Challah on the Grill
Few years back Jessica made some killer challahs. If I remember clearly it was a full day activity. When I saw a recipe for Challah on the Grill on Food52 I got inspired. The best part is that this takes no time at all relative to most bread making where the dough has to rise more than a few times.
Of course, I made it on Friday. This is a recipe for one loaf but you could double it and make two.
For the dough:
1 1/4 tablespoons active dry yeast
3/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
For the topping:
1 egg yolk stirred with a bit of water
2 to 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
Take the yeast and sprinkle over 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Once the yeast has dissolved (you can just mix it up once it appears to be ) add in the honey, salt, eggs and olive oil. Mix that up and then add in the flour. Mix that up completely and then put on a floured surface. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes). Place in a well oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Let this stand in a warm area for about 40 minutes. This is what is takes for the dough to double in size.
Once that is done divide the dough in four separate parts. Roll each of them into a long log that is about 12 inches long. Then lay them together like a foursquare weave. One log over the other, under/over. Then wrap the ends to the right over the log to the right until the bread is tighly woven. Only two weaves.
Take a cast iron pan and sprinkle cornmeal over the bottom. Put the dough in, put a towel over the top, and let stand in a warm area for about 25 minutes.
Now take the egg yolk wash and brush it over the dough and then sprinkle with the poppy seeds.
The grill should be turned on at medium heat. Lay two bricks in the middle for height and then put the pan on top. Close the lid and let it bake for about 20 minutes. Voila. Definitely adding this into my repertoire.
Comments (Archived):
I like it! I love sliced challah, lightly toasted, with cream cheese, smoked salmon & capers on top.
this is perfect for that. it is a tad dense.
ah, i cheat and rip out some of the soft part inside – what do you call that? In french it has a word “la mie”. I couldn’t find an english equivalent, except for “soft part”. Is that right?
Looks amazing, we bake other breads and pizza on the BBQ all the time, need to try this. My favorite use for leftover challah is French toast!
“The Killer Challas”– what a great band name !Holla if you love challa !
Is the Challah for Rosh Hashonah?
OOh, you could make killer french toast with that! I am not a huge fan of traditional french toast, but this recipe is out of this world! We usually buy awesome challah from B&H Dairy, but even better if you make it yourself! Slice the bread thick (like an inch) an hour ahead of time so it dries a little. Take a flat pan and spread butter patties strategically across it. Put in oven briefly so it melts. Saturate bread in egg, milk, and vanilla – approx. 1 egg per slice. Then lay several slices on pan and broil (put pan low in oven so not too close to heat). Comes out slightly crunchy on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside. While in the oven, you can “marinate” some fresh fruit (chopped strawberries, nectarines or kiwi for some tanginess, blackberries, blueberries — or whatever you like, really) in some maple syrup. When the bread is a golden brown, remove and flip. If you want to really go for it, you can add a little butter to the top of each slice so it gets a little bit crunchier. When both sides are the same color, remove, sprinkle lightly with cinnamon, and then cover with lots of the fruit/syrup mixture and some chopped nuts if you like. We also add banana at this point because it will get mushy if you add it earlier. Same thing with the cinnamon – if you add it at the end, it muddies up the colorful fruit and can overpower the whole thing. You end up with the most beautiful, decadent breakfast ever! Its also pretty fattening, but worth it every once in a while! Its an awesome celebratory way to start the day when you have weekend guests.
Delish
So when Glenn and I saw this this morning, we both said great idea. Lets do that tonight as I was working on a menu for some guests.At that point we had not opened the blog only say Challah on the grill. We took that to mean, slice some store bought Challah, rub some high end olive oil on it and toss it on the grill. Then I saw you made the whole thing on the grill. Yeast rising and all.I’m headed off to buy a boule to cut up and grill.But I’m very impressed you did it. Looks amazing.