Family Recipe Friday – Knishes

For Family Recipe Friday, I made knishes. I’ve had this recipe sitting around for a while since a friend posted it to Facebook. It wasn’t a family recipe, but that topic sounds so much better than Food Friday…

I started by peeling seven potatoes, because two were pretty small. I got to use my big pot to boil them, which almost never gets used in my house, so that was fun by itself. While the potatoes boiled, I chopped the onion. I know how to chop an onion, but I haven’t done enough to master it yet, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it quickly in the middle of the recipe.

I just followed along the instructions and it went well. The recipe didn’t say how many knishes it made, and I thought it would be a lot judging by how much food I was working with, but when it said to divide the dough into four parts, I made four really big knishes.

They cooked up well and tasted just how I remember them. The dough especially had just the right flavor and consistency.

Lessons Learned

I believe 1/25 inch is much thinner than what I did. The potatoes need to be mashed much better just to roll them out thinner. Maybe I’ll try my food processor next time.

Why the recipe says to split the dough into four parts is beyond me. These things were huge and could have made more than four monster sized knishes. Next time I’ll try to make eight. The picture of two of them is on my big dinner plates and not the little dessert ones I usually use.

Six and a half potatoes was too much. I put 2 cups into the filling, even though the recipe said 1 1/2 cups, and I still had at least 1/2 cup left. And next time, more potato, less onion in the filling. And the onions need to be diced, or food processored, to make them smaller bits.

The first one was cut round but I ended up folding it square. I figured out how to fold round for the rest. On the inside they looked about right too, except the filling was a little chunky and I think the crust was a bit thick. Can someone who’s had knishes more recently verify the crust thickness for me? It’s been a while.

I didn’t try any of the adjustments that Ben suggested when he shared the recipe, but I’ve listed them and will probably try them the next time.

Potato Knishes

6 potatoes
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup butter
1 onion
1/2 cup cold water
1 egg

  1. Peel potatoes and cut into large chunks. Cook in boiling water 15-20 minutes until soft. Drain into a colander.
  2. Put potatoes back into pot and mash them. measure out 1 cup for the dough. Place in a separate bowl and add oil and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, add baking powder to flour and whisk. Add about 1/3 the flour mixture to the dough potatoes and mix. Add rest of flour.
  4. Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in cold water. Knead the dough by hand for a few minutes. Place a wet cloth or towel on top of the dough and let it sit for 30 minutes.
  5. Dice the onion. Heat the over to 425 degrees.
  6. Melt butter in a pan at medium high heat. Add onion and saute until they are soft but not brown.
  7. Pour onions into a mixing bowl for filling. Add 1 1/2 cups of mashed potatoes, salt, and pepper.
  8. On a flat surface, place dough and divide into four parts. Roll each part until 1/25 inches thick.
  9. Cut into square or use a bowl to make round. Put filling in center and fold around using water to seal edges.
  10. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush tops with the egg. Cook for 20-25 minutes.

Adjustments suggested: add 1/2 tsp pepper to dough, add 1/2 tsp garlic powder to mashed potatoes, use chicken broth instead of water.

One thought on “Family Recipe Friday – Knishes”

  1. It’s funny, but with all the Jewish food I have made over the years, I’ve never done knishes. I remember my sister trying to make them when we were young and failing miserably. They came out hard as a rock every time she tried. Maybe that’s why I wouldn’t try! I like to get my knishes at Canter’s in Los Angeles!

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