Light the Oven
If you spent summer eating cold soups and ice cream for dessert, you might think about baking come fall. Just in time for the Jewish holidays, I tried Pereg Natural Foods Best for Challah Flour Mix, a foolproof way to bake this traditional bread.
The mix includes yeast, salt and sugar with the flour. You just add water, knead, and let the dough rise.
For Rosh Hashanah, I shaped challah in a round loaf, but for weekly Shabbat diners, or just for eating, I typically braid challah. If you’ve braided hair, the process is the same. You roll out three strands of dough and braid them together. The egg wash that gives the challah it’s shiny crust and golden color also helps seal the strands together.
If you want to make the bread vegan, you can use aquafaba or water instead of the egg wash
Not Your Mother’s Mezcal
My mother was not a mezcal drinker, but Madre Mezcal could be the mezcal for beginners. Less smoky than other mezcals, the artisanal mezcal plays well in cocktails. I tried it in a Negroni – equal parts mezcal, Campari and sweet vermouth – and it was delicious.
The new Black Label Espadin Mezcal that I sampled uses agave from different regions of Mexico.
Where the mezcal really shone was in a michelada. This cocktail includes beer, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. [I used aa vegan Worcestershire, by Annie’s]
What hot sauce?
Although I expect hot sauce to come from south of the border, Fermented Fury comes from Canada. The father and (young) son team behind the hot sauce started making their small batch product during Covid-19. The sauces are fermented for six months, to give a bit of funk.
Fermented Fury comes in four flavors: Habanero Banh Mi with cilantro, scallions and pickled daikon; Pineapple Yardie with Scotch Bonnet peppers; Bird Brain Peri-Peri with African bird peppers, garlic and citrus and Wing sauce with Habanero and cayenne. I used the Bird Brain for the michelada to get a hint of citrus.
Mezcal michelada
- 1 1/2 ounces mezcal
- 1/2 ounce lime juice
- 1/2 ounce agave
- 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
- 1 dash hot sauce
- 2 ounces beer
- Lime wedge
Add the mezcal, lime juice, agave, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce to a cocktail shaker, along with ice. Shake and strain into a glass. Top with beer. Garnish with a wedge of lime.
Note: I received some of these products to sample. Opinions are my own.
WheelsandEats 