Curry Chicken Breasts and Rice

Boneless chicken breasts...butterfly cut, then pound a little with a
meat mallet or edge of small plate to tenderize.
Coconut milk...one can 13.5 oz. Find in section of store with Goya
products or in Asian market. (Don't use the stuff made for drinks)
Medium onion...sliced.
A few garlic cloves. Crushed then chopped finely.
Madras curry powder...I use a gold colored curry from Malaysia, but
any curry you prefer.
Oil
Cooked Rice.

Heat a skillet on medium and put a few tablespoons oil in.
Butterfly the chicken breasts, beat them to tenderize and coat
liberally with curry powder.
Add minced garlic to hot oil and stir for a minute.
Add onions and stir all for 2 minutes.
Add breasts to top of onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then turn over and
cook other side for 2-3 minutes. You just want to slightly brown the
chicken. Don't over-do or you will burn the onions.
Add the can of coconut milk and stir all a little to get the coco all
through the skillet.
Turn down to low heat and cover. Cook for 8-10 minutes on low, or
until chicken is cooked.
Serve over or beside rice.

Robert's Challa

Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat flour (340 grams)
4 cups bread flour (480 grams)
1.75 cups 110 degree F. water (43 Celsius)
4.5 teaspoons dry active yeast (2 packages dry, or 2 cakes fresh)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive (or corn) oil (49 grams)
3 tablespoons orange juice (45 grams)
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons vanilla extract (30 grams)
Optional; 1/4 cup ground flaxseed

Tools needed
KitchenAid Mixer
wooden spoon
large mixing bowl
digital scale
digital thermometer
baking dish
cooling racks

Mixing:

This procedure uses the Kitchenaid mixer. You may adapt if mixing and kneading
by hand.

Measure yeast into small cup ahead of time so it will reach room temperature.
Also take out eggs for the same reason.

Fill Kitchenaid mixing bowl with hot tap water to preheat. Measure 1.75 cups
hot water into separate measuring cup. Insert digital thermometer into the 1.75
cups of water and when the temp reduces to 110 degrees F., empty mixing bowl
and pour the 1.75 cups into mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast and 2 tablespoons sugar
into the mixing bowl. Mix well with wooden spoon for 30 seconds, until yeast is
dissolved. Place the mixing bowl onto mixer. Allow this yeast mixture to rest
about 10 minutes. It should foam nicely. If it doesn't foam, your yeast is
dead.

Separate egg yolks into small cup, saving egg whites for wash if you intend to
sprinkle seeds on top of loaves. Add oil, vanilla extract, and orange juice.
Into another large bowl, measure flours, gluten, salt, and cup of sugar. Mix
with wooden spoon.

After yeast mixture has foamed, add the wet ingredients and mix at level 2
with flat mixing paddle for two minutes. Add about 5 cups of the dry mixture to
mixing bowl and mix for about 2 minutes. Switch to dough hook, add another
cup of dry and mix at level 2 for about 1 minute. Add the remaining dry and
mix at level 2 with dough hook.

Use your judgment on how long to knead after it starts cleaning the sides of
the bowl. I usually let it go 6 to 8 minutes. The dough will usually relax
while the dough hook is working it and appear too moist. Be careful not to add
too much flour at this point or the dough will be too stiff and dry. I usually
do not add flour.

Empty onto floured board and knead by hand for a minute of so, until it smooths
out and gets springy to the touch.

First Rising

Slightly preheat oven for one minute and then turn off.

In a large mixing bowl, add a teaspoon or so of corn oil and spread by hand.
Rub the top of the dough with oil and place into oiled bowl. Cover bowl with
damp towel and place in slightly preheated oven to rise. Give it about one and
a half hours, or until it doubles in size.

Dump the dough onto the floured board and knead for a few seconds, mainly just
to "punch down" and shape into a rectangular, flat blob, about 4" by 18"
(makes it easier to evenly divide into equal halves). Allow to rest 10 minutes.
(you and the dough)

Braiding

If you intend to braid the dough, cut it into equal halves and flatten out the
first one so you can cut it into 4 pieces. Roll between hands until you get a
long skinny rope for braiding. Braid each loaf and place it either into a loaf
pan or onto a cookie sheet that was first lined with parchment paper. Or, if
you do not use paper, oil the pans or cookie sheets.

I like to do a four strand braid, but here are some websites you might like:
YouTube-Six Strand Braiding
YouTube-Five Strand Braiding
YouTube-Three Strand Braiding
Four Strand Braiding

Second Rising

The second rising takes about 45 minutes. I like to bring about a quart of
water to boil, pour it into a baking dish, and place the dish onto the bottom
rack of the oven during the second rising.

Baking

Take the dough out (and the baking dish) and pre-heat the oven to 365. If you
want to sprinkle the loaves, brush them with egg white (or you can use a beaten
whole egg) and sprinkle liberally with sesame seeds or poppy seeds. After oven
is pre-heated, reduce the temp to 350 and place the loaves. Be sure to allow
adequate circulation around pans or cookie sheet.

Bake for about 35 minutes if on cookie sheets or about 40 minutes if in pans.
After about 20 minutes, insert digital thermometer probe into end of loaf.
Bread is done when internal temp reaches 190. Take out when done and transfer
loaves to cooling rack. Do not allow to cool in pan or cookie sheet.

Freezing dough for delayed baking

If you want to freeze the dough to delay baking, freeze between braiding and
the second rise. Place braided loaf into parchment paper lined pan or cookie
sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Gently tuck the plastic wrap down onto the
loaf. Place into freezer. The next morning, transfer the frozen loaves into a
zip lock plastic bag and return to freezer. On the day of baking, remove the
plastic wrap and place them into the oven early in the morning. After about
8-10 hours, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with seeds, and follow above baking
procedure.

OPTIONS & NOTES:

For best results, weigh the flour for consistency. The total amount of flour is 30 ounces. Try increasing to 20 ounces whole wheat, 10 ounces white. Also increase the wheat gluten and the orange juice to 5 tablespoons along with the increase in whole wheat. About 3/4 to 1 cup raisins adds a nice touch. (Add raisins to liquid before adding dry ingredients.)

According to Spice and Spirit, The Complete Kosher Jewish Cookbook,
separation of challa is not required when using this amount of flour.

Gallo Pinto

Gallo Pinto is so good and so easy to prepare you will wonder, "why didn't I think of that?" Actually, you couldn't have, because the dish is just beans and rice without the addition of Salsa Lizano.

Gallo Pinto means "spotted rooster" in English. Imagine a gray spotted chicken, which loosely resembles the color of the prepared dish. Don't confuse it with pico de gallo, which translates as, "cock's comb," and is the colorful chopped jalapeños, onion, cilantro, and tomatoes that is popular on fajitas.

There are many ways to prepare Gallo Pinto, but the following is good and easy.

Chop an onion. Mince 2-4 garlic cloves. Add 2 tablespoons oil to saucepan and stir-fry onion and garlic on Medium heat for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup uncooked white rice. (not Uncle Ben's, not boil-in-a-bag, not parboiled. Use uncooked rice) Stir frequently and cook for 2 more minutes. Add 2 cups water, stir, and heat on High until it boils. Turn down to Low, cover, set your timer for 20 minutes, and leave alone.

When done, add 1 can (15.5 oz) black beans (cooked beans taste even better) and 3 Tablespoons Salsa Lizano. Stirring frequently, simmer for 10 minutes. Add a little hot water, if too dry. Make a double or triple recipe and it gets better with re-heating. That's it. Enjoy!

Variations are too many for this space, but you can use leftover rice and you can cook dry black beans instead of canned. Add chopped chiles, meat, vegetables, chicken. Be adventurous.

Serve with eggs for breakfast. Top with sour cream.

¡Delicioso!