Ricotta Souffle Strata

Last month Marx Foods sent me a box of fun stuff.

Mushrooms, chiles, vanilla sugar and smoked salt.

Mmmm, yummy!

Look at it all! Amazing!

I took Lobster and Black Trumpet mushrooms, added some Japones chiles and a little smoked salt. Then with a little help from the girls....

I took 11 eggs.

Yeah, eleven.

6 I used in the strata and 5 I used in the ricotta souffle top.

I layered left over challah bread with artichoke, crab, diced red pepper, the mushrooms, chiles and a little black pepper/salt.

Then I mixed 6 eggs with a cup of whole milk and poured that over the top of the strata.

Then I mixed the remaining 5 eggs with 1 cup of ricotta cheese.

Spread that over the top of the strata and baked it at 325 degrees for 40 mins.

I just wanted to show you how shiny the top was.
It was the tastiest old bread I've ever had.

Best Ever Challah

I'm sort of obsessed with potato water.

You may have noticed that I've used it in a lot of my recipes recently.

It's so wonderful!

The potato water makes such a difference in this bread.

It's silky, smooth and easy to handle.

Easy to handle is very important in challah, because of the 'fancy' braiding.

~

Best Ever Challah

Sponge:

1 cup flour

1 cup potato water (liquid reserved from boiling potatoes)

2 tsp yeast

In a large bowl mix flour, potato water and yeast. Cover and let sit for 45 mins.

Dough:

3 1/3 cups flour

1 3/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

4 large eggs

Add flour and butter to the sponge ingredients. Mix until combined then add the rest of the ingredients. Turn dough out onto your work surface and knead. Dust with flour and knead again.

Place dough into a well greased bowl and cover it.

2 ways to continue: 1. Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours OR 2. Place covered bowl in the refrigerator for a few hours.

I chose option 2 and left it in the fridge for 18 hours. I made it the night before and baked it when I got home from work the next day. Perfect!

Either way you choose - Next, punch down dough and divide it in to 3 equal pieces. Roll the 3 pieces into 12-14 inch long ropes. On your well greased/silpat covered baking sheet braid the 3 pieces together.

Let rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Egg wash:

One egg, beaten with a little salt.

Before baking, brush loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.

Bake for 40 mins or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Challah with butter and my Pure Gold Marmalade.

Don't let the braiding scare you away from trying this.

I literally made this up and figured out how to braid it, just because I had 4 eggs to use up.

Try it!

And let me know how it turns out.