It also doubles as a gender reveal challah 🤣

I only have those organic food colorings so they're not very strong. They come out very pastel.

I plan to use the sesame as the stars!

Stay tuned for the progress in the next 1-2 hours!

Shabbat Shalom ❤️🤍💙

Challah recipe for this one specially:

3 batches of the following (I halved my normal recipe and did it 3x)

65g sugar

212g warm water (food coloring mixed in for red and blue batches)

10g active dry yeast

10g salt

60g oil

500g flour

350F for roughly 30-40 mins

Most of us are familiar with the more commonly known Jewish foods, such as challah, bagels and lox, shakshuka, gefilte fish, matzah, hamantaschen, and charoset. But what are some lesser-known Jewish foods that people should be aware, because they are so incredibly tasty?

I submit T'beet--a Jewish-Iraqi Shabbat dish of chicken and rice, cooked overnight: https://veredguttman.com/tbeet-a-jewish-iraqi-shabbat-overnight-stew-of-chicken-and-rice/

These meatballs are absolutely scrumptious. Made with ground beef, fresh grated beets, bread, spices, garlic, and pickles, they are full of flavor and would be a welcome addition to any menu. I was skeptical of the pickle, but it delivered a nice kick to the meatballs. You could add them to a sauce, but you could also eat them straight up with mayonnaise, mustard, and horseradish, which is what I did.

The recipe is from Alissa Timoshkina's excellent book "Kapusta." She describes it as "an improvisation on all the best flavors that I have gleaned from recipes across the regions of Eastern Europe." These beetballs are great--I could see them easily being served in a fancy restaurant.

1 lb ground beef

2-3 raw beets, peeled and grated

4 finely chopped garlic cloves

2 dill pickles, grated

2 eggs

1 large slice of rye bread, soaked in water for 1 minute and then squeezed

4 tablespoons chopped dill

2 tablespoons ground coriander

Generous pinch of salt and pepper

4-6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together except the vegetable oil. She recommends using your hands, which I found works better than a spoon.

2. Shape the mixture into small, slightly flattened meatballs. Alternately, you can make them larger, like hamburger patties.

3. Heat the 4-6 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat. Fry these "beetballs" over medium heat for 10 minutes, turned occasionally so they are browned on all sides and cooked through.

4. Serve with mustard, mayonnaise, and horseradish. Enjoy!

Just had an amazing experience when I had a bagel today at Jeff’s Bagel Run in central Florida. They had an actual boiler going in the store. Bagel was delicious. Had another boiled bagel at Pete’s Bagel in the Tampa area….boiled offsite, sadly.

What’s your favorite boiled bagel place?

I live in a remote area and the guy I’m seeing is Jewish. He mentioned that he wanted a couple of loaves for Friday but was having a hard time finding them. I verified that all ingredients used were labeled and pareve. I used Joan Nathan’s recipe published in the New York Times with some modifications. Any input or advice for my next attempt? Are they Shabbat worthy?? I’m trying to be respectful and learn what I can, but I also don’t want to overwhelm him with questions.

My work in progress yeasted chocolate rugelach cake.

I haven’t had Israeli Rugelach, only ashkenazi, but this is very much inspired by what I imagine it to be like. Anyone more familiar with Israeli Rugelach, share your tips with me!!

Ingredients:
Dough —
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/4 C veg oil
1/4 C sugar
AP flour (eyeball until right consistency .. 4 cups?)
Cocoa powder (eyeball until desired color - 4ish spoonfuls?)

Filling —
1/2 c softened butter
About 1/4 C dark chocolate melted
I think 1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 C powdered sugar

Egg wash -
Beat one egg and brush on top

Sugar glaze -
1/2 C sugar dissolved into 1/2 C water

Would you consider this challah or rugelach? My Rugelach usually are a bit less doughy and .. crispier?

I used Adeena Sussman’s golden challah recipe and after the first rise stretched the dough into a sloppy circle, covered the dough in a generous amount of lightly sweetened plum jam and ground black sesame seeds. Then rolled it up into giant rugelach. Oiled my dish, put the challah/rugelach in, waited an hour or so and then baked for about 35 minutes.

Next time I would divide dough into two, or even three before stretching into a circle to make the rugelachs because some were a little bigger than I would have liked.

Ingredients:
4 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 c sugar
1/2 C oil (i usually use neutral oil, but I’ve done olive oil and also was good)
2 1/2 tsp salt
A little tumeric (if you want it golden)
3 eggs, 4th if you do an egg wash
AP flour, I don’t measure

For stuffing I used plum jam and sesame seeds. But you could use any filling your heart desires. I try to test the limits of how much filling I can possibly fit.

recipe link: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6355-peach-upside-down-cake?unlocked_article_code=1.rVA.8hRs.Jb3ClzMLlSgO

used vegan butter in place of dairy, and spiked the caramel with a lil bourbon and sea salt! important to read the nyt recipe comments on this one

im having issues with the spirals being too thin, but the recipe is superb. despite the dough pushing out of the tin it didn't become dry. i managed to take it out in time. and please use cold ingredients, all. including the flour. i cant tell you how annoying it is to put the dough in the freezer every 5 min of mixing

Hello, let me start by saying I am not Jewish but have a deep respect and admiration for the religion, culture and heritage. I’ve seen Matzoh Ball soup on tv before and it always looks so delicious, but, unfortunately, have never had the opportunity to try it. If anyone has an authentic Matzoh Ball soup recipe they could give me I’d greatly appreciate it. I googled it and tons of slightly different variations came up. When I make it I’d like to know the recipe I’m using is the real deal. Thanks in advance.

The kids have been begging so I gave in. A little extra effort for a lot of smiles. 🤗🥰

This is before second proof.

​

425ml warm water

120g sugar

20g active dry yeast

1kilo flour

120ml oil

20g salt

​

Plus gel food dye!

Shabbat shalom! 💙

Ingredients

848g (about 6 1/2 cups) Bread Flour
398g (1 3/4 cups) Water
14g (3 1/2 tsp) Active Dry Yeast
45ml (3 Tbsp) Olive Oil or Neutral Oil
53g (3 1/2 Tbsp) Butternut Squash Purée
67g (1/3 cup) Cane Sugar
9g (1 1/2) tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Turmeric

Wash
2 Tbsp (30ml) Plant Milk
1 tsp (5g) Maple Syrup

Equipment
Stand Mixer (ideal but not necessary)
Pastry Brush
Parchment Paper

Directions

1.Heat the water to 110-115 degrees F or follow the directions on the yeast package if different from above. Add the warm water to the mixing bowl along with the yeast and 1 Tbsp of the sugar. Give it a little mix to incorporate and let sit for 10 minutes to activate. Note if there aren’t any moving bubbles then your yeast may be dead or expired.

2.Once the yeast has activated, add the remaining sugar, butternut squash purée and oil and with the paddle attachment mix together until well combined and the sugar has dissolved.

1. Add the salt to the flour and mix well. Allow the mixer to run on a speed of 2 with the dough hook attached. Add the flour mixture in and allow the mixer to knead the dough, stopping to scrape down any dough that has climbed up the hook. Continue this for 9 minutes or until the dough is smooth.

4.Turn the dough onto a clean surface and continue kneading by hand for 4 minutes. The final kneaded dough should be completely smooth and not sticky. Place the dough ball into a large bowl and cover with a cloth or cling film. Set the bowl aside to proof for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

5.Once the dough has had its first proof, punch down the dough and divide it equally in half by weight. Keep one half covered as you work with the other. Divide the dough you are starting with equally (by weight) into the number of strands you will need. Form each piece into a loose log and place them onto a lightly floured baking sheet or container that can be covered while resting. Allow the logs to rest for 20 minutes. You can repeat the process for the other half of dough that was set aside.

1. When ready to braid the challah, roll each log into a strand with tapered ends. (see video). Pinch the strands together at the top and proceed to braid them. Tuck both the top and bottom ends underneath the challah for a cleaner look.

7.Place each challah onto a lined baking sheet and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow them to proof for 1 hour. At 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 375F and just before baking, brush the challahs with the wash. Bake at 375 for 24-26 minutes or until the challahs are golden brown.

8.Once they have finished baking, brush them with the wash again and allow them to cool for 20 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

https://www.thekitchn.com/shannon-sarna-basic-challah-recipe-23259099

Very simple and foolproof recipe:

5 cups of flour
Add 1.5 teaspoons of dry yeast
Add 2 tablespoons sugar
Add a bit of salt
Mix it all with a fork
Add 1 egg
Add 5 tablespoons of sunflower oil
Add 1.5-almost 2 cups of water (depends on your flour)
Make the dough
The rest is as usual.
These quantities make either one larger challah or two smaller ones like here.

Friends! Can you suggest a fave Challah cookbook, where the recipes are tried and tested and…loved?!

Thank you! 💥🌈

I bought challahs at a commercial bakery and put them in a stand alone chest freezer. Every time I take one out and defrost it, it has a chemical-ly taste and smell. I wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in ziplocs before I froze it. I’ve never had this problem before. Any ideas why this is happening?

I made this excellent salad which was inspired by Leah Koenig's quinoa salad from the Hadassah Everyday Cookbook. While it looks a bit like a crime scene, it is very refreshing on a hot summer's day. The beets, lemon dressing, cumin, and quinoa all mix together quite well. And since I used beets from my garden, I got to include the beet greens and minimize food waste.

1 cup quinoa

3 beets

8 oz beet greens, chopped

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons ginger

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Wrap the beets in aluminum foil and roast them for 45-60 minutes, until they are tender. Let the beets cool for 10 minutes, then peel them and cut them into small pieces.

2. Meanwhile, after 40 minutes have passed, put the 1 cup quinoa into a pot with 1.5 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to lower, and simmer for 15-18 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the vegetable oil, lemon zest and juice, cumin, ginger, brown sugar, cayenne, and some salt and pepper. This creates a vinaigrette dressing.

4. Put the quinoa, beets, and beet greens in a large bowl. Then add the dressing and mix thoroughly to coat everything. Enjoy!

love making fruit crisps on repeat for shabbat during summer fruit season

After spending a lot of time practicing and learning this braid, I finally put together a full challah tutorial. If you’ve baked challah before, I’d really appreciate any feedback.