Famous Challah (from Food.com via Diana)

Ingredients

Challah

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour for kneeding

2 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups warm water ( 80 -90)

Glaze

1 egg, beaten

poppy seeds (optional) or sesame seeds (optional)

Directions

1. First measure out all your ingredients.
2. Now from the 1/2 of cup sugar take 1 tablespoon of the sugar & combine it with the yeast& warm water (you know you have the right temperature of warm water when it's the same temperature as the inside of your wrist).
3. I let my mixer bowl which is metal (kitchen aid) sit in a hot water bath while the yeast dissolves, 10 minutes.
4. After the yeast has dissolved (it's nice & foamy) add to it the rest of the sugar, salt & 3 1/2 cups flour.
5. Mix well (I use the bread hook).
6. Add egg (already beaten) & oil.
7. Slowly start mixing in most of the remaining 3 1/2 cups of flour.
8. The dough will become quite thick.
9. When the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, turn it onto a floured surface& knead for approximately 10 minute.
10. Add only enough additional flour to make dough manageable.
11. Knead until dough has acquired a "life of its own"; it should be smooth & elastic, springing back when pressed lightly with your fingertip.
12. Place dough into a large oiled bowl turning the dough once so its oiled on all sides.
13. Cover with a damp towel & let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, punching down in 4-5 places every 20 minutes.
14. Now, I always write down what time I started so I don't forget when the 2 hours are up & set a timer every 20 minutes. (In the summer I let the dough rise on my balcony & in the winter in front of my oven where something is always baking, turning it every time I punch down the dough).
15. After the 2 hours, turn your dough onto your working surface.
16. Now comes the forming part.
17. For Shabbos I always make a 2 level braided challah which looks great & is really easy.
18. Prepare your baking sheet lining it with parchment paper.
19. Preheat oven to 275°F. (Corrected 10/24/2016 by Diana)
20. First, take a large knife & cut the dough in half.
21. Next, from each 1/2 now cut off a third & place the 2 thirds on the side.
22. Now, from the first half (where you've removed a third) divide the remaining dough into approximately equal thirds.
23. Roll each third out till its about 10-12 inches (I'm guessing I never measured it) & braid all 3 roll together pinching the top & bottom half together& turning them slightly under.
24. Place on baking sheet.
25. Repeat the same for other half.
26. Now take the first third you removed earlier& divide in 3, braid just like you did before& place on top of the already braided challah.
27. Repeat same for other third.
28. Now let the challah rise for 1/2 an hour.
29. After the challah has risen glaze with beaten egg & add mohn or sesame if you wish.
30. Almost done!
31. Put in preheated oven & let bake for exactly 25 minutes!
32. Turn off oven & leave Challahs in for exactly another 10 minutes!
33. Remove from oven.
34. Enjoy--you deserve every compliment you get!

COMMENTS

Takes about 3.5 hours, makes 2 Challahs

Banana Plum Optional Bread (by Betsy)

Ingredients

2/3 white flour + 2 Tblsp.

2/3 whole wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

5 Tblsp butter

1/3 cup white sugar, less a bit

1/3 cup brown sugar, not packed

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 old bananas, mashed

1 plum, cut into tiny pieces

1/2 cups nuts

Combine dry ingredients, whisk and set aside.

Mix butter and sugar until blended nicely.

Stir in dry ingredients without over mixing.

Stir in eggs.

Mix in fruit and nuts.

Directions

Combine dry ingredients, whisk and set aside.

Mix butter and sugar until blended nicely.

Stir in dry ingredients without over mixing.

Stir in eggs.

Mix in fruit and nuts.

Pour into oiled or greased bread pan. 

Bake 350 until toothpick comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

Note: If you leave the plum out, the flour can be reduced the 2 Tblsp.

in which case, I prefer 1 cup white and 1/3 cup whole wheat, but that's per tastes. 

Comments

PS. I added the plum here because one day, I didn't have enough apples

for my apple crisp, so I added a pear and a plum, and that was fruity delicious,

especially the plum, so now I'm trying plum in everything (and my apple crisp

is forever changed.)

Oat Scones - A Mother's Day Favorite (from Elaine Kile)

Ingredients
2/3 cup butter or margarine melted
1/3 Cup milk
1 Egg
2 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 Cup all purpose Flour
1 1/4 Cups Quick Oats uncooked
1/8 Cup Brown Sugar or maple syrup to taste
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup chopped walnutsnor pecans
1/2 cup raisins or chopped bananas or dried cherries or fresh blueberries or dried mangos or fresh peaches

Directions
In a microwave proof bowl melt the butter. Combine with milk and egg and vanilla

Combine dry ingredients

Stir in wet ingredients with just enough strokes to combine, will be flakey

Add in nuts and fruit. Mix just a little bit.

Shape dough into a ball with your hands as you lift it from the bowl.

Place ball in center of greased baking sheet and flatten into 8 or 9 inch round patty patting in cracked edges as you form dough pie.

Use a knife and cut pie into 8 wedges and slightly separate all the wedges.

Bake in oven preheated to 425 degrees F 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve immedieately while still hot for breakfast with fresh preserves.

Turkey Stuffing and Giblet Soup (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
Giblet Soup
giblets
1 onion, 1 carrot, and 1 stalk celery
Stuffing
4 onions,
3 cups celery including leaves
2 large cloves garlic
1.5 cups of parsley
1 cup walnuts
1 firm apple
(all chopped fine)
1.5# unseasoned bread cubes - hearty type-not mushy soft bread
3 eggs
2 Tbs salt
pepper
1 cup soup (from giblets)

Directions
The day before Thanksgiving, make giblet soup and prepare the dry ingredients for the stuffing.

Giblet Soup
Use the giblets, onion, carrot, celery and enough water to cover. It is desirable to add other chicken necks and giblets that may have been saved from previous cooking adventures. The more the better to make either more or a richer broth. Cover and cook until giblets are soft. Chop the meat, and strain out the vegetables. Return the meat to the soup. Use part of the soup for gravy and part for the stuffing.

Stuffing
Combine onions, celery, garlic, parsley, walnuts, & apple with bread cubes. On the day the turkey is to be cooked add: eggs, salt, pepper plus 1 cup of soup made from the giblets. The stuffing should be on the moist side. This can be tested by making a small ball of stuffing with your hands to see if it sticks together. If not moist enough, add more soup.

Comments
A body of opinion holds that stuffing should be cooked outside the bird. However, we have always loosely stuffed the turkey and baked the excess in a covered dish for between one to two hours. Check to see that it has crispy parts whereas the stuffing from within the bird is soft throughout. After cooking is complete, remove all the stuffing from the bird and mix it with the externally cooked stuffing The mixture tastes better than either alone.

Turkey Liver
Usually we can not avoid frying this tidbit and serving it on fresh dark rye bread before we start this complicated cooking experience.

Turkey Stuffing (Gertrude)

Ingredients
1 large loaf of bread (1 – 1 ½ lb of bread)– lightly toasted and cut into cubes or a bag of cut-up, unseasoned bread cubes
8 cups of water
A wedged onion
Salt and pepper
1C chopped celery
½ C chopped parsley
1 apple chopped
1 C onions chopped (raw)
8 oz chopped walnuts
2 eggs

Directions
For both variants below: Put all the turkey innards and the ends of the wings in 8 cups of water. Add a wedged onion, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 hours without a lid. Reduce by half.


Mix all dry ingredients together (bread cubes, celery, parsley, apple, onions, and walnuts)
Add salt and pepper to taste
Beat the 2 eggs and mix with 1 C of the turkey broth
Mix liquid into dry ingredients until the mixture can be formed into a ball
Put stuffing into turkey cavity and cook with turkey


Remove giblets and chop into small pieces. Divide. Use 1/2 in the stuffing and 1/2 in the gravy. Fry the onions and celery in 1 stick of melted butter or margarine only until onions are soft.
Mix butter, onions, celery and bread cubes. Add giblets, parsley and walnuts.
Beat salt, pepper and spices into the beaten eggs and combine with 1 cup of turkey broth,
Mix the wet ingredients with the cube mixture. Add broth until the mixture can be formed into a ball

Wendy does not remember Gertrude using an apple in her stuffing.

Comments

Cornbread (Diana and Hanne)

Ingredients
1 stick melted butter/margarine (do it in the microwave).
3/4 cup defrosted frozen corn kernels (I use the roasted ones from Trader Joes)
¼ cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup buttermilk (powdered buttermilk tastes the same as fresh)
1 ½ cups flour (I use ½ of this as whole wheat flour)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions
Take out corn to defrost
In bowl mix all wet ingredients, then the dry
Use a greased 8” pan
Cook at 400 for around 30 minutes until a knife comes out clean when you prick the center

Implements
Dutch oven pot

Comments
This is yummiest when eaten warm. We love it with a hearty soup

Custardy Popovers (from Moosewood Cookbook No. 1) (David and Diane)

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup milk
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbs. butter

Directions (see Eva's variations too)
1. Turn on the oven (to 375F) and put the muffin tin in while preheating. Make coffee. Go get the morning paper.
2. Beat together the eggs and milk. Add flour and salt. Beat with a whisk until uniform. Don’t over beat or whip.
3. Melt the butter in the microwave
4. When you are all ready and the oven is preheated, take out the muffin tin, use a brush to coat all sides and bottom of the muffin wells with the melted butter. Work quickly before the muffin tin cools down.
5. Fill each muffin hole about 2/3 full with batter. Put tin back in the oven as quickly as you can.
6. Bake for 15 minutes in a convection oven or 35 minutes in a conventional oven without opening the oven door.
7. While the muffins are cooking, set the table, trim the fruit, relax in the sunshine.
8. Take the muffins out, prick with a fork to help them hold their shape and serve immediately with butter, jam and/or berries.

Comments
Makes 12 popovers - These are a great weekend breakfast treat, especially if you have fresh homemade jam or berries on hand. They need to be eaten RIGHT AFTER cooking and if cooked properly will have a nice steamy hollow pocket that can be stuffed at the table with jam, fresh berries, or more butter. In this case it is CRITICAL to preheat the oven up to the proper temperature. Be sure to use a brush to butter all the muffin tin cup walls so the popovers slid out without a fight. Drop into a basket and serve immediately.

Eva's variations:
Heat oven to 450 degrees
Spray edges of cup cake pans with cooking spray

In a 4 cup glass measuring cup or microwaveable  bowl melt the butter.
Pour a little of the butter into 9 cups, and spread around by tilting pan
 There should be a little butter left

Add milk, eggs and flour to butter in bowl, and mix. The consistency should be like pancake batter
Pour each of 9 cups about 1/4 full. Put water into empty cups.

Put into 450 degree oven for 15 min. Without opening oven, reduce heat to 375 and bake 20 minutes longer. Watch popovers during last 10 minutes ( without opening oven) to make sure they are the correct degree of brown-ness.

Buttermilk breakfast scones (David and Diane)

Ingredients
2 C all-purpose flour
½ C granulated sugar – can cut this down to taste
1 ½ t baking powder
½ t baking soda
¼ t salt
6 T butter, chilled cut in ¼ inch cubes
½ c buttermilk
1 egg
1 ½ t vanilla – more to taste
1 cup dried fruit, or raisons, or fresh berries or chopped banana
¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

Ingredients:
2 C all-purpose flour
½ C granulated sugar – can cut this down to taste
1 ½ t baking powder
½ t baking soda
¼ t salt
6 T butter, chilled cut in ¼ inch cubes
½ c buttermilk
1 egg
1 ½ t vanilla – more to taste
1 cup dried fruit, or raisons, or fresh berries or chopped banana
¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400
stir flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl
cut butter into cubes and put them on top of flour mixture
rub the butter into the four using your hands or a pastry cutter until it is all smooched in – crumbly
mix buttermilk, egg and vanilla in a bowl
add liquid mixture to the dry stuff
mix in the fruit and nuts
form into 6 or 7 blobs and place evenly on thick cookie sheet (no shortening required on pan)
bake for 15-20 minutes until top is slightly browned and toothpick inserted comes out clean

Comments
You can serve with cherry or lemon curd

Good fruit combinations for different types of scones
a)Banana/Walnut/maple
b)dried cranberries
c)Fresh Blueberries
d) Dried Mango and honey

You can cut the sugar down to 1/4 cup with sweeter fruit/syrup, or honey

I use dried buttermilk instead of fresh - keep it in the fridge until use, mix 2 Tbs to make 1/2 cup. Great to have around for pancakes, muffins as well. Available in most grocery stores.

Passover “Bagels” (Deb and Phil)

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
2 1/2 cups matza meal
6 large eggs

Toppings:
Cinnamon sugar
Chopped nuts (eg. Walnuts)

Directions
Put oil, water, salt, and sugar in saucepan and heat to a rolling boil. Lower heat to low and add all the matza meal. Mix until smooth and well blended and remove from heat. Let cool 5 min and add eggs one at a time while mixing (you should get some good exercise doing this!). Each egg should be well mixed in before adding the next.

Coat hands with oil and form batter into balls (should get about 12). Place on well greased baking sheet . If you want a more cream puff shape skip next step. Place well oiled finger into the center of each ball and rotate until bagel shape formed. Add toppings suggested together or individually or add one of your own invention.

Bake at 350˚ F for 50-60 min.

Comments
These are terrific warm and are also nice for use to make sandwiches for lunch during Pesach (if they don’t disappear down someone’s gullet ahead of time!).