Challah, Pot Roast, Cauliflower Soup

This challah is from a recipe I found online and cut in half. It came out pretty tasty, but there were a few problems with it, so I might try something different next time. First, the dough was so full of air that it made the top braid fall halfway over in the oven so the finished product wasn't very pretty. Also, when we let it rise the second time, it rose so much that it lost it's shape completely so I had to rebraid it, and it also stuck to the dish towel we covered it with so we had to throw that out.

Directions:
Challah ingredients:

1 cup warm water
1 pkg dry active yeast
3-4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 t. salt
2 tbsp oil
1 egg

1. In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water (75-120 degrees.) Stir in sugar and salt. Add half the flour and mix well. Add oil and egg and mix well. Then add remaining flour. (The dough will be a little sticky but don't add more flour.)
2. Wet a clean dish towel and ring it out. Cover the bowl of dough with the towel. Put the bowl in the refrigerator and let stand overnight.
3. When dough is doubled in size, braid. (Make egg wash with additional egg and water, and brush over dough)
4. Arrange loaf on oiled or greased cookie sheet; cover and let rise in warm place until doubles in size. (Depending on your house temperature. Find a warm place.)
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook bread for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.


Slow Cooker Pot Roast

This was from a Martha Stewart recipe. It came out well, but was not the best pot roast I've ever had, so I also might make a different recipe if I tried to make this dish again. We added a bay leaf and a can of beef broth to the recipe because it seemed to dry without it.

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 medium carrots, cut into thirds
1 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges
3 red potatoes, cut into 8 chunks.
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 beef chuck roast (1.5 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 can beef broth
1 bay leaf

Directions:

1. In slow cooker, stir together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth. Add carrots and onions; season with salt and pepper, and toss.
2. Sprinkle roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; place on top of vegetables, and drizzle with Worcestershire. Cover; cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 10 hours).
3. Transfer roast to a cutting board; thinly slice against the grain. Place vegetables in a serving dish; pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve, if desired. Serve roast with vegetables and pan juices.


Cauliflower Soup

I had leftover cauliflower from a previous dish, so I decided to make soup out of it for Shabbat. I ended up buying an extra head though because we had an extra person at dinner. The texture was not as smooth as I wanted, but it was an ok soup. I found the recipe on foodgawker and wanted to serve it with the parmesan crisps, but we used soup croutons instead. I also put thyme in it instead of nutmeg, because we didn't have any, and we added a lot more pepper.

1.5 heads cauliflower
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 box low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
ground thyme
1 tbsp butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Remove the leaves and thick core from the cauliflower. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the cauliflower is very soft and falling apart, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and using a hand held immersion blender, puree the soup (or puree in small batches in a blender* and return it to the pot). Add the Parmesan and stir until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pinch of thyme. Keep warm until ready to serve.