Pam R

Knishes According to Wikipedia a knish is: My grandmother would plotz if she knew people were frying their knishes! I’ve sampled them in both Toronto and New York. Compared to the flaky-crusted, tender knishes I’ve been raised on they didn’t make the grade – but I’m sure they appeal to some . Like many Jewish foods popular in North America, knishes were created by eastern European Jews who wanted to add some variety to their humdrum diets. By wrapping dough around kasha (buckwheat) or potatoes they made something new and interesting out of rather mundane ingredients. All inexpensive items, they were staples of the peasant diets. As is common across the world, these inexpensive items are what became traditional foods full of wonderful memories for future generations. This is how I make my potato and onion knishes. It’s not that different from how my grandmother made hers (other than the fact that I let a machine do the hard work). When I take the time to make them, it throws me back to Friday night dinners at Baba’s house. When knishes were on the menu they were always snatched up by all of her children and grandchildren. The Recipe The recipe for Potato and Onion Knishes is located here in RecipeGullet. Step by step directions are included in this thread. The Dough 4 cups flour 1 tsp. salt 2 tsp. baking powder 2 large eggs 1 cup oil 1 cup warm water 2 tsp. white vinegar Some recipes use puff pastry, some use phyllo, some use a dough made of flour, water and egg that is rolled out with a rolling pin. The best knishes use a stretch dough – similar to a strudel dough – that is stretched out across large tables as thinly as humanly possible. When you roll the stretch dough around the fillings, you create thin, flaky layers. Dough ingredients – flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, canola oil, white vinegar and warm water. Place all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a dough hook and mix briefly. This can be done by hand, but using a machine makes it so much easier. I’ve also tried this recipe using a food-processor with a regular blade and it will do if you don’t have a mixer. Form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add all of the wet ingredients: Mix on low until most of the ingredients are combined, then turn the mixer to high and knead for 8-10 minutes: When the dough has been kneaded enough, it should be smooth and you should be able to see little bubbles beneath the surface of the dough (unfortunately the photo doesn’t allow you to see this): If you are not using a stand mixer, use a spoon or your hands to get everything mixed together. Next, I was taught, you must slap the dough onto a counter 100 times, giving it the occasional kneading. (I told you the mixer was an easier method). Divide the dough in two, and form into two balls. Cover each with plastic wrap and let it hang out for at least an hour, relaxing at room temperature. While the dough is resting, prepare the filling. The Fillings The best thing about a knish is that you can fill it with many different things. Let your imagination run wild. The most common (and one of the best) fillings is potato and onion. Onions sautéed until a deep golden brown – adding a caramelized sweetness to the boiled potatoes. Add some vegetables (spinach and mushrooms are two popular choices) or cheese (cheddar mixed with potato or cottage cheese on its own), maybe some kasha (buckwheat) or grind up some chicken or liver for a meat version. Potato and Onion Filling 3 Tbsp. oil or schmaltz 1 lb. yellow onion, peeled and chopped 3 lbs. red potatoes, peeled and cut in half 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 1/4 tsp. black pepper My preference is for red potatoes and yellow cooking onions. As a general rule, I find baking potatoes too dry. The problem is that sometimes reds are too wet! 9 times out of 10 I use straight red potatoes – but if I know that they are especially wet, I’ll add a couple of bakers to lower some of the moisture content. Cook onions in oil or schmaltz for 30-35 minutes over medium to medium high heat. I use a non-stick pan as I have a tendency to walk away and do something else – but use whatever you like. The onions should turn a deep, dark brown without burning. They won’t start to brown for at least 15 minutes – if you find them browning much before that, turn the heat down. Stir every 1-3 minutes, making sure that nothing is burning at the bottom of the pan. While the onions cook, place the peeled potatoes into a large pot with cold water. Cover and place over high heat – bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes very well and mash. I prefer a potato masher over a food mill or ricer because I like the final knish to have some small potato chunks (I want to know there’s real potato in there!). Add the deep brown onions, salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Mix everything together, taste and adjust seasoning. Make sure you can taste the seasoning – you’re going to wrap a dough around this that will suck out some of the flavour. Cool (but don’t chill) and proceed to the next step. Stretching and Forming When I was young, my grandmother and great-aunts would place a clean, beautiful linen cloth on the kitchen or dining room table to stretch there dough on. We no longer use the linen – finding it easier to stretch the dough if it is actually able to stick a little to the table. First you must roll the dough into a long rectangle: Start to gently stretch the dough. Place your hand under the edge of the dough and gently pull towards you. Work your way around the table, pulling in every direction. The dough will probably tear in places – that’s ok. Just try to avoid any really large holes. I like to gently hit the dough/table with an open palm as I stretch, to stick the dough to the table and keep it from rolling back over itself. All stretched out: Use a paring knife to trim the thick dough on the outer edges: Here is a close-up of the stretched dough – I hope you can see the little bubbles that have formed in the dough – this is good: Place a row of filling about 1- inch from the edge of a long side of the dough Use ½ of the filling you’ve made. (For a small, hors d’ouevres size knish, cut the dough in half lengthwise – then place a much smaller row of filling along the edge and proceed.): Start pulling the edge of the dough up and over the filling: Continue to roll the filling in the dough, gently pulling the rope towards you stretching the dough a little more, until you have one long rope: Pinch the rope where you would like to cut the dough. This is where you decide how large you’d like the knish to be: Then twist the dough where you want to cut it: Then use the side of your hand to saw the knish off of the rope: Continue to do this until the entire rope has been cut up: This is a pre-shaped knishes that has been well cut and just needs to be shaped: Here’s a knish that didn’t cut quite as well. You need to stretch the dough over the edges and pinch them together if this happens – or you can use a piece of scrap dough to help cover holes: Whether it had to be patched, or it was well cut, you still need to pinch both the top and the bottom, to ensure that the holes stay closed: Press down to create an indentation in the middle of the knish: All trayed up and ready for the oven – the ones on the right have some sautéed mushrooms on them (they also have sautéed mushrooms mixed into the potato/onion mixture): Into a 350º convection oven (375º conventional). They will bake for 15-25 minutes depending on your oven. Always check them after 15 minutes and see how they’re doing. They’re done when golden brown. (If some of them split a little as they bake, gently push the filling back in.) A view from the inside (the picture doesn't quite do justice to the skin, but I think it gives you an idea of the layers): Helpful Hints Once all of the kneading is done, the dough can be used for later use. Place each dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment, freeze then wrap well with plastic or place in a freezer bag. Pull them out of the freezer the night before you want to use them and thaw, on a baking sheet covered in plastic wrap. A couple of hours before you need them pull them out of the fridge and let them come up to room temperature – then stretch away Knishes are also great frozen – as long as you freeze them before you bake them. Freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment – when they’re frozen transfer to a freezer bag or container. Pull them out as you want them and bake them – no need to thaw. The cooking time for frozen knishes won’t be all that different from fresh – maybe an additional 5 minutes.

I have pictures - but I forgot my notebook with what I did at work. So I'll leave the big post for tomorrow. I have a couple of questions though - my casing was in fact the slightly yellow synthetic stuff ... is this supposed to be edible? are you supposed to boil/steam it? This really is new to me. I will tell you that I cooked a couple tonight - in a frying pan. Once the plastic casing was pulled off the meat it was delicious! More tomorrow...

I've never sucked an egg either thanks so much for the guidance! I now have a basic idea of how to go about this. I did forget to take the chicken out last night - but I have a bunch of things to bake today, so it's thawing now - and I'll debone it as soon as it gets workable (does that make sense?). for flavourings... I was thinking more of a sage and or allspice thing with the apples... but we'll see what I come up with when I actually get going. I'll report back when it's done. Thanks again!

I received a shipment from my meat supplier yesterday and they were nice enough to send a bunch of synthetic casings for me. I picked up a small electric grinder on Sunday. Now what do I do? Do I need to prep the casings at all? or do ya just stuff 'em? And... does anybody have a good recipe for chicken and apple sausages? I'm going to put a couple of pounds of boneless chicken thighs in the cooler to thaw a bit before I leave work today... any suggestions would be appreciated.

Potato Knish This recipe has been in my family for a few generations. Once you get the dough down, fill them with anything you like. Dough 4 c all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 2 large eggs 1 c canola/vegetable oil 2 tsp white vinegar 1 c warm water Potato & Onion Filling 2 lb yellow cooking onions, peeled & chopped 1/4 c oil or shmaltz 5 lb red potatoes, peeled 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 tsp garlic powder Keywords: Kosher, Intermediate, Potatoes, Jewish ( RG1592 )

Mizducky! Your vote yesterday certainly turned out well (lucky you) ... what an amazing buffet. I haven't been to your neck of the woods in over 15 years, but should I return a visit to a hot-pot buffet will be on the list of must-dos. What a fantastic idea. I really enjoyed your blog - thanks so much for sharing with us. Please do it again!

What kind of food writing do you want to do? Do you have a specific area of interest? I regret not taking any writing classes in University - though I always wanted to write, I got a BS (really) in hotel/restaurant management. I doubt learning French or Spanish would help me - because of my subject of choice. It depends where you are and what you're writing about. Study writing - and write. Learn all you can about food and cooking. I agree with everybody else who told you to travel, write and eat. And don't give up. It can take a lot of persistence to get yourself published.

In the last couple of months I've cashed in Credit Union M/C points and received a rice cooker. I also cashed in Airmiles for flight (for 2) to New York to go to a food show and visit restaurants and food stores in Manhattan and NJ, with a 3 day stopover in Toronto to visit some suppliers and more restaurants/stores. Same trip I used CU/MC for a hotel room with a freezer/fridge to store samples to bring home and my Visa Travel points to rent a car to run from food place to food place. All my points are used for food related things (some of them just happen to involve travel)

I have become a Talking Rain aficionado in the last month. I found some at Target in North Dakota and Sam's Club - then got back home to find them at Costco (called Ice something in the club stores). If they have them here, they're sure to have them down your way. Greatly enjoying your blog - take it easy, feel better and blog on!

At the moment I can't. The best sausage I can get it more of a cooked hotdog - not bad for a hot dog, not great for a sausage. At least I can't find a source that is shipping or can ship to Canada - but I have an order coming from my meat supplier next week and I asked them to send me some casings - so I'm going to try my hand at making some sausage myself. We'll see how it goes

Yesterday I did a black bean soup in the crock pot - I was testing it for a column, but it turned into dinner. It's really soup weather now and it hit the spot. (black beans, green pepper, jalapeno, celery, carrot, onion, cumin, chili powder, garlic slow cooked and pureed - garnished with heaps of sour cream, cheddar cheese, cilantro and a good squeeze of fresh lime). Today was my version (kosher) of chicken gumbo. Onion, celery, green pepper, okra, rice, tomato, chicken, jalapeno, rice, chili powder and garlic. Hearty and tasty.

Susan, what a great looking meal! They're advising people don't go out on the ice around here - it's been unseasonably warm and up until early this week there was still water running in the Red River! (that's truly crazy!) Have you been out on the ice much this year or was this the first?

Then I expect you all to buy my book Thanks!

made 3 soups yesterday - osso bucco just came out of the crock - tomorrow is pot roast.

I know I'm not local but I picked up the rebar cookbook myself. I was staying down the street from the restaurant and family took me their for brunch. I'm afraid I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but all of your comments tell me I have to find it and take another look-see. I remember I enjoyed reading it!

This is my favorite way to have them too...though I skip the rosemary. I also like them as soup. Simmer with some vegetable stock, potatoes, carots, onions, bay leaf, garlic, salt and pepper til tender. Remove bay leaf and puree. If he eats dairy you can add a little cream to the finished soup or skip it.

I've been following this thread but haven't been able to contribute. The next order to meat supplier in Toronto I'm going to request some casings. I want in on this sausage thing.

we're having a very weird winter here - temps are about 20 degrees higher than normal... so I haven't been in soup mode as I normally am. Plus, I just haven't had much time. But on Thursday I threw together a meal soup. Simmered chicken stock with some white rice. As it was cooking I sauteed some white onion and butternut squash in small cubes. Once they were golden, I added a couple Tbsp. of za'atar, then a few cups of spinach leaves. when the rice was done, mixed in most of the sauteed veg - keeping some back to garnish the bowl. Very comforting.

That's so funny... after I posted I was in the kitchen looking around and I spotted a tub of an Israeli hazelnut/chocolate spread - it's like the lightbulb went on. I was thinking of layering whipped cream and mixing the spread with cream of some sort - garnishing with some nuts. When we cut large Napoleons on a pastry table, we use serrated knives... but in this case I'm making individual ones. Melissa: My searching skills are pathetic! I searched for both terms and came up with nothing. Thanks

I'm sick of my lemon Napoleon. While it's good, I'd like to mix it up a bit. Anybody doing anything interesting? Any favorite fillings and flavours. I can't use gelatin - and I'd like to keep things non-dairy if possible, though not necessary (I'm currently using whipped cream and lemon curd). Fresh berries aren't around. I already have many chocolate things in my showcase. Ideas?

I've had no luck with the agar. I tried a few times then got too busy to try again. I used a fish gelatin that works well - but that won't work for you. If I have any luck in the future I'll post the results.

#1 Yes! #2 I'd say women. The men can't, because they're generally on the phone with their wives asking them what they should be buying!

No for me - but not for my customers!! I know of MANY that pass of our food as their own.. and some even bring in dishes that they'd like us to use to bake things in! When I'm at a function as a guest (wedding, party, bar-mitzvah, etc.) I'm often asked whether I made the food. My pat response is "did you like it?" If they did , then of course I made it! But I can never keep a straight face and always come clean in the end!

I haven't done the stuffing... more of a fried matzo scramble with other ingredients. But I think this could occupy some of my time come April!

. The perfect Jewish recipe. I like mine like this, but so many like it that way.. then he likes it his way and she likes it her way! I like mine with syrup by the way. Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable blog - I've really enjoyed it.