My Grandma's Award-winning Challah

My house is going to smell GREAT today! It’s Friday. The grandkids are coming for the weekend. That means challah with dinner, Challah French Toast in the morning.

There are few things that smell as good as a challah baking in the oven.

This challah recipe is from my father’s mother. Last year I had lunch with a long lost cousin on my father’s side who had been brought up by that grandmother (and grandfather). I hadn’t seen him in 40 years. We started to talk about his life with them and at some point got to the cooking and of course, the challah. He told me that grandma’s challah was legendary and that once, one of her challahs went up at auction for their synagogue and it raised $100. And that was in the 1930s! A fortune of money, but I guess the buyer knew how good that challah would be.

Grandma’s recipe, as handed down by my mother, had no instructions and the list of ingredients said stuff like “8 hands of flour” and “1/2 hand of sugar.”

It took several tries for me to work this out but I finally did get it right.

Here is the award-winning challah recipe:

Challah

2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (about 105 degrees; feels slightly warm to touch)
1/2 cup sugar
8 cups all-purpose flour, approximately
1 tablespoon salt
5 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1–1/2 cups warm water (about 105 degrees)
Poppy seeds or sesame seeds, optional

In a small bowl, mix the yeast, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and a pinch of flour. Stir and set aside for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly.

While the yeast is resting, place 7-1/2 cups flour with the remaining sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook. Add 4 of the eggs, the vegetable oil and the 1-1/2 cups water. Mix, using the dough hook until well combined. Add the yeast mixture and blend in thoroughly. Knead for about 3-4 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour as needed to make the dough smooth and soft, but not overly sticky.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1-1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk. Punch the dough down, cover the bowl and let rise again for about 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Remove the dough to a floured surface.

Cut the dough into 3 or 6 pieces, depending on whether you are going to make a 3 or 6 strand braid. Make long strands out of each piece. Braid the strands and seal the ends together by pressing on the dough. Place the bread on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Beat the last egg. Brush the surface with some of the egg. Sprinkle with seeds if desired. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

While the dough is in the last rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the challah for about 30 minutes or until firm and golden brown.

Makes one large challah. You can cut the dough in half to make two smaller loaves (bake for about 22-25 minutes) or make a half recipe. (For half recipes you can use a food processor to make and knead the dough).

****If you want to make a6-braid challah, click here: 6-braid challah

Khoshaf

Everyone I know who had a Jewish grandma has tasted dried fruit compote at least once in life. Compote is a lovely sounding French word that means “mixture” and it usually means a mixture of fruit cooked in sugar syrup.

My Jewish grandma, who made this dish, (of course) called it “kumput,” which made all of us kids giggle at the sound of it. Also, as I recall, none of us liked this dish and we made a lot of jokes about the fact that it often included prunes, which we knew, even then, did —- well, everyone knows what prunes do. (Are prunes still the object of kid jokes?)

I think one has to be older and more sophisticated to eat and appreciate dried fruit compote. Anyway, that’s what happened to me — as I got older I tried it again and liked it.

My cousin Leslie, who is only one year younger than I am, however, says the dish still gives her the “willies.” 

Because I associate dried fruit compote with Jewish grandmas, I was a little surprised when, on a recent visit to Egypt, the dish was prominent on every breakfast buffet at every place we went. 

Yes, I ate it with yogurt, and what a treat it was.

But it isn’t my grandma’s kumput.

It’s called khoshaf, a Muslim specialty that is often served to break the Ramadan fast. But also, from what I found, widely available at other times too.

Khoshaf is different from grandma’s kumput in one very important way. It isn’t stewed, isn’t cooked at all, so the fruit never completely softens. It stays firm and pleasantly chewy after soaking in hot, sweet syrup.

Frankly, it tastes better and the texture is better than grandma’s kumput. In fact my cousin Leslie, who tried it at my house recently, said even she thought it was delicious.

So, here’s the recipe:

Khoshaf

1-1/2 cups water

1 cup apricot nectar

1/4 cup (or more to taste) sugar

1 tablespoon orange flower water, rosewater or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 lemon or orange cut into quarters

1 cup dried apricots

1 cup prunes or dried plums

1 cup dried figs, halved or quaretred, depending on size

1 cup raisins

chopped pistachio nuts

Combine the water, apricot nectar and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until slightly syrupy. Remove from the heat and stir in the flavoring. Pour over the fruit and toss ingredients. Let rest for at least one hour, tossing the ingredients occasionally. Sprinkle with nuts and serve. Makes 6-8 servings

Old Fashioned Stuffed Cabbage

For me, Stuffed Cabbage is like hot dogs, blooming onions and caramel corn. Foods I love to eat but don’t, except for once a year because once I take that first bite I over indulge and stuff myself and then feel awful the next day.

Right now is Stuffed Cabbage time.

I never actually tasted stuffed cabbage until after I was married. It was something the women in my husband Ed’s family would cook. My grandmother made Stuffed Grape Leaves, which are similar, but the leaves are tangier and her sauce more sour than the typical one for Stuffed Cabbage.

Over the years I tried to develop a recipe that Ed would like and later, would appeal to my sons-in-law, who like the dish sweeter than I was used to. This year I got it right, according to everyone in the extended family, and that’s saying a lot because we are an opinionated bunch.

Here’s the recipe:

Stuffed Cabbage

• 1 large head of green cabbage
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 medium onion, grated
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup raw white rice
• 2 tablespoons matzo meal or plain bread crumbs
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 12-ounce bottle chili sauce
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot half filled with water to a boil. Cut out the hard center cabbage core. Remove the large cabbage leaves. Place the cabbage leaves plus the smaller remaining cabbage in the boiling water. Cook the cabbage leaves for about 3 minutes, or until they wilt. Cook the remaining cabbage core for 3-5 more minutes, or until you can easily remove the leaves. Cut off the hard stem portions from the large leaves so that they can be rolled easily. Set the leaves aside.

ALTERNATELY: if you plan ahead you can freeze the entire head of cabbage for 24 hours (or more). Thaw the cabbage and the leaves will already be wilted and you can avoid cooking them.

In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, grated onion, egg, rice, matzo meal and salt and pepper to taste. Place a mound of this mixture in the center of each leaf (more on the larger leaves of course). Enclose the meat by wrapping the cabbage leaves, envelope style. Place the stuffed cabbage leaves, seam side down, in deep baking dishes. (I separate the large rolls and smaller ones.)

Heat the vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes or until softened. Stir in the brown sugar, chili sauce, lemon juice and raisins and cook for 3-4 minutes. Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover the pan. Bake for 2 hours (or, to cook ahead, bake for one hour, freeze, thaw and bake for an additional hour).

Makes 18-24