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Recipes for Shabbat Bread By Eileen Goltz One of the most basic and satisfying of foods to come out of a Jewish kitchen is bread. Challah, of course is number on the hit parade. It's significance in our life and life cycle events is undeniable. Recipes tend to be handed down from generation to generation and while they may vary slightly they all are pretty much the same. Challah assumes an entirely new personality when we prepare it for the holidays. Instead of the traditional braided loaf, the Rosh Hashanah challah is round -- symbolizing the cycle of the New Year. There is also a tradition to design a challah ladder or challah birds are added to the holiday challah by some families to commemorate the prayers rising to Heaven. While my family can graze their way through at least 2 loaves of challah at ANY given meal there are, however a multitude of other breads that have woven there way into our collective Yiddish hearts (and mouths) due to our ancestors proclivity for wandering from country to country picking up recipes from where ever they managed to find a home. We may not have had a lot of permanent residences but, by gosh, we had great bread. Sukkot is the perfect time to try your had at breadmaking. Throw together a meal of hot homemade bread, some wonderful soup and a great dessert and you have a meal made for lingering under the stars. Making bread is far easier than most people think. You
need to follow a few Letting the dough rise twice is also a must. The dough
needs the chance to The following recipes are simple straightforward
examples of classic breads. Once you try them
you'll never go back to the stuff from the store.
In a bowl combine the water, honey and yeast. When the
yeast bubbles add the salt
and shortening. Mix well. Add the rye flour and caraway seeds. Add
enough white flour to form a soft dough.
Knead for about 5 minutes and add more flour if
the dough is too soft and sticky. Place the dough
in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise until the
dough is double in size. Punch the dough
down and place the dough on a floured surface.
Knead 3 or 4 times and shape into 2 free form loaves and let rise until double in size. Preheat
oven to 400. Take a sharp knife and make several
criss cross cuts across the top of
the loaves. Bake for 35 minutes. You can glaze with water just before
and after baking if you like. Makes 2 loaves.
In a bowl combine the cornmeal and the cold water and
mix well. In a saucepan boil
the water. Pour the cornmeal mixture into the boiling water
and mix until the mixture thickens and
bubbles. Stir in the butter, salt, sugar, caraway
seeds, cocoa and instant coffee. Remove from heat and cool
slightly. In another bowl dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup water and
add to the other mixture and stir. Place the
liquid mixture into a large bowl or mixing bowl
and gradually mix in the flours. Add a little more water if
necessary. The dough should, however, be slightly sticky. Place the
dough on a floured surface and knead with additional flour if necessary
until the dough is firm and elastic. Place dough into a greased bowl and
cover. Let rise until double in size. Punch down and form two round loaves or
place the dough in two greased loaf pans. Preheat oven to 375. Let rise
until double in size and brush the top of the bread with the beaten egg
whites and water mixture. Bake 375 for 50 to 60 minutes. Error on the side
of over baking if you have doubts about whether or not the bread is done.
Makes 2 loaves.
In a small bowl combine the yeast with the sugar and warm water. Set aside. In a large bowl combine the salt, molasses, mashed potatoes, and shortening. Pour the boiling water over these ingredients and mix well. Cool. When the potato mixture is lukewarm add the yeast mixture to it and mix. Stir in the coloring to the desired color. Combine the cornmeal with the rye flour, caraway seeds and all but 1 cup of the white flour. Stir in the liquid to the flour mixture and mix ell until it comes away from the side of the bowl. Turn the dough out on to a floured board and knead
with enough flour to form a soft dough. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
Knead again and add a little more flour if necessary and place the dough in
a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until the dough is double in size. Punch
the dough down place the dough on a floured surface. Knead a few times and
shape into two round loaves. Brush the top of the loaves with water, place the
loaves on greased baking sheet and let rise until the loaves double in size.
Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. Remove the loaves from the oven and cool on
racks. Makes 2 loaves.
In a small bowl dissolve sugar in the 1/2 cup water.
Sprinkle the yeast on top (let set
10 min.) Mix in the eggs, sugar, 1 T. salt, oil, water and 1/2 the
flour. Mix well and add
the rest of the flour. Let the dough rise for about 30 to 40
min and punch down. Divide the dough into 3
portions and roll each section out to about 1/2
inch thick (sort of like a pizza). Prick the top
with a fork and place on greased cookie sheet.
Preheat oven to 400 and let the dough rise
10 to 15 min. In a small bowl combine the
remaining ingredients. Divide the onion/poppy seed
mixture between the three loaves and spread it over
the top. Bake 20 min. and cool slightly before
serving. Makes 3 loaves.
Combine all wet ingredients, then add dry ingredients on top. Use Normal bread cycle SWEET MONKEY BREAD (dairy or pareve)
Monkey bread recipes call for a sweet yeast dough that
you form by arranging small clumps of dough in 3 or 4 overlapping layers in
a pan. The pan used to bake monkey bread recipes can be round, oblong or
tube-shape. When baked, the lumps cling together to form a solid loaf.
Monkey bread recipes can be sweet or savory. This following was used by most people in 15th century Spain but Jewish women baked it cut into 18 small rolls to last throughout the Sabbath or holiday and appear similar to their neighbors' bread style. This recipe is adapted from A Drizzle of Honey cookbook to make one large round Rosh Hashanah Challah and about 10 to 12 small rolls.
Stir yeast into ¼ cup warm water and a pinch of sugar; set aside for 10 minutes to proof. In a large bowl, combine remaining ¾ cup warm water, the oil and 2 tablespoon honey. Beat in the eggs one at time, salt and combine well. Sift three fourths of the flour into the liquid. Stir well, adding more flour to form a moist mass. Turn onto a floured surface and knead 5 minutes. Add enough flour to make a smooth dough. Return dough to a clean oiled bowl; turn dough to coat with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Grease 2 baking sheets; preheat the oven to 400º F. Knead the air bubbles out of the dough. Pinch off an egg-sized piece of dough and roll it into a 5" circle. Fold the circle in half then in quarters, do not press together. Place 6 rolls on each baking sheets and let them rise about 30 minutes until doubled. Warm the remaining 1 tablespoon honey and brush the rolls. Bake about 10 minutes until golden. Cool on a rack. Keep the oven on. Pinch off a piece of dough slightly larger than an egg and roll it into a 12" long rope. Knead and roll the remaining dough into one round challah and place it on a greased pan. Beat the remaining egg with a pinch of salt and brush a 1" wide strip down the center of the challah. Twist the rope and place it over the egg wash on top of the challah. Fasten with a few toothpicks, if necessary. Let rise about 45 minutes. Brush the entire challah with the remaining egg,
sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake on a greased baking sheet 10 minutes.
Remove the toothpicks and reduce oven to 350º F. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until
golden and hollow sounding. Cool on a rack. Rolls and Challah may be frozen.
Beat eggs. In a separate bowl, mix oil, sugar and salt. Add boiling water. Stir till dissolved. Sprinkle yeast into a cup with 1/3 cup warm water.
Wait until frothy, then stir. Add flour a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Turn the dough onto floured board and knead until dough springs back after poking with a finger. Add more flour if necessary. Return the dough to bowl, cover, and rise in warm spot until doubled. Expect this to take about 1 hour. Return to floured board and knead for a couple of minutes. Divide dough into 3 equal rolls. Knead one roll for another minute. Form roll into three long strips for braiding. Pinch the ends at one end together and braid. Pinch bottom ends together when braid is completed. Place in greased loaf pan. Do the same for the two other rolls. Rise again in warm spot for about three quarters of an hour. Preheat oven to 350. Brush tops with the bit of egg that you saved. Sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, watching carefully. Recipe challah should be brown on top but not burnt on the bottom. Remove from pans, and cool on racks.
Add ingredients to the bread maker in the order that the manufacturer recommends. Use the dough cycle. Remove the dough from the machine. Knead in the raisins. Place the dough in a greased bowl to rise, cover and let rise until it doubles in size. Shape as desired. Bake for 30 minutes at 375. Makes 1 loaf. Eileen Goltz, a professional chef and caterer, is the author of the new cookbook, Perfectly Pareve. © Eileen Goltz 2003 |
