The Celebration of Necessity

These aren't the loaves of bread but
they are fresh Challahs just out of the oven.

Two loaves of bread sitting on my counter ... fair warning, the punch line is a little gross. One loaf was thrown away last night after sitting on our counter for a little less than a week because it had more green fuzz growing on it than I care for. 

The second loaf is still on our counter ... it's been there for close to 4 weeks. Although the barbecue that it came with has long since been eaten or thrown away, this loaf of bread looks as fresh as the day we brought it home. At this point, this bread has become my own counter-top science experiment and I'm fairly convinced I'm going to get sick of staring at it before a speck of mold appears.

Several thoughts go through my mind when I see that loaf of bread. First - my family is really lucky to have access to healthy, fresh food with knowledge of how to cook. The highly processed bread on my counter is closer in its nutritional make-up to the plastic "food" that came with my daughters tea set. And second - real bread tastes really good and that's when I think of my Aunt Omi. 

My Aunt with after a Challah Baking lesson
with her best students!

My Aunt Omi is an incredible baker born out of necessity. "For me in the late 60's and early 70's, Austin was a bread desert. You couldn't even get a Lender's frozen bagel. French bread? What's that? Challah? Never heard of it. Houston or Dallas were a little too far to go for Challah (or a bagel), so I thought I'd try to make some myself." 

Remember, these were the days before Whole Foods and Central Market who now sell Challah everyday of the week. Or organizations like Challah for Hunger (I would be remiss to talk about Challah and not mention them) where Challah is made and sold by college students on campuses across the United States to raise money to combat hunger in the US and Africa. Here's the link for the University of Texas Chapter although there are chapters around the country and I hope you'll consider supporting them. 

Let's just say that Omi's baking skills have come a long way since then and what was a skill born out of frustration and craving has been elevated to an art form.  She makes all of the desserts and cakes in the family including birthday cakes that make the Cake Boss look like a junior apprentice. And, her baklava (stay tuned for that recipe) has started family feuds about who gets to bring the leftovers home, who has the right to eat those leftovers and I've seen friends take spoons and fight over the syrup at the bottom of the pan. 



But, it's the fresh baked Challah with the deep golden exterior and fluffy airy interior that we all love.  And, as Omi says "now, I'm the official, or preferred family Challah maker." 

"The first Challah recipe I tried was from a neighbor. It made a nice Challah, not great; but at least it was real Challah.  The World Famous Ratner's Meatless Cookbook came out in 1975. Now, if you grew up in New York (that's New York City, more specifically Manhattan), you knew Ratner's."

"Ratner's Challah recipe was really good; but it used almost a dozen eggs and left me with more egg whites than I knew what to do with. I usually used this recipe for holidays and the neighbor's recipe for Friday nights."

"Then, I found Mr. Greenstein's book and his Challah recipe." The recipe below is a modified version of one of Greenstein's three ways of making Challah. I've also included all of the little tips and tricks from my aunts years of experience in baking. This isn't a difficult recipe (trust me - I'm not a baker) but it isn't quick either because of the dough rising time. But, it's totally worth it. 

I would love to tell you to save the left overs for Challah French Toast but, unlike the baklava, we've never had left overs of Omi's Challah. Which is probably a good thing because one food item that causes family feuds is probably plenty. 

Challah

Adapted from Secrets of a Jewish Baker by George Greenstein

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) warm water
• 2 packages active dry yeast (each packet weighs 7 grams. If you use fresh yeast, each chunk should weigh 17 grams)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten (U.S. recipes specify large eggs in most recipes, unless otherwise indicated. 1 dozen U.S. large eggs , in the shell, weighs 24 ounces. So 1 large egg should weigh 2 ounces.)
• 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten (see egg explanation above)
• ¼ cup vegetable oil (4 fluid ounces)
• ¼ cup plus 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
• 4 to 4 ½ cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• Flour for dusting the worktop (where you’re going to knead the dough and roll it out)
• Oil, for greasing the bowl (in which the dough will rise)
• 1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water, for egg wash
• Corn meal for dusting the baking sheet (I use a Silpat instead)
• Poppy seeds, or sesame seeds (if you like seeds on your challah)

Warm water and yeast.

What to do:
Everything should be at room temperature. I use the metal bowl from my mixer. I run the outside of the bowl under hot or warm water before I start.

Adding the egg + 2 egg yolks.
Save the egg whites for breakfast!

1.  In a large bowl sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and stir to dissolve. Add the egg, egg yolks, oil, sugar, 4 cups of flour, and salt. Stir until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. 

Mixing the dough in the stand mixer
You can use a food processor, too

2.  Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work top and knead, adding more flour, ¼ cup at a time, if the dough is sticky or very soft. The dough should be firm. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic and the gluten is well developed (10 – 15 minutes). When you push down, the dough should feel firm and push back.

Kneading the dough by hand which I did for about 10 minutes
I then put it back into the mixer for the remainder of the time.

Kneading the dough a little more.

Rising

1.  Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turn to coat (all the dough), and cover until the dough is tripled in volume, or when an indentation made with a finger pushed down into the center of the dough remains and does not recede. This is a fully aged, or ready, dough. (takes about an hour)

2. You can use your microwave to let the dough rise as my Aunt Omi does. She recommends putting about 8 ounces of water into a glass container - a glass measuring cup works great - into the microwave. Set the cooking time to 3 minutes or however long it takes your microwave to boil water. Then, move the boiling water to the back corner of the microwave, put the covered bowl with the dough into the microwave, shut the door and walk away. The hot water keeps the dough at the right temperature for a good rising. 

The dough is ready!

Shaping

1.  Punch down the dough, cut it in half, cover, and allow it to rise for 15 minutes. Punch down again, and with your palms, roll out into 2 ropes. (Each rope = 1 challah.) 

2.  Cut each (rope) into 6 equal pieces (or however many pieces you want, depending on how many strands you want in your challah) and braid. 

3.  Brush with the egg wash, using care to cover completely. Do not let excess egg drip into the crevices.

4.  Transfer the Challah to a corn-meal dusted (or Silpat-ed) baking pan. Place in a warm, draft-free area, preferably closed, and allow to rise until doubled in size. You can do the boiling water in the microwave trick again. Or you can put the boiling water onto an oven rack, and put the pan into the over. The idea is to keep the atmosphere warm and moist. 

Bakers secret: (After you’ve brushed the egg wash on –I use a cheap paint brush) Allow the bread to air dry, then brush a second time with the egg wash to give the bread its characteristic shine. Sprinkle lightly with poppy or sesame seeds if desired.

Dough is punched down and cut in half.

Each half is now formed into a rope. I had a little help from my kiddos and their friends

After we cut each rope into 6 pieces,
we rolled smaller ropes. We had 12 ropes total.

Each Challah requires 6 ropes.
3 for the bottom braid and 3 for the top braid. 

Finishing one braid. I had to tighten it a bit after my kiddos braided.

Finished and braided Challah. Ready for the final rising!

Egg wash brushed on
and ready for the oven

Baking

1.  Bake in a preheated 350° oven on the middle shelf until the bread has a rich mahogany color and the bottom has a hollow sound when tapped lightly with your fingertips (35 minutes).

2.  If the top begins to brown excessively and the bottom is raw, cover the bread with a sheet of  parchment paper or a brown paper bag that has been cut open and creased down the center to form a tent. If there is a white line visible between the braids, continue baking until it disappears. 

3.  To test for doneness, press lightly between the braids on the highest part of the bread; It should be firm. If you feel the creases give when lightly pressed, continue baking until they firm up. 

4.  Let cool on a wire rack.

Straight out of the oven and delicious. Wish this was a scratch n sniff blog!

Yield: Makes 2 loaves.

Note: You can substitute all purpose flour for bread flour, but the bread will not come out as light or tender.