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07 January 2009

Knish is Delish!

knish pastrami toronto
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:
  1. Place the butter water and into a saucepan.
  2. slowly heat until the butter melts, then bring to a boil.
  3. 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.
  4. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
  5. 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.

pastrami knish recipe
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

pastrani knish recipe
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.

patrami knish recipe

Deep fry the knish in 180° vegetable oil for 3 or 4 minutes until golden brown. Drain and serve with brown gravy. Delish!

knish pastrami toronto