Dazed and confused? Not me. I’m just Lost in the Cheese Aisle.

Friday, August 24, 2012

CHALLAH DU JOUR - WITH A DIFFERENCE

Baking Challah
I see a bread loaf risin’... Thirty minutes in the Hot Box and our challah is good to go.

It’s Friday, which means it’s time yet again to post the latest in a seemingly interminable series of Challah-Related Photographs.

I blame Elder Daughter for this. She is the one who launched me upon the sea of Breadly Endeavor, a voyage that both concerns and pleases me.  Concerns, because the last thing I need is a huge wad of refined carbohydrate in my face... and pleases, because it is the work of my hands in a very literal way, not to mention the fact that it’s frickin’ delicious.

Challah 082412
The finished product. Mmmmmm.

This one is a Challah with a Difference, though.  Normally, I use a small amount of sugar and honey, which gives the loaf a subtle sweetness while making the yeast happy.  While we were at Masada last month, I scored a bottle of silan - date honey.  (When the Bible speaks of the Promised Land as “Eretz zavat chalav udevash,” - land flowing with milk and honey - it is date honey to which it refers.)  And so it is date honey’s unique flavor that perfumes this loaf.

It’s more than just a Butter Conveyance Device™ - it’s a Butter Conveyance Device with a connection to the Land of Israel!

6 comments:

Kevin Kim said...

Oh, how you tempt us with your titillating tokens of toasty tumescence!

DogsDontPurr said...

Wow...that sounds amazing. I love trying different honeys, but they are hard to find. I once had a buckwheat honey that was to die for. It was dark like the color of molasses. But I've yet to find it again.
I've read that the best honey in the world is found in Yemen, but of course, we'll never see any of that in the US.

Salt is another one of those culinary wonders. It's amazing that there really are different "flavors" of salt. Supposedly, the best salt comes from Timbuktu. But again, something we'll probably never see in the US.

Nicole said...

Homemade bread is my absolute downfall. I can't get started making it. Too dangerous. I love the entire process - including the slathering with butter while hot and scarfing like there's no tomorrow. :)

Elisson said...

@DogsDontPurr - I've had buckwheat honey - it's easy enough to get here in Atlanta, and I like its assertive flavor. But my favorites these days are sourwood and tupelo. There is nothing that quite compares to the flavor of tupelo honey.

@Nicole - Dangerous is right. It's a risky endeavor, this business of baking bread... not least because of the temptation to do exactly as you suggest. Hot, fresh-out-of-the-oven bread + nice soft butter = heaven.

Claude said...

It's a work of Art. And worth dying for...

...but I can't bake...:(

BobG said...

Nice lookin' loaf there. Few things are as good as freshly baked bread.