Title: Challah 2/2
 Categories: Breads, Jewish, Usenet
      Yield: 2 Loaves
 
           See Part 1
 
  : Continued from Part 1
  
  NOTES:
  
  *  Challah (pronounced "hallah") is a type of braided egg bread
  traditionally eaten on the Jewish Sabbath. It is eaten by tearing off
  hunks rather than by cutting with a knife.
  
  I got this recipe from a housemate a couple of years ago; I don't
  know its origins before that, but it has become one of my favorite
  recipes, and one with which I have experimented a good deal.  I've
  tried several other challah recipes, but find I like this one the
  best. Yield: 2 Large loaves.
  
  *  The variation in oil makes quite a difference in the moisture of
  the bread: If you use the larger quantity, the bread comes out very
  nice and moist, but when it cools it becomes somewhat oily.
  
  The amounts of sugar and oil may sound high, but try it this way once
  before cutting back. I have tried other recipes that use less, and
  they don't taste nearly as good.
  
  *  Here's the fun part --> variations.  Because this dough is so
  workable, you can form it many different ways, limited only by your
  imagination; I once made a whole collection of different shapes and
  sizes, for a festive dinner party.
  
  Some of the variations I have tried include:
  
  :  o  Adding extra ingredients, such as raisins and/or nuts
  :  o  Forming the braided loaf into a wreath-like loop (joining the
  ends) :  o  Braiding 5 ways instead of 3
  :  o  Baking a small loaf on top of a larger loaf (traditional)
  :  o  Braiding 3 braided loaves into a recursive loaf (didn't turn out
  well; it ended up looking knotty, rather than intricate, and being
  somewhat tough)
  :  o  Varying the loaf sizes.  One time I made individual-sized
  loaves, so that everyone could have their own loaf at dinner.
  Another time, I divided the dough into 2 halves, set one aside, and
  made a loaf out of the other half. Then, I divided the remaining
  piece into 2 halves, and continued the process until I had an array
  of loaves, each half the size of the previous. I managed to get 9
  loaves by doing this, the smallest of which was about
      1/4    inch by about 2 inches.
  
  :  o  Varying the length-to-width proportions; traditionally, challah
  loaves are quite wide relative to their length. I find that shorter,
  wider loaves are doughier (and thus tastier), but longer loaves look
  more elegant.
  
  : Difficulty:  moderate.
  : Time:  30 minutes dough preparation, 1 1/2 hours first rising, 1
  hour loaf forming, 1 hour second rising, 30 minutes baking. Total: 4
  1/2 hours. : Precision:  Approximate measurement OK.
  
  : Mike Schwartz
  : University of Washington, Computer Science, Seattle, Washington, USA
  : ihnp4!uw-beaver!schwartz    schwartz@cs.washington.edu
  
  :