1,000 Jewish Recipes (159 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
2 large eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1
â
2
cup kasha, preferably fine
1 cup hot beef, chicken, or vegetable stock or water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1
â
4
cup finely chopped walnuts
1.
Beat 1 egg with a pinch of salt in a wide bowl. Combine kasha with beaten egg and stir with a fork until grains are thoroughly coated. Add mixture to a dry, heavy skillet and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly to keep grains separate, 3 minutes. Meanwhile, bring hot stock to a boil in a small saucepan. Add boiling stock to kasha and stir. Cover and cook over low heat 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork.
2.
Heat oil in a skillet, add onion, and sauté over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or until soft and golden brown. Add to kasha. Transfer mixture to a bowl. Add walnuts and stir with a fork. Season with salt and pepper; kasha benefits from generous seasoning. Cool slightly. Stir in remaining egg. Cool completely. Refrigerate in a covered container until ready to use.
Note:
Extra kasha filling can be made into small casseroles: Mix filling lightly with an equal volume of cooked rice or pasta such as orzo. Spoon mixture into small greased ramekins and bake at 350°F 20 to 30 minutes or until surface is hot and egg is cooked.
1
â
3
cups
Well-browned onions give potato filling good flavor.
Schmaltz
is traditionally used to sauté the onions but I use oil instead.
6 small (
3
â
4
pound) boiling potatoes
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped (
2
â
3
cup)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 large egg, beaten
1.
Put potatoes in a saucepan with water to cover and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat about 30 minutes or until very tender. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle.
2.
In a medium skillet heat oil, add onion, and sauté over medium heat, stirring often, 10 to 12 minutes or until tender and browned.
3.
Peel potatoes. Cut each into a few pieces, put in a bowl, and mash with a potato masher. Lightly stir in onion mixture. Season filling with salt and pepper; it should be seasoned generously. Stir in beaten egg. Refrigerate in a covered container until ready to use.
1
â
2
cups
Innovative fillings are appearing inside knish pastry on many Jewish-American tables. This one is inspired by a broccoli cheddar knish that I sampled at a deli in St. Louis. Make knishes with this filling using the method in
Knishes
.
1
â
2
pound boiling potatoes
1 pound broccoli
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1
â
2
cup grated cheddar cheese
1 large egg, beaten
1.
Put potatoes in a saucepan with water to cover and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat about 30 minutes or until very tender. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle.
2.
Peel and slice thick broccoli stem. Divide rest of broccoli into medium florets. Cook broccoli in a saucepan of boiling salted water about 7 minutes or until very tender. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain well. Chop finely with a knife; or puree in a food processor, leaving a few chunks. Return chopped broccoli to saucepan, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and heat over medium heat, stirring often, to evaporate excess water.
3.
Peel potatoes. Cut each into a few pieces, put in a bowl, and mash with a potato masher. Stir in broccoli puree and cheddar cheese. Season filling to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in beaten egg. Refrigerate in a covered container until ready to use.
Note:
Extra broccoli filling can be made into small casseroles: Mix filling lightly with an equal volume of cooked rice or pasta such as orzo. Spoon mixture into small greased ramekins and bake at 350°F 20 to 30 minutes or until hot inside and egg is cooked.
Knishes made with cheese fillings are becoming as popular as those with potato or meat. Some knish-bakers are even coming up with sweet fillings. A friend of mine who works at a knish bakery in Brooklyn, New York, told me her favorite filling in their array is a sweet cheese-chocolate blend.
I make these savory cheese knishes with a rich sour cream dough. For shaping them I like to use the slice-and-bake method, which is much easier than the usual way of cutting and folding individual circles or squares. The result is attractive pinwheel knishes.
1
1
â
2
cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1
â
2
teaspoon salt
1
â
2
cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1
â
3
cup sour cream
Three-Cheese Filling for Knishes
1.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and butter in a food processor. Process with brief pulses until mixture resembles coarse meal. Spoon sour cream fairly evenly over mixture. Process with brief pulses until dough just holds together and forms sticky crumbs, adding 1 teaspoon water if necessary. Knead dough lightly on work surface until it comes together. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and flatten to a square. Refrigerate 2 hours or up to overnight.
2.
Prepare filling. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Divide dough into 2 pieces. Roll one to an 8 Ã 10-inch rectangle, slightly under
1
â
8
-inch thick. Spread with half the filling, leaving a
1
â
2
-inch border. Beginning at a long side, roll up tightly like a jelly roll. Cut into slices 1 inch thick. Put each slice on baking sheet with its less open side (the side that was cut second) facing down. Refrigerate slices. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Refrigerate knishes at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
3.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake knishes 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot or warm.
1
â
3
cups, enough for about 16 small knishes
Farmer cheese is a fresh cheese that is much drier than cottage cheese and leaner than cream cheese. You can find it at kosher food shops and some supermarkets. Kashkaval, a grating cheese loved in Israel, is available at Israeli and Eastern European markets.
4 ounces farmer cheese
2 tablespoons cream cheese, diced and softened
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese, or
1
â
2
cup Swiss and
1
â
2
cup Kashkaval cheese
Salt (optional) and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Hot paprika or cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
1 large egg
Mash farmer cheese and mix with cream cheese in a bowl. Add Swiss cheese and mix with a fork. Season mixture with pepper, and salt and hot paprika if using. Beat egg and, using fork, blend with cheese mixture. Refrigerate in a covered container until ready to use.
In the home kitchen,
bourekas
are made with puff pastry more often than with phyllo dough. My sister-in-law Mati Kahn, who lives in Jerusalem, serves these
bourekas
with a
Mushroom Sauce for Bourekas
for festive Shabbat meals. Mati has been making her own puff pastry since she was a teenager and finds it easy to do. Many other Israelis buy the pastry instead. It's easy to find pareve puff pastry in kosher grocery stores.
If you wish to make these ahead, you can freeze them either baked or unbaked. Bake them frozen, adding about 5 minutes to baking time; or reheat baked ones in a 325°F oven.
1
â
2
pound boiling potatoes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1
â
4
pound mushrooms, rinsed, halved, and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 large eggs
2 pounds puff pastry, well chilled
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1.
Put potatoes in a saucepan with water to cover and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat about 30 minutes or until very tender. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle.
2.
Heat oil in a medium skillet, add onion, and sauté over medium-low heat, stirring often, 5 minutes or until onions just begin to turn golden. Add mushrooms, salt, and pepper and sauté over medium-high heat, stirring, about 3 minutes or until tender.