It's Friday, Friday, Friday

Happy Friday! Before I make the mad dash for my bus to NYC (is there any other way to approach a bus?), I thought I'd share one of my new favorite challah recipes. I like to think that this is the kind of challah Paula Dean would make if she were ever so inclined to host a Shabbat meal. Anyway it's delicious. 

If you're interested in making this pareve for a meat meal, be my guest, my friend Avi might have a few suggestions. My suggestion? Butter makes it better. 

Adapted from "The Silver Palate Cookbook" by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins.

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) sweet butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 4 eggs, at room temperature

• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour (I use half bread flour, half regular unbleached)
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• poppy seeds (optional)

Instructions

1. Bring milk, 6 tablespoons of butter, and the sugar to a boil together in a medium-size saucepan. Remove from heat, pour into a large mixing bowl, and let cool to lukewarm (105º to 115º F).
   
2. Stir yeast into the milk mixture and let stand for 10 minutes.
   
3. Beat 3 of the eggs well in a small bowl, and stir them and the salt into the milk-and-yeast mixture.
   
4. Stir in 5 cups of the flour, 1 cup at a time, until you achieve a sticky dough. Flour a work surface lightly and turn the dough out onto it. Wash and dry the bowl.
   
5. Sprinkle additional flour over the dough and begin kneading, adding more flour as necessary, until you have smooth elastic dough.
   
6. Smear the reserved 2 tablespoons of butter around the inside of the bowl and add the ball of dough into the bowl, turning to coat it lightly with butter. Cover the bowl with a towel and set aside to let dough rise until tripled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours (letting it rise in the fridge overnight will do just as well).
   
7. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and cut into halves. Cut each half into 3 pieces. Roll the pieces out into long "snakes" about 18 inches long. Braid three of the snakes together into a loaf and tuck the ends under. Repeat with remaining snakes. (I skipped this in favor of my previously disclosed 4 strand method).
   
8. Sprinkle a large baking sheet with the cornmeal, and transfer the loaves to the sheet. Leave room between the loaves for them to rise. Cover loaves with the towel and let rise until nearly doubled, about 1 hour.
   
   
   

   

   
   

9. Preheat oven to 350º F.
   
10. Beat the remaining egg and 1 tablespoon cold water together well in a small bowl. Brush this egg wash evenly over the loaves. Sprinkle immediately with poppy seeds to taste.
    
11. Set baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when their bottoms are thumped. Cool completely on racks before wrapping. Makes 2 large loaves or 3 medium loaves.
    

    

    While not the prettiest challahs I have ever made, Crossing my fingers they will be yummy.

Shabbat shalom ya'll and have a great weekend!

The 36-Hour Rule

There are many things my family has given me. My father has given me his pale skin that burns at the mere mention of a trip to Dewey Beach and his impeccable parallel parking skills. From my mother I would like to think I've gotten a little of her political finesse and a discerning taste for quality hair products. My aunts and uncles and grandparents have given me life lessons,  recipes, and an affinity for a certain high-end department store out of Dallas. 

Many lessons and gifts stand-out in the long list of things that have been passed on to me, but two things stand-out among all the rest. A love of chocolate chip cookies and the New York Times. Almost everyone in my extended family despite the fact that almost (did you catch that Leslie and Jack?) none of us call New York home, reads the New York Times, and very likely has it delivered. 

Our dog Rio keeping up with the latest in NYT Business.

While not all of us are as adept at the crossword puzzle as my Nini, not reading the Gray Lady on Sunday especially when we're all together, feels tantamount to inviting everyone but Cousin Eva Ruth to an Austin bar mitzvah. Needless to say a Sunday without the New York Times would be as depressing as doing the electric slide in socks and a straw hat covered in glow sticks without ER. 

How could I forget little Lola and her Sunday Styles?

It's very fitting that my favorite recipe for chocolate chips cookies incorporates my family and the New York Times. While the recipe is the brainchild of my Aunt Andrea in Houston, the execution is all NYT. Inspired by reading David Leite's "Quest for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie" in the Times back in 2008 I  tweaked Andrea's recipe slightly, purchasing Ghiradelli Baking Chips which are slightly flatter than standard chocolate chips, playing with a combination of less semi-sweet chocolate in lieu of a full bag of semi-sweet and most importantly not baking the cookies before they have spent ideally 36 hours covered in the fridge. Keep in mind though, these cookies will still be great if you use standard semi-sweet chocolate chips and throw them straight into the oven. 

Obviously white chocolate chips play a large part in the delish factor of this cookie, but if you're in a pinch you could use another bag of semi-sweet or do a bag of semi-sweet and a bag of bittersweet to keep things interesting. 

Aunt Andrea’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 sticks (or ½ cup) unsalted butter
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar (increase ratio of brown sugar: white sugar for crispier cookies)
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 2 ¼ cups flour
• 1 (12 ounce) bag white chocolate chips
• 1 (12 ounce) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips OR 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking chips and 6 ounces semi-sweet baking chips
• 2 cups chopped nuts (optional)
• If you happen to have a block of semi-sweet, milk or dark chocolate (like they used to sell at Trader Joes) a few shaves into the dough is extra delicious (optional)

Cream butter and sugars well using a hand mixer or a standing mixer.

Add vanilla and eggs to butter mixture.

Mix together baking soda, salt and flour, then add to butter mixture and blend well (electric beater or standing mixer once more).

Mix in nuts and chocolate.

OPTIONAL (this sure really say ideally because the cookies taste so much better): Put cookie dough in a bowl or plastic container and make sure it is covered well before putting in fridge for 12-36 hours.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove dough from fridge, ball cookies one teaspoon as a time and place on baking sheet covered in a sheet of parchment paper or onto a Silpat Baking Mat. 

Bake cookies on sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes (or until edges are brown) or 9 minutes for super soft cookies. Take cookie sheets out and let sit on counter for 1 minute before using a spatula to remove from cookie sheets and letting cool on rack (obviously my favorite is from Sur La Table). 

These cookies will go fast, but if you’re able to hide any make sure to put them tightly away in a container or plastic bag to keep them from drying out.

And because I know you need a Tuesday Timeout...