April 10th
2009
Unkosher and chorizo challah. Those were the key words that got my attention when I stumbled upon this and I was hooked. The liaison of yeast bread and my favorite Spanish sausage, well, that’s just so me! Right away I had marked the location of Momofuku bakery in my bookmarks for a future trip to NYC and added the magic words “Chorizo Challah” as a note in my recipes-I-have-to-try notebook. At the time who would have thought that we would indeed spend some days in NYC before Christmas…
Can anyone imagine the sadness that crept up on me, when we entered Momofuku Bakery after a freezing cold and hefty odyssey through NYC’s East Village only to find out that I was out of luck! My happy order was instead answered with shrugged shoulders and an unacceptable Sorry, we don’t have Chorizo Challah today. I was devastated, the Chorizo Challah was the actual reason why we had come here in the first place! The lovely girl behind the counter tried to make up for it by praising their other products and of course I couldn’t help and try some. A cup of strawberry milk and some fairly oversized and still warm cinnamon buns later the world didn’t look as bad anymore as before. And still… I couldn’t stop thinking about that ominous Chorizo Challah.
I almost had forgotten about my little “Make Chorizo Challah” note until dear friends recently brought us their favorite Chorizo from Spain. I had an immediate visual: Chorizo incorporated into a braided yeast bread. Cut into tiny little cubes should do the trick, but maybe there was an even better way to give the crumb a distinctive Chorizo flavor. Does migas con chorizo ring a bell? For these fried bread pieces you saute Chorizo in olive oil until it has gained flavor (and color). It seemed like the perfect way to flavor the melted butter for the yeast bread recipe and indeed it worked like a charm! Big time competition for the traditional sweet Easter bread – be assured – and it’s so easy to make :)
Peel the skin off the chorizo and cut into small cubes. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then add the sausage cubes and saute for about five minutes over medium heat. Set aside and let cool off.
Crumble the fresh yeast into a bowl, add sugar and lukewarm water, then stir until everything has dissolved.
Mix the flour together with the salt in either a big bowl or the bowl of your food processor/KitchenAid. Now add, one after another, the yeast water, the eggs and the liquid (yet cooled off) butter together with the chorizo cubes and knead on low level or by hand until you receive a smooth and elastic dough. After two or three minutes of kneading the dough should come together beautifully and the sides of the bowl should be clean, otherwise add flour by the tablespoon. Shape the dough into a ball and let rise in a lightly oiled bowl tightly covered with cling-film (in a warm and draft-free spot) until the dough has doubled its volume (about 1 hour).
Preheat the oven to 200°C (390 °Fahrenheit). Depending on your desired bread (do you want to bake a three, four or even six strand bread?), divide the dough into equally sized portions and roll into even ropes on your work surface. Gather and press the ends together, then braid the strands (if you need help you may want to check out these braiding instruction videos here or here). Lightly tuck both ends underneath the bread to ensure a nice and even look. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and let rise – covered with a kitchen towel – for 30 more minutes.
Beat the egg yolk and milk together and generously brush the loaf with it. Bake on middle level (or one below) for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Cover with aluminium foil, if the breads gets too dark too quickly.
Braided Easter Bread with Chorizo
Recipe source: own creation
Active time: ~30 minutes, rising: ~1,5 hours, baking: 25-30 minutes
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Ingredients (yields 1 loaf):
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75g chorizo (Spanish sausage)
75g butter
20g fresh yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
125 ml lukewarm water
500g all-purpose or bread flour (type 550)
1 - 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 eggs (medium)
1 tbsp vegetable oil (e.g. sunflower)
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
Thats an interesting recipe, all the braided breads I have had before have always been quite sweet. I will definetly have to give it a try!
I'm still the sweet challah type of baker. But why not trying something new? Your challah looks delicious - I'll give it a try. After easter holiday.
I am so going to bake this bread! Lovely idea, beautifully done! Thank you for sharing.
This reminds me of buns in my childhood. The bakery is already closed for ages. They made it with bacon and I loved it so much. I will try your recipe with bacon. Perhaps I will feel like a spring chicken. Thanks a lot.
I WILL make it soon, it looks so good and moist, I can almost smell the chorizo, lucky me, I´m in Spain, and even got some chorizo in the refrigerator right now!!
I love Chorizo, just love it. I like that you made a fusion treat out of this... Have a fab weekend.
Hello,
I'm Spanish and I have just discovered your blog searching for Chorizo...
Great blog.
Roberto
Hi Nicky!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, it sounds delicious! I'm bookmarking it to try it out as soon as I get chorizo from Spain. Greetings from your faithful reader. :)
Wow! That looks fantastic. I love the way you infused the butter with Chorizo.
It's such a shame they didn't have the challah when you went to NY. Looks like you've done a marvellous recreation though.
I have just made my first loaf of the no-knead brioche bread that is very similar to your recipe and I'm hooked. I was going to do a sweet variation, but your savory one sounds simply divine. I happen to have some chorizo in the fridge, so you can guess what I'll be making tomorrow :)
Mmm, mmm, and mmm! I can see why you struggled to get the image out of your mind! I adore chorizo, but recently I have come to love the Philippine equaivalent (where I'm holidaying currently) longganisa. With its sweet taste, I think it would go beautiful in that yeast bread also... a belated Easter treat for me perhaps? I think so :) Thanks for the recipe!
wow, this looks amazing!!
This is pretty much the same bread my Portuese in-laws brought yesterday. Even my kids (3&5) love it.
HI.
Thanks for the inspiration and the recipe! I made this for an Easter brunch yesterday and it turned out beautiful but kind of dry. This was my first time making Challah and I haven't had it alot before so I'm wondering: what is the consistency supposed to be like? I can't wait to try the recipe again to see if I can make it better!
Thanks again.
EDIT Nicky: Hi Ginny, I'd say the regular Challah can be a little on the dry end, but this Easter bread is fairly moist, just make sure not to overbake it. And keep it stored in a bread box or similar :)
Wonderful idea! The photos are great!
This looks delicious. I love the meat addition
wow can't wait to make this one
My husband would love that bread!
OMG - I have been experimenting with dough lately and this one looks delicious... and I believe would offset the slight sweet bread beautifully. Thank you for sharing!
Challah with chorizo. Delicious combination. I have never eaten savoury challah before - only sweet or plain. Challah is actually on my list of breads to bake so I will take inspiration from you and myself will try something a little different from the traditional versions. Thank you!
This sounds like a GREAT idea. Love challah, love sausage...It probably wouldn't work as well with soft Mexican chorizo, would it? May have to try it anyway.
mhhhhh das sieht ja super lecker aus! I recently made a semi-traditional Osterzopf, since it doesn't have any butter,milk, or sugar in it, but extra virgin olive oil and chestnut honey. But now I'm fantasizing about all sorts of Osterzopf variations, especially with savory little specks of Chorizo!
wew... make me hungry... thank you for that recipes
ya...
I'm hungry when i see these pics:-)
I used your recipe for a challah with bacon and it turned out great, very fluffy and moist. As soon as I can find some chorizo I will try it again. Thanks for being such a great inspiration.
I'm hungry when i see these pics. thanks for the recipes.
hi
i recently came accross your blog and like your blog. i have also started a foodblog recently.keep up your good work and i wish u a very success.
cheers
swethaskitchen.com
sound like to delicious to try this menu....!
i can wait to try ...!
thanks for the recipes
I LOVE Bread!!!! I just started on The 100 Calorie Diet. You do get to eat bread on this one. This bread looks awesome!!! How hard is it to make? Any idea of the calorie counts??? Mmmmm I can smell it baking already!!!
This is very similar to pao con chourico which is a Portuguese dish. I've never made any kind of bread before but my husband is Portuguese so I thought I'd give it a whirl and he loved it.
[...] they’re done and that makes me happy). The highlight of this domestic bliss-itude has been this recipe. I’ve never made any type of bread before but it’s turned out very well (although I [...]
I must say I've come across some recipes for braided bread but I've never been compelled to try them out. Yours however, wow. The pics are the clincher. Thanks!
Looks like heaven that you can eat!
This looks so delicious. I will have to give it a try and let you know. Thanks for sharing ;)