Challah Baking Tips, New Yeast and Distract Yourself

At least from the looks of it, yesterday's challah batch was stupendous. There was no real difference in the recipe I used. Actually, I was more than relieved that they rose so stupendously.

My previous couple of batches could be described as "flat as pittot." I used the same basic ingredients. There was one big change. I threw out the old yeast and bought a smaller package. I bake challah with dehydrated yeast. In the past, it had stayed "active" for months, even over a year. I'd buy the 500 gram package, store in a glass jar in the pantry, and I'd always have good yeast. That's true until it isn't. So, I dumped what remained and this time bought a smaller package.

In addition, I made sure that I had time to spare when preparing the dough. I let myself get distracted in the den on the computer during the various rising times. I let the dough almost  spill out of the gigantic bowl. Patience and keeping busy with other chores certainly helped.


By the time these challot/rolls had finished baking, they had risen so much you had to tear them apart. Honestly, I was extremely relieved to see the finished product.  I had begun to fear that I had lost my touch.

Timing is so important when baking with yeast dough. If you leave it too long to rise, it can fall, too. No doubt that baking with yeast dough is a lot like life. We need both patience and common sense. It's all in the ingredients and the timing.

Enjoy in Good Health

Chag Sameach v'Shabbat Shalom

Have a Joyful Holiday & Sabbath

Tasty and Simple 21st Century Tzimmes

Tzimmes 

Tzimmes is a very traditional holiday food for Ashkenaz (European) Jews. There are still families who make it is a "one pot meal" with beef. That combination is from the days when most meals were thick soups or stews. Today's affluence has enabled the development of multiple-pot meals. Even in the half century I've been married, menus and cooking has gotten much more complicated. There are many more pots in the sink than a couple of decades ago, even though we are fewer people at the table. No doubt my grandmothers would find my tzimmes a bit strange, though familiar.

Ingredients (exact quantities aren't necessary)
1 larger or 2 medium carrots
1 medium sweet potato
piece of dlaat, pumpkin or similar preferable orange-colored squash 4"x4" or 10cm by 10cm
1 large apple
handful of raisins
handful of prunes
cinnamon to taste
approx 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
optional- a few slices of ginger root
2T vegetable oil
water up to 1/3 height of vegetables in pot
bit of coarse salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. slice carrots thick
2. cut other vegetables into large bite-sized pieces
3. place in pot, carrots first, then dried fruit and then the rest
4. top with sugar and cinnamon
5. add oil, water and cover
6. bring to a boil, then simmer until soft
7. add salt and pepper when cooking

Tasty with meat, poultry fish or add tofu or beans as a vegetarian meal.

Shavuot Menu, Keeping it Easy

Maybe someday I'll still do it. A number of years ago, I started writing a cookbook which I named:

The Lazy Cook Cookbook

For some strange reason, people told me that the title is awful. Am I the only person who looks for easy ways to prepare food? I don't like recipes that have too many steps and too many ingredients. Those of you who have seen my recipes already, must have noticed that they're pretty minimal.

Those of us who live very Jewish lives, according to halacha, Jewish Law, will be celebrating the Shavuot Holiday immediately after Shabbat. That means that since it's forbidden to do any preparation, whether cooking, setting the table or even cutting a salad on Shabbat for the Holiday, even the fanciest balabustas, Jewish housekeepers, should keep it pretty simple. The family and guests, if you have any, will want to eat as soon as possible, no doubt.

That's why I decided to serve me and my husband cream cheese, lox and salad. That's not something we have frequently or at all. I may serve a dairy vegetable kugel, which should heat up pretty easily, but I still have to make it today. With the added treat of ice cream for dessert, we should be ready on time to go to a Torah class. Neither of us learn all night anymore. We're not as young as we used to be.

For Shavuot "lunch," after synagogue, I'll make a version of my "one pot baked fish and vegetables" in advance. We don't have any guests for that meal either, so I can cook exactly what we need to eat.

Ever since we both began to "diet," I try to serve us only what we need. The only "unlimited" foods I have on the table are salad and low carbohydrate vegetables. We've never been on "starvation diets." Just the thought of one makes me gorge on forbidden foods. When we have guests, I put out more food, but many of our guests are "repeats" and have the same food preferences as we do.

I bought a couple of special cheeses as Shavuot treats, besides the ice cream. We won't starve for sure.

Soon I'll go to our local swimming pool, and then after breakfast I'll cook, Gd willing.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Shavuot Sameach To All

Matzah Breakfast on "Second Chance Passover," Pesach Sheni, פסח שני

For years I've been missing the boat, forgetting to celebrate "Second Chance Passover," Pesach Sheni, פסח שני.

Passover, Pesach is one of the holidays we are commanded to celebrate, as written in the Torah, Bible, the first five Books. These texts are thousands of years old, and we Jews still read and follow the Mitzvot/Commandments. When you think about it, it's quite amazing. For thousands of years we Jews have followed the calendar, the same holidays according to ancient texts.

When we were a small people all living in the Holy Land, making it to the Beit Hamikdash for holidays was doable. And since Passover was so important Gd gave us a second chance, because sometimes people found it impossible for very legitimate reasons.

The Torah mentions two official excuses for “missing” Pesach Rishon (on 14 Nissan) and being commanded to bring the KP on 14 Iyar – TAMEI, ritually defiled because of contact with a dead body or other source of TUM’A and DERECH R’CHOKA, “far” away from the Mikdash.

So today, even though I celebrated a large family seder with my family a month ago, I ate matzah. Did you?

Post-Pesach/Passover 5779, 2019

Yes, it's hard to believe but last night as Shabbat ended, so did Passover for Jews wherever.  This is a rare year when even those of us in the Holy Land find ourselves still in Passover mode for eight full days. That's because as Passover ended, Shabbat began, and on Shabbat we are forbidden to cook, shop, switch the kitchen etc. Also, the chametz we had sold stays sold until after Shabbat.

Before the Chag Shvi'i shel Pesach, the last day of Passover, we make a special blessing Eruv Tavshilin which starts the cooking of a meal which is to be eaten on Shabbat. We may finish the cooking, and do any other food preparation for Shabbat as part of that Eruv Tavshilin.

After Havdala, the ceremony that separates the Holy Shabbat from the regular days, we can then start rearranging the kitchen into regular Chametz mode. About an hour plus after Shabbat, if we've sold our Chametz, we retake possession.

It didn't take me all that long to take off the counter coverings and get my kitchen back to normal. I made sure to find all of my coffee paraphernalia before going to bed, figuring that in the morning I'd be too confused and tired to think straight. Especially since this is the first year/Passover in the new kitchen, it's a bit more complicated to remember where I'd stashed everything.

B"H, thank Gd I found it pretty easy to get this new kitchen in and out of Passover mode. I'm pleased, thank Gd, with my kitchen.

No, I haven't yet had any chametz. Some years it takes me until Shabbat.

Our TU B'Shvat Seder and Memories

Most Jews, and even many non-Jews, know about the Pesach/Passover Seder, where we are commanded to eat matzah, that dry tasteless cracker like bread and drink four cups of wine. But there's another seder, which has been gaining in popularity, the TU B'Shvat Seder. For a Jewish religious ceremony, it's rather new, only a few hundred years or so.

Growing up in American in the 1950s, we got bags of dried fruit and nuts to commemorate TU B'Shvat at the Oakland Jewish Center Hebrew School. Friends and neighbors from all over the world, a bit younger and older than myself, have similar memories. We were told that the raisins, figs, almonds and bokser, dried carob pods were from Israel, and on TU B'Shvat we opened our brown paper gift bags to eat them together.

In Israel, when we lived in Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem, the preschools would walk to the large almond tree near our building and serenade it singing השקדיה פורחת Hashkaydia Porachat, The Almond Tree is Blooming. We'd have to send various fruit with our young daughters which would be made into a large large fruit salad. That was all the TU B'Shvat celebration I knew of.

After we moved to Shiloh, we began hearing about and being invited to various TU B'Shvat s'derim, which seemed to vary from year to year and host to host. The most memorable one, which was attended by lots of olim chadashim, new immigrants from the USSR and "adopting families." This TU B'Shvat seder included drinking four cups of wine, beginning with white wine and ending with a dark red wine.

I highly doubt that we've ever been to two TU B'Shvat s'darim that used the same text/instructions. Last night we went to our daughter's family in Ofra, and it was totally different from any other. There was barely a mention of wine. If I understood correctly, this one emphasized the seven species of grain and fruit grown naturally here in the Land of Israel. It was accompanied by a delicious meat meal.

The Seder TU B'Shvat we used was very "child friendly," and the younger grandchildren there really participated it. Our grandson kept quizzing us with tree related riddles he had heard. Some were solved with general knowledge, while others were more like puns.

Since the celebration of TU B'Shvat is very flexible, there's a way to commemorate the day that suits all. Following are a few links to help you:

The Tu B’Shvat Revolution
Kabbalistic Tu B'shvat Seder
Tu B’Shevat: Basics
ABCs of Tu B’Shvat

Black Beer Beef, So Simple

From the same person who brought the orange juice I used for cooking the easy to cook Turkey Wings, I got some non-alcoholic black beer, which also needs to be used up. So, I decided to cook  it with the chunk of beef, which has been waiting in the freezer.

After thawing the beef and soaking it in water a bit, I did my usual stage one, adding it with some cooking oil* in a pot along with onion and fresh garlic. Then I added the beer, till it reached about a third way up the beef, a few peppercorns and covered. When it reached a boil, I lowered the flame so it would simmer a couple of hours.

That's it. It's that easy.

My plan is to serve it on the Eve of Simchat Torah, since it has a "gravy" and can stay safely on the platta, Shabbat/Holiday electric heater, until we're ready to eat. Other dishes are riskier.

*cooking oil, I cook with soy oil, even though many people nowadays prefer canola or olive oil or one of the many others available. Cook with whichever you prefer and can easily buy.

Glad We Don't have Strict/Rigid Food Traditions

No, I'm not talking about kashrut,which is Jewish Law, not tradition.

The only really required food is mtazh for the Passover Seder and the special ritual food at the seder. And there are different customs concerning exactly what is to be eaten.

When people tell me they must cook a certain food for a certain holiday with the exact side dishes, recipe etc, no flexibility... And then they get all stressed, because a crucial ingredient can't be bought.

Thank Gd I didn't grow up in a home like that. And I didn't raise my family to expect specific menus, foods etc.

It makes my life so much easier and so much more foun.

Now that we're empty-nesters, we need less food. This year, for the first time, and maybe I'll do it again, I served the same thing before and after Yom Kippur. For years I made a totally different meals. This year I decided that it wasn't worth the bother.

By not having rigid menus, I can be spontaneous is there is a sale on a certain food. I can invent a recipe.

I'm glad it works for me and my family.

Homemade, Handmade Challah So Simple

Above are the challah ingredients, written rather simply. I keep this note on the fridge. I used to have an index card box with recipes, but they got trashed long before the cookbooks. In all honesty, I don't remember where the recipe came from. It sort of evolved, and it's a bit different every time I make it. I don't have a functioning mixer and haven't had one for ages. I bake "by hand." And I don't have the strongest of hands. It's not all that hard, though you can use a mixer dough hook if you want. The kneading will just take less time.

A few years ago, when my friend got her "new kitchen," she did a chanukat hamitbach, kitchen dedicating/opening ceremony by inviting lots of friends to a challah-baking evening. It was led by a neighbor who showed us how challah-baking is a very spiritual time, and as we physically handle the dough we should be praying and blessing our family, our children and grandchildren.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar (I use dark brown)
2 Tablespoons or a bit more of dehydrated yeast
approximately 2 kilo flour (I used 70% whole wheat extra fine)
pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups of warm water (4 cups if no eggs)
1 cup of any vegetable oil
2 eggs (optional)
1 egg for painting to make a shiny challah

Instructions:

1. Put almost all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl, but just use a cup of flour.
2. Mix
3. Add the warm water.
4. Cover with plastic.
5. When it looks all bubbly and has risen add the oil (and eggs).
6. Mix
7. Gradually add flour, mixing all the time, until you can knead it, without getting your hands all sticky.
8. Knead for about 8 minutes.
9. Coat completely in a bit more oil.
10. Cover and wait until doubled in size, anything from 20 to 40 minutes depending on the weather and quality of yeast.
11. Punch down, then cover and wait again. 
12. "Take a piece of challah" for the blessing.
13. Punch down and shape. The shaping as you can see in my photos can be very simple.
14. Paint with raw egg and let the challot rise a bit.
15. Bake. *Start in a hot oven, and then lower temperature when you can see the challah begin to brown a bit.
16. It's ready when hard on the bottom and has a hollow sound when tapping the bottom.
17. Let cool out of the oven.
18. Enjoy for Shabbat, Jewish Holidays or whenever you want a special bread.

PS They freeze well.

*There are too many factors to predict exact baking time. For temperatures I think that I started baking close to 200c and ended more like 170c. But remember that each oven is different, and it depends on whether you're doing turbo and how many trays etc. Of course Farenheit numbers are different.

Retired From Seder Making

I was suprised at the enthusuam this statement got on facebook.

I must admit that I am happy I'm not making the seder this year. Honestly, I hope that I never will have to again. I paid my dues.

And I was even more surprised that my husband said:

"Next year let's go away."

It's not in our budget, and I really do prefer my cooking and most other home cooking to hotels and restaurants. Hotel coffee is probably better than what I serve myself. My Passover perked coffee, made with Turkish isn't that awful. It's better than most instant coffee. And this year we got Tasters Choice for a nice discounted price.

In years past, when I was much younger and the kids very little, I'd do all of the cleaning before Passover. And I'd generally pull an all-nighter to switch our kitchen from regular aka chametz to Pesach mode.

To switch the dishes from upper to lower of the upper cabinets, I'd stand on the counters. Then when all was moved, I'd cover them with hard-to-remove Contac paper. Just to think about it today, a short few weeks since suffering terrible hip pains... And then I'd cook everything for the Seder and following day and days after...

My husband just had three jobs, other than a lot of the shopping. He would make the charoset, grind the chrain, horseradish in the coffee-grinder attachment that came with our Passover blender and cover the diningroom table.

When our daughters got older, they helped a lot with the cleaning. And when our sons got bigger, they not only cleaned, but they helped me move the dishes, pans, etc. That's when I discovered that not only did tall boys not need to stand on the counters, but their strong, large hands could hold more dishes than mine ever could. They did the "switching" in record time. After the army grabbed them, I hired teenage boys from the neighborhood, which was money well spent. And then when my husband's job switched him to part-time, I insisted that he learn my routine and help.

But covering counters is still my job. Now I use reusable "oilcloth," heavy plastic, cut to size. The hardest part is trying to remember how to fit it all.

Now, at my age, and with a very empty nest, after all this work, the last thing I have the interest or energy to do is to cook food for a Passover Seder. Every two years one of our daughters (plus her family) hosts us and the rest of the clan. On alternative years, we joyfully accept invitations. May all of our generous hosts be blessed with good health, gifts from GD and children willing and able to take on the role when they, too, are ready to retire from Seder making.

Baking Matzah by Hand

Last night, OK with daylight savings time it was more like late afternoon, while taking a walk around the neighborhood, I noticed some activity going on. Apparently this van brought all the supplies and equipment needed to bake matzah.

So I got a bit closer and took a couple of pictures. Since matzah-baking is strictly timed,  I didn't want to disturb anyone. That's why I didn't get too close.

You can see that they brought gas canisters, an oven and everything else one would need to produce handmade matzah.

Just a few days ago, I had admitted to someone that I had never seen nor participated in matzah-baking.

Should I add matzah-baking to my "Bucket List?"

Another Letter to The Editor

I've been sending letters to the editor for decades, and I have a pretty good success rate in getting them published. Here's my latest:

I wrote it in protest to the latest THREE LADIES - THREE LATTES, Ess ess mein kind* column which appeared in the Jerusalem Post's local magazines, In Jerusalem and Metro last week. All of the letter that appeared in last Friday's issue complained about the article. I don't think the column is all that popular. Many of us read it, but we're rarely happy with the three replies. But this last one was definitely the worst.

A tip I forgot to include in my letter is to make a chart in which you write what is to be served at each meal. It really helps, especially if you check the lists...  So many of us have stories of foods we forgot to heat and serve. The best way to really enjoy the spiritual aspect of the Jewish Holidays is to plan the menu and do the food preparation in advance. And minimize, of course. Remember, the more choices, the more overeating. And the more choices, the more you have to shop and prepare. Jewish Holidays shouldn't be all about food.

*You can only get the full article if you pay the Jerusalem Post.

Vegan (Eggless) Kneidlach, Matzah Balls, A Great Success

Our family now includes a vegan, that's someone who doesn't eat any animal products at all-- including eggs! We want her to feel very welcome, so I decided to try to make her Kneidlach for the Passover Seder, since I was making the regular kneidlach for the rest of the family, at least those members who are willing to eat the classic Ashkenaz delicacy. My daughter had made her a whole variety of Chanukah "Latkes" for that holiday get-together. Since that daughter was our Passover Seder host, I took on the challenge to make Vegan Kneidlach.

I based it on a recipe I found on the internet, the Edgy Veg,  Vegan Matzah Balls. But of course I tweaked it quite a bit. I also cooked them in simple, but rich Vegetable Soup.

Here's the official recipe copy/pasted, but I've crossed out and substituted what I had changed:

Ingredients

• 2 just over 1 1/2 cup matzo meal, unsalted
• 1 cup seltzer water
• 4 tbsp coconut oil olive oil
• ½ 3/4 cup potato starch + 6-12 tbsp water to make a starchy goop
• 1 tsp pinch salt + to taste
• ½-1 tsp a bit pepper
• 1 tsp dried dill
• 1 tsp dried parsley

Instructions

1. In medium size bowl combine the matzo, salt, pepper and herbs with a whisk spoon until combined. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, mix the potato starch and water together until you get a thick, starchy goop.
3. To this potato starch goop add coconut olive oil and seltzer and gently mix until combined.
4. Add the matzo meal and seasonings and mix until it all comes together.
5. This mixture should not be sticky. If its too dry, add a spritz more of seltzer, and if it’s too wet, add a little more matzo meal. You should be able to mix it you’re your hands without having it stick to all your fingers.
6. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour.
7. After an hour, form the dough into balls and add them to your boiling soup broth.
8. Lower the heat to a simmer, and cook the balls for 25-30 minutes.
9. After your matzah balls are cooked, you can serve them with broth right away 3-4 per bowl of soup.
10. If you are serving the soup later, remove the balls from the soup to prevent sogginess, and store them in a Tupperware storage container.*
11. When you are ready to serve the soup flash boil the balls in broth and serve.

* We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the Kneidlach I had missed in my attempt to remove them all from the hot soup were perfectly formed and had survived well in the soup. My daughter just added the Matzah Balls to the soup bowl when serving soup. She did the same with the classic ones made with eggs for the Chicken Soup, since some of the family does not enjoy Ashkenaz foods.

Here are the photos:

The mix was very firm 

They were easy to form into balls

The matzah balls looked lovely in the soup, but they don't expand and get all "fluffy" like egg-based kneidlach.

Here they are in their storage container. 

After mixing, I put it in the refrigerator and made the Vegetable Soup. And that soup will be another blog post.

Our vegan said that they were delicious and took the leftovers home with her!

Sufganiyot Made Easy! No Yeast!

This is my latest version of the Israeli fried doughnuts aka Sufganiyot, a favorite food for Chanukah. Our homemade version is absolutely nothing like the ones you can buy. I love the flavor of ours, and so do my children and grandchildren. For sure they are healthier, too. We make a batch every year at our Family Chanukah Party. This year the party was Friday lunch before Chanukah, since we're such a busy family, we couldn't find any other time to meet.

The Sufganiyot are dairy, made with a plain yogurt, Eshel-which has 4.5% fat. Of course you can use a lower-fat yogurt, but make sure it's pure yogurt and not adulterated with fillers to make it creamy. I've discovered some awful things about the American yogurts, which rarely have more than a symbolic 1/2 % fat. Check ingredients. You may be eating extra sugars and starches. This container has 200ml, just under a cup.

My basic recipe is derived from  one what used to be -is it still?- on packages of Israeli self-rising (white) flour. I first started preparing these Sufganiyot in the early 1970's.

Ingredients for a family-sized batch when you really don't want everyone to "pig-out." Of course they can all be doubled, tripled etc:

• bottle of vegetable (soy or canola) oil
• 1 2/3 cups of fine whole-wheat flour or 2 cups of white
• or if you have self-rising flour, then don't use the baking powder
• packet of baking powder, or recommended quantity according to the baking powder you have
• 1 Eshel 200ml, or 2/3 of a cup of plain yogurt
• 2 large eggs or 3 small/medium eggs
• a spoon of sugar and a dash of vanilla
• powdered sugar for decoration

Instructions:

• pour the oil into a small deep pot and bring to a boil
• mix the dry ingredients
• add the eggs, yogurt and vanilla
• The batter should be thicker than for pancakes/waffles.
• Test if oil is ready, by "double-spoon*" dropping a bit into the oil. If it gets all bubbly and the dough rounds and rises to the top, you can begin the cooking/deep-frying.
• Use less than a teaspoon for each, so they won't be too large, which can make it hard to cook thoroughly. 
• Don't overfill the pot.
• Remove with a slotted spoon, or a tea "filter," like the one I found in my gadget drawer.
• Place them on a plate or large bowl covered with white napkins or paper towels to absorb the oil.
• Open up one from the first batch to make sure it's fully cooked. You may have to recook it, adjust the flame etc. until you get the cooked/ready color right. It always happens to me!
• And then sprinkle powdered sugar! We give that job to the kids, since deep-frying has its dangers.

ENJOY!!!

*Watch my instructional video, double-spoon drop. It's the same technique as used for Kneidlach, Gefilte Fish etc.

Totally Delicious "One Pot" Fish Meal

I figured out how to keep the fish (salmon) nice and moist when cooking it up, actually baking, this "one pot" meal. I made all this for me and my husband to eat the second night of Rosh Hashanah. When we're home I serve fish, since there's a limit to the amount of meat and poultry one should eat in a two day period, and since you're not supposed to heat up the food until after you light candles, barely an hour before we eat, the fish heats up very quickly. I use an electric hotplate, which stays on all of the holiday, just like on Shabbat.

As you can see, I cut up potatoes, carrots, onion, pumpkin and a nice sized squash. The squash was a bit larger than the pieces of fish. I made four slices of squash lengthwise and then sandwiched the fish, plus sliced onion, between the squash slices.

Before baking in a moderate oven I dribbled some oil, but no other spices. Of course you can add whatever herbs and spices you like.

It was a very successful, delicious and easy to make meal. If you try it, I'd like to hear how it came out and how you changed this to suit your needs.

Amazing Challot, A Tip and Recipe

I always feel pretty pathetic having to look up my own recipe on this blog before baking challah. Yes, I have to go into the den and turn on the computer and do a search of the blog until I find what I think may be the best version of my challah recipes. It shows not only how infrequently I've been baking them of late, but how quickly even the written copy seems to disappear.

And another problem is that the dehydrated yeast I bake with lasts forever. I can't remember the last time I actually finished one of those 500 gram packages. I've always heard that its potency lasts forever, too, but when my last attempt, before last night that is, turned a hard low-rising dud, I threw what was left out. That meant that I could no longer just spontaneously bake challah, even if I had enough flour in the house.

So yesterday, after spending the afternoon in Ofra with some of the grandkids, I popped into the local grocery store, just for some milk, and low and behold I was seduced by the shiny packages of dehydrated yeast. This time, I got a small package, just 125 grams. And then I bought some whole wheat flour the very fine 70% type from the freezer section, so it doesn't need sifting. And since my dark brown sugar was in the freezer, I bought more of that, too. Yep, I was ready to rock 'n roll! And also all hepped up to knead the dough... I don't have an electric mixer, bread machine or any help...

The new package of yeast did the trick, and while the dough was rising, I even walked around the neighborhood. The new yeast seems to have helped. Look at the photos.

The hardest part was making room in the freezer!

And here's the recipe:

This is an approximation of the challah recipe:
1 c sugar (dark brown)
2 T dehydrated yeast
a pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2c warm water
1 c oil
2 eggs for dough (medium or smallish by American standards),
an additional egg to coat the challot before baking
2 kilo of flour, which could be any combination of white and wholewheat
It's hard to know the exact quantity of flour.

mix sugar, yeast, water, oil a cup of flour
cover with plastic and let sit until bubbly and rising
add the eggs and more flour plus the pinch of coarse salt, mixing as you go, then knead until it doesn't stick to your hands coat with oil, cover with plastic and wait until it's at least doubled
"punch it down"
then "take challah," (click for instructions)
optional let it rise again
shape the challah
brush with raw egg, or spread with your fingers
let it rise
bake, start in an oven hotter than for a cake and then lower the heat until cooler than a cake after the outside begins to get a light brown
It's ready when the bottom is hard and there's a hollow sound when you tap it.

Eruv Tavshilin- עירוב תבשילין What? How?

Jewish Law has evolved and developed in some interesting directions, and I'm taking about the strict aka Orthodox, Torah Observant. 

In a year like this one, we Jewish housewives found ourselves in a quandary of sorts. Here in Israel, Shabbat came immediately after the last day of Passover, which is a holiday in itself with the usual HolyDay-"holiday" restrictions. One of those is that cooking is supposed to be for the holiday's enjoyment and not to stock up for later on, even the immediate Shabbat. I guess you can plan on eating leftovers all Shabbat, but that is an insult to the Holy Day.

So Chazal, Our Sages, came up with  Eruv Tavshilin- עירוב תבשילין, which is prepared before the HolyDay, two types of cooked food, specially blessed and put aside for the last Shabbat meal. 

I baked up one of my "bake and serve" one pot vegetable meals, and then I "crowned it" with a slice of matzah.  And before putting it in the fridge, I said the blessing, so all of my Shabbat cooking on the holiday, even something as simple as adding more water to the urn so it would suffice for Shabbat was permitted and kosher.

Of course, none of this will help in a month plus when we have Shavuot coming after Shabbat, since Shabbat is holier, more restrictive than the HolyDay Shavuot. Since then we won't be able to start heating up any of the food on Shabbat for Shavuot, I'm thinking of serving a version of bagels, lox, cream cheese and salad.

When the second day of a holiday falls on Shabbat, as it does this year, or if Shabbat falls immediately after a holiday, it is rabbinically forbidden to cook or bake on the holiday in preparation for Shabbat. Eruv tavshilin is a ritual that, when performed, permits preparation for Shabbat during a holiday. It is interesting to note that there is no prohibition from the Torah to cook or bake during a holiday for Shabbat, and the two reasons given for the allowance are based on the following possibilities:
Either: (a) Shabbat and holidays are considered to be the same day. Since the holidays are referred to as Sabbaths in the Torah, the permission to cook and bake during the holiday is thereby associated with the preparations necessary for Shabbat during the holiday; or (b) in the event of the arrival of unexpected guests, one would need to prepare extra food for the holiday, and Shabbat, by extension, would benefit from these extra preparations.
Why then, if the Torah permits the preparation of food on the holiday for Shabbat, do we need the eruv tavshilin as dictated by the rabbis? Tractate Beitzah offers two explanations for eruv tavshilin. The first is based on the concern of the rabbis of Talmudic times that the needs of Shabbat would be overlooked on occasions when a holiday precedes it, thus they created a unique and tangible preparation for Shabbat that must be attended to before the start of the holiday. The second thought is that rabbis were concerned that by permitting food preparations for Shabbat during a holiday without having a formalized reminder of the exclusivity afforded to Shabbat’s preparations, one might come to make preparations for the subsequent weekdays during the holiday as well. The Torah strictly prohibits preparation for secular days during a holiday or on Shabbat. (OU-Kosher)

Quick Passover Kosher Cooking Carnival

I had been planning on posting this Pesach/Passover edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival last Wednesday, while finishing my Pesach preparations at home. But, as John Lennon so famously said:

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

Or the Jewish saying:

"Man plans, and Gd laughs."

Yes, as many probably know, since I've been blogging about it non-stop and writing on facebook, my father died last Tuesday morning Israel time. He and my mother are now together in their adjoining graves, which they purchased in 1959.

My father's death put a hold on my KCC planning, and then Passover stopped the shiva, and now it's Chol Hamoed, and we still have to eat, so I decided that I'd do a very quick Kosher Cooking Carnival and hope I didn't lose any of the posts people sent me.  I try to keep track and organize KCC on facebook, and you're invited to sign up there. I will just list a whole bunch, ok a few, post titles I think you'll find interesting, without naming the blog or site.

I'm pretty sure that this selection of Kosher for Passover recipes will suffice for a basic KP menu, at least in an Ashkenazi home.  I'd appreciate your feedback. Unlike most editions of the Kosher Cooking Carnival, this time I accepted even older posts, not just recent ones, because I wanted it to help everyone cook for Passover. All the recipes are tasty and usable and servable all year long.

Please visit them, comment and share, thanks. Also, of course, please send out the link to this edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival!!

Easy-to-Make Kneidelach, matzah balls, for soup
Unleavened "Passover" Pound Cake
Chocolate Matzo Mousse Cake
Pesach/Passover recipes (vegetarian, dairy, fish)
One "Pot" Bake and Serve Meal!
Flourless Chocolate Cookies
Easy as 1-2-3 Macaroons
Spatchcocking a chicken for Pesach: the secret to moist, juicy, kosher chicken
A Pesach breakfast favorite
Pesach Banana Cake (pareve, non-gebrokts)
Easy, Tasty and Impressive Eggplant Recipe
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cake
Caramelized Onions and Three Cheeses Frittata
The Secret of Gefilte Fish

Li'ilui nishmatam, may their souls be elevated:

Shifra bat Chaya Raisia

Alexander Ziskind ben Tzvi Hersh

Tolerance, Acceptance, Pesach Can Be Complicated

The Passover (Pesach) Holiday is the most complicated time on the Jewish Calendar, in Jewish Life, which is pretty complicated compared to other religions.

We have all these food and cooking rules besides the no fire, drive and buy on Shabbat etc. Most of the year, and even most holidays it's pretty clear. Most who consider themselves Torah Observant Jews aka Orthodox do the mitzvot, keep the Gd Given Laws pretty much the same. Way back when, in the days I was enthusiastically learning all this, it seemed cut and dry. I was given the impression that everybody did it exactly the same.

On Pesach I figured all good Jewish housewives cover their kitchen like this. But I was very wrong. In Israel this sort of covering is more popular with Ashkenazi households, especially if from America or Europe.

While American rabbis took for granted that almost every surfaces or material used for making dishes, pots etc was too porous to be koshered for Passover, necessitating covering everything or buying special "only for Pesach use" kitchen tools, dishes etc, here in Israel many rabbis insist pretty much everything can be koshered.

I'll never forget the most difficult homework assignment my eldest got. She had to answer:

How does your mother kosher the following items:

pots
silverware

and the list went on and on...

All I could tell her was that I didn't kasher any of those things. I had special for Passover ones in the upper cabinets stored away to use on Passover.

Over the decades, as Israelis have become more affluent, there are many who no longer kasher their everyday kitchen items and just take special ones out of storage. There are also many, especially the younger ones, who don't bother buying or kashering dishes etc and use disposables for almost everything. Gone are the days when people thought that it wasn't proper and formal enough to use disposable dishes. Now, instead of having a few miss-matched sets, like I have, they buy gorgeous disposable dishes even with matching serving dishes and impressive holiday wine cups. And they claim that by not having to wash dishes, it's good for the environment. And of course they set an exquisite table!

There was a time, when I'd say that I wasn't willing to go anyplace on Passover that didn't do what I did or more, but that changed. I've changed. I discovered that so many people more knowledgeable than myself, who, unlike yours truly, come from families that had always been religious, don't cover things up like I do. I still cover up my kitchen. And as we're still Ashkenazim we still don't eat kitniyot, legumes. But my now Tunisian daughter and her family bring rice to our house on Passover, and we eat in their house, though not the rice and kitniyot, legumes.

Chag Pesach Kasher v'Sameach!

Have a Happy and Kosher Passover!

Eaks!!! It's Inventory Time!!!! #2

I know that the freezer still looks pretty full, but I did take out a lot of stuff this past week, since it was Purim.

There aren't too many Shabbatot from now until Passover, so I really won't have to cook and shop all that much. As you can see, there's plenty waiting to be consumed and cooked.

And if you compare today's situation with the way it was on  FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016 you'd see that I have used some stuff up. OK and there are some new things too....

I just checked the calendar and counted. I didn't want to trust my head and calculations. There are three more Shabbatot. And since the Passover Seder will be on a Friday night, we can start the heavy kitchen stuff and switching right after that third Shabbat.  It would be easier if I knew what we will be doing for the Seder, but that's another story....