Shana Tova! High Holiday Recipes from Ninety Years of the Jewish Transcript and JTNews

By Joel Magalnick

With 2014 marking the celebration of 90 years of publication of the Jewish Transcript, the Pacific Northwest's oldest and longest publishing Jewish community newspaper, we decided to take a look back at our history to help you create your High Holiday menu. What you have on your digital reading device is every single High Holiday recipe published in the Jewish Transcript and JTNews (as it's now called) since 1924. As you'll see, there are plenty of years where we published no recipes at all (what on earth did people eat if they didn't have us?), but it's fascinating to look at how tastes have changed over the decades. Though sometimes, it seems, they didn't change at all. If you're in the mood for a honey cake, or a recipe for somebody else's grandmother's tzimmes, or even a simple challah, we've got them all here — sometimes in multiples.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joel Magalnick
• Release date: Sep 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310553837

Joel Magalnick

Joel Magalnick grew up in a version of suburbia not so different from the version you'll read in his story. Thankfully he escaped and now writes on a more regular basis as a journalist for a small newspaper in Seattle, Washington. He lives there with his wife and two children. If you'd like to see some of his other fiction, check out his serial novel, 140 characters at a time, at his Twitter feed at @badassbook. Start from the bottom.

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Breads and Challahs

Challah

Published in 1992

4 1/2 cups bread flour

2 packages quick-rise yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 eggs, slightly beaten; reserve 1 tablespoon for glaze

1/4 cup white raisins

sesame seeds (optional)

Combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a mixer and beat with a dough hook, if available. Heat water to a temperature of 120 and add to flour mixture.

Add eggs and beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in 2 1/2 cups flour and raisins, mixing by hand until dough leaves the sides of the bowl. Place dough on floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic; about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double; 30 minutes. You can turn your electric oven on to 150 degrees for 1 minute, turn it off and place bowl of dough on rack with door closed. Poke 2 fingers in center of dough. If hole remains, raising is complete. Shape dough into an elongated baseball bat about 34 inches long. On a greased baking sheet, circle rope around itself (large end under center), until a round dome is formed. Cover and let rise in a warm place 15 minutes.

Combine 1 tablespoon reserved egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush over the surface of the challah; sprinkle with sesame seeds if you like. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 55-60 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on rack.

Challah

Published in 1995

Yields: 2 small loaves or 1 large loaf

1 Tbl. yeast

1/8 tsp. saffron (optional)

1 cup water (luke warm)

4 cups bread flour (sifted)

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. sugar

2 x-lrg. eggs (beaten at room temperature)

1 x-lrg.egg yolk (beaten)

1 Tbl. poppy seed (optional)

1 Tbl. sesame seeds (optional)

Soak the yeast and saffron in the lukewarm water for 5 minutes. Sift the flour, salt and sugar together. Add 1-1/2cups of the flour mixture to the yeast mixture, mixing until smooth. Cover the bowl with a cloth and allow to rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 30 minutes.

Add the eggs and mix well. Add the remaining flour and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in the bowl, dust the top with a little additional flour, and cover with the cloth. Allow to rise in a warm place until double in size, about 2 hours.

Knead the dough again for a few minutes. Divide it in 3 equal parts and roll into long, round strips. Roll into a spiral. Place on a greased baking sheet and allow to rise again, covered, in a warm place for 1hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush the top of the bread with the egg yolk. Sprinkle with the seed of your choice. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake 35 minutes longer or until well browned on top.

Bread Baking Tips:

The more you knead the finer the grain. Kneaded less results in a coarser texture.

• If the first stage or rising stage is held overnight by refrigeration and restarted the next day, the bread will be chewier.

• You may brush the crust with olive oil while it is still warm to soften crust slightly.

Il Bollo — Yom Kippur Bread

Published in 1995

(Usually served in the living room, this bread is the first food consumed after fasting, before partaking in a full meal at the table.)

5-1/2 cups unbleached flour, divided

2 envelopes active dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 cup warm water

3 eggs

1-1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 Tbs. anise seeds

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. grated lemon rind (optional)

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. water

1) Have all ingredients at room temperature. Combine 1-1/2 cups flour with dry yeast, 1 tsp. sugar and the warm water in a large bowl. Beat until you have a very smooth, soft dough. Lightly sprinkle the top with flour, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until more than doubled in bulk.

2) In a small pan, heat olive oil. Add anise seeds and stir until lightly toasted. Reserve. To the flour mixture, add eggs and 1-1/4 cups sugar and beat. Add oil and seeds and beat again. Add the vanilla extract, salt and grated lemon rind. Gradually add enough flour to make a soft dough.

3) Spread the remaining flour on a working surface. Turn the contents of the bowl over it and knead, gathering the flour, until you have a dough that is stiff enough to hold its shape. Divide into two equal parts, knead for 2 minutes, and let rest for 5 minutes. Shape each part into a 12-inch oval loaf, and place on a lightly oiled and generously floured baking sheet.

4) Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in size. Brush tops with the egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp. water, and place in a preheated 450º oven. Immediately lower the heat to 350º and bake 30 minutes or until dark brown.

Yield: two 1-lb. loaves

Serving suggestion: Serve with small glasses of sweet vermouth

Round Challah with Anise, Dates, Honey and Sesame

Published in 1993

2 T or 2 pkgs. dry yeast

1-1/2 cups warm water

1 t brown sugar

7-1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus enough to make a smooth dough)

1 T salt

I cup honey

16 large dates, pitted and chopped

3 T anise seeds

4 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup white, brown or black sesame seeds

Egg and water for glazing

In large, non-reactive bowl, mix water and brown sugar until dissolved. Sprinkle yeast over water. Let sit until very bubbly, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix flour with salt and anise seeds. Beat eggs until well combined, then beat in honey and oil with a wooden spoon. Beat egg mixture into dissolved yeast.

Stir in flour mixture about 2 cups at a time (mixture will be lumpy at first). At about 6 cups, dough will be too stiff to stir with a spoon, but still very sticky.

Turn out onto a clean, floured board and briefly knead in remaining 1-1/2 cup flour. Knead 10-15 minutes by hand, adding flour as needed to make a smooth, silky dough.

Place all dough into a large greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.

Punch dough down and turn out onto a clean board. Divide dough into four pieces for 1 very large round, braided challah.

For a large, braided round, roll 3 pieces into long snakes and attach at one end. Form a tight braid, then attach at one end. Form a tight braid, then attach both ends together to form a circle. Divide fourth piece of dough into 3, make 3 more snakes and braid these. Brush top of large round with egg wash or plain water. Position small braid on it, being sure to center. Press smaller round in place. Transfer to a greased cookie sheet.

brush top and sides of challah with 1 egg mixed with 2T water and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake challah in center of oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Turn oven to 325 degrees and continue baking until loaves sound hollow when thumped. Cool on a rack.

From Chef Emily Moore.

Whole-Wheat Challah

Published in 1996

Yields: 1 large loaf

1-1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)

4 tsps dry yeast

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbl salt (preferably kosher)

1/3 cup oil

3 eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten

3 cups white whole wheat flour (regular whole wheat flour may be substituted)

3 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour

Egg Wash

1 egg, beaten

sesame or poppy seeds

Stir warm water, yeast and honey together and let stand 2 minutes. Stir in sugar and salt and then oil and eggs to blend. Fold in the white whole-wheat flour, then most of the bread flour or all-purpose flour to make a soft, shaggy mass. Knead 8 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as required to make a soft, elastic dough that does not stick to the mixing bowl.

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and

cover with a greased plastic wrap and a slightly damp tea towel and let rest until doubled, about 45 to 90 minutes. Gently deflate.

Separate dough into three fat ropes. Braid in three strands and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let rise until puffy and almost doubled in bulk. Alternatively, lightly grease a 12 by 5 inch loaf pan or two 8-1/2-by 4-1/2 inch pans. Divide dough in three equal sections for the large pan, 6 sections for the two smaller pans. Shape each section into an oval. Place three ovals, almost touching, beside each other in each pan.

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle on sesame or poppy seeds. Place loaf pans in a large plastic bag to rise until dough is almost flush with top pan, 45–60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bread in oven and let bake