3 package yeast
1 1/3 cup warm water (110ø-115ø)
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp softened butter/margerine
3 each large eggs lightly beaten
6 cup unleached white flour
1 each egg, well beaten
1 with 1 tablespoon water (a w
1 poppy seeds
Directions
Add 1 Tablespoon sugar and yeast to warm water, stir well and "proof"
the yeast (I'm old-fashioned and still do this). After the yeast
proofs, add rest of the sugar, butter/margerine, 3 lightly beaten
eggs, and five cups flour. As your stir together, add salt (done
this way because salt can kill yeast if added directly). Beat
ingredients with a spoon, gradually adding flour, until dough is
stiff. Knead on board until dough is smooth and elastic (8-10mins).
Cover and let rise in warm place -- until about doubled in size
(1.5-2hrs).
Punch down and knead dough until all the bubbles are gone. Divide
into 6 parts, roll each part between your hands into a rope about 1"
in diameter. Braid 3 ropes each into 2 loaves. Place two braids about
6" apart on a buttered/margerined cookie sheet, and allow to raise in
a warm place until almost doubled in size. Brush tops with egg/water
wash and sprinkle lightly with poppy seeds. Bake in pre-heated 400ø
oven for 35-40 mins, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Cool
covered with a soft towel on racks.
Adapted from Beard on Bread by James Beard
Servings: 1 servings
Challah Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to track the history of recipes back into antiquity, at least as far back into history as early Egypt, and potentially, even further back. Having said that, in the main part, these old cook books were just very basic hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for meal preparation.
Interestingly, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to academics is a series of ancient tablets in Sumerian describing the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel wonderful and blissful. During Roman times 25BC a man called Apicius compiled a collection of documents describing recipes prepared by wealthy Romans. In his scrolls, he tells us how the roman meals were split into hors d`oeuvres, entrees and afters, something we still use today. He also informs us how the Romans used many aromatic flavors, including a few that will be familiar to modern chefs such as basil, rue and asafoetida. Closer to modern times, there are some recipe books which appeared in the fourteenth century - a cookery book called `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Don`t be fooled by the titles though, these books have no connection with the curry that is familiar to us all today, but rather accounts of the types of meals prepared by the cooks of the upper classes. Later, in the 15th century, the Crusaders brought back many foods and herbs from Arab cuisine, including spices like coriander, parsley, and basil. The introduction of these new foods and spices caused an outbreak in manuscripts on cooking, most of which still exist in private cookery archives. During the succeeding few centuries, the powerful families of Europe competed with each other to offer the most extravagent meals, and because of this the best chefs and their recipes were much in demand. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the 1800s that cooking and recipe books became really popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated their lives to collating, trying out, and publishing the recipes that were being prepared for the better households. By the time we get to the twentieth century, cooking books were in great demand, mostly as a result of higher levels of literacy, people having increased leisure time and having more disposable income. Like it or not, the introduction of TV brought us TV cookery programs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting everybody to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this Challah recipe.
