Time for friends


I am a person of friends, for me friends are like oxygen.I can't live without them.
Friends for me are a reassurance of free will ,optimism and independence.And without those,I can't see myself existing.Before I came to Italy, I had a lot of friends back home, lots of kinds of friends (at some point in your life, you realise that the one and only friend module just doesn't work)Well,I made few friends since I came to live in Italy and I am really happy I met these people at this stage in my life.It is one thing dealing with a forigne country when you are all alone , and it's a total different thing when you have friends. Nonetheless when they are trying to get used to this country as well (you can vent about same things together, a great therapy)
I love having friends over, especially when we are getting together for a dinner or lunch. But meeting friends for brunch is something that I really like. I love the easy going invironment that surronds this time of the day,the laughs, good talks and all the baked goods that we usually have when we get together . So when I have friends for brunch, I love spoiling them by doing the thing I love doing the most, that is :baking!
Last sunday I had a friend coming over with her kids and we were both excited about having a brunch outside on the balcony, it was really nice : kids were playing ,we were talking, eating and drinking. When the Challa I baked that day came out, it was like the cherry on top of the wipped cream. Everybody loved the Challa I baked for brunch and soon it was all vanished and disappeared. I took the recipe for this chala from Smitten's Kitchen.

Challa (makes two loaves of straight braided challa) Ingredients 1 1/2 packages active dry yeast (11 grams) 1 tablespoon (13 grams) plus half cup sugar 1/2 cup vegetable oil , plus more for greasing the bowl 5 large eggs 1 tablespoon (14 grams)salt 1 kg all-purpose flour 1/2 cup raisins (about 70 grams), soaked in hot water and drained poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling Method Use a large bowl to dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water. 2. Wisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time , with the remaining sugar and salt. Gradually, add flour. When dough holds together , it is ready for kneading. 3. turn dough into floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and greas, then return dough into the bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place for one hour , until almost doubled in size .Punch down dough, cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half an hour. 4.Knead the raisins into the challa. To make a 6 braid challa, take half the dough and form it into 6 balls . With your hands , roll each ball into a strand 22 cm long and 1/2 cm wide.Place the 6 strands in a row , parallel to one another. Pinch the tops of the strands together and start making a braid, then tuck the ends underneath. Put braided loaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper with a space of at least 2 cm in between. 5.Beat the 5th egg and brush it on the loaves, let rise for another hour. 6.Preheat oven to 180°c and brush loaves with egg again, sprinkle bread with poppy seeds or sesame. 7. Bake in middle of oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden. Note: You can freez challa and take it out one hour before eating, it will still taste

still taste good. This challa bread makes a wonderful breakfast with james or whatever spreads you like to use with it. Happy Baking!

A helping hand...

It is not easy to be far away from your family and close friends raising kids alone with your husband.I know it is more satisfying this way but still, everyone needs a helping hand every now and then.I gave birth one month ago and ever since I am playing a super woman ,prohibiting myself from collapsing even if I am tired.After all you need to keep things going and functioning for everybody's sake; especially when you have a pre schooler that needs the reassurance of "business as usual." So my family couldn't be with me this time around to help with the new baby, but I got a helping hand from my friend Hanan who came all the way from Bologna with her toddler to help with the kids and many more things. She cooked ,she helped babysitting my little prince while out taking Elin to kindergarten.
Apart from the great things she did for us, she was a great cook as well and she made us delicious "Manaeesh" a delicious Arab pita like bread topped with zaatar and baked in a special electric pot. It is funny that everytime Arabs meet or get together abroad they think of Manaeesh :-)

So I am dedicating this post to my friend Hanan and her sweet little pie Nadeen. Thanks for being such a great help and such a great company for us.








Manaeesh
yields about 25-30 little manaeesh

Ingredients

1 kg flour
20 gr yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tb salt
1/4 ts sugar
4 tb zaatar*
3 tb olive oil

Method
Put the flour in a high edged large bowl and make a hole in the middle.In a cup, disolve the yeast with two ts lukewarm water and put in the hole that you've created before.Add salt, sugar and half a cup lukewarm water. Mix the ingredients with your hands then start to cover the hole with the flour and knead the dough. Add water as needed to creat a pizza like dough.Dough is ready when not sticky and when bowl sides and edges are clean.You should have a large ball of dough at the end.Cover the dough with a couple of dry kitchen cloths for one hour and leave to rest. After one hour the dough should be doubled in size, that means its ready .Start to cut little balls then cover them for another half an hour to rest.After that, start rolling these balls the same way you roll a pizza dough but without stretching the edges.Arrange them in raws on a large table cloth then cover with another one and let rest for half an hour.Mix the zaatar with the olive oil.Using the tips of your fingers ,start tapping slightly on the rolled dough in order to creat little holes .Put one to two tb zaatar with oil and spread it all over the dough.Bake in the electric pot for 2-3 minuts until brownish in color and edges are crisp and dry.Alternatively , you can bake in the oven for 5-6 minutes at 170°depending on the type of oven you have.

Happy baking!






Notes:
*Zaatar is a minced origano mixed with salt and sesame seeds, you can find it in Arabic grocery stores.

** you can top these manaeesh with some white cheese (like feta or primo sale or Arabic white cheese)mixed with Sumack and olive oil.It is a delicious alternative for Zaatar as illustrated in photos.