Post # 2 - Baking Challah

A staple of Shabbat meals and kosher cooking is baking Challah. Almost all Challah recipes include eggs and therefore they are not suitable for vegan cooking. Below is my first attempt at making delicious Whole Wheat egg free vegan Challah. This recipe was adapted by my wife from the book a "Taste of Challah: A Comprehensive Guide to Challah and Bread Baking" by Tamar Ansh check it out here on Amazon.

Hand Written Challah Recipe

Whole Wheat Vegan Challah Recipe -
This recipe is for four medium sized round Challahs.

• Step 1 -
  Add the below into a small bowl cover for 10 minutes as it bubbles.
  - 3/4 Cup warm water
  - 1/8 Cup brown sugar
  - 1.5 tablespoon of yeast
• Step 2 -
  Add the below into a Kitchen Aid & mix on setting # 2.
  - 1/2 cup olive oil
  - 3/4 Cup brown sugar
  - 1 Cup warm water
  - 4 Cups whole wheat flour
• Step 3 -.
  Add the yeast mixture from step 1 into the Kitchen Aid  and mix again
• Step 4 -
  Add 2 more cups of whole wheat flour into the  Kitchen Aid and mix.
• Step 5 -
  Add 2 more cups of  whole wheat flour into the Kitchen Aid  and mix.
• Step 6 -
  Add 1 cup of warm water a 1/4 cup at a time into the Kitchen Aid  and mix until there is a good consistency.
• Step 7 -
  Allow the mixture in the Kitchen Aid to rise for 10 minutes.
• Step 8 -
  Put a bit of olive oil on your hands and knead the Challah for 30 seconds. 
• Step 9 -
  Take a small ball of Challah out of the mixture and say this is Challah then wrap the piece in foil and throw it away. This is called "Taking Challah".
• Step 10 -
  Get a glass bowl large enough to place your mixture in. Line the glass bowl with a bit of olive oil.
  Place the mixture in the bowl and knead it again for 30 seconds.
• Step 11 -
  Next you will want to cover the glass bowl in a large plastic bag. It should be sealed but have enough room as it will need to rise again. Place the bowl inside of your refrigerator overnight to fully rise.
• Step 12 -
  The next day take out of fridge and shape your Challah. You can add additional ingredients such as as cinnamon and raisins, or a favorite of ours is to add a bit of olive oil on top with zatar.
• Step 13 -
  After you have shaped your Challah it is ready to be baked and can be placed on parchment paper in the oven for 25 min at 350 degrees.

I hope you enjoy the above recipe. Check out my Challah pictures below.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Challah

Whole Wheat Challah

Whole Wheat Challah on Cutting Board

Close up of Whole Wheat Challah

Post # 1 - New Blog - Mission Statment & Goals

Hi my name is Jamie and this is my food blog "Kosher Vegan Cooking" which, as you can imagine from the name, is about cooking vegan and keeping kosher.

I am new to being vegan, my wife and I decided to eat and cook this way for both health related and ethical reasons. We decided to become vegan on May 1st,  2012 and close to a month later we are truly enjoying our decision.

This blog will be dedicated to posting interesting kosher vegan cooking recipes, reviews about kosher vegan products, and interesting links, articles, ideas, and interviews about eating and cooking vegan and kosher.

Many people may be wondering doesn't vegan already mean kosher? I know that there is no meat, dairy, fish, or egg products in vegan cooking so shouldn't it all be considered kosher?

That is a great question and it was the first question I had when I decided to become vegan and remain kosher.

Before I became vegan keeping kosher meant making sure all products and restaurants I ate were certified kosher. Additionally there was also the restriction not to mix meat and milk together as well as keeping fish and meat separate at the same meal.

I was pretty excited about eating vegan and not having to worry about all the kosher restrictions anymore because all of the food I would be eating would be kosher. Though my idea was very close to being correct after doing a bit of research I found out that there are still dietary restrictions when keeping kosher and being vegan but there are not many.

Below is some of the information I found on the Chabad website written by Rabbi Eliezer Posner:

A vegan restaurant or product would not have a hard time getting kosher certification. However, as long as there is no such certification one should not eat the product or at the restaurant.

I plan to post at least one kosher vegan recipe with pictures every week & one kosher vegan product review every two weeks. I also hope to have interviews with vegan companies, cooks, friends, restaurant reviews, and guest bloggers.

The above information is my mission statement and goal for my kosher vegan cooking blog.

I hope you will find the upcoming information, recipes, reviews, interviews, and links helpful and insightful.

Thanks and enjoy,

Jamie