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Fresh “frum” the kitchen #2…

by Daniella Halstuch · December 7th, 2006
Cooking, Fresh Frum the Kitchen, Judaism, Recipes, Shabbos Meals

I love traditional shabbos food – white flour challah (that almost taste like cake thanks to the numerous eggs that are in it); various kugels full of either oil or margarine; gefilte fish with mayonnaise on the side (don’t worry – I’m a big fan of low-fat mayo); and we can’t forget about dessert – I’m pretty open to any kind of pastries (cake, cookies, candy, chocolate, etc.) – I’m not particularly picky :). However, they are typically full of all those unhealthy ingredients as well.What are we to do - change tradition and not have potato kugel?

When I have people over for shabbos meals in my apartment or at my parent’s house, I am often torn over whether to make contemporary, healthier dishes that don’t follow the conventional appetite because I don’t know what other people will like. At the same time, I still want to make what I am accustomed to making but with healthier ingredients. For example, is there a recipe out there for a chocolate cake with whole wheat flour? I’m not confident how well that would taste, so my goal is to find recipes for all the traditional dishes, as well as contemporary dishes, with more nutritious ingredients. I’ve already found a tasty whole wheat, vegan challah recipe (which is listed below). If you have any suggestions please feel free to share.

Similar to what I mentioned last week, making these changes in orthodox circles is challenging. Granted most bakeries are the same way, regardless of ethnicity, in that they love making all those yummy delicacies that are so bad for our bodies. (God bless margarine, right?) The local bakery in the neighborhood in which I grew up began baking whole wheat challahs a few years ago (which still tastes too good to be that much healthier than its fellow shelf-mate), when the health trend started. My family is a big fan of this weekly purchase, yet at the same time doesn’t know if our guests will enjoy it as well and don’t want to impose our preferences on them.

I do wish that we as a community, all Jews, move towards leading healthier lifestyles in relation our food choices. But, that’s what this blog is all about, right?

Whole Wheat Challah (Source)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 teaspoons dry instant yeast
1 1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey, molasses, or maple syrup
3 1/2 cups whole wheat bread flour (more if needed)
1/4 cup nonfat dried milk (to improvise, I’ve replaced this with regular soy milk t o make the challah parve)
1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Place all ingredients in the container of your bread machine, or into the bowl of a heavy duty mix master.

For bread machine follow the instructions for making dough.

For mix master, mix with a spoon until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Now using the dough hooks knead dough for 6 to 8 minutes or until it becomes smooth and supple. Place dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and place in a warm place rises and becomes puffy about 60 minutes. Dough may not double in size this is ok.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled surface and shape into a log about 8 1/2 inches long. Place log into a bread pan, cover loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow bread to rise for 1 hour or until crowned about 1 inch above edge of pan.

Bake bread in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or it sounds hollow when thumped on bottom of loaf.

This recipe for Classic 100% Whole Wheat Bread serves/makes 1 loaf.

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4 Responses to “Fresh “frum” the kitchen #2…”

  1. Ben Says:
    December 7th, 2006 at 11:33 am

    I love challah! Wow, vegan? Maybe you should bring some to the office sometime (hint, hint).

  2. ALG Says:
    December 18th, 2006 at 7:04 pm

    As an Orthodox Jew who couldn’t eat any white flour for awhile, who prefers dairy to meat, and who needs to eat a lot of fiber to be truly happy, I hear your dilemna. I find that people are usually gracious no matter what you make. Sometimes I buy one regular challah and one whole wheat challah. I make hamotzi on the whole wheat challah and let the others have the white one if they want.

    Having said that, there are ways to make some traditional Shabbos recipes much healthier. One thing that I highly recommend is “white whole wheat flour.” (You can see the King Arthur brand here. I used this flour instead of white flour in a vegetable kugel recipe–one of those ones with frozen veggies, lots of eggs, mayo, and flour. I used this white whole wheat flour, fat-free soy-mayo (no fat substitutes in it) instead of regular mayo, and added two extra eggs to the recipe. It came out very delicious, and nobody even suspected that it was mildly healthy! (Veggies, high in protein, relatively low in fat.) I also use whole wheat matzah meal instead of regular matzah meal in a spinach kugel recipe, or sometimes use oats instead of flour in things. You can really add some eggs and take out some oil from any kugel, and no kugel needs margarine at all.

    As far as dessert goes–I capitulate. I like it too much to mess with it, although I usually include fruit as a dessert option.

  3. Challahman Says:
    January 1st, 2007 at 5:11 am

    I own a small whole grain sourdough bakery in West Philadelphia called Four Worlds Bakery. I started my career making white traditional egg and sugar enriched challah, but moved into whole grains and sourdough mostly because I got hooked on the flavor and quality of the foods. I later discovered to my utter surprise that whole grains are dangerous nutitionally unless they are (1) Fresh (most whole grain flours turn rancid by the time they are consumed; fresh means freshly milled and used or refrigerated within a few days of milling) and (2) naturally fermented, either soaked and eaten sprouted (raw) or through a sourdough process.

    I learned this when I started researching why many nutritionist are recommending their client not eat any bread at all. It’s not bread generally that’s bad, it’s the way the grains are milled and the way the grains are fermented (or yeasted) that makes 99 percent of the bread products out there a borderline poison on our bodies.

    This basically means there are big problems with almost all the whole grain products on the market, especially breakfast cereals.

    So do some probing into how the grains are prepared before just assuming whole grains are better. I now mill all my own organic whole grain flour in my bakery and ferment with natural sourdough starter; and I have worked hard to educate my customers on what they are getting, nutritionally.

    Happy new year with blessing,

    Challahman

  4. Challahman Says:
    January 1st, 2007 at 5:18 am

    My many years of experience with making whole grain challah commecially is that 100% whole grain is just too dense for most people to enjoy on shabbat. What works is to blend 50% white with 50% whole wheat flour, sweetened with honey; if you can make it a sourdough, even better. It’s a great compromise and everyone seems to get joy out of being healthy and also have a lighter enjoyable sweet challah to enjoy on shabbat.

    For daily bread, eat 100% whole grain breads. On shabbat, enjoy some of the great delights of the world.

    Challahman

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