[diablita]

(this is my grandmother's Challah recipe, passed down for generations)<br><br>
Ingredients:<br>
1 dry yeast package (or 1/2 oz. fresh yeast)<br>
3 1/4 cup flour (unbleached or bread flour is fine)<br>
1 tbls sugar<br>
1/2 tsp salt<br>
2 tbls vegetable oil<br>
2 eggs<br>
3/4 cup lukewarm water<br>
1/8 - 1/4 cup warm water<br><br>
1. Mix yeast, sugar, 1 tbls flour & 1/8 cup warm water to dissolve and activate yeast.<br><br>
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, oil, 1 egg & 3/4 cup lukewarm water and knead for several minutes.<br><br>
3. Take the dough out of the bowl, spread a little bit of oil on the bottom and sides of the bowl to make it slippery, then put the dough back in.<br><br>
4. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let it stand (and rise) for 1 hour.<br><br>
5. Grease the inside of a bread loaf pan with more oil when the hour is up.<br><br>
6. Separate the dough into 3 pieces, stretch and roll each piece into a long strand, then braid them together and place them gently into the loaf pan. Let the braided dough stand and rise for another 45 minutes.<br><br>
7. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees at least 15 minutes before the second rise is done.<br><br>
8. When the 45 minutes are up, baste the top of the dough with the other egg (dissolved in a tiny bit of water) and bake for 45 minutes or until the thumped loaf sounds a bit hollow.

 

[Tamster]

I will try this out. Thanks so much for posting. I love homemade challah but just have never had a knack for bread making. I recently starting using my Kitchenaid for mixing up the bread dough to the right consistency prior to rising and that seems to work better for me. Have you used a Kitchenaid for kneading?<br>
oh, if I can make good challah, my jewish husband will have a newfound love for his shiksa wife! (and I hope you take that term in the humorous way it's meant and not the offensive term it can be taken by some)

 

[diablita]

<img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"><br><br>
It's nice that you want to make foods like this for him, Tamster. If you don't like this recipe, I also have a lot of luck with the <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/235871" target="_blank">Chernowitzer Challah</a> recipe on epicurious. (My grandmother's recipe was in storage for years until I unpacked my cookbook box yesterday.)<br><br>
As an FYI, seasoning preferences vary a bit in Jewish cooking from region to region. (There's a saying that for every 10 Jews involved in a debate, there are 11 opinions.) My family is from Chernowitz, formerly a part of Galitzia, so it has a bit of sweetness b/c that was the preference there. Foods from Poland tend to be even sweeter, while Litvak, etc, are even less sweet than this.

 

[witchypoo]

homemade challah is the best. and, diablita's recipe is a good one.<br><br>
like she says here, recipes can be sweeter, depending on region. mine is from my aunt pat (a beer swilling irish catholic woman) who was taught to make it by her local rabbi after her daughter married a jewish fella. my sabra ex loves this recipe, as it is much sweeter than the loaves his mother used to make ('though when we split ways, i refused to give him the recipe. so there!).<br><br>
5 to 6 c flour<br>
1 T salt<br>
1 T yeast<br>
1 c hot water w/1 T honey<br>
1/2 c honey<br>
4 eggs<br>
1/2 c unsalted, melted and cooled butter, OR 1/2 c sunflower oil<br><br>
dissolve the yeast in the hot water and proof.<br>
measure 4 c of flour into a large bowl, make a well, add the yeast, eggs, honey and butter. mix to combine. add more flour if necessary. cover and let rise until doubled. braid into a very large loaf on a sheet pan (i use 4 pieces of dough to make a nearly round loaf). brush with one egg yolk mixed in two tablespoonfuls of cream (or water), and bake in a 350o oven for 35 to 40 minutes.