BREAD, WINE, AND THOU...

I love to make bread. This past Easter I made a very special Challah. Thanks to my friend Tobi I now know how to pronounce it correctly! The Ch starts way back in your throat with a gutteral, scratchy Huh and K sound all at once. Try it...it's fun, especially if you really exagerate it!

CHALLAH BREAD

This eggy bread is not reserved for the Jewish Sabbath or Easter, but can be enjoyed any time. Challah, known by many different names, is used in cultures all over the world. The recipe I made is easy to include with any big dinner party as you make it ahead, freeze and bake just before serving. Leftovers (if there are any!) make delicious French Toast or yummy fried sandwiches. Go heavy on the egg wash using two coats and be sure not to over-bake.

Ingredients:
3 3/4 tsp. active dry yeast; about 1 1/2 packages
1 Tbsp. plus 1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup lukewarm water (too hot and it will kill the yeast; not hot enough and the yeast won't "work")
1/2 cup vegetable oil; more for greasing the bowl (I used butter for greasing.)
5 large eggs
1 Tbsp. table salt
8 to 8 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup raisins (optional) plumped in hot water and drained
Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling (I used poppy.)

Here is the dough all raised after sitting in a warm spot for 1 hour,
ready to be punched down and rise again...get the symbolism?!?

 Preparation:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 Tbsp. sugar and salt. This is a good way to "test" your yeast. If after a couple minutes, the yeast does not foam up, it is no good. Start over with new yeast. Within 5 minutes it should be nice and foamy.
Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 large eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt. Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Use more flour as necessary so dough does not stick. Clean out bowl and grease it using either oil or butter, then return dough to bowl. Swirl it around so all sides and top benefit from the oil/butter. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for at least an hour until almost doubled in size. Punch dough down (with love), cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half hour.
At this point you can knead the raisins into the Challah, if you're using them, before forming the loaves. Traditionally Challah is braided. You can use a fancy 6-braid technique or simply do what I did which is divide dough in half. Form 3 strands for each loaf and braid as you would hair. Pinch and fold the ends together and under so braids don't unravel. Either keep as a loaf or bring the two ends together to form a circle for a round loaf.

 

Beat the remaining egg and brush it on loaves.

Either freeze breads or let rise another hour. If baking right away keep at least 2 inches between loaves as they will grow again upon final rising and still more when baking.

If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves one more time with any remaining egg. Sprinkle bread with seeds, if using and bake for 30-40 minutes.

If freezing, wrap each loaf individually in plastic wrap and then foil. Unwrap and remove from freezer 5 hours before baking. I added another egg bath for good measure.

Bake in middle of oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden. Cool on rack. The aroma of this baking bread is intoxicating.

Note: Straight loaves of braided Challah are eaten throughout the year--typically on the Sabbath--round Challahs, often studded with raisins, are served for the New Year and other High Holidays.

 

My husband and I recently slipped away to the beautiful historic city of Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1636 by Roger Williams (that's him atop that sculpture!) makes it one of America's oldest cities.

 

This fascinating small city is teaming with things to do; lots of art, culture, fabulous food and history. Providence is also home to Brown University and The Rhode Island School of Design. Don't miss the RISD Museum! We stayed in a lovely B&B (The Old Court; www.oldcourt.com) right in the heart of everything. It was fun to depend on our feet rather than wheels for 48 hours! While in town I visited a unique wine store (www.bin312.com) featuring 300 wines priced under $20. I tried a Malbec blend that was truly one of the best wines I have ever tasted...and was under $20.

TUPONGATO VINEYARDS-MENDOZA, ARGENTINA

Tupungato is the northernmost sub-region of the Uco Valley in Mendoza. The region lies at the foot of the Mt. Tupungato volcano, which, at 21,555 ft. high, is one of the highest peaks in Argentina. The 2009 Tupongato Malbec blend (mainly Malbec with some Merlot and Cab), which the owner of Bin312 selected for me, was a complex and delightful mix of black cherry, hint of currant, coffee and chocolate. You really could separate and taste each of those flavors!

 

Here is my THOU...

 

Providence is located at the head of Narraganset Bay and has 4 rivers running through it-The Providence River, Woonasquatucket, Blackstone, and Moshassuck River. If you are a hopeless romantic (as we are!) a gondola ride is a must.

 

All for today...hope you enjoyed my ramblings.

 

Tune in again soon for another episode of

 

www.cookwithcindy.com

 

In the meantime, keep cooking!

 

 

 

CAKE FOR THE ANGELS!

It is believed that Angel Food Cake got its name because it is so light and airy--A cake light and feathery enough for the angels. I have just discovered a local fresh egg source (both hen and duck eggs) so have been having some fun with fresh eggs. Angel Food Cake is almost all egg white and ice cream is almost all egg yolk so it makes sense to work the two together. When we were kids, Angel Food Cake was always the Birthday cake of choice. In fact, there really was no other choice. It WAS the birthday cake. The only other decision around birthday meals was to select your birthday dinner and my Mom would make whatever we chose.

Here is the cake right out of the pan. It doesn't matter that it looks a little mottled as you will either frost it (traditional birthday treatment) or as I did in this case, top with homemade vanilla ice cream, rich chocolate sauce (homemade by my neighbor) and strawberries!

 

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup cake flour (I used regular white flour.)
12 egg whites (room temperature)
1/3 cup warm water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a food processor or mini max spin sugar until it is super fine. Sift half the sugar with the cake flour and the salt and set the mixture aside.
In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk (your biggest whisk) to thoroughly combine egg whites, vanilla extract, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes switch to a hand mixer. Slowly sift in the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Do not beat at high speed as you will create bubbles which mar the texture of this fine cake. Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue dusting and folding until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.
The term folding means gently stirring the mixture by starting at one side of your bowl and running your spatuala (I use a rubber spatula) in a circular, swooping motion around the bowl, rolling and folding until all ingredients are incorporated. Just use a gentle touch and you won't go wrong.

Carefully soon the mixture into an ungreased tube pan.  Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer.

Cool upside down on a cooking rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

And here is the finished product topped with homemade vanilla ice cream,
strawberries and hot chocolate sauce.

BIRTHDAY MARTINI

TO GO WITH THE BIRTHDAY CAKE!

Several years ago my brother, Skip gave me this special hand-painted martini glass for my birthday. Lolita (www.designsbylolita.com) makes glasses for all occasions in different styles--wine, champagne, etc. I cherish my birthday glass and use it just once a year...on my birthday! Each glass comes with its own recipe printed on the bottom. When I first tried this drink I truly believed I was drinking birthday cake. It is refreshingly wonderful and very celebratory!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY-TINI
1 oz. vanilla vodka
1 oz. triple sec
Pineapple Juice
Cherry Juice
Shake over ice; strain and pour.
Yum! Yum!

Now that you've had your cake, let's go back to dinner...I recently made a very simple and delicious chicken, wine and mushroom dish. This is another of those do-ahead recipes so you can get it all put together and kitchen cleaned up before the guests arrive.

CHICKEN, WINE AND MUSHROOMS

Here are all the ingredients you need.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves with skin and bone
White flour for dredging
Salt/Pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup chopped onion (I used shallot.)
1/3 cup chopped carrot
1/3 cup chopped celery
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound mushrooms (I used about 3/4 pd. baby portabellas, sliced and a pkg. of Bunashimeji, pulled apart-see above left in photo. Bunashimeji are a beech mushroom, grown in clusters with very tender tops; flavor is rich and nutty. I love them!)
1 14 1/2 to 15 oz. can diced tomatoes in their juice
1 cup dry white wine
I happened to have a cup left of Indaba, a South African wine that is light and aromatic. Indaba is the traditional Zulu forum for sharing ideas. I bought this wine because I liked the name and I generally like wines from South Africa. Here is some of what the wine maker has to say about this superb and reasonably priced wine (around $10/bottle):
Bright tropical fruit aromas lead to a crisp, fresh palate with mouth-filling flavors of apple, pear, honey and pineapple. A gentle kiss of oak adds a creamy butterscotch nuance and a wonderful depth.
Now, back to the recipe...

Preparation:
My chicken breasts were so large that I cut each half breast in half again. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dust thoroughly with flour. Heat oil in a heavy large skillet (I used my large roasting pan.) over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin side down, and saute until brown, about 5 minutes. This will make a mess so if you use a splatter guard that helps.
Turn chicken over and saute 3 additional minutes. Transfer chicken to a bowl. Add onion (or shallot), carrot, celery, parsley and garlic to skillet; saute a couple minutes. Add mushrooms and saute until everything starts to brown--about 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes with juices and wine. Boil sauce gently until slightly thickened--about 10 more minutes. Return chicken to sauce. This is where you may stop the dish. Cover and put in the fridge until ready to finish cooking. If you do this, let the chicken sit on the counter about a half hour before you place in the preheated oven to finish cooking for about 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer chicken and sauce to plates and serve.

I am going to conclude with another cocktail. I first learned about this cocktail years ago in Gourmet Magazine and then recently again from a good friend of my brother's. Thanks Willis!

ELDERFLOWER MARTINI

Elderflower liquer is made from the flower of the elderberry, which is supposed to be effective for curing everything from colds and flu to diabetes and even constipation. I figure with an herb this powerful it has got to be great for you to drink. The elderflower liquer on its own is a bit sweet, but mixed with vodka it becomes an exotic, extremely floral and exhilarating martini.
Mix 1 part elderflower liquer with 2 parts of your favorite vodka. Shake over ice. Strain and pour into a martini glass.

And that will conclude another episode of:

www.cookwithcindy

 

Have FUN in the kitchen.

Play with recipes to make them your own.

Share your cooking experience with friends and family.  

Make many happy, joyous moments and memories

in your kitchen.

 

Here's a crazy shot of me getting ready to butcher a pig.