Enriched Bread - Challah - Raisin Bread

Here are some tricks and tips to make some delicious bread.

I started with the challah recipe by Rose Behrens.  It's an enriched bread, in that, in addition to flour, water, yeast, and salt, it has egg and sweetener - in this case honey.

RECIPE:

• 7 cups flour

• 1 T salt
• 1/2 cup sugar (or honey)
• 2 pkg yeast + 1/3 cup warm water (if using bulk yeast, it’s 1-1/2 tablespoons, or 4-1/2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup cold water

350° 30 minutes 

TIP:  I put the ingredient list in the notes on my iPhone, and I can check them off as I add them.

I can also add notes (such as the date and that it took 6 cups of flour but I forgot 1/3 cup of water, since I bloomed the yeast in the mixing bowl - and I forgot. . . )

This will make two loaves of raisin bread, some rolls, and one loaf of challah (braided bread).

The first rise was pretty impressive.  I knocked it back and cut into four pieces.

I like to work directly on a cookie sheet.  I know I can keep it more sanitary than a countertop or table.

TIP:  To keep the cookie sheet from slipping, I use this square of shelf-liner (Thanks, Karen) under the cookie sheet.  (TIP:  make sure that the liner does not stick to the cookie sheet when you put it in the oven.  This is the Voice of Experience speaking.)

   Another TIP:  this square is great at gripping stubborn jar lids.

For the challah, I used a four strand braid.  Pinch together four ropes of bread.  Take the rope on the left and move it over the two next to it.  Then take the rope on the right, and move it over two next to it.  (TIP:  I practiced with ribbons or shoelaces until it made sense to me.)  There are lots of youtube videos on how to braid.

To make the rolls, I cut it into pieces, and stretched and pinched to make a round roll.

For the cinnamon sugar, I use confectioners sugar and lots (3 heaping teaspoons) of cinnamon.

After spreading the dough (kind of like pizza), I smoothed the cinnamon sugar mix onto the dough.

Tip:  ATK suggests that you sprinkle the sugar with water and that will keep the rolled dough from separating and making holes in the swirled bread.  We'll see.  I keep a water-only sprayer (the green one) in the kitchen.

For the raisin bread, I used a total of 13.5 ounces of raisins.

Each loaf gets about 2/3 cup of cinnamon sugar.

TIP:  To substitute for a proofing drawer, get out the fry-pan and fill it with boiling water.  It warms the oven just a bit, and it adds moisture, and that helps the bread rise without drying out.

When the dough has risen, take it out, leave the fry pan in, and preheat the oven.

Leave the pan in while it preheats.  I leave it in while it cooks, too, but it may make a tough crust.

The house smells wonderful!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Well that was only a partial success.

The rolls are excellent.  

The challah is lovely.

The raisin bread looks great in the pan!

The flavor is excellent, 

but the dreaded separation in the raisin bread is just awful!

I have a couple of things to try next time.

1)  Soak the raisins to soften them so they don't try to take the liquid from the dough.

2)  Go for a slow, maybe even a refrigerator rise.

If you think of something else to try, let me know!

Cinnamon Nut Wreath

I need another "Dish to Pass".  This bread looked so pretty in the recipe that I decided to try it.  I used my goto Challah bread recipe as the base.


After the first rise, I rolled it out into a rectangle.  Then dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar mix.  Added chopped cashews.  Rolled it into a log.  Pulled the log into a circle.

 Put a can in the middle to keep the center open.

 After it had risen a bit, I used kitchen shears to cut segments 2/3 of the way to the center and then twisted each segment.

 It was allowed to rise more, then baked at 350º.

It's not super sweet.

If you wanted a sweet filling, there should probably also be sugar or brown sugar in the filling.

It could also be served with strawberry butter or strawberry cream cheese.

Wouldn't that be nice!

Eat it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without! - Raisin Bread

Eat it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without!

During the Great Depression, President Coolidge used the expression, "Eat it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without!"   We have gotten away from that, but those of us with parents who experienced the Depression find it impossible to waste a perfectly good thing.

Last week I made challah and raisin bread. That post is here.

Alas, the raisin bread, while delicious, was ugly, with huge holes, so that it could not really be toasted or even buttered.  What to do?

I asked for suggestions, but prefaced the request with, "We hate bread pudding and French toast."  Those are the two most famous uses for old bread.  What a shame that we don't like those, because I do have all the ingredients.  Betsy came up with a great idea.  How 'bout Apple Charlotte.  I had never heard of it or tasted it, so she sent a link:
http://atasteofhistorywithjoycewhite.blogspot.com/2014/10/apple-charlotte-historic-food.html
I can do that!  For those who don't like reading recipes, Apple Charlotte is basically apple pie with a buttered toast crust.

First cook the apples with a bit of water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger.

Then line your pan with buttered bread and put in the apples.

Top with more bread and bake at 400º.

(I got to use my new USA bread pans - which a bought after I watched poor D scrubbing out bread pans.  These have a quick-release finish that makes clean-up a snap.  I love the muffin tins, too.)

After it cools a bit, turn it out onto a serving plate.

Does this look like a monster in a white lagoon?

Slice and serve with whipped cream.

It was delicious, and if you find yourself with apples and old bread, it's worth a try.

Ravioli and Tortellini - 2012

I made ravioli for lunch today,and that reminded me of this old post

Ravioli and Tortellini

using my new

Cuisinart Food Processor

14 cup

Begin with 3 cups of flour.





















The recipe called for 4 eggs.  With the giant egg, I figured that made 4 eggs.
The large egg is 100 grams.  The others are 68 and 69 grams.



















The large egg was a double-yolked one!

















While processing, it became clear it needed more liquid.
I added another egg.

Notice the cute blue light framing the on button when it's processing.















I have a hand-crank pasta machine,
so D was enlisted to help me roll the dough into strips.

The filling was also done in the food processor.
It consists of roast chicken, onion, garlic, egg, black pepper.

The difference between ravioli and tortellini is the shape.

I cooked the ravioli in stock.

Then added sauce.
The sauce is from our tomatoes, with sausage, garlic, herbs, locatelli cheese.












Boy, was it good.

I think the Australian Shepherd, Tommy, is really Italian.
And Tommy got a taste of the sauce when we were done.

He was impressed.

Homepage

Published 3/16/12

Some of my other kitchen experiments:
You can click on these links to see them.
Altoids® copycat
Apple pie
Bean Soup
World's greatest Biscuits
Blueberry Buckle
Blooming Bread
Challah Bread
Dill Pickles
Focaccia
No-Knead Bread
Peanut Butter
Raised Rich Rolls
Raisin Bread
Ravioli
Yorkshire Pudding or Popovers

Unwanted Milk - What to do. . . ?

As we unpacked the Instacart grocery order, we noticed the Instacart shopper left a half-gallon of 2% milk with my order.  We had not ordered milk.  I hope another customer is not missing their milk!  Instacart said we did not need to return it.  We think life is too short to leave out the fat, so now what can I do with low fat milk?

A quick google search suggested cottage cheese or ricotta.  That's something we have never made, even when we had lots of fresh farm milk, but we have the luxury of free time now that we did not have then.

The directions are pretty simple.

Put the milk into a heavy pan.  I used my All Clad pan with the helper handle (what a great invention that is!).

Heat the 2 quarts of milk to 190ºF.

Add 1/3 cup vinegar.  

Let it sit for 30 minutes.

It immediately begins separating into curds and whey.  I feel like Miss Muffet.

Strain into a cheesecloth lined colander.

Let it rest for 30 minutes, then squeeze if necessary.  

Chill it, then add heavy cream and salt.

Eat.

~ ! ~ ! ~ 

Next is what to do with the whey.  The cottage cheese was 2 cups, and there were 6 cups of whey.  We don't have pigs or chickens.  Once again, google to the rescue.

I found a recipe for bread.

I used:

• 400 g whey (2 cups)
• 600 g bread flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

After the first rise I was hungry, so a pinched off a piece to make fry bread to eat while the rest of the dough was rising in the loaf pan.

It was delicious.  A great mid-afternoon snack!

I decided to shape the dough for a standard white-bread sandwich loaf.  I put it in my USA Pan loaf pan. (I do like this company!  I also have two of their muffin tins and one mini-muffin tin.  So far, nothing has stuck, and I do not grease the pans or use muffin papers.)

It has a fairly dense, heavy crumb.  It made delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.  

I have enough whey in the freezer for two more loaves!

Or I may try to find another recipe.

This bread was good, but we still like the challah recipe best.

challah

This recipe comes from:  Rose Behrens.

RECIPE:

• 7 cups flour
• 1 T salt
• 1/2 cup sugar (or honey)
• 2 pkg yeast + 1/3 cup warm water (if using bulk yeast, it's 1-1/2 tablespoons, or 4-1/2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup cold water

This recipe makes the equivalent of 3 large braided loaves or 4 medium ones.

I have used this recipe to make many variations, including cinnamon bread, and cinnamon nut wreath.

---

Here are the original directions.  (I tend not to follow them. . . )

Beat eggs in a small bowl.In a large bowl mix oil, sugar and salt.
Add boiling water to large bowl and stir until all is dissolved.
Sprinkle yeast into a measuring cup with 1/3 cup warm water. Wait a few minutes, then stir.
Add cold water to mixture in large bowl. (The stuff in the bowl should now be the right temperature to add yeast. If too hot, wait a few minutes; if too cold, put the bowl in the microwave to heat it.)
Add yeast to large bowl.
Add eggs to large bowl, reserving about 1 tablespoon.
Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Turn out dough onto floured board and knead for 5 minutes, adding more flour as needed (but not too much). Dough is ready if it springs back after being poked with a finger.
Put back into bowl, cover with dishtowel, and put in warm oven (heated to 170-200, and then turned off beforehand) until doubled - about 1 hour.
Turn out onto floured board and knead for 1-2 minutes.
Divide dough into thirds.
Take one of the thirds, and knead for another minute. Form into 8-12 small "snakes" for bulkies, or 3 large snakes for braid. Make bulkies by knotting each small snake and pinching the ends together. Place bulkies close together pinched-end down in greased pan (I use Pam). For braids, pinch ends of 3 large snakes together and begin braiding. Pinch ends together when done. Place in greased round pan or loaf pan.
Repeat for 2 other thirds. Put formed loaves/bulkies into oven (pre-heated and then turned off, as before) for about 45 minutes.
Remove from oven. Turn oven to 350.
Brush tops gently with reserved egg. Sprinkle with poppy seeds, if desired.
Bake for about 30 minutes (loaves) or 20 minutes (bulkies). Times will vary. Watch for moderate browning on top, but be careful not to allow scorching on bottom.
Remove from pans, and put on dish towels to cool.
YUM!!