Stuffed Challah Bread

I tried making some stuffed bread ....A long awaited recipe to be made on my to do list... I followed recipe for making Challah Bread..Hey but I did not do the braids as for the usual Challah Bread..... I put the stuffing inside instead and made equal  inclined cuts on either sides  making long strips on either side .I then later pulled each  of the  two strips on either side over the filling as seen below.

 When I tried making it the first time  it became a grand success .But I had too many errands to do and couldn't take the snaps......




...the second time the power went off at the wrong time....just when the  bread was ready to go into the oven.So I waited and waited..the power dint come on the same day.....there were major power issues in town due to the heavy rains...So my dough went into the refrigerator and I invariably made my bread the next day....and the bread dint fluff up like first time....


 This recipe is a perfect Challah bread recipe.........its a recipe for keeps.... makes soft warm and fluffy Challah bread....want to try it out?


From Ria's collections and Smitten kitchen...

Ingredients

Active dry yeast/Instant yeast-11/2 tbsp

Sugar-1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp

Olive oil /Vegetable oil-1/2 cup plus more for greasing the bowl

Eggs-5

Salt- 1 tbsp

All purpose flour-8-81/2 cups

Cheese

Method

In a large bowl dissolve yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in 1-3/4 cups lukewarm water

Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt. 

Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading. (You can also use a 

mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading, but be careful if using a standard size

 KitchenAid–it’s a bit much for it, though it can be done.)

 Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off. Punch down dough, 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.

Divide the dough into two(.I halved the recipe  so i did not halve the dough)Make an oval shape out of the dough

Put the stuffing in the middle.Make sure you leave a lot of space around the stuffing to form the braids as shown below.

Make equal number of equal sized  inclined cuts on either side using a sharp knife.s.Once the cuts are done pull each of the strips on either sides over the filling(refer the picture below)

Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.

 Beat remaining egg and brush it on loaves. Either freeze breads or let rise another hour.

 If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. Sprinkle bread with seeds, if using. If freezing, remove from freezer 5 hours before baking.

 Bake in middle of oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden. (If you have an instant read thermometer, you can take it out when it hits an internal temperature of 190 degrees.) Cool loaves on a rack.

Sprinkle cheese as required  and place in grill  mode for 1-2 minute or till cheese melts before serving.

Note

 Any of the three risings can be done in the fridge for a few hours, for more deeply-developed flavor. When you’re ready to work with it again, bring it back to room temperature before moving onto the next step.

Use two coats of egg wash to get that laquer-like crust and don’t overbake it. Joan Nathan, who this recipe is adapted from, adds that three risings always makes for the tastiest loaves, even better if one of them is slowed down in the fridge.

For stuffing

Onion-1 medium

Garlic cloves-3-4

Green chilli-1(I omitted)

Tomato-1 medium

Capsicum-1 medium

Chilli powder-3/4 tsp

Garam masala-1 tsp-1/2 tsp

Paneer-250 gms chopped into tiny cubes

Sweet Corn Kernels-1/2 cup ,boiled

Tomato ketchup-2 tbsp

coriander leaves- few sprigs

Salt

oil/butter

Method

Take oil / butter in a pan.add onions and garlic. Saute till translucent and brown. Add chopped green chilli,garam masala powder,turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
Add tomatoes and cook.Add capsicum and cook till soft.Add corn ,paneer and and ketchup cook for some time.Garnish with coriander leaves.(I omitted that)

Apple Gallette

I wanted to make a galette.An apple galette.It was the season for fresh red apples and I was determined to put them to good use…

Galette is a term used in French cuisine for various types of flat round or free form crusty cakes.Well it was easy to make them too as it can take any shape you desire.Moreover its flaky crust goes well with the apple topping that I gave it….

Well I must say I got this wonderful recipe from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwY2OFy6Ph0.

You can watch the video too in case you have any doubts….

I had my apple galette with a large dollop of ice cream.It was yum……with its flaky,buttery crust and delightful topping made my day.

Ingredients

For pastry

All purpose flour- 2 1/4 cups (270 g)

Sugar-2 tbsp (25 g)

Salt-1 tsp

Cold salted butter- 1 cup (240 g)

Cold water- ½ cup (120 ml)

You can also use unsalted, but I find the salted gives a richer, deeper flavor to the pastry.

For the Galette
Apple-900gms

Sugar-2 tbsp (25 g)

Flour-1/3 cup (40 g)

Mixed fruit jam-1/2 cup

Sugar powdered-1 tbsp(13gm)

You can also use unsalted, but I find the salted gives a richer, deeper flavor to the pastry

Method

Take a bowl .Add flour ,sugar andsalt and mix well.Add butter and press the butter between your fingers, combining it with the flour

Add water and mix with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Flour your hands and turn it into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper .Roll out to about 1/8" thick, in the form of a large circle, about 15-16" in diameter.
Spread a thin layer of  jam onto the dough, creating a large circle, and leaving about 1 inch border all around.

Then toss the fresh apples with the sugar, and flour

Arrange the apples decoratively in circular rows, or just pile them on top of the jam. Then place 1-3 apples halves in the centre to create a decorative centre.

Then fold the dough border over onto itself to create a crust border of about 1-2 inches. Brush the crust with water and sprinkle with the powdered sugar. Place in the fridge for 15 mins (or the freezer for 10 mins) just to firm up before baking. Otherwise if it hits the oven without the dough being firm, the butter will melt too quickly and your galette will not hold its shape.

Bake at 425F (218 C) for 20 mins until golden brown, then reduce to 350 (176C) for 5-7 mins, just to soften the apples and to be sure they are well baked.

Allow to cool slightly and then for a nice "glossy finish" heat ¼ cup  jam in the microwave or in a sauce pan, until it reaches a liquid consistency. Then brush the jam on the finished galette, with a pastry brush.