Challah Recipe

I am definitely putting this recipe in the keeper file! ESPECIALLY since Robyn showed me her recipe for Creme Brulee French Toast using challah. Thank you!! I will make this over Thanksgiving for sure! Follow that link and you'll also find her challah recipe, which makes 4 whole loaves! I used Martha Stewart's recipe, which makes one.

A few notes on ingredients and equipment for making this challah. I'd never bought or used fresh yeast before, so in case you haven't either, I found it in the refrigerated section of the grocery store near the butter, and this is what it looks like:It comes in 0.6 oz packages, so to get 0.75 oz I used my handy digital scale. I couldn't cook without this thing, I use it very often. It makes me so happy when baking recipes use weight measurements of ingredients because it's very precise. I've been known to weigh each and every single cookie in a batch to make them all the same exact size! I'm really a nerd about my kitchen equipment, but I love it!This recipe calls for using a digital thermometer to test for doneness, and while not essential for this, I wanted to mention it because if you're thinking of buying one and are unsure how often you'll use it, once you have it you will find yourself using it all the time. Same with the little scale; you'll wonder how you ever got along without it!

Challah
recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

1 1/2 lbs bread flour (about 4 1/2 cups), plus more for dusting
3/4 oz. fresh yeast
1/4 cup sugar
3 T. honey
1 T. coarse salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for bowl, plastic wrap, and baking sheet
8 large egg yolks
1 large whole egg

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, honey, salt, vegetable, oil, egg yolks, and 1 cup water. Mix on low speed until the dough is smooth and stiff with a slight sheen, 8 to 10 minutes.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead to make sure any loose bits are incorporated.

The dough was very sticky and kind of rubbery.
Fold in the following manner: Fold the bottom third of the dough up, the top third down, and the right and left sides over, tapping the dough after each fold to release excess flour, and pressing down to seal. Gently gather the dough and flip it over, seam side down. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about an hour. Brush an unrimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil or line with parchment paper. Set aside.

Return the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and divide into three equal pieces.

I used my little scale for this, too! I'm such a nerd. Roll each piece into an 18 inch log, and place the logs parallel to one another.

In Martha's pictures, her dough logs at this point were perfectly smooth and magically not floury even though they are to be rolled on a floured surface.... Most cookbooks with pictures are intimidating and you can't trust them - they cause everyone to have those self-doubting moments.

Pinch the ends together at the top, and weave the three strands into a tight braid, tugging gently as you go. Press the ends together to seal. Place loaf on the prepared sheet. Loosely cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Before rising: After rising and brushed with egg:
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375. Lightly beat the remaining whole egg and brush gently but thoroughly over loaf, making sure to cover any seams and crevices. Bake until the crust is dark brown, 50-60 minutes. The bread should reach an internal temperature of 190 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, and should have a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Bread can be wrapped in plastic and kept at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Challah Bread: A Success!

These are the pictures in Martha's book with her recipe for challah:

And this is my challah:Not too bad, right! Despite problems with my sneaky oven, I was happy with how my bread came out. It was heavy, dense, eggy, and had a nice soft texture inside and a really nice crust that was as dark as a soft pretzel.

My oven has a mind of it's own and often cranks its self way the heck up to 500+ degrees. I think it gets out of whack and doesn't shut off the heat to regulate the temperature. This is one reason why I sometimes use the AirBake baking sheets, which buys me a little time before the burning happens, and one reason why I despise non-stick bakeware which always burns my food in my oven! Also, I am a fan of baby birds, so that's another reason I don't like that stuff. Non-stick baking sheets, loaf pans, muffin tins, etc, are a waste of time, unhealthy for you and the environment, and I recommend never using them. To avoid sticking I use a Silpat (if you don't have one, ask for one for Christmas!), or parchment paper on standard-sized good quality sheet pans, and properly oil, butter and flour the bakeware when necessary. I use nonstick pans on the stove only when really necessary and never heat them while empty, never broil with them, and try to avoid using them on a high flame.

I will post Martha's recipe here, and my pictures of my challah baking adventure, when I have time soon so check back! I have so much to catch up on!!

Thanks for breakfast!

I just had to interject with this random post because how cool is this - my friend Pepsi just dropped off for me a homemade personal sized 7-Layer (minus one layer) Dip! And 100% chance I'm totally having it for breakfast right now. Well it's almost 10:00 so we can call it brunch! I'm not that into breakfast foods during the week, so most of the time I just wait for lunch or eat it really early anyway so this is right up my alley.

Thank you Pepsi!

My kitchen will be messy again later today - I'm going to roast a chicken and try making challah bread. I wanted to mention that so I don't chicken out posting about the challah if it doesn't turn out well; I'll let you know either way! There is a Chinese chicken and vegetable dish that I still need to post, and I am working on a simple chocolate cream pie recipe. Not ready to post that one yet, it still needs some work (and believe me I don't mind practicing eating chocolate pies so who knows how long this project will take!).

Cream Cheese & Scallion Stuffed Chicken, and Beige Food

I'll start with my discussion on beige food. It's usually delicious, and not necessarily unhealthy. The end.
I love cooking chicken. Lots of foodies think boneless and skinless chicken breasts are worthless pieces of poultry, but I beg to differ! You can do anything with chicken; the sky's the limit when it comes to seasoning and flavor, type of cuisine, kind of dish, and method of cooking.

Every time I make chicken it's always Erol's "FAVORITE!!" This time he said he takes back all the other times he's ever said that because this is truly number one. I think he really believes it each time he says that, but I know he'll say it next time too.

Doesn't the name of this recipe just make your mouth water! I insist you make this if you like cream cheese, and of course you do because everyone does! Make it for guests and they will be so impressed simply because it's rolled and seems kinda fancy. Let them think you slaved over it, but it is so easy and most importantly when you have company: it can be completely assembled ahead of time and clean up is as easy as tossing a piece of foil in the trash!

The prep, however, will turn your kitchen into a very messy one, but no one has to see that.

I get lots of compliments when I make chicken, and besides the fact that I've had a lot of practice at knowing when it's done, I don't mess around and almost always use a digital cooking thermometer. It is easy to overcook chicken, and I still do sometimes, and no recipe can help that by providing a cooking time because the size and shape of each piece is unique. A digital thermometer is a must and there's no way around it. I have mine set to beep at 165 degrees, the lowest acceptable internal temperature for cooked poultry. I let it get to 168 degrees most of the time before removing the pan from the oven or the stovetop. The very very very worst way to check a piece of meat to see if it's done is to cut into it. If you are on a desert island cooking chicken without a digital thermometer and you absolutely must cut into it, do it only to the piece you will eat yourself and don't let on that it's dry, which is what will happen. (Sorry for getting a little fired up there, I've got the presidential debates on and I guess I'm feeling the tension!)

So back to this recipe - one day last week my shopping list included 1 lb of chicken for another recipe, and my frugal husband scored a 4 lb pack for only $3 more than the cost for only 1 lb. Yesterday I had three huge chicken breasts and not much else by way of other ingredients to make a recipe, so being unable to get to the store, I perused my fridge and found four scallions and a package of cream cheese. It made me think of the flavor of a dip or something, I can't remember exactly how I've had chicken and cream cheese together, but it just seemed like it would work.

I rolled and breaded this like chicken Kiev, but this is easier because Kiev is filled with butter and the chicken must be sealed tight or it will all leak out before it hits the plate. As you can see in my pictures, the cream cheese can leak out and puff up and it's still perfect and actually made it more appealing to me since it gave a little preview of what's waiting inside!

It took a lot of hand washing, but I took pictures of each step of assembling this recipe to make it more helpful because I really want everyone to try this! I will write the recipe for 3 large chicken breasts because that's what I had to use, but you can follow the same technique for any number of them. If your chicken breasts are this large, one will feed two people (or if you're Erol, one and a half will feed you. Just kidding, honey!) To make ahead of time, completely assemble them and place on the oiled baking sheet and refrigerate. They can go straight from the fridge to the preheated oven, just drizzle the olive oil on the top before placing in the oven.

Cream Cheese & Scallion Stuffed Chicken
Chicken and filling:
3 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts
8oz cream cheese
4 scallions, chopped
olive oil
9 toothpicks

Breading:
1 cup flour
2 eggs beaten with a splash of water
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prep breading ingredients in three separate bowls and season each bowl with salt and pepper. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly oil it.

Mix together the cream cheese and chopped scallions. Inside the bowl make a little mound for each chicken breast so it's easy to pick up with your hands.

Using a sharp knife, cut each chicken breast in half and spread open to create a larger, flatter piece. One at a time, place the pieces in a large freezer Zip Lock bag and pound out to make it even larger and flatter.

Lay out the pieces one at a time, cut side up and tapered end closest to you. Pick up a mound of the cream cheese and spread it on the lower 3/4 of the chicken.

Roll up the piece of chicken from the tapered end up, tucking in the edges as best you can. It's perfectly fine if there are some holes! Secure shut each piece with three toothpicks.

Once all the pieces are rolled up, bread them by dipping into the flour bowl, then egg bowl, then roll in the panko breadcrumbs. Place them on the oiled baking sheet, and drizzle olive oil on the top.

Bake for about 30 minutes and then insert a digital cooking thermometer into the center of the largest piece. It's done when it reaches 165 to 170 degrees, which may take up to an hour.

Don't forget to remove the toothpicks before serving.

Turkey Meatballs

Alright, moving on from Fakesgiving, I have 3 dinner recipes I'm ready to post. I can't find the magazine with the recipe for the sweet potato biscuits we made anyway, but when I find it I'll post it.

My family eats dinner very early in the evening; actually you could prob call it late afternoon. Erol gets home from work by 4:00 usually, and is always starving. We had been having a lot of take out, and one day wanted a home cooked meal, so when he got home I ran to the grocery store with no idea about what to buy. I first stopped by the magazine aisle to find inspiration in the food magazines, but didn't find them helpful. So I wandered over to the meat section, and ground turkey was on sale, so I thought: Meatballs!

Meatballs are quick, healthy, satisfying, and I didn't need to buy too many ingredients. Erol's a rice man, so I knew I'd be serving them over rice for dinner, but what kind of sauce to use? I searched around in the condiment and bottled marinade section and a sesame and ginger flavored one caught my eye. There were many brands to choose from of this, and tons of other flavors, but I got Paul Newman's because it was cheap. Picked up an onion and red pepper to add moisture and flavor to the ground turkey, and I was all set to make dinner!

Erol noted that these could be made a little smaller and they'd be a great appetizer with toothpicks.

Taste the marinade before you use it, I have a feeling that different brands will taste very different. It will have a very strong, vinegary flavor. You may want to adjust the amounts of marinade and honey to balance the flavors for your taste.
Turkey Meatballs
1 lb. ground turkey (or chicken - do not substitute beef)
half an onion, diced
half a red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 t. salt
pepper
2 T. olive oil
1/2 cup sesame and ginger flavored marinade, such as Paul Newmans' brand
2 T. honey

In a large bowl combine the ground turkey, diced onion and red bell pepper, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper; do not over mix. Roll into balls and place them on a separate plate. (I wear latex-type gloves to mix and roll meatballs because it feels yucky.)

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium-high, then add the meatballs. Don't push them around or turn them until they are nicely dark browned on the bottom; when they are ready to turn they will release easily from the pan. Let brown on all sides.

Once they are fully cooked and dark brown almost all over, turn down the heat to low and add the marinade and honey to the pan, and turn the meatballs to coat in the glaze. Serve over rice.

Peppermint-Chocolate Cake

You know how you find a picture of a recipe and then you make it, and it looks NOTHING like the picture? Kinda like how Big Mac's look so appetizing on the trucks and billboards but you get one and it's, well, disappointing?

This did not happen to us with this cake! We were all very impressed. My mom made it and Jessi added the dark chocolate to the top. It was chocolatey and minty and what can you say about cream cheese icing other than YUM!
Peppermint-Chocolate Cake
Cooking Pleasures magazine, Dec 2006/Jan 2007

Cake:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
5 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 t. peppermint extract
1 t. vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Icing:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened

Glaze:
1 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake: Heat oven to 325F. Grease bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Line bottom with parchment paper; grease and flour paper.

Microwave 3/4 cup butter and 5 oz. chocolate in medium microwave-safe bowl on medium 3 to 4 minutes or until melted; stir until smooth. Pour into large bowl; cool 10 to 15 minutes.

Beat sugar into chocolate mixture at low speed. Beat in eggs, peppermint extract and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Alternately beat sour cream and flour mixture into chocolate mixture, beginning with sour cream. Pour into pan.

Bake 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

For the icing: beat 1/2 cup butter and cream cheese in large bowl at medium speed 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Slowly beat in powdered sugar at low speed until well blended.

Remove sides from springform pan; invert cake onto cardboard round or platter. Remove parchment paper. Frost cake with icing.

For the glaze: Microwave 1 oz. chocolate and 1 tablespoon butter in small microwave-safe bowl on medium 1 minute or until melted; whisk until smooth. Whisk in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; cool until slightly thickened. With small fork or whisk, drizzle glaze over cake. Cover and store in refrigerator.

Glazed Carrots

During college, I was in a car accident and the air bag went off in my face. The hard contact lens in my eye busted and scratched my cornea. My optometrist thought that it would not ever heal completely, but it thankfully did. I know it's ridiculous, but ever since then, carrots have been a little specialer to me.

Hahaha - that IS a true story and I don't think I've ever revealed that to anyone before!

I used to make this recipe about once a week with baby carrots, but it is better with whole big ones. I like it because it's so simple and in addition to carrots all you need probably on your countertop right now. I don't mess with ginger, orange juice, or any of that when I cook my carrots because they have such a good flavor, and cooking them this way brings out the best the carrot has to offer, and we don't want to cover that up.
Glazed Carrots
1 lb regular or baby carrots
2 T. olive oil
2 T. butter
salt & pepper
1 T. sugar

If you get baby carrots, leave them whole; if you get regular carrots, peel them and cut the ends off. Cut the first piece on a diagonal, your knife parallel to the cutting board. Roll the carrot a quarter of the way, and cut the second piece using the same motion. Continue to cut the whole carrot into these funny little chunks. (Please leave a comment if I didn't state this clearly and I can post a video, it's hard to explain.)

Heat a large sautee pan over high heat and add the olive oil and butter. Toss in the carrots and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and reduce the heat to medium. Stir around to coat, and then stir and flip occasionally for a few minutes; you want to give them a chance to get nice and browned on most sides (the picture above is in the beginning/middle stage of cooking). When they are about halfway browned and starting to get soft, add the sugar. You may need to adjust the heat level between medium and high throughout cooking so they cook pretty quickly, but don't burn.

I like them when they're still a bit firm on the inside, but if you like them completely soft, once they are browned add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and cover for 5 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the water has evaporated.