You can also use an electric mixer or a kitchenaid type of processor.
4. Once the dough is formed, cover with a kitchen towel and let ir rest for an hour.
5. Butter and flour the mold.
6. Use 2/3 of the dough and stretch it thouroughly over the mold. That may take some time but it is crucial
7. Mash the dulce de membrillo with a fork and add to that past a little of white wine (Manischewitz wine would be nice too).
8. Pour it over the dought, carefully
9. You need to make little ropes with the rest of the dough to make the decorative "mesh" that is the trade mark of a true pasta frola. Handle them with care (wet your hands with water from time to time). The design is as shows in the picture (see below)
10. Moderate oven 350 F for around 20 minutes.

This is the Pasta Frola. Thank  you very much, Silvina!

Jews Cooking Part 1: Crêpes Suzette

This section of the blog will be dedicated to feature the achievements of Jews cooking un-Jewish food. We developed our cooking skills while sorrounded by peoples of all nationalities and ethnicities, during our diaspora years. As a result of that marriage between the food we knew and the food the neighbours ate a whole new world of possibilities developed, and at the same time, we imposed our Jewish footprint into everything we cooked.

Today I will introduce to you my dear friend and extraordinary cook Vivian Gutstadt. I had, in several opportunities, the enormous pleasure and honour to be her guest. In one of those opportunities she made Crêpes Suzette and I asked her to share with us the recipe, and also a bit of her life too. She graciously accepted. Here is her in her own voice: 

"When I cook for my children and friends I feel love.

Friday evenings, when Shabbat comes, we gather together around a special table, arranged differently from other nights. For this opportunity, we put in order and clean our house with particular attention because we want to “lekabel bivracha et ha'orchim” (to welcome our guests with a blessing). We say: “Bruchim ha baim”, meaning “welcome, our dear guests!”.

Our food, our table, our moods are special that evening. There is a unique glow within our home; a peaceful flow invades every corner of our souls. We light the Shabbat candles placed into my grandparent’s antique silver candlesticks and we say the brachot (blessings).

This night is so different from the other days of the week!

Not only for me and my children Shabbat represents that moment of reflection, a pause in our quotidian demands and responsibilities, but also, as a Jewish mother, Shabbat has an aggregate value. Through this distinctive evening I am part of a millenary chain of traditions and beliefs transmitted from one generation to another. It is not about empty rituals just mechanically repeated. We feel the traditions as part of us, as part as our undeniable identity. We are proud of our Jewish identity; we embrace and cultivate it, no matter when or where we are. That is why in the international container with which I moved to Canada from Buenos Aires, Argentina, I included my baba’s (bubbe, or grandmother in Yiddish) pan. It is a special casserole where she only cooked her famous Gefilte Fish (notice I capitalized the words, and also I stand up when pronounce them; believe me, her Gefilte Fish recipe is sacred!)   

So, now I am living in Canada, a wonderful country with severe winters. Outside is cold, bleak, snowing... it is freezing out there! I have invited my friends to come over for dinner.

What nice dessert could I prepare to fete my guests, to pamper my children and friends? 

Crêpes Suzette

This recipe is a mix of different famous kitchen queens’ recipes, including Doña Petrona C. De Gandulfo, Julia Child, Blanca Cotta, Anna Olson, and my own creativity.  

Ingredients (yields 8)

Crêpes

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups of milk (not less than 2%)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, extremely softened or melted

3 eggs

½ cup of carbonated/sparkling water

Pinch of salt

Butter, for pan greasing 

Orange sauce

2 oranges, zested

1 cup of orange juice

½ lemon juice

¼ cup sugar

4 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier liqueur

Orange butter

1 cup of unsalted butter at room temperature or softened

4 tbsp orange rind

¼ cup orange juice

¼ cup sugar

Flambé

Cointreu or Grand Marnier liqueur, 50 cc.    

Long kitchen match (or long matches)

Garnish

Orange zest

Orange segments, white pith removed

Directions:

Crêpes

This dessert has the advantage that most of the steps can be prepared in advance.

Mix in a bowl the crêpe ingredients: flour, eggs, milk, a pinch of salt, sugar, butter, and sparkling water. Blend with electrical whisker, cover the bowl and leave the preparation rest for 45 minutes.

Heat a non-stick crêpe pan and grease it with a slight amount of butter. Spoon half of a ladle of the crêpe preparation and pour on the pan while moving your hand in circles so as to cover evenly. Put the pan again on the heat and cook the crêpe for a couple of minutes; the borders will start to separate themselves from the bottom of the pan; so then with a spatula flip the crêpe. Cook on the other side half a minute. Repeat the same procedure until finishing the crêpe batter. Always remember the first crepe is not so perfect. Do not get frustrated because the second one will come out flawless!   

Pile the crepes on a plate, cover them with plastic wrap, and place them on the kitchen counter (do not put them in the fridge). They can remain 24 hours until being utilized for the Crêpes Suzette.

Orange sauce

Add the cup of orange juice in a small pan and place it on medium heat. Stir the zest, sugar and lemon juice. Lower the heat to minimum (very low), mix and allow the sauce to reduce. Add the liqueur and continue reducing the sauce at very low heat.

Meanwhile, prepare the orange butter.

Orange butter

Mix with a hand food processor the softened butter together with the orange rind and the juice. The consistency should be smooth as a cream. Place the preparation on a piece of plastic wrap, chill first a little bit, and form a cylinder. Take the salami-shaped butter all wrapped in plastic and freeze it. Before using it, cut it into thick slices.

Crêpes Suzette

Prepare a table where to entertain your guests. Place on it a portable electric range or burner, a plate with the crepes folded in four as triangles, a non-stick sauté pan big enough to allow placing several crepes in it, the orange butter, the orange sauce, a bowl with orange zest and orange segments, Grand Marnier or Cointreau, a long kitchen match, different utensils to help you serve (spatulas, ladles, tongs, etc.), plates and cutlery for serving.     

Turn the electric range to medium heat and place the sauté pan on it. Add two slices of orange butter and melt. Reduce the heat and place 4-6 crepes in it. Pour orange sauce and allow the crepes to get impregnated with the wonderful aroma and flavour. Flip them so they get soaked on both sides. Turn off the burner, very carefully add the liqueur and ignite with long kitchen match. Let the flames burn out completely. Serve a crepe or two in each plate, garnish with orange zest and orange segments, and pour fine drops of orange sauce.      

 .

I feel cooking represents loving, giving, and sharing."

Look at the final product! A real picture of a real beuty. Thank you very much, Vivian!

El Rincón de la Cocina Judía: La Cocina Judia en la Literatura

Este es el cuento con el que comenzó mi romance literario con Sholem Aleijem. El cuento se llama "La Olla", y hoy quiero compartirlo con ustedes.
Enta, el personaje del cuento, es pobre, y es judía, y es Europa a principios del siglo XX. Vivir es difícil, y mantener casher más difícil aún. Pero Enta hace magia con lo poco que posee: tres ollas que se reducen por obra de las circunstancias, a ninguna.
Gnesie, la inquilina, es la mejor aproximación que encontré en la literatura idishe a lo que se llamaría en inglés "a Jewish swindler” (or a lawyer). Aquí lo tienen:

"Me trae a verle, rabi, un asunto muy serio. Seguramente, no me conocerá usted, aunque quizás me conozca, pues soy Enta, Enta la Recovera. Me gano la vida vendiendo huevos, sabe?, huevos, gallinas, gansos y patos. Tengo una clientela fija, buenas mujeres – Ds les dé mucha salud y bienestar – que me sacan de apuros. Si tuviera que pagar interés, no sacaría ni para un mendrugo de pan. Ando siempre empeñada: aquí pido prestados tres rublos, allí los devuelvo, y así vamos tirando. Dígase lo que se quiera, si viviese el bueno de mi marido no me vería en trances tan amargos. Sin embargo, debo confesarle que antes del morir el pobre mi vida tampoco era de miel, pues se daba poca mana para ganar dinero – no lo tome a mal su alma – y se pasaba el día enfrascado en el Talmud y los breviarios, mientras yo echaba los bofes de tanto trabajar. Cierto que estaba acostumbrada a eso desde chica, mi madre me hizo tomarle cariño al trabajo. Se llamaba mi madre – Ds la tenga en su gloria – Basia, Basia la Velera. Compraba sebo a los carniceros y  hacia velas, ya que entonces la gente no sabía que era el petróleo ni tenía idea de los quinqués con esos tubos de cristal, que estallan a cada dos por tres. Yo, por ejemplo, tengo que comprar uno cada semana.

Si usted me declara “treif” (impura) la olla, me quedo sin nada. Porque tengo una sola olla. En realidad tenía tres, para platos de carne. Gnesie, mi inquilina, que se le hunda la tierra, me pidió prestada una. Le di una olla nuevita, flamante, y me la devolvió toda cachada.
-        Qué olla es esta? – le pregunte.
-        La suya
-        Mía esta olla cachada? Si yo le di una olla flamante!
-        No grite, que no le hace ningún favor a nadie. En primer lugar yo le devolví la olla sana. En segundo lugar, cuando usted me la prestó, ya estaba cachada. Yo tengo mis ollas y déjese de fastidiar!
Me quede, por lo tanto, con dos ollas sanas y una cachada, o sea dos ollas. Pero un pobre no debe tener dos ollas; y un día que volví del mercado con las aves, se soltó una gallina y se asusto por el gato; subió volando justamente al estante superior, y zas! cayo una olla. Se hizo pedazos. Usted cree que se rompió la olla cachada? Cualquier día! Cuando se rompe algo, se rompe lo que está sano. Siempre pasa lo mismo, desde que se fundó el mundo …"

El Rincón de la Cocina Judía

Este rinconcito es en español, una manera de no olvidar que aprendimos a cocinar judío en castellano.

El libro que traje conmigo desde Argentina se llama “La Cocina Judía, Tradiciones y Variaciones”, editado por editorial Shalom, 1984. Solo leerlo es un placer, y también una fuente de recuerdos de todo tipo: la bobe, la madre, las tías, las panaderías judías del once, la rotisería donde se compraba el pan Goldstein (Olom Ha sholom), el pastrón ahumado y los pepinos en salmuera que vivían todos juntos en un barril de madera cuyos estándares sanitarios eran los vigentes en el reinado de Salomón.

Las páginas están amarillas, y para sacarle la foto le tuve que limpiar la tapa, pero aún con todas las manchas es especial y yo lo quiero muchísimo. Ese tiempo de crecer judíos en Argentina no volverá más, por lo cual decidí rendirle homenaje en este blog.

Nota: las tazas, como medida, son tazas de allá. M.R., la única que tiene la verdadera taza, a lo mejor nos quiere dar la equivalencia en medidas americanas.

Aquí va una receta con gusto a té con limón:

Leicaj Negro o de miel:

Ingredientes:

2 huevos

1 taza de azúcar

½ vaso de café cargado

3 clavos de olor

½ vaso de aceite

1 vaso de miel

½ kilo de harina

2 cucharadas de polvo de hornear

½ cucharadita de bicarbonato

Jugo y ralladura de medio limón

Nueces picadas, a gusto.

Preparación:

Prepare el café cargado, con 3 clavos de olor en el agua (que quedan en el colador). Mezcle los huevos con el azúcar, la miel, el aceite, el jugo y la ralladura del limón. Tamice la harina con el polvo de hornear y el bicarbonato y agréguela a lo anterior mezclando bien. Incorpore las nueces pasadas por harina. Vierta la masa en la asadera aceitada y enharinada; ponga a horno fuerte durante 5 minutos, baje a mediano y luego a suave. Cocine durante 50 minutos, vigilando para que no se queme.

Miren que bueno!

Soup for the Soul: Red Kubbeh Soup/מרק קובה אדום/Marak Kubbeh Adom

To all the Srugim fans out there: Do  you remember the episode where Yifat treated her friends with Marak Kubbeh Adom Soup for shabbat diner? Against the background of the Judean hills she sat with Re'ut and Amir delighting in the flavor of this amazing soup.

Fascinated by a dish I have not known of, I researched a little and I bumped into this incredible recipe. All the credit to "Le Cordon Jew" (www.soulandgone.com) from which site this recipe comes from.

And now, the recipe:

Red Kubbeh Soup/מרק קובה אדום/Marak Kubbeh Adom

Ingredients:

2 medium onions, diced

5 – 6 beets, chopped into large dice

1 bunch green (Swiss) chard, chiffonaded

Other vegetables of your choice (see below)

Chicken stock

1 small can tomato paste

1 – 2 tbsp sweet paprika

2 – 5 tbsp sugar

1 – 2 tbsp lemon salt (citric acid)

Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

Olive oil

Kubbeh

A few notes on the ingredients:

Chicken Stock: Use real chicken stock. Not from a can. Or use water. Don’t be an Israeli and use Osem powdered parve non-chicken “consommé” to flavour everything. It’s lazy and it makes what would be great food just that much worse. Every spoonful of Osem is another year the Messiah tarries.

Vegetables: Your choice of sweet potato, carrot, celery, pumpkin, squash or zucchini.

Spices: You may have noticed my spice measurements are vague at best. I find that it’s mostly useless to give exact measurements when it comes to soup. Water varies, stocks vary, paprika varies, vegetables vary heavily in flavour depending on season and origin; and it all conspires to render exactitude futile. Season as you go. When it’s right, you’ll know.

Lemon Salt: A somewhat less unnerving name for citric acid in its crystalline form. This stuff is highly concentrated sour; it’s wildly popular in Mediterranean cooking, but for some reason uncommon in the West. Buy online or head to a Mediterranean market or health food store.

Instructions:

1) In a 12 quart stockpot (or, you know, whatever), heat up several tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté the onions until translucent.

2) Add the beets. Stir mightily. Dig that neat color the beets turn the onions. Cook a couple minutes more.

3) Add the carrots and cook for another minute or two, then add tomato paste. Stir more. Cook another couple minutes, making sure not to let the paste burn.

4) Add enough chicken stock to fill the pot. If you don’t have quite enough, you can top it off with water. Not the end of the world. Don’t fucking add any stock powder or bouillon cubes.

5) Add all your seasonings, the chard, and long-cooking vegetables (carrots, celery, etc.) Save quicker-cooking root vegetables (like sweet potatoes) for a bit later. Simmer uncovered until the carrots are nearing done. Keep tasting and seasoning as you go. It should be sweet, sour and savory in about equal measures. Sort of like tomato soup but…you know…Jewish?

6) Once carrots are nearly cooked, add the quicker-cooking root vegetables. Continue simmering. Usually, I wind up simmering for a couple hours, give or take, from beginning to end. You want the liquid to reduce a bit to further concentrate the flavours.

7) Once all your vegetables are at their appropriate level of doneness, it’s time to add the kubbeh you worked so hard to make. However many you want:

They float. Cool, huh?

Continue simmering with the kubbeh for another twenty minutes. Make sure the seasoning is how you want it.

8) After the twenty minutes of kubbeh-simmerin’, remove the soup from heat and let it cool. Then refrigerate it overnight. The flavours develop and the kubbeh get a chance to become completely saturated through-and-through with the broth, making them ridiculously delicious. Texture and flavor-wise, they’re more like massive meatballs than dumplings. Once the next day rolls around, reheat the soup and savage it like you want to.

Try it: it is something out of this world (and into the Jewish Cooking Word), that is the reason I included it into the blog.

Featured Book of the Week: You Made my Day: Four Generations of Jewish Cooking by Evelyn Gold

For Jewish women Jewish cooking usually means also memories of love, dedication, an unspoken bond with their mothers and grandmothers. "You Made my Day" is a testimony of the love between a daughter and a mother, of the love given in the form of food and the love received that encouraged her to transmit that knowledge. Evelyn Gold's book is at the same time a book of memories and a book of great Jewish recipes. It is a wonderful book to read and a great book of reference. It is well organized in chapters, all of them spiced up with memories of a bond that will last her lifetime.

Let's enjoy one of her recipes:

Carrot Latkes
Ingredients:
3 fresh carrots
1/4 cup matzo meal
3 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
oil, enough to cover the frying pan
approx. 9" round frying pan

Directions:
Chop carrots. Mix eggs, matzo meal, salt and pepper together and add to the chopped carrots. Consistency should not be sticky or runny, but somewhere in between.

Fry latkes in hot oil. Use 1 tsp. of the mixture for frying in order to make bite sized latkes. Fry untill golden brown, turning latkes over only once. Total frying time is about 3-5 minutes. Place the latkes on a paper towel to remove excess oil and cool.

Note: Use the same amount of eggs as carrots (1 egg: 1 carrot).

Thank you, Evelyn!

The Cornerstone of Jewish Cooking: Challah

Ashkenazy Jews have a primeval love affair with Challah, the piece of bread that authomatically connects us with our heritage, childhood memories and also create an instant Shabbat experience just out of the oven every Friday (or if you are more organized, Thursday).


I love Challah; I own dozens of recipes that converged into my own several years ago. I make Challah to celebrate Shabbat but also for friends and family. I wish to believe that the memories of eating Challah every Shabbat is part of what my kids remember fondly from their time at home growing up.


Now it is time to go right into business:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of warm water
4 cups all purpose flour (white)
2 eggs (check them first for blood spots and freshness)
2 tbs corn/canola oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbs Fleishmann's Traditional Yeast
2 tbs sugar
Sesame seeds / poppy seeds for topping
Coarse kosher salt for topping
1 egg and 4/5 drops of oil for egg wash


Tools:
A Kitchenaid or whatever food processor that kneads it will be a lot of help. I want to take this opportunity to thank my own Kitchenaid for making my life so much earsier and enjoyable in general and for helping with the challah making in particular. You are welcome.


Preparation:
In a bowl or right into the food processor pour in the water, a tiny bit of sugar (from the 2 tbs) and the tbs of yearst. Let it bubble for 10 minutes (the sugar will help activate the yeast).


When that is ready, you add the eggs, the rest of the sugar, the oil, the 4 cups of flour and the salt and start kneading for five minutes (Kitchenaid users, use speed # 2). The idea is to end up with a smooth and elastic ball of dough. Let it rise for 45 minutes covered by a plastic bag. Wet towels are also useful but in all fairness, plastic bags do a much better job.


After that you can choose to: a) Let it rest in the fridge till tomorrow; b) Put it in the freezer for later use (the dough will expand a little but no harm in it); c) Proceed right away.


So we have here a ball of dough that it has expanded, so you have to punch it down and knead for three more minutes to burst all the big bubbles that may remain inside. We only want tiny bubbles.


Having done that, we divide the ball in thirds. Each third will be kneaded into a rope and we will braid the challah loave out of three ropes. I  hope you follow (for the crew out there asking themselves where I am from because you cannot guess: I am from Argentina and Spanish is my first language. This will be once and for all my disclaimer: English is my second language, sorry for any mistake I may incurr now or in the future).


After the braiding you paint it with the egg wash, put the coarse salt and the seeds for topping and let it rise (the final rise) for half an hour. Last step: into the oven at 365 F for 45 minutes or till golden brown.


Let it cool down over a rack.


This is the final product. Not bad at all!

Any questions? Want me to send you the recipe by email? Drop me a line: jewishcookingworld@gmail.com

Wanna see how it is done? Go to Youtube and type: Jewishcookingworld

Do you want me to make this challah for  you?  (only for Winnipeggers). Check my ad: Challah by Heydi


Shalom U'brachah!