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"Baking With Julia" by Julia Child (2004)


SethG

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bloviatrix,

I think I have a Challah recipe that's kosher - or you could use one of your own. I don't think it's a requirement that we all use the exact recipe from Julia - This is about use trying to improve together and it will be fun if you can join in. Let me know if you want me to dig up my recipe when I get home and post it... :rolleyes:

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And Bloviatrix, what do kosher bakers do? There must be some usual substitute for the milk.

The original recipes for challah didn't include milk because it was used as part of a meat meal. The addition of milk shows how challah entered the mainstream and has been adapted.

I'm sure I have at least a dozen recipes in the house for challah w/o milk. I know for a fact that the recipe in RLB's Bread Bible doesn't have it. So, I might just use a different recipe.

I just thought it would be fun to make the identical thing as everyone else, not a different variation.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Bloviatrix, we'd love to have you along whatever recipe you use.

How do you like the Bread Bible? The cover is certainly enticing.

Edited to fix Amazon link.

Edited by SethG (log)

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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How do you like the Bread Bible?  The cover is certainly enticing.

The cover got me, I immediately came home and prepared my biga for the pugliese and it was instant success despite the fact that I simply used bread flour as I didn't have time to get durum flour. I've made it several times since and still haven't bothered with the durum. One of these days I will although I can't imagine it being better than it already is!

And I always double the recipe.

And that is the only thing I've baked from that book. I look forward to trying more.

kit

"I'm bringing pastry back"

Weebl

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Seth, are you thinking about moving into the Bread Bible next? If so I need to start shopping for a copy...

I think I'll wait. You seem to be fishing for an excuse to buy more books, Ellen! By all means, get it and let us know what you think.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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Bloviatrix, we'd love to have you along whatever recipe you use.

How do you like the Bread Bible?  The cover is certainly enticing.

Edited to fix Amazon link.

When it comes to baking, I've always been more of a cake and cookie person, so when Blovie bought me the book for Chanukah, I was a little surprised. I haven't used it, but have skimmed a bit. I'm not even positive I'm going to keep it yet as I actually find it a bit intimidating.

But, I've been saying for the past several years that I want to try my hand at challah - I haven't made one since I was 16. And I buy at least one a week. So, I'll leaf through the books to find a recipe, and if my schedule isn't crazy, I'll jump in.

Edited by bloviatrix (log)

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Blov, Blov, Blov:

Make the challah recipe in the Baking with Julia book. I know it's milchig and you know I don't keep Kosher but when required to make it pareve (like for my MIL for Rosh Hashanah), I've done it with Mocha Mix and margarine. It's still better than any challah I've ever made with water and oil. I promise, promise, promise.

And here's a hint for all of you new challah/bread makers. Don't have the time to do the whole thing in one day? You can make this challah very successfully over a few days by allowing any of the rises to occur overnight in the refrigerator. I often use this type of schedule:

Wednesday night -- mix dough, cover, put into fridge, go to sleep.

Thursday morning -- punch down, cover, back in the fridge, go to work.

Thursday night -- come home from work, remove dough from fridge and allow to return to room temp while I'm dealing with dinner and the kids (sometimes I even skip this part), braid, cover, place back in the fridge, go to sleep.

Friday morning -- remove from fridge and place on counter to return to room temp while I shower (OK, sometimes I shorten this step too -- the temp part, not the shower), glaze, bake, leave to cool during the day.

Friday night -- fresh, home made challah ready to eat.

Or braid two -- one to bake now. The other can be frozen on a baking sheet then, once solid, pop it into a freezer bag. When you want to bake it, place it on a baking sheet (I like to line with parchment and corn meal), cover loosely with a towel and leave it out. It will take several hours to thaw, come to temp and rise before you glaze and bake but the results will still be great.

So long and thanks for all the fish.
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I guess you like the recipe. :laugh:

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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I've been meaning to pickup a copy of the Bread Bile too, so I'm all for moving onto that or whatever.

Blovie, I generally prefer my bread to be pareve so I can use any leftovers for whatever kind of meal presents itself. I would be very interested in your success with the variations from the recipe.

Msk

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Seth you are probably right - according to the kids I am ALWAYS fishing for an excuse to buy a new cookbook. But if we are using Baking w/ Julia for now I will re-direct my energies to high quality ingredients.

So Bloviatrix, have you settled on a recipe? Julia's with substitutions? One of your own? SHARE SHARE!!! :wink:

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Hey, this sounds like fun. I promise to participate when I can. Baking with Julia is a great book.

After the brioche, I vote for making the twice baked brioche. I know so many people who have raved about it, but I haven't had a good excuse to try it yet.

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After the brioche, I vote for making the twice baked brioche. I know so many people who have raved about it, but I haven't had a good excuse to try it yet.

I can confirm that it is indeed worth making. :wub:

kit

"I'm bringing pastry back"

Weebl

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I like the fact that we've yet to make our first loaf of bread and people are already thinking about our next book!

As for the Bread Bible, we've heard a number of people say they own it, but no one's actually said much in its favor yet. My vote would be to try stuff from Baking With Julia for a while, then think of other options if we get bored.

What about Beranbaum's previous book, The Cake Bible? Does anyone like that book? I have't heard much about it.

brngckn: If you're in Phoenix now, you can still make challah with us. We're doing it the weekend of Jan. 24th.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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you can still make challah with us.  We're doing it the weekend of Jan. 24th.

Oops. I made it today.

It went well, except that the first rise took 4 hours instead of the 1 to 1 1/2 in the recipe. I don't know why.

It was delicious. We already ate one of the loaves and will probably eat the other one tomorrow.

I look forward to the next project.

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I like the fact that we've yet to make our first loaf of bread and people are already thinking about our next book!

As for the Bread Bible, we've heard a number of people say they own it, but no one's actually said much in its favor yet. My vote would be to try stuff from Baking With Julia for a while, then think of other options if we get bored.

What about Beranbaum's previous book, The Cake Bible? Does anyone like that book? I have't heard much about it.

brngckn: If you're in Phoenix now, you can still make challah with us. We're doing it the weekend of Jan. 24th.

I bought the Bread Bible solely on the looks of the cover and on Roses's reputation. I've only tried a couple of things, notably the Levy rye, and once you discover and fix the misprint in the formula, it's actually an unbelieveably good bread that will have have you running for nitrate laden fatty meats, sharp cheese, and spicy mustard. I've made it several times, but always add a minced onion to the sponge. I like making challah. Used to work at a small bakery where we made them every Thursday and Friday, all 6 braids, and then worked at a Jewish country club where I could make whatever size and shape I wanted. So I've made New Year's challah, 2 braid, 3 braid, 4 braid, 5 braid, and 6 braid. I have the braiding routines in a little table that to me is a lot easier to follow than some instructions in some books. For instance, a 6 braid is 2 over 6, 1 down the middle, 5 over 1, 6 down the middle. Repeat till done. I'll dig them out if anybody wants them. I find the 2 braid the most confusing. But if you have enough dough to make one of each, they look cool side by side.

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Count me in for the challah. I will have to make it on Friday because Saturday i will be in Dallas for the Hong Kong market event and lunch at See King.

It is good to be a BBQ Judge.  And now it is even gooder to be a Steak Cookoff Association Judge.  Life just got even better.  Woo Hoo!!!

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you can still make challah with us.  We're doing it the weekend of Jan. 24th.

Oops. I made it today.

Now that you've made it, do you have any wisdom you'd like to share that you wish you'd known before you started?

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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It was delicious. The first rise took 4 hours instead of 1 1/2. The kitchen was about 70 degrees. I think the liquids were a little cool. I did heat up the milk and butter, but the eggs were straight out of the fridge. I think next time I would let them sit at room temperature for awhile before using. I used extra large eggs instead of large, so I had to add more flour. Other than that, I followed the recipe faithfully.

Aesthetically, one loaf was beautiful and the other wasn't because I braided it wrong.

I took pictures, but can't upload.

Last night we ate some of the second loaf. It wasn't as good as the first night. Next time I would freeze the loaf and bake it later as JFLinLA suggests.

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I've been making the challah recipe quite a bit in the last 3 months or so. I've never had a problem with it rising, only when I wasn't thinking and I added the hot butter & milk mixture to the yeast mix. Oh well, live and learn. I do have to second point about adding more flour, so make sure that you have some extra on hand!

I've also started making little rolls with the same recipe. They are AWESOME!

eatmorepesto, maybe you could try uploading the pictures to shutterfly?

Think before you drink.......I think I'll have another!
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Made the challah this weekend. I mixed and braided on Sunday, fridge overnight and baked Monday. I did all the kneading in my mixer and that worked really well. All ingredients were at room temp or warmed. I started with 1lb 4 oz of KA bread flour and added about an additional 2 cups while kneading, so I think I ended up with more flour than the original recipe. It was still a very soft, silky, slightly sticky dough. My initial rise took over 2 hours, but my house tends to be on the cool side. The recipe made 2 huge, beautiful loaves although mine were a bit too "European" brown (I was doing laundry at the same time and forgot). Nonetheless, the one I tasted has a creamy, slightly sweet flavour. The texture isn't too spongy and the crumb strands are very long with good amounts of space in between if that makes any sense . I brought one loaf to a ill friend who hasn't had much of an appetite and she ate a good 1/4. Definitely a success!

P.S. Didn't take a pic because couldn't find digital camera, but I'll make a couple of more loaves this week. Same ill friend is moving to NJ and I'm putting together a road trip basket.

Edited by Rhea_S (log)
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