Give a holla for Challah!

Of all the breads that I make on a regular basis, Challah is the most popular with most of my friends and family. When I worked as a baker at the Italian restaurant in my hometown, we made Challah once a week - there was no other place to buy it in town, and there were some dedicated customers that would buy it from us every week.

Challah is a Jewish sweet egg bread, typically formed as a braid - the number of strands braided mean different things. I typically do a three strand braid, which traditionally symbolizes truth, peace, and justice.

More on the history of Challah can be found here:

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/culture/2/Food/Ashkenazic_Cuisine/Germany/Challah.shtml

On to the recipe. This is another recipe I would usually mix by hand, but I've tried to adapt it to a stand mixer. It came out pretty well, although the dough ball pretty much maxed out the capacity of my mixer bowl.

2 Cups lukewarm water

3 tsp highly active yeast

1/4 Cup olive oil

1/4 Cup + 2 T granulated sugar

3 large eggs

8-9 Cups all purpose flour

1. Start with 2 cups lukewarm water in your mixer bowl.

2. Add the yeast, mix on low speed for 10 seconds. Let it rest for a few minutes until bubbly.

3. Add the oil, sugar, and eggs, mix on low speed 30 seconds until incorporated.

4. Add 3 - 3.5 Cups of the flour, mix on low speed until a thick batter is formed. (See photo)

5. Remove the paddle and attach the dough hook. Add 4 Cups flour and begin to knead on low speed.

6. Continue kneading and adding flour 1/4 Cup at a time until the dough loses its stickiness, cleans the bowl, and forms a somewhat firm ball. (See photo)

7. Lightly oil the bowl, turn the dough to coat, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise until slightly less than doubled. (About 30-45 minutes, see photo)

8. Turn the risen dough out onto the counter and shape into a log for easy dividing. Divide into 6 equal pieces. (See photo)

9. Shape each piece into a smooth tight ball. See the 4 steps in photos below. Start by pushing the center of the ball down and pulling opposite sides up to meet on top.

10. Rotate the ball and repeat. Each time you rotate and repeat, pull a little less up so the pinched portion on top gets smaller and smaller. This stretches the other side out forming a smooth, tight ball.

11. Repeat to form all six balls.

12. Now, working with three balls at a time, roll the dough out, playdough style, into strands about two feet long, about one inch in diameter. (See photo)

13. Pinch one end of each strand together, and braid the three strands together. When you get to the end, pinch them together and tuck each end underneath. (See photo)

14. Place the shaped loaf on a pan (no greasing necessary) taking care to lay it straight. Repeat with the other loaf.

15. Prepare a simple egg wash by beating an egg in a bowl, and thoroughly brush the top of the loaf with the wash. Make sure to get all the crevices where the braids meet.

16. Sprinkle the loaf generously with poppy seeds. (See photo)

17. Do not set out to rise before baking. Immediately bake in a preheated 375 degree oven.

18. Spray your oven with water, set your timer for 5 minutes. Spray at 5 minutes, and 10 minutes without disturbing the loaves.

19. After spraying at 10 minutes, set the timer for 8 minutes. Rotate the loaves every 8 minutes until nicely browned. (See photo) Baking time will be about 30 minutes total.

20. Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

Enjoy!

P.S. - If any of the bread lasts beyond the first day, Challah makes the most amazing French Toast you'll ever have...

Happy Baking!

Some basic ingredients	After the first flour addition
The final dough ball	Risen and ready to shape
Shape the dough into a log	Cut into six equal pieces
Forming a ball step 1	Step 2
Step 3	Step 4
The finished ball	Ready to roll
Rolled out	Braiding the loaf
Braided	Ready to top
Egg wash and poppy seeds	Out of the oven

Pesto bread

Ok, we can all agree that bread is wonderful. But how can we make it more wonderful? Well, I guess we could top it, but then the toppings get all dried out. I know, we can fill it!

Great idea.

So, let's take a great bread recipe (foccacia) and instead of rolling it out flat and baking in rounds, we'll fill it with something really great: Pesto. And cheese of course. Lots, and lots of cheese.

I've been making this bread for a long time - about 16 years, since I started baking at Geppetto's in Anacortes. This was one of the flagship breads in the shop - and one of the most popular. It's not particularly difficult to make either.

It is difficult to write down my foccacia recipe - I make it largely by feel. I know what each stage should look and feel like, but I'll do my best to write down some basic measurements and you can go from there. I usually mix my dough by hand, but I'm trying to adapt some of my recipes to a mixer, to make it easier for others to make them.

2 cups warm water (not hot)

3 tsp active dry yeast (you buy in bulk, right?)

1 tsp salt

3T granulated white sugar

5-6 cups all purpose flour

8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

8 oz shredded asiago cheese

8 oz basil pesto

1. Pour the water into the bowl of your stand mixer. (Install the paddle attachment)

2. Add the yeast, and mix on the lowest setting for about 10 seconds until the yeast is dissolved.

3. Let it rest for a minute or two, until the yeast has begun to activate.

4. Add the salt and sugar, mix on the lowest setting for about 20 seconds until dissolved.

5. Add 2.5-3 cups of flour and start mixing on the lowest setting. Watch the consistency of the batter that is formed - it should be like waffle batter - thick, but not so thick it forms a real dough yet. Start with 2.5 cups of flour, and add a little more at a time until you achieve this consistency. (See picture below)

6. Remove the paddle attachment, and replace with the dough hook.

7. Add another 2.5 cups of flour, and begin to knead on the lowest setting. Again, watch the consistency - the dough will initially stick to the bowl, but as you gradually knead in more flour, it will move from sticky to tacky, and will clean the bowl and form a smooth ball. Kneading should take 10-15 minutes total. (See picture below)

8. Lightly oil the bowl with olive oil, turn the dough ball in the oil to coat, and cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise until doubled (45 mins-1 hour)

9. When the dough has risen, pour it out onto a smooth surface (do not flour the countertop)

10. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle - about 20-24 inches wide, 10-12 inches long, 1/2 inch thick. Cut the dough in half. (See picture below)

11. Spread the pesto to cover each half of dough - make sure you leave about an inch on all sides, otherwise the oil in the pesto will not allow you to seal the seam of the finished loaf. Then you'll have melted cheese and pesto all over the inside of your oven. Trust me, you do not want this. Leave the inch.

12. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella on each loaf, followed by half the asiago.

13. Now, from the bottom edge nearest you, tightly roll each rectangle up to the top. Make sure it is tightly rolled, or all the pesto/cheese will melt down to the bottom of the loaf.

14. Here's the only real technique laden part of the process - firmly pinch to seal along the long edge and tuck the ends in and pull the dough over the top, then pinch to seal the ends. It takes some practice to get a good seal. Repeat with the other loaf.

15. Now here is where (this time only) I deviated from my normal routine. I recommend you skip to step 16. Normally, the finished loaf of this bread has a much higher concentration of pesto and cheese at the bottom of the loaf, and only trace amounts in the top of the loaf. This is not entirely due to gravity, as I discovered. To attempt to mitigate this, I tried to twist the loaf, much like I did the chocolate babka. I did two loaves - one twisted only one way, and another where I twisted, then folded the entire thing over and twisted again. In the end, it did not fix the bottom concentration problem, but it did produce two very unique looking loaves. I have realized that the concentration at the bottom is due to the rise of the bottom portion of dough being inhibited by the filling, so only the top layers of dough rise properly. Oh well, I'll just keep doing it the way I always have. On to step 16.

16. Place the loaves, seam side down, onto a baking sheet. Set them in a warm place to rise before baking (25-30 minutes). Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

17. Carefully place the loaves in the oven to bake - spray the bottom of the oven with water and gently close the door. Set a timer for 4 minutes.

18. After 4 minutes, spray the oven again. Reset the timer.

19. After 4 more minutes, spray the oven again, set the timer for 8 minutes.

20. Every 8 minutes, check the bread and rotate the pan. When the bread has turned golden brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped, remove from the oven. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.

21. Slice and serve - it is amazing while still warm!

There are any number of variations on this - some really good fillings I've tried are sundried tomato pesto with prosciutto and mozzarella, and freshly chopped basil and tomatoes with chopped fresh mozzarella (like a self-contained bruschetta)

Happy Baking!

After the first flour addition	Kneading
The final dough ball	Oiled, ready to rise
The dough has risen.	Rolled and cut
Don't forget to leave the inch!	Cheese. Wonderful cheese.
All cheesed up	Rolled nice and tight
This is the loaf I twisted like babka	Ready for the last rise
Out of the oven	The final product