Chocolate chip and halva challah

Chocolate chip and halva challah

If you’ve never made challah before, this is your chance. And we want to see your pictures when you make it!

This challah recipe uses the same dough as our previous challah recipe (the famous cinnamon roll challah) but with a different filling. However, this time we let the dough rise a second time and a gave it a second eggwash before baking. This makes sure it stays together during baking- so no leaky filling. *** Pro tip: check out the round braid. It’s easier than it looks. Go for it!

Ingredients (1 challah)

Dough-
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey
2/3 cup warm water
3 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (and another 1 for egg wash)
4 cups flour

Filling-
halva
chocolate chips

Directions:

First you need to activate the yeast. Whisk the yeast with 1 teaspoon of honey and warm water and wait a few minutes until it looks foamy.

Add 3 tablespoons of honey, the olive oil, salt and eggs. Mix with a wooden spoon and gradually add in the flour. When the dough forms into a ball, knead for 5 minutes. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 hour.

When the dough has doubled in size, separate it into 4 equal parts. Shape each part into a ball, and roll into a circle. Sprinkle the halva and chocolate chips onto each of the 4 circles and roll into a long rope. Stretch the ropes as long as you can and braid. Pinch the ends. Now for braiding. You can follow the pictures below or watch the video to learn the braid.

Step 1: set the four braids like in the picture below. Fold the ends of the ropes over each other.

step 2: now the remaining 3 sides

Step 3: now we fold the ropes from 2 different sides like below

Step 4: Squeeze the two ends together

Step 5: Tuck below

Brush the braided dough with egg wash (which is just a beaten egg) and let rest for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 °F or 190 °C.

Brush with egg wash again and sprinkle halva crumbs on top. Bake for 30 minutes. If the top begins to brown too quickly you can cover it with foil. Shabbat shalom!

Tabbouleh Salad With Cauliflower Rice

This Tabbouleh Salad With Cauliflower Rice Is Heaven In A Bowl

The key to amazing tabbouleh salad is in the parsley.

Video:

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)

1/2 small cauliflower

2 cups of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (approx 3 bunches)

1/2 cup of mint, finely chopped

1 Persian cucumber, chopped (the normal kind in Israel)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 small white onion, chopped

1/4 cup quality olive oil

3 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. cumin

PREPARATION

For the cauliflower rice:

1. Cut the cauliflower in half. Cut out the hard core. Cut into pieces that fit in the food processor.

2. Place pieces in food processor. Pulse about 5 times or until pieces are the size of rice. You can also use a hand grater for this step.

3. Transfer the cauliflower rice to a microwavable bowl. Microwave for 2 1/2 mins. This leaves the cauliflower rice with a little crunch- which we love for tabbouleh salad! If you want the cauliflower rice to taste more like actual rice, microwave for 3 minutes.

For the salad:

Literally just add everything to a bowl and mix. But there are a couple important tips if you want a more authentic tabbouleh salad:

Tabbouleh tip #1: It’s all about the parsley. Parsley should be the main ingredient in the salad- get some fresh parsley!

Tabbouleh tip #2: Make sure the parsley and mint are dry before adding to the salad. Use paper towels or a spin dryer thing. Any extra water in the salad is bad.

Sweet Noodle Kugel with Jam Pokes

INGREDIENTS (Serves 6-8)

8 oz extra-wide egg noodles

3 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick / 113 grams)

8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, room temperature

16 oz (453 g) cottage cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup golden raisins

cinnamon, for topping

5 tbsp blueberry jam

5 tbsp apricot jam

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C

2. Boil egg noodles in salted water for 5-7 mins until al-dente. Strain.

3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar. Mix well then add the melted butter, cream cheese, cottage cheese, vanilla extract and golden raisins. Mix and mash with a fork until all the pieces are broken up.

4. In 8×8 inch non-stick (or greased) baking dish, add the strained egg noodles and the egg mixture. Mix carefully with a spatula without breaking the noodles. It should be very liquidy.

5. Now we do the ‘pokes’. Take a spoon a make a little hole in the kugel. With another spoon, drip about a tablespoon of blueberry or apricot jam into the hole! Repeat about 9 times or until you think the kugel has enough jam. This is a top-secret kugel trick!

6. Dust the top with cinnamon (just a thin layer). On a low oven rack, bake for 40 mins or until the edges are crispy to your liking.

Sweet Noodle Kugel with Jam Pokes

INGREDIENTS (Serves 6-8)

8 oz extra-wide egg noodles

3 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick / 113 grams)

8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, room temperature

16 oz (453 g) cottage cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup golden raisins

cinnamon, for topping

5 tbsp blueberry jam

5 tbsp apricot jam

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C

2. Boil egg noodles in salted water for 5-7 mins until al-dente. Strain.

3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar. Mix well then add the melted butter, cream cheese, cottage cheese, vanilla extract and golden raisins. Mix and mash with a fork until all the pieces are broken up.

4. In 8×8 inch non-stick (or greased) baking dish, add the strained egg noodles and the egg mixture. Mix carefully with a spatula without breaking the noodles. It should be very liquidy.

5. Now we do the ‘pokes’. Take a spoon a make a little hole in the kugel. With another spoon, drip about a tablespoon of blueberry or apricot jam into the hole! Repeat about 9 times or until you think the kugel has enough jam. This is a top-secret kugel trick!

6. Dust the top with cinnamon (just a thin layer). On a low oven rack, bake for 40 mins or until the edges are crispy to your liking.