Yemenite Flatbread (Lachuch)

This is the first time I've ever made lachuch/lechuch/lahoh, a Yemenite flatbread that's sort of like injera. While this is likely not the most authentic recipe around -- cobbled together from several other sites -- it is definitely delicious. Still needs some tweaking; the batter was not as runny as I hoped, causing thicker breads that didn't cook quite evenly, but I couldn't resist posting it now anyway.* Eat with soup or stew, wrapped around tomato salad, with Yemeni fenugreek dip (not that I know how to make that), with za'atar, or with a drizzle of honey.

Lachuch
2 cups white flour
2 cups warm water (next time I will experiment with 3 cups water)
1 heaping tbsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Combine warm water and yeast in a large bowl until the yeast begins to dissolve. Mix in other ingredients together well, until creamy. Cover loosely and let rise in a warm-ish place for two hours.

After two hours, the batter should have at least doubled in volume. Stir it several times to deflate.

Very, very lightly grease a cold frying pan. Scoop about 1/3 cup batter into the pan, and then place it over medium heat. When the top of the bread is pocked with bubbles that pop and do not close and has taken on a cooked look, and the bottom is golden brown, use a spatula to lift the bread onto a clean kitchen towel to cool. Turn off the heat and either allow the pan to cool or run it under cool water to cool it off -- this is very important. (When I experimentally did not do this, the bread did not bubble correctly.) Repeat until you have used up all the batter.

Makes about 6-8 breads.

*I have now (3/28) determined that 2.75 cups of water is TOO MUCH!

Best.Challah.Ever

This is it. This is the best. I was never routinely successful with challah before this recipe... and now I am / we are. I say we are, because this is a team effort. I make and knead the dough on Thursday night, and my associate Ben shapes, proofs, and bakes it just before Shabbat. It's the workingman's or workingwoman's challah: since it rises over night, it just needs 15 minutes of your time on Thursday and another 45 minutes or so on Friday. It's tender, elastic, full-flavored (thanks to the long rise!!), and chewy without being gummy. It's perfect.

This recipe makes two large loaves. If you have people over, I guarantee both loaves will be gone by the end of dinner.

Best.Challah.Ever

7 cups all-purpose flour (I've successfully done about 5.5 cups white and 1.5 cups whole wheat, when I ran out of white).
2 rounded tsp active dry yeast (about one packet).
2 eggs, beaten (plus one more for glaze, the following day)
scant 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups warm water

On Thursday night (ideally around 10 pm but it's flexible):

Combine the yeast and warm water; stir until dissolved. Once it is well-dissolved, add it to the sugar, salt, and 3.5 cups of flour in a large bowl. Mix well. I use a wooden spoon, but you could probably use a dough hook in a mixer too. Add the beaten eggs and oil; mix thoroughly. Slowly start mixing in the rest of the flour in 1/2 to 1 cup increments, mixing each in before you add the next. Whether you need to add all of the flour (or need to add a little more) will depend on the weather -- you're looking for a workable but somewhat sticky dough. You can always add more flour bit by bit as you're kneading -- if you add too much, the challah will be dry and stiff.

As soon as the dough is workable (won't stick more than a little bit to your hands), turn it onto a floured surface (I use a large cutting board) and knead vigorously about 10 minutes, until it passes the windowpane test. Add more flour as necessary to keep the dough manageable, but as little as possible. Once the dough is ready, clean out your bowl, oil it lightly, and put the dough ball back into it, turning once so that the dough is oiled on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a garbage bag if like me you don't have plastic wrap) and stick in the fridge.

Friday morning:
Punch down the dough with about three good punches. Re-cover with plastic wrap.

Friday evening:
At least an hour before you want to eat the challah, remove the dough from the fridge. Grease two medium cookie sheets. Divide the dough in two. Divide each half into four pieces. Roll out three of the pieces into snakes about one foot long or as long as you want your challah to be. Braid them, pinching the ends so they stick together. Divide the remaining fourth piece into three pieces; braid them, and set that braid on top of the larger braid. Place this challah on the cookie sheet, and repeat with the other half of the dough; place on the other cookie sheet. Let rise about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

After 30 minutes, brush the dough thoroughly with beaten egg. (Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds if these challot aren't intended for Ben.) Bake the challot for about 20 minutes, rotating them halfway if you've put them on two different levels of your oven. Turn off the oven and let the challot sit for another 5-10 minutes -- check on them to see how brown they are. Do not overcook!

That's it! Best.Challah.Ever.

Hamantaschen

Purim starts tomorrow night! I made a couple of batches of hamantaschen to give to our friends.

Hamantaschen

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp lemon or orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp rosewater or orange blossom water, or 2 tsp juice
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups flour

Fillings (i.e., jam, chocolate, prune or poppy seed if you're a traditionalist)

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, oil, juice, vanilla, and flower water until well blended. Add the baking powder and flour and stir to blend. The dough will be stiff but somewhat sticky.

Form the dough into two disks; wrap in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate 1 hour.

Working with one disk at a time, knead the dough a few times, until it is smooth. Roll the dough out to about a 1/8" thickness. Using a 2 inch-diameter glass, cut circles out of the dough. Re-roll the scraps until you have used all the dough to make circles.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place about 1/3 tsp filling in the center of each circle; pinch the corners to form three-cornered hamantaschen.

Bake the hamantaschen on a greased cookie sheet about 15-20 minutes, until just lightly beginning to brown.

Makes a little more than 3 dozen.

Brisket

This recipe is pretty much my mom's, although I think she uses regular onions instead of shallots. Yum! (Had some lighting issues with the photos.)

Brisket

1 brisket (about 3 lb)
1 cup tomato sauce
about 1 cup red wine
7 shallots, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place brisket in pan, fat side up. Cover with sliced shallots. Mix tomato sauce and wine together; add to pan, adjusting amounts as necessary so that the liquid comes about halfway up the sides of the brisket. Sprinkle some liquid over the top of the brisket. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake 3-4 hours, until tender.

You can slice and serve right away, but it's easier to cool the brisket overnight in the fridge, then skim off the fat from the sauce. Cut the fat off the top of the brisket, and slice thinly against the grain, and warm again in the pan with the sauce.

Serves 5-8 (really, for 8 you want a larger brisket unless you have a lot of other food in the meal).