Mini Apple Pies with Cinnamon Caramel Soy Ice Cream

I made this dessert for Shabbat and my husband, who normally does not eat dessert, ate three servings! This recipe is simply and delicious. I made it the night before and reheated it on a warming tray.

Ingredients
Crust
1 cup flour
6 tablespoons margarine, cubed 
2 tablespoons cold water

Filling 
2 large apples (I like to use granny smith), cubed
splash of lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt

Step #1: Make the crust
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin. Combine flour and margarine in a medium sized mixing bowl with a fork. Sprinkle with water and mix with hands to combine. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the freezer.

Step #2: Make the filling
Combine the remaining dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Add the apples and lemon juice, mix thoroughly.

Step #3 Assemble the pies
Roll out the dough until it is thin. Cut 12 circles of the dough that are a little bit larger than the openings of your muffin tin. Line the bottom of the tin with the dough. Fill the dough 2/3rds of the way with filling. Top with another circle of dough. Crimp the edges with a fork and cut two slits in the top for steam. Brush with egg if desired.

Bake for 35 minutes. Let the pies cool before removing from the tin.
Makes 6 mini-pies.

I recommend serving these pies "a la mode" with Double Rainbows cinnamon caramel soy ice cream. 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Cinnamon Raisin Challah

This is one of my favorite sweet challah recipes. It's simple, delicious and can be transformed into a tasty french toast Sunday morning, if any of it lasts past Shabbat.

Ingredients
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon honey
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/4 cup non-dairy chocolate chips
2 eggs
6 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon instant coffee
3 tablespoons honey

Step #1: Proof the Yeast
Proofing the yeast allows you to tell if the yeast is alive. In a small bowl, combine yeast,  warm water and 1 tbs honey. Let the mixture sit for about five minutes. You will know that your yeast is alive if it expands and bubbles in the bowl. If this does not happen, try again, you may need to buy more yeast.

Step #2: Mix Dry Ingredients
In a stand-mixer (with the dough blade attachment if you have one) combine all purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, cinnamon, chocolate chips and raisins. I like to add the chocolate chips and raisins at this point so that they are equally distributed throughout the challah. Also, by coating them in flour they are less likely to sink to the bottom. Mix on low speed for 15-20 seconds.

Step #3 Combine wet ingredients.
In a small mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, the remaining 3 tablespoons of honey and the instant coffee. Fold in the yeast.

Step #4 Knead Dough
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the wet ingredients until they are entirely incorporated. You may have to kneed by hand to ensure that all of the flour is mixed into the dough. Once the dough has formed, mix on medium speed for 1-5 minutes. Cover the dough with a towel and allow it to rise for at least one hour. The dough should double in size.

Step #5 Braid and Bake Dough
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Braid the challah (I like to make a six braid challah) and let rise for at least another 45 minutes. Brush with egg and bake for 30 minutes.

This recipe makes 1 large or 2 small challot

Kale and Mango Salad

I am sorry for the delay of this post, but everything has been pushed back because of Purim celebrations.

This week I had the honor of hosting my parents, grandparents and sister for Shabbat dinner. My dad (who shares my love of leafy greens) loved this salad and could not believe how tender it was. All in all, this dish took me about ten minutes to make (including removing the kale and dicing the mango) and is incredibly delicious.

Ingredients
1 bunch of kale, washed and removed from the stems
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 c olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp honey 
1 mango, diced
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

Drizzle the lemon juice and about 1 tsp of olive oil over the kale. Massage the kale for two minutes, or until the kale begins to wilt. In a separate bowl, combine salt, pepper and honey. While whisking, slowly drizzle in the remaining olive oil. Add more salt and pepper if necessary. Pour over the kale. Add mango and pumpkin seeds. Toss and refrigerate until right before you serve.

* This recipe comes from the Food Network show Aarti Party

Chicken Soup is Indeed Good for the Soul

I have been spoiled when it comes to chicken soup. Growing up, I always looked forward to my Bubby's homemade chicken soup with matzo balls and noodles. We would have it at most family dinners and since we lived next door to her, she would make it for my sister and I whenever we were sick. I remember ordering it in a restaurant once and telling my parent's I couldn't eat it because it "tasted like cat food". No soup compared to hers.

Now that I cook my own shabbat dinner, I love making my own chicken soup. I generally make mine in a pressure cooker, but the recipe can easily be adapted for a stockpot.

Ingredients 
2-4 carrots, peeled and quartered
3 ribs of celery, quartered
1 parsnip, peeled and quartered
3-6 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 onion, peeled
1 tbs peppercorns
1 bunch of dill
1 bunch of parsley
1 1/2 pounds chicken bones
1 1/2 pounds  turkey necks
salt to taste 

I like to use chicken bones because they are cheap and produce great flavor. You can usually get chicken bones at the butcher or meat counter at your local market. I find that turkey necks also add a lot of flavor as well.

Put all the ingredients in a pressure cooker or stockpot. If using a pressure cooker, fill the pressure cooker 2/3rds of the way full with water (just barely covering all the ingredients). In a stockpot, fill to cover all the ingredients, about eight cup of water.

Secure the lid on the pressure cooker and bring to a boil. Bring down to a simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes. If using a stockpot, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook, covered for at least 5 hours, the longer the better.

For the pressure cooker: When the soup is ready, follow your pressure cooker's instructions to relieve the pressure.

Strain the soup, reserving the carrots and onion. Pick the meat off the chicken bones. Refrigerate the soup overnight.

When you take the soup out of the refrigerator, you will see that a layer of fat has accumulated on top of the soup.

Remove the fat from the top layer of the soup. Reheat the soup, onion, chicken and carrots. Serve with egg noodles, matzo balls or on it's own.

The Six Braid Challah

I have had some requests to do a six-braid tutorial. Making a six braid challah is very easy and the result is pretty and will impress your guests!

Start by dividing the dough in half, one for each loaf. Then divide each dough half into six balls (the more equal the better, though I frequently end up with some larger than others).

Next, roll each dough ball into snakes the length of my cutting board. Attach the ends and spread out the snakes.

Next, start braiding.

Step #1: This step is only done the first round of braiding. Take strand #6 and move it to become strand #1.

Step #2: Take strand #2 and move it over to become strand #6

Step #3: Take strand #1 and move it over to become strand #3.

Step #5: Take strand #5 and move it over to become strand #1.

Step #6: Take strand #6 and move it over to become strand #4.

Repeat steps #'s 2 through 6 until you run out of room. When you are done, make sure to pinch both ends tightly and tuck them under the loaf to make sure the challah stays braided while it bakes.

Whole Wheat Pretzel Challah

If I could have any job in the world (excluding the one I currently have) it would be to own a specialty challah shop. I love creating new flavor blends for challah to complement the rest of our Shabbat dinner. This week, I made a whole wheat pretzel challah. The recipe is pretty straight forward and basically just a water challah recipe taken to the next level. I got this water challah recipe from one of my coworkers and made it in a stand mixer.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm water, divided
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 tsp yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil

Step #1: Proof the yeast
Proofing the yeast allows you to tell if the yeast is alive. In a small bowl, combine yeast, 1/2 cup warm water and 1 tbs sugar. Let the mixture sit for about five minutes. You will know that your yeast is alive if it expands and bubbles in the bowl. If this does not happen, try again, you may need to buy more yeast.

Step #2: Mix dry ingredients
In a stand mixer (a dough blade attachment is preferred), combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Mix on low for 10-15 seconds.

Step #3: Combine wet ingredients
In a separate bowl, combine remaining water, remaining sugar and oil. Add the yeast mixture.

Step #4: Knead the dough
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the wet ingredients until they are entirely incorporated. You may have to kneed by hand to ensure that all of the flour is mixed into the dough. Once the dough has formed, mix on medium speed for a minute. Cover the dough with a towel and allow it to rise for at least one hour.

Step #5: Braid the Challah
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Punch down the dough and turn out onto a working surface. Braid the challah. I am partial to a 6-braid challah but do whatever you like!

Step #6: Boil the dough
This is the step that makes this a pretzel challah. In a large pot, combine 8 cups of water and 2/3 cup baking soda. Bring to a boil. Put the challah into the pot for 30 seconds. Flip the challah over and repeat.

Remove the challah from the water and repeat with remaining loaves. Brush the challah with the water from the pot and sprinkle on kosher salt or pretzel salt. Bake the challah at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes and voila!

Serve warm.
This challah is especially delicious when dipped in honey mustard.