Every year I serve the same old same old soups and cholent and meatballs in a bread bowl in the sukkah. While not truly boring, they are, none the less, predictable and I’ve come to have a love/hate relationship with these recipes. I decided to buck the tradition (cue gasp, shock, trembling of the gates of culinary heaven) and reinvent my menu for the week of meals that will be served outdoors.
This being said, I’m not going to go totally off the rails and serve something wildly outside the realm of Jewish cuisine, but rather I’m turning to the deli roll and knish to serve as a reminder that different is still delicious. For those not familiar with deli roll or knish I’m going to assume you just arrived from a non-Ashkenazi place like Guam or the Antarctic and give you a little 101 on these dishes.
A knish is the name given to a baked or fried dumpling, dough wrapped around a savory potato, meat, onions, kasha and/or vegetable filling. Super easy to make, they can be small sized appetizers or ginormous meals all by themselves. Think calzone without the pizza sauce and cheese.
A deli roll in its simplest form is a sheet of puff pastry, (typically slathered with sweet or savory mustard wrapped around corned beef, pastrami, turkey or a combination of these meats and/or vegetables rolled up jelly roll style, baked and served with extra mustard. These explanations of these two delicious treats don’t do justice to the dishes, the following recipes, when tasted, takeover where the words end.
CLASSIC POTATO KNISH
(dairy or pareve)
Dough
2½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
½ cup oil or schmaltz
1 teaspoon white vinegar added to ½ cup water
Filling
3 (medium) russet potatoes, peeled and quartered, boiled until soft
1 medium onion, diced small
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
½ teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water
Make dough in a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine. In another bowl combine the egg, oil, vinegar and water. Whisk to combine and add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients in the other bowl. Mix to combine. Once the mixture is a just mix, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it becomes smooth, — 2 or 3 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and refrigerate it at least 1 hour but no more than 2 days.
Place the cooked potatoes in large bowl. Heat the butter and oil in a skillet and add the onions. Cook, over a medium heat, stirring frequently for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are caramelized. Add the onions to the bowl with the potatoes and smash them all together. Salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet on the sides with parchment paper. Divide the dough in half. On a well-floured surface, roll the first half of the dough into a thin sheet 12-inch by 12-inch square (approximately). Spoon a 2-inch thick log of potato filling across the bottom of the dough square. Roll it up jelly roll style, making sure it’s not too tight. Roll so that the filling has been wrapped twice. Tuck or trim the ends. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
Cut each log in half and then each of the halves into halves again. Pinch closed one side of each piece to form the bottom of the knish. Slightly flatten the knish and place it on the parchment paper on the cookie sheet. You can pinch the top closed as well (if you prefer) but make sure there is enough of an opening to allow the steam from the filling to escape. In a bowl combine the egg and the water and whisk together. Brush the top of the knish with the mixture and bake 40 to 45 minutes, until golden. Makes 8. This recipe can be doubled or tripled and you can make them smaller.
(Modified from a recipe posted on Aish.com)
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FILO DELI ROLL (meat)
12 to 14 sheets of filo dough
4 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons Dijon seeded mustard
2 tablespoons honey
¼ lb sliced salami
¼ lb sliced turkey
1 onion, sliced and sauteed in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 egg yolk
In a skillet saute the onion and brown sugar in the oil until it’s soft. Remove from heat and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease it very well. Place 6 to 7 sheets of filo on a work surface. Spread the 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard and 1 tables of Dijon mustard on top of the filo dough, just make sure to leave about 1 inch around the edges. Place ½ of the salami and ½ of the turkey on top of the mustards then drizzle the honey over the top of the meat. Place ½ of the sautéed onions on one end of the dough. Start to roll the dough from the end with the onions. The seam side should be place on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients. Brush the top with the beaten egg yolk and sprinkle the sesame seeds on the top. Cut 3 or 4 slits in the top of the roll to allow the steam from the filling to escape. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden. Serves 8 to 10 depending on the size of the pieces you cut. This recipe can be doubled or tripled.
(My files, source unknown)
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MEAT KINISH (meat)
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
½ cup diced green pepper
3 tablespoons oil
1 ¼ pounds ground beef, turkey or chicken
½ salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons tomato or barbeque sauce
1¾ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoon margarine
²/³ cup nondairy creamer or water
mustard to taste
Meat Mixture: in a 10-inch skillet, fry onions, celery and green pepper in oil until soft, but not brown. Add meat and sauté until brown. Add salt and pepper. Stir in 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce. Remove from heat and cool.
Dough: Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Cut the margarine into the dry ingredients using two knives until the mixture reaches the consistency of corn meal. Add nondairy creamer, a few drops at a time, mashing with fork after each addition, until dough holds together in a ball.
To Assemble: Roll out dough on floured board into a rectangle, about ¼-inches to ½-inches thick. Spread dough with mustard, then spread meat mixture on dough. Roll up jelly-roll fashion. Place roll on ungreased pan, seam side down. Prick dough in several places with fork to allow steam to escape. Preheat oven to 350. Bake until brown, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand a few minutes before slicing.
(Modified from Spice and Spirit The Complete Kosher Jewish Cookbook by Esther Blau, Tzirrel Deitsch, Cherna Light)
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HONEY DIJON DELI ROLL WITH CARMELIZED ONIONS (meat)
1 large onion, very thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted
¼ cup Honey Dijon mustard
½ lb. pastrami, thinly sliced
½ lb turkey breast, thinly sliced
1 egg
1 tablespoon warm water
non-stick vegetable spray
additional sautéed onions and mustard for garnish
Preheat oven to 375. Cover a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick vegetable spray. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and saute the onions and garlic, stirring occasionally until the onions are caramelized.
Spread a thin layer of mustard on puff pastry. Place a layer of pastrami on the mustard, covering the entire sheet, using the entire ½ pound. Place a layer of turkey on the pastrami, covering the entire sheet, using the entire ½ pound. Evenly spread the caramelized onions over the layer of turkey. Roll. Place on the prepared cookie sheet.
With a sharp knife, make several diagonal slits across the top of the roll. Whisk together the egg and water. Brush over the top of the roll. Bake for 45 minutes until top of roll is golden brown. Serve sliced with additional mustard and sautéed onions.
(Modified from sharonmatten.blogspot.com)
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MINI BEEF AND SWEET POTATO KINISHES (meat)
2 cups flour
1½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup water
¼ cup oil
3 eggs and 1 egg white
½ pound beef, cooked and drained
4 green onions, sliced thin
1 baked sweet potato, cut into small pieces
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons water or beef broth
Preheat oven to 400. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil. In a bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Add ¼ cup oil, ¼ cup water, 1 egg and 1 egg white. Mix to combine and then set aside. In a bowl combine the cooked beef, green onions, 1 egg, sweet potato, salt, pepper and water.
Roll out the dough until it’s about a ¼ inch or less. Cut out as many 3 to 4 inch circles as you can, and place a small spoon full filling in the middle of each circle. Pull up the sides of the circle and press them together to make a dumpling like packet. Place them on a cookie sheet and brush the them with a beaten egg. Bake for 15-20 minutes golden brown. Makes 3 to 3½ dozen depending on the size.
(Submitted by Katya Raronlen NY, NY; source unknown)
