Sometimes you want nothing more than to tuck into mom's home cooking. Correction: sometimes you want nothing more than to tuck into my mom's home cooking. That's right world -- Susan Tennenhouse is hands down the best cook I know. One of my proudest moments as a cook was when she called me to ask how to make a Brisket. She was naturally very confused when I called her recently for advice on making the exact same dish. What can I say? Even if it's my recipe, I bet Mama makes it better. So on a chilly Saturday afternoon, it made sense to me to eat some of Susan's best treats: Potato Knishes. |
Whenever Mom visits me, I get left with a freezer full of these bad boys. The picture above was taken on Mom's last visit to see me as a student, when I most certainly did not have the time to make them myself. Now there is just no excuse. Time to make some knishes. I should point out that Susan is the Dough Whisperer. The woman barely ever bakes, but when she does, it comes out so effortlessly perfect. This is why I decided to not make any changes to her recipe or method, even though it seemed a bit crazy to me. I even schlepped a food processor down from Thornhill to follow her directions properly (Thanks, Karen!) So here it is: Mama Tennenhouse's Potato Knishes (which she actually apparently stole from Aunty Judy) Ingredients for the Dough: - Scant 2 cups flour - 1 egg - 1/2 cup vegetable oil - 1/2 cup lukewarm water - Pinch of salt - 1/2 tsp baking powder - 1 tsp white vinegar Ingredients for the Filling: - 2.5 lb. potatoes, peeled - 1 large white onion - Vegetable oil -Salt & pepper to taste To make the dough, you literally throw everything into a food processor and mix it until it is a ball. When I asked Mom how I will know it is done, she said "Come on, Ellie. You just know." Is this how Evan feels when I give him cooking instructions? Awful. The dough should be oily, and as Susan puts it, super bland. Mine looks kind of lumpy and gross; Susan's looks elasticy and perfect. Stupid Dough Whisperer. Wrap your dough in some plastic and let it chill for about 30 minutes. This makes it easier to work with. Meanwhile, make your potato filling. This bit needs to be over-seasoned to make up for the barely salted dough. Boil your potatoes until they are fork tender. Cut up your onion very finely. Susan said she "used a chopper so that it is not too chunky in the knish." What is a chopper? I do not know. Talking to this woman is often just solving riddles. Fry up your onions in a fair bit of oil, as that is what flavours the potatoes. Add in lots of salt and pepper. When all of your components are ready, mash the potatoes and stir in the onions. Susan says to add in the oil as well if your potatoes require extra seasoning. I added in the oil plus more salt and pepper. Now for the fun part: Rolling up the knishes. Thank you to Evan for manning the camera for this bit. Begin by dividing your dough into 4 pieces. |
Leaving some space at the end, add a row of filling. I put way too much here. I recommend about half of this amount. Tuck in the sides of dough, and tightly roll everything up into a log. |
The above picture does not simply depict how filthy I am when I cook/bake. It is actually a very important step. Susan told me that I HAD to flour the side of my hand and cut the pieces of dough off for the knishes with my hand, and not a knife. After realizing that somehow my mom has sharp palms, I decided that this step was nonsense and took out a knife. Trust Susan. Using a knife resulted in the filling spilling out of my knishes. Using your palm and struggling to saw through the dough actually seals it up! So. Next step: flour the side of your hand and saw through the dough. |
|
And before you know it, you have all of these! |
Place your adorable little knishes on a lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes. |
We could easily end this post right here and feel very accomplished with the amount of delicious we made. But after about 25 potato knishes were made, I started thinking about my Dad's comments on international cuisine. Basically, he said that every culture everywhere around the world has their own knish, which is true - people all over the place love things wrapped in dough. So with my Mom's dough recipe, and potato filling base, I decided to experiment with the flavours of other international-things-wrapped-in-dough. |
#1: Indian Knishes Added Flavours: - Ginger - Garlic - Curry Powder (from Thailand, but it still works) - Tamarind - Cumin - Jalapeño Pepper (seeds removed) - Chickpeas |
|
#2: Chinese Knishes Added Flavours: - Ginger - Garlic - Red pepper flakes - Shredded cabbage - Splash of Soy Sauce - Splash of Sesame Oil - Ground beef - Green onions |
#3: Greek Knishes Added Flavours: - Spinach - Feta Cheese |
#4: Argentinian Knishes Added Flavours: - Canned Corn - Jalapeño Pepper (seeds included) **This was inspired by Corn Empanadas that I would often eat courtesy of my Argentinian friends back home** |
With these fun flavours, follow the steps that I showed earlier. One difficulty is that the chunkier ingredients, like corn and chickpeas, tend to spill out of your knishes. No worries though - they are still delicious. In the end, we had these to munch: |
|
While these were all super yummy, and it was difficult to pick a favourite, I think I will always have to love the original. Probably because I love the taste of home. |