CHALLAH (JEWISH EGG BREAD)

Nothing can compare to the smell of freshly baked challah.

If you want everyone to love you, you must bake a challah on Friday night.

I have made this challah in honour of Bill 17: The Jewish Heritage Month Act put forth by MPP Mike Colle who has Introduced Bill 17 to Proclaim the Month of May Jewish Heritage Month in Ontario. The Bill designates May as Jewish Heritage Month, in order to honour the significant achievements of Jewish Canadians across Ontario.
My nephew Dustin Cohen who is MPP Mike Colle’s Executive Assistant at Legislative Assembly of Ontario has worked long hours behind the scene to help get this bill passed. Thank you Dustin!

Going into the oven.

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Challah (Jewish Egg Bread)

This recipe makes one large loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tbsp. shortening (I use safflower oil)
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 1 ¼ tsp. salt
• 3 2/3 cups unbleached flour
• 1 tsp. yeast

Glaze:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp. water
• Poppy seeds, sesame seeds and kosher salt for sprinkling on top of challah

Directions:

I use my bread machine to make the dough.

1. Measure first 7 ingredients in the order listed in the baking pan of your bread machine.
2. Close lid and select dough setting.
3. Press start
4. When cycle is complete, remove dought from machine on to a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 6 equal portions.
5. Roll with palm of hand into long smooth strips. The pieces should be thicker in the middle and gradually taper towards the ends.
6. Braid the 6 dough strips.
7. Place on lightly greased baking sheet.
8. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until double in volume.
9. Beat egg yolk with one tablespoon of water and brush over the challah.
10. Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds
11. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.
If you want to make this a raisin challah add 3/4 cup of raisins when the “add ingredient” signal beeps on your bread machine.

HAZELNUT CHERRY GRANOLA

I love granola.

I love making my own granola. I love  knowing exactly what’s gone into it (no preservatives etc.), I love that  it is easy to make and you can be as creative as you want to be, changing up the nuts and dried fruit.

I love having a big jar of it in the kitchen, to eat with almond milk for breakfast, over yogurt and drizzled with honey, or as a snack by the handful, any time I pass the jar.

I promise this will not last long on the counter!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups hazelnuts – roughly chopped
• 1 cup dried tart cherries (unsweetened)
• 1/3 cup peanut or other nut butter
• 6 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup honey, maple syrup, or Agave syrup
• 1 Tbsp water

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F , line a baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Stir together all dry ingredients (oats, salt, cinnamon, hazelnuts and cherries). 
3. Add to the dry ingredients the coconut oil, honey, maple syrup, or Agave syrup vanilla, nut butter, and water. 
4. Mix well and spread onto the baking sheet. 
5. Bake for around 30 minutes, or until golden brown and stir often. 
6. Let cool before storing in air tight jar.

CHOCOLATE BLISS

My friend Karen Gilman and I have been experimenting with different flavours of bliss balls.  Karen is an excellent vegetarian cook and a Holistic Nutritionist, we are always sharing  recipes and tips for healthy living, and we both love to make this receipe. So when you have a craving for something sweet these bliss balls are the perfect chocolate fix made without  processed sugar.   I promise you will feel great eating these and the best part is there is  no cooking!

 Bliss Balls are a raw sweet treat.

CHOCOLATE COVERED TOFFEE MATZAH

I first tasted chocolate covered matzah at my friend Sheila MacRae’s home.  She had over a group of women for wine and merry matzah making, from then on I was a devotee and (almost) every year at Passover I make this recipe.  However, last year I decided not to make it (only because I cannot stop eating it myself),  and there were a lot of unhappy guests, this year I gave in… so for my niece Alison and my daughter Yale this recipe is dedicated to  you.

BTW – My friend Sheila is a first-class pie maker, butter tart maker, and excellent cook. Many of her recipes hail from her Scottish roots.  You can imagine how surprised I was when I first tasted her chocolate covered Matzah for Passover. I’m “Jew-ish” she exclaimed when I asked for “just one more piece”. BTW Sheila can make any holiday meal special and is one of the best Jewish cooks I know. Not bad for a Scottish girl from Winnipeg.

More holiday recipes from LoveThyCarrot!

Macaroons, The Official Cookie of Passover
Romanian Eggplant Salad
Chocolate Covered Toffee Matzah
This is my Great-Grandmother Gefilte Fish
My Mother's Potato Kugel
My Favourite Chicken Soup
Latkes From My Mother's Kitchen
Pistachio and Dried Fruit Haroseth

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Chocolate Covered Toffee Matzah

Ingredients:

• 4 to 6 sheets unsalted matzohs
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
• big pinch of sea salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or white chocolate chips (a combination of white and dark looks really nice).
• 1 cup toasted sliced almonds, or your favourite nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2.  Line a rimmed baking sheet completely with foil, making sure the foil goes up and over the edges. Cover the foil with a sheet of parchment paper.( Don’t skip the tin foil you will thank me when you clean up).
3. Line the baking sheet with matzoh, breaking extra pieces as necessary to fill in any spaces.
4.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the mixture is beginning to boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add the salt, and pour over matzoh, spreading with a heatproof spatula.
5. Put the pan in the oven and  bake for 5 to 7 minutes. As it bakes, it will bubble up but make sure it’s not burning.
6. Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes, then spread the chocolate with a spatula.
7.  This is optional , sprinkle with toasted almonds or your favourite nuts.
8. Let cool completely, then break into pieces and store in an airtight container or ziplock bags until ready to serve.

Cooks Notes:

• I like to store and serve this directly from the freezer.
• This chocolate covered matzah is addictive.

RED FIFE MUFFINS

Red Fife is a heritage red spring wheat native to Ontario, love that being from Canada, eh!

I found this loaf and muffin mix at Fiesta Farms and though I never buy mixes I was attracted to the package and the healthy list of ingredients. I do feel proud eating these muffins knowing that something so delicious is from Ontario. I love the grainy texture and wheaty flavour. You can add any fresh ingredients to make them your own.  My favorite combinations are:

• blueberries and pumpkin seeds
• cranberries, lemon zest and walnuts
• mashed ripe banana, vanilla extract, hazelnuts or walnuts

For baking instruction see the recipe on the back of the package.

Check out the website at : http://www.grainstorm.com/

MACADAMIA & CHOCOLATE WAFERS

The handwritten recipe by my mother in law Florence Hertzman who was with us in Perth and loved these cookies too!

I tasted these wafers when I was visiting my family in Perth Australia.  A family friend Tanya who is an outstanding cook and caterer served these at afternoon tea.  I noticed guests kept coming back to the table breaking off pieces and by the end of the party the plate was empty. My mother in law Flo and I made an attempt to bake these wafers; we ended up with one burnt cookie sheet and the other too thick and chewy to be called wafers, On the second attempt we adjusted the flour and watched the cooking time, Flo actually sat in front of the oven to keep a watchful eye, so remember they burn easily.

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So here is the recipe all the way from down under, Perth Australia.  Thank you Tanya!

Ingredients:

• 10 TBS butter, softened

• 1 ½ cups very fine sugar

• ½ cup corn syrup

• 1 cup flour

• 4 egg whites

• 6 ½ ounces macadamia nuts, chopped

• ¾ cup dark chocolate, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.

3. Using a spatula spread mixture very thinly on to the two cookie sheets that you lined with parchment paper.

4. Sprinkle with chopped macadamia nuts and chopped chocolate.

5. Bake until golden for 15 to 20 minutes

6. Watch carefully as they can burn easily.

7. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.