Toby's Challah

Having no wireless internet at the house, I am at the Williston Community Library printing resumes for today's interview and I thought I would post my challah recipe as well (if I had more time and wasn't readying for an interview, I would look more into Kelsey's challah story before posting!). My oldest friend's mom, Toby, has always made wonderful, wonderful Challah bread and so before I left Sitka, I asked her to teach me. The recipe she uses is called Racheli's Deluxe Challah and it was discovered by her sister Leah in 1991. Last night I made Challah to go with our dinner of perch (caught by Marcus) and asparagus. You will need: 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water 1 package (2 tsp) active dry yeast 1/2 cup sugar 3 eggs 1 tablespoon salt 1/4 cup oil (plus a little extra to oil the bowl, dough, and baking sheet) 8 to 9 cups flour (you can use up to 3 cups whole wheat flour) Optional: 1 cup packed raisins and poppy and/or sesame seeds to sprinkle on top 1. Place the water in a very large bowl. (Make sure the water is no warmer than wrist temperature - I just learned this. Test the temperature of the water with your wrist and it should be warm, but not warm enough that it feels hot.) Sprinkle in the yeast, and let stand 5 minutes until foamy. 2. Add the sugar, 2 of the eggs, oil, and optional raisins, and beat with a wire whisk for several minutes. 3. Begin adding the flour 1 cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon after each addition. When you reach abou tthe seventh cup of flour, start slowing the additons, adding 1/4 cup at a time, mixing and kneading in the flouor with your hand. Stop adding flour when the dough is quite firm and no longer feels sitcky. (After adding about 4 cups of flour, you should also add the 1 Tbs of salt - you must "protect" the yeast from the salt, so make sure you add enough flour before adding the salt.) 4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead vigorously--as though you eman it-- for 5 to 10 minutes, or until you've had enough. (The more kneading the better, but on the other hand, bread dough is very adaptable and will accomodate you.) 5. Oil the bowl and the top surface of the dough, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel, and place in a draft-free place to rise until doubled in buldk (1 1/2 to 2 hours).

6. Punch down the dough, return to the floured surface, and divide in half. Knead each half for at least 5 minutes, then divide each into thirds. Roll each third into a long rope about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and form 2 braided loaves (3 strands per braid).

7. Oil a baking sheet, and place the braids on the sheet at least 4 inches apart. Cover with the towl, return to the draft-free spot, and let rise again, this time for only about 45 minutes. (alternatively, you can let the braids rise in the refrigerator for up to three days before baking. Be sure they are sealed airtight in a large, loose-fitting plastic bag. You can put them directly from the refrigerator into a preheated oven). Instead of letting rise for the 2nd time, you can also put the loaves in a cold over, preheat it, and add about 10 minutes to the baking time.

8. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Beat the remaining egg and brush it onto the loaves. Sprinkle generously with poppy and/or sesame seeds. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the breads give off a hollow sound when thumped resolutely on the bottom. Remove from the sheet immediately and cool on a rack.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well the bread came out, although I did discover that I need a bigger sheet to cook them on! I opened up the white peach jam Sarah made and we spread some on the bread and even though I didn't take any pictures of the perch, it was delicious as well!