I love knishes. I used to get them at Charlie C's in Bayview Village when I was a kid. When Meyers Deli was still on King St. my father and I would meet after work for a knish and a beer.
There are no delis in Denmark and the chef students had no idea what a knish was, so I made knishes for staff meal.
The knishes I make are baseball size rounds of crispy mashed potato with a pastrami filling and smothered in gravy. I know there are many kinds of knish doughs and fillings, but this is as I remember it at the delis in Toronto.
Knish Recipe - makes 4 to 6
To make the dough I start with a basic choux paste recipe:
150ml Water
65g Plain Flour
50g Butter
2 Eggs, beaten well
Pinch Salt
Method:
- Place the butter water and into a saucepan.
- slowly heat until the butter melts, then bring to a boil.
- Remove from the heat, add all of the flour and quickly stir until the mixture forms a soft ball and leaves the sides of the saucepan clean.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Very gradually add the eggs, whilst beating the mixture, to produce a firm smooth dough.
To finish the dough mix with equal part mashed potato.
For the filling chop 400g pastrami and two shallots finely. Add a pinch of crushed juniper berry, and mix together with a splash of whipping cream until you can form balls that hold together
Flour a work surface and roll 10cm rounds of dough about a ½cm thick. Place a large ball of filling in the centre and wrap the dough around, pinching it closed.
Deep fry the knish in 180° vegetable oil for 3 or 4 minutes until golden brown. Drain and serve with brown gravy. Delish!
