Challah

Challah is a great bread to make for the holidays, or for any special dinner party, brunch or family gathering. It is a traditional Jewish bread that is eaten on the Sabbath and during certain holidays. It has egg in it, so it has a nice, rich texture. There are lots of semi-sweet egg breads out there, such as Portuguese sweet bread and brioche and Hawaiian bread, but I think challah is one of the most versatile egg breads out there. Also, it is braided and finished with an egg wash, so it is a very beautiful baked good that you can make for a dinner for minimal cost and effort.

Here is what you will need:

1.25 cups warm water (I don't like to go over 100 degrees, just to be safe, as yeast can be finicky and hot water can kill them)
2.5 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 tbs. sugar
2 teaspoons salt
5 cups flour (I used bread flour, but all purpose is great, too)
2 eggs
1/3 cup olive oil

First, mix the honey with the warm water to dissolve. Stir in the sugar and the yeast. Let sit 10 minutes until there is a bunch of foam on the top (this tells you that the yeast is alive and ready to make delicious bread). I like to do this in my Kitchen Aid mixing bowl because it can go straight to the mixer once you are ready to fold in the flour.

Whisk the eggs, oil and salt briefly and stir it into the yeast mixture.

Mix in flour, one cup at a time, incorporating as you go. If you have a standing mixer, use a dough hook (it is so much easier) and let it go for about 8-10 minutes or until the dough is shiny and forms a tight ball. If you are doing it by hand and have experience, give it 10-12 minutes and make sure it is elastic, supple and forms a nice ball. I like to pinch it a bit to make sure it has good texture. It will look a bit like this:

Now you are ready to let it rise. Oil a bowl lightly and put the dough in it. Put a damp cloth over the bowl and put it in a dark, dry place, such as a turned off oven or a pantry. It helps if it's a little warm, so if you want best results and you don't have an incubator, turn your oven on for a few minutes, then turn it off and put the bowl in when it's just barely warm. Let it rise for 90 minutes. 

Punch it down and divide it into two sections. Each will make a loaf. Cut each section into three pieces and roll them by hand into tubes. Now we start the braid. Pinch the three tubes together at one end and form a braid like so:

Keep braiding until you reach the end. Then pinch the ends together and fold them under the loaf. Don't worry if they look a bit rough, because you are going to let the loaves rise again before you bake them.

Let the loaves rise for another 45-60 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350. Beat an egg with a few tablespoons of milk and brush the loaves with the mixture. Bake them for 30-35 minutes.  They should be golden brown (and depending on your egg wash, may get very dark on top).

This recipe makes two loaves. I used more wash on one loaf than the other, so you can see the difference!

Suggestions for Challah (beyond simply eating it with dinner):
*toasted with butter next to a hot cup of soup
*served with hummus before dinner
*made into French toast on a cold morning
*added to a bread pudding
*grilled cheese with brie, apples and a little sharp cheddar

Shrimp Balls in Miso Broth

I often think of my time in California, where I spent a great deal of my childhood in a Chinese restaurant in Redwood City. My mother was good friends with the owners, Paul and Ann Chin. I was five, six, and seven years old when I ran around the dining room and the kitchen. The chefs spoke mostly Cantonese but were very kind to me. They showed me how to make wontons and shrimp jioa zi. I also had all the pork fried rice I could eat. In the back room was a space for games, a place where locals came to play video games and ping pong tournaments (I am not kidding) and for Paul and Ann's parents to play sevens and mahjong with their friends. It's here that I learned that soybeans were delicious, and that shrimp can take on many forms. 

Here's a recipe for a dish I made the other night--shrimp balls in miso broth with seaweed, garlic and spinach.

for shrimp balls:

1 lb large shrimp
1 egg yolk
1 tbs cornstarch
2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

for broth:
miso paste
water
fresh baby spinach
garlic cloves
dried seaweed (nori)

Pulse the shrimp meat in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade about 10-15 times. Then add the egg, cornstarch, ginger, salt, and pepper and pulse again until incorporated. Chill for 30 minutes.  Form "meatballs" out of the shrimp mixture and set aside. 

In a pot, take 1 quart of water, heat it to just before boiling, and add 3 tbs miso paste (white is good, but you can use any kind). Add garlic (about 4 cloves smashed) and add the nori (as mush as you'd like) and let soften. Throw in a handful of spinach (I like the flavor it adds, plus the extra vitamins). Let simmer for 10 minutes. Add the shrimp balls and simmer for 10-15 more minutes. Finish with scallions. 

Assassin's Creed Cake

I've been out of commission for a minute, as I started school and have let my blogging go by the wayside. I didn't stop taking pictures or cooking, however.

A few weeks ago, I made my nephew his birthday cake. He loves Assassin's Creed, an historical video game series that features lots of daring do, sword fights and maps of Rome and Constantinople. So I made him a theme cake, using the symbol from the game. For simplicity's sake, I'll just explain the decorating techniques here. I used two nine inch rounds of white sponge cake (made with vanilla extract and greek yogurt to cut sweetness) and a filling of strawberry jam cooked with honey, cardamom, and a vanilla bean with lemon juice at the finish. I made a standard white eggless buttercream (butter, icing sugar, vanilla and whole milk). I used an icing spatula and a dough cutter, dipped in very hot water, to finish the surface of the cake.

I used red and black fondant (commercial) for the decorations. To make the Assassin's symbol, I used a printed stencil and cut the fondant with a paring knife:

My niece helped make the molded fondant rosettes. Note: always oil that mold and don't let the fondant get too warm, or it will stick. 

I then added the birthday number to the top of the cake, and we were ready to go!

As you can see from the cross section, the cake rose well and the filling is nice and even. 

How I Do My Eggplant

A lot of my friends (including my beloved) tell me they don't like eggplant because of bitterness or poor texture. I think you need to try great eggplant once before you make a judgment about it, because it's a great fruit (technically, but we think of it as a veggie which makes more sense--you wouldn't put it in a fruit salad now would you?)

Eggplant came to us from India, but it wasn't used in the west (per written records) until the 16th century.  Through history, the eggplant has been falsely confused with both potatoes and tomatoes in its taxonomy. It is like neither in taste or preparation, however.

Today I used Japanese Eggplant, but you can use any variety you find in the store. The bitterness comes from the dark seeds. If you slice the eggplant and see dark seeds, remove them immediately and rinse and pat dry your eggplant. I like to slice them into semi-circles if the eggplant is small, or quarters if it is large. Make the slices .5 to 1 inch thick. If a few pieces turn out too thick or too thin, don't stress too much. Spread them out evenly over a sturdy paper towel or clean cloth and salt them well with a ground sea salt or table salt if that's all you've got (I used both).

Now put a sheet of paper towel or clean cloth on top of them. Find a pan that fits and put that on top of the whole lot. Put some cans in the pan to provide weight. The salt will leech water out of the tissues by osmosis, and the pressure from the cans will cause the eggplant to shed the excess water than can make it "mushy."  I used four small cans, as I didn't want to compromise the texture of the eggplant. 

Let that sit about 20 minutes. While it's sitting, you can prepare your dish. Today, I did a quick stir fry with eggplant, ginger, oyster mushrooms and baby bok choy. I heated 2 tbs of vegetable oil until very hot but not quite smoking. Toss in the eggplant and move the pan around very quickly. Cooke for a minute, then dump into a bowl (I used a steel mixing bowl) and let sit while you do the rest. Add another tbs of oil to the pan and cook the ginger and garlic for a second. Then add the mushrooms and toss vigorously. At this point, you can add your own sauce recipe or a commercial sauce. My sauce consists of:

1 tbs rice wine vinegar

1 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs. soy sauce

1 tbs. fish sauce

If you toss this in the mixture, the oil from the pan and veggies should be enough to give the sauce a richness without adding extra fat. 

I finished my stir fry with toasted sesame seed. Very nice aroma and flavor!

Fresh Veggies!!

I got very lucky today when some folks from a local farm knocked on my door offering to sell produce.  Sometimes local independent farmers will come into the city and go door to door, but I usually go to the farmer's market for my seasonal goodies. Anyway, they gave me a decent deal--I got 30lbs of fruit and veggies for $25, all organic, no pesticides, and the best tasting I've had in a long time.

My first thought was that I had to use those glorious tomatoes. So I whipped up a quick fresh corn and tomato salad. It is to die for. Here's the result:

Here's all you have to do:

Shuck two ears of fresh corn, and cut the kernels off the cob with a sharp knife.

Dice two large fresh tomatoes and remove as many seeds as you can (if possible)

Dice half a shallot very, very finely

combine 1 tbs oil (I used canola, you can use olive oil or another kind if you want)
with 1 tbs rice wine vinegar and a squeeze of lemon

Toss the veggies with the oil-vinegar mixture. Now season with fresh black pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika (if you have it) and sea salt.

Skyrim Recipe Part 2: Sweet Rolls!

So after posting about my blog on Reddit, I got some feedback about sweet rolls. 

When I started formulating recipes from Skyrim, I had intended to just use ingredients listed for the pots and spits. However, I got some feedback about wanting sweet rolls. It just so happens I make sweet rolls and I have a great, basic recipe--one that could totally be made in a fantasy realm where modern-day conveniences are scarce. Here goes--trust me, they are delicious. 

1 tbs yeast1/4 warm water (around 105 degrees F)

2 sticks butter

1/3 cup sugar1 cup room temperature milk (2% or full fat)

1 egg

4.5 cups sifted all purpose flour

1.5 tsp salt

filling:brown sugar chopped nuts, raisins (if you want) cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger

Put the yeast in a bowl. Add the water. Stir and soak for 10 minutes. It should foam (proves the yeast is alive and all that).

Heat the milk, butter and sugar in a pan until steaming but not boiling. Stir a lot so that it all blends together. Cool. 
Beat the egg. Add it to the yeast, then stir in the cooled milk mixture. Knead in the flour and salt. Put it in an oiled bowl and let rise 90 minutes. 
Roll the dough and form a rectangle. Brush with butter (seriously, this makes it good). Sprinkle it with the brown sugar and spice and nut mixture. 

Now roll it up into a tube! It should look like a long cylinder with a spiral of deliciousness in the middle. Cut it with kitchen scissors or a greased knife into 1.5 inch thick rounds. Place slices in an 8 or 9 inch round greased cake pan. Place one slice in the middle and other slices around it. Press rolls down to even out and fill pan. Let rise until rolls fill the pan.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 


About glazing: powdered sugar was produced in Sicily as early as the 800s. So I can't say that it's "modern." If you want to use it, I make this glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. milk


I like to use vanilla, but that wasn't available until the conquest of mesoamerica. If you want to go all old-school, you can just use a mixed of honey, cinnamon and hot mead or hot wine, all mixed into a syrup and poured over the rolls. 

First post for the Skyrim Cookbook

So I want to write a Skyrim cookbook, and here is my first post.
Apple and cabbage stew!!

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (olive oil for vegan)
1 head thinly sliced green cabbage
1 large vidalia onion, roughly diced
Fresh thyme (about 6 to 8 springs, depending on your taste)
1 bay leaf
2 quart chicken stock (veggie stock if you are vegan)
4 small-medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced.

Heat butter or oil and sauté the cabbage and onion until soft and onions start to turn a yellow-brown. Add thyme and stir, wait about 5 minutes. Stir vigorously. Add the rest of the butter or oil and then add the diced apple. Saute for another 5 minutes on high heat or until apple pieces appear a little brown. Now add the stock and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook for 10 more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.