Rosh Hashana Challah!

--- Retrieved from http://www.kosherfrugal.com/2013/06/sweet-whole-wheat-and-oat-bran-challah.html -
This is our Rosh Hashana challah. It's sweet and honey gives it a special flavor. This year we've noticed honey is more expensive than ever before, so I tried to modify the recipe and use a little less in order to help my kilo of honey go further. 

If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear what you think!


Whole Spelt Honey Challah

8 cups whole spelt flour, sifted (or 4 c. white + 4 c. whole)
1 cup oat bran  
1 T. salt  
2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp dry yeast
1/3 cup honey 

2-2.5 cups of lukewarm water*  
1/3 cup oil + a little more for oiling the bowl (I use sunflower oil most of the time)

Optional: 1 cup raisins (or chocolate chips for the non-traditional folk like my kids)

 *I find that the amount of water needed varies a lot - depends on the temperature and humidity in my kitchen on a particular day, and different batches of flour behave differently

Directions: 

1. Mix together dry ingredients (flour, oat bran, salt, sugar, yeast)

2. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add liquid ingredients (honey, oil, water). Mix well. Then knead. 

3. Coat the dough with a little extra oil and flip over a couple of times, so the bottom and sides get oiled too. cover with a tea towel to rise till doubled. On warm days, this can be about 1 hour, but can take up to 2 hours. Sometimes I leave it longer and it's fine, since there are no eggs.

 
4. Punch down, add raisins (or chocolate chips) if you like, knead again, and shape your challot. Cover with a tea towel to rise for about 1/2 an hour. (I usually make 3 challot out of this size batch, so I often double it!) These make great "pull-apart" challot in a round pan, which I find are much less work than braided round challot, and everyone loves them. Sometimes I brush the tops with honey or sugar mixed with some hot water before baking. You can do an egg wash (or egg and sugar) on them if you prefer that they get shiny, if you're not avoiding eggs.
 
5. Bake for 25-30 min at 220C

Allow to cool before you devour them.

These got a bit dark, but they are delish.

Enjoy your Honey Challot! Shana Tovah!

Whole Spelt Honey Challah

--- Retrieved from http://www.kosherfrugal.com/2013/06/sweet-whole-wheat-and-oat-bran-challah.html -
I change up my challah recipe sometimes, and this is our Rosh Hashana version! It's been a hit with my family. If you make it, I'd love to hear your feedback!

You can also make this with raisins, if you're into that.


Whole Spelt Honey Challah

8 cups whole spelt flour, sifted
1 cup oat bran  
2/3 cup ground flaxseed  
1 T. salt  
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey 2-2.5 cups of lukewarm water*  
1 tsp sugar  
2 tsp dry yeast
1/3 cup oil + a little more for oiling the bowl (I use olive oil most of the time)

 *I find that the amount of water needed varies a lot - depends on the temperature and humidity in my kitchen on a particular day, and different batches of flour behave differently

Directions: 1. Mix 1 tsp sugar with the water. Add the yeast. Allow to proof for about 10 min

2. Mix together dry ingredients (flour, oat bran, flaxseed, salt, sugar)

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add liquid ingredients. Mix well. Then knead. 

4. Coat the dough with oil and flip over a couple of times, so the bottom and sides get oiled too. cover with a tea towel to rise till doubled. On warm days, this can be about 1 hour, but can take up to 2 hours.  
5. Punch down. Shape your challot. Cover with a tea towel to rise for about 1/2 an hour. (I usually make 3 challot out of this size batch, so I often double it!) I usually make these in round pans as "pull-apart" challot. Sometimes I brush the tops with honey mixed with some hot water before baking. You can egg wash them if you like, if you're not avoiding eggs.
 
6. Bake for about 30-40 min at 350 F (175-180C)
Allow to cool before you devour them. My kids like it when I let the tops get extra dark...

Enjoy your Honey Challot!

Shabbat & Rosh Hashanah Menus

We'll be eating lots of apples this holiday!

It's almost here. The not-quite-three-day-yom tov!

First it will be Shabbat, then Sunday is Erev Rosh Hashana, and then comes Rosh Hashana, which, even in Israel, is 2 days of course. So it's quite intense and I imagine Sunday will be a panicky sort of day if you don't plan well in advance. That's why I've done almost all the shopping for the holiday already (I do plan to fill in a few things on Friday, assuming the skies have begun to clear). Have you shopped?

Lots of time will be spent in shul, davening, hearing shofar, praying for the dust storm to leave, and more.

Yes... dust storm. We are blanketed in fine particles of sand... it actually looked like it was snowing the other night - the glow of the lights on the particles of sand drifting through the air really made it look like snow! But the fact is, we are running the air conditioning, so snow it is NOT.

So here's my plan: (mostly, it's cook in an air conditioned kitchen!)

Shabbat Menu:
I'm not cooking for Shabbat. We are taking food out of the freezer. I know there's a pan of chicken in there plus a few kugels and some rice with vegetables. That should work! I figured I deserve an easy Shabbat with all the cooking I need to do for the holiday!

Rosh Hashana:
Night meal 1:
Honey Challot
Apples and Honey
Pomegranate Chicken
Garlic Roast Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli
Israeli Salad

Day meal 1: (plus guests)
Honey Challot
Salads - whatever I get around to preparing 
Oven Fried Chicken
Apple Kugel
Butternut Squash Kugel
Corn?

Night meal 2:
Honey Challot
(New Fruit - still have to buy one)
Split Pea Soup?
Salmon steaks cooked in lemon and herbs
Spinach and Cheese pie
Rice with stir fried veggies

Day meal 2:
Honey Challot
Any leftovers we feel like eating (most likely the chicken and sides from those meals will be left)
OR if for some crazy reason there's nothing left, I'll cook a simple meal, like omelets or macaroni.
I'm keeping a flame going so I can light the gas stove if I need to, and the oven may or may not get left on.

Baking: Honey Cake, Cinnamon Cake, Chocolate Cake


We're hosting a shiur (class) at the house on the second day, so I'm setting aside a honey cake for that. 

And that is how I am planning Rosh Hashana through my dust-filled foggy brain...
What about you? 
(As you may notice, I'm not doing much in the way of "simanim" this year. Do you do them? Do you do them every year? Is it an important family tradition of yours?)

Egg-free Honey Cake for a Crowd!

I decided to try out baking a large batch of honey cake, as I was taking one to an event and then another to another event the next day.

It worked out really well, even though some people say making large batches of cake isn't the best idea.

WARNING: this cake is not exactly healthy, and not exactly frugal either. But it certainly is festive and appropriate for the season, so I figured I'd share!


 


Honey Cake for a Crowd, Egg-free
makes 2 9"X12" pans

4 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1.5 cups hot water
1/2 cup oil (I used this palm oil, but you can use any oil you like - neutral flavors work best)
2 cups honey
2 cups demerara sugar, or other dark sugar
1.5 cups warm (not hot) coffee (can be decaf!)
2 tablespoons orange juice
4 cups whole wheat flour (this recipe works fine with white flour, I just don't keep any in the house and I like to pretend my cakes are healthy)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
dash of ground nutmeg
dash of ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Note: if you are mixing this by hand, you'll need two bowls. If you are using a mixer, one bowl is fine!

Mix together flaxseed and hot water and oil, and let sit for 10 minutes
Add the other liquid ingredients to the flaxseed mixture.
If using two bowls, combine all the dry ingredients in the second bowl, and make a well in the center.
Slowly add liquids to the dry ingredients, and mix very well to combine.
Pour into two 9"X12" baking pans
Bake at 180C for 1 hr, 15 min.
Allow to cool completely before covering tightly, it is best served the next day. 


Wishing you all a Gmar Chatimah Tovah!

Planning for Rosh Hashana

Planning for Rosh Hashana

I'm beginning my Rosh Hashana menu planning now, because I plan to make double this Shabbat and freeze, so a couple of meals for the holiday will be well underway. So far we have guests for 2 lunches for Chag, but none this Shabbat

So far, here's the plan for this week's cooking - I need to use up some of what is in the house before we go and get more. So here's what I can make right now using what I've already got, and hopefully there's enough here to freeze some to make Yom Tov easier!

Butternut Squash and Apple soup (making a huge pot!)
Vegetable soup
Spicy Roast chicken
Vegetable-Noodle Kugel
Roasted eggplant and kishuim
Something with beets
Apple Cake

If I find more I can make, I'll keep you posted. Going to start my chopping now!

Oatmeal and Honey Cookies (egg-free)

I may be using up my honey too quickly! I managed to buy some for less than 30 shekel/kg and I got some for free as well (sorry, that deal is long gone). So I felt like I could indulge. I made honey-teriyaki chicken, honey-sweetened challot, honey cakes, and now, oatmeal and honey cookies.

I kind of winged this recipe today, using my Oatmeal-Molasses Cookies as an inspiration, but really it needed a lot of changing it up!

Here's my recipe for these delicious confections! They are 100% whole grain! And are only honey sweetened. And are delicious. (They are not super-sweet, but they have a great honey flavor, if that makes sense to you. If you want them sweeter, roll them in powdered sugar before you bake them, or add 1/2 c. sugar or so to the recipe.)

1 T. ground flaxseed
1/4 c. boiling water
2/3 c. honey
1/2 c. oil
dash of ground cloves
dash of ground ginger

Mix well.
Add:

4 c. flour
2 c. rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda

Combine well. If the dough is too sticky to form cookies with, gradually add more flour as needed. A lot depends upon the humidity in your house and the origin of your flour... I added about 1/3 cup more.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

I used my fingers to form cookies, slightly flattened. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 190 C for about 12 min.

Enjoy!
Shana Tovah!

I filled up my cookie jar. I rarely use my cookie jar, but today I thought, "Why have a cookie jar if I'm never going to use it?!" So now we have a jar full of cookies.

I used the old camera and it's really not working so well these days. Sorry.

Rosh Hashana

Rosh Hashana is Sunday night.

I am so not ready, but I'm trying.

I do not want to be in the kitchen all week, so I'm *trying* to keep it simple. My menu is far from gourmet, so if you're looking for gourmet, you're going to have to look somewhere else!

Here's the plan:

Pareve Foods: 

Round Honey Challot (hopefully I'll get the round weaving thing!!)

Split pea soup (I happen to still have a lot of split peas in the house...)

Maple-roasted pumpkin (my girls LOVED it last Shabbat!)

Apple Kugel (already made)

Roasted potatoes

Make-your-own-salad

Grilled zucchini

Toasted Barley with mushrooms (I have some frozen, sliced mushrooms I got on sale a LONG time ago hanging out in the freezer)



I'm making at least one milchig meal -

Spinach lasagna

Some sort of quiche - we'll see what is affordable later in the week

Desserts:

Honey Cake (already made)

Brownies

Molasses Cookies

Apple Pie

Now, I just need to print this out, hang it up on the fridge, and get to work! Some of these things I will double or triple so we have for other meals as well...

Of course, we'll be having apples and honey, and a new fruit as well.

Shana Tova!

Please let me know what you're making!

Getting Ready for Rosh Hashana!

Right now, I'm a little apple-obsessed.

First, I made apple kugel. I make a really simple version: First, thinly slice 6 good-size apples (I used a mix of green and red, and sliced them very thinly in the food processor). I sprinkled lemon juice over the apples, my attempt at stopping the inevitable oxidation. Pile them into a large baking pan. Then I pour the following batter over the top of the apples - 1 c. whole wheat flour, 1/2 c. oil, 1/2 c. sugar, and 3-4 T. ground flaxseed steeped in 1 c. of very hot water.

Bake at 350 F for about 1 hour.

Then I made apple crisp. Four of them. One got eaten tonight, so 3 are in the freezer for use as needed. I still have another 15 or so apples, so I'll probably make something else appley tomorrow. I am torn between more apple crisp and apple bread...

I've only sort of planned my menus. Here's a list of foods I am making, and we'll construct meals out of it. About half of our meals will be pareve or dairy.

Pareve Foods

Honey Challah

apples and honey (we'll offer 3 kinds of apples)

Chinese-style mushroom soup (this is a slightly complicated recipe, but a favorite. Saute white parts of 6-12 scallions, 4 cloves of garlic, and some finely diced ginger in olive oil. when lightly browned, add sliced mushrooms and reduce. Add teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar, and some white wine (if desired) - sorry I just guess the quantities - and simmer for at least 10 min. Add soup stock (I use vegetable stock) and bring to a boil. Then add black pepper and chopped scallion greens to taste.)

Butternut Squash soup (I think I blogged this recipe a few weeks ago)

Potato Kugel

Apple Kugel

Carrot Kugel

Israeli salad, Cut Vegetables

Roasted Ratatouille


Rice

Tofu (marinated in soy sauce, and stir fried)

Chick peas sauteed with other vegetables (peppers, onions, garlic, potatoes, with ground black pepper, salt, cinnamon, and ginger) 

Some sort of red lentil dish

Meat Foods

Pomegranate Chicken

Baked Breaded Chicken (served with a honey/ginger dipping sauce)

Dairy Foods

Broccoli Puff (Broccoli and Cheese Casserole)

Spinach Quiche (with Feta cheese if I remember to get some)

Lasagna


Pasta with Cheese (SOME of my children are picky and won't eat lasagna...)

Phew! I think that's enough!

Oh, Desserts:

Apple Crisp


Honey Cake


Chocolate Chip Squares


Banana Chocolate Chip Cake


Fresh Fruit