Knish: Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato Goodness

As usual, I was running a few minutes behind when I rushed into Starbucks on a beautiful day in early September around noon. The boys were at their second day back to school and I was meeting a wonderful lady from the local Jewish Temple.

We had a lovely roving visit about all kinds of things for over two hours - it was delightful.

In preparation for the Jewish-inspired lunch that took place after church on September 30th, I needed some culturally appropriate guidance and insight. This coffee date would shed light on my path into culturally appropriate fare.

Near the end of our conversation about food, my new friend's eyes lit up with delight as she started explaining this delicious Jewish treat called "knish". Bread dough with mashed potatoes inside. There were strict instructions, it was difficult to pull off, but INCREDIBLE and culturally appropriate.

But it would be far too difficult to pull off for our purposes - I mean, feeding 200+, scratch making the dough, and then forming them all by hand? It could not be done.

Sounds delicious.

Sounds like a challenge. A challenge I wanted to take on and execute.

I wanted to make knish and make it well. Make it delicious. Make it memorable.

Here is what we made.


RECIPE: Knish with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
garlic confit
2 lb potatoes, cubed
1 package phyllo pastry
olive oil for brushing

Method:
1. make mashed potatoes (wash & cube the potatoes and toss them in a pot, fill with water until just covering the potatoes, boil until tender when pierced with a fork, drain from the hot water)

2. you can either add milk and butter as usual (heat them first so your potatoes do not become gluey) or you can just add roasted garlic from the garlic confit - either will work

3. now it's time to get out the phyllo; free it from the plastic, but keep it rolled; slice the roll into 4 equally sized portions

4. put away 3 of the four rolls of phyllo and roll out one so all the sheets are in a stack

5. put about 1 tbsp (I got an ice cream scoop for this) at the top of the sheet

6. now fold over the top corner into a triangle, then follow it all the way to the bottom of the sheet

7. once you reach the bottom of the sheet, brush the phyllo with olive oil or garlic oil from the garlic confit, seal the packet, and lay it on a sheet pan

8. repeat until you're out of potatoes or phyllo

9. bake at 210ºC or 400ºF for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown

It is a little fiddly, but worth the work in the end.

This can be adapted for any number of fillings. It is a wonderful thing to stuff with cheeses as it becomes cheese and cracker. I enjoyed these full of sun dried tomato hummus or made with puff pastry instead of phyllo (think biscuit).

You could pre-make these and freeze them on a sheet pan then put them into zippered baggies once they are frozen solid for baking just a few at a time. I also then write the temperature and time it will take for them to cook on the bag.

Kosher Salt & Mint Crusted Leg of Lamb

When our church announced we would be moving locations for Sunday mornings to a Jewish Temple, we knew we wanted the first church lunch there to be inspired by the Jewish culture.

Clearly, lamb would HAVE to be on the menu.

After some research, we found an amazing local farm with fresh lamb available weekly. To order your own, go here.

RECIPE: Kosher Salt and Mint Crusted Lamb

Ingredients:
1 leg or shoulder lamb roast (with or without the bone)
1 large bunch of fresh mint
1/3 cup kosher salt
2 tbsp kosher salt
up to 1 cup olive oil

Method:
1. in a blender, blitz the mint, 1/3 cup kosher salt, and add olive oil until the mixture blends into a thick, liquidy mixture

2. place the lamb roast and the mint mix into a ziplock bag and allow to marinate for one day

3. once you are ready to cook the lamb, preheat the oven to 190ºC or 375ºF

4.  place the lamb in a roasting pan and pour over the remainder of the marinade then sprinkle 2 tbsp of kosher salt over the works

5. roast until cooked through - the FDA suggests a temperature of 145ºF or 63ºC

6. slice the roasted lamb and serve in the roast drippings

Picado de Rábano / Guatemalan Radish Salad

Picado de Rábano / Guatemalan Radish Salad

(serves 6) 

Ingredients:

- 1 pound radishes, sliced into thin rounds

- 1 bunch mint, chopped

- 1/2 cup orange juice

- 1/4 cup lemon juice (one large lemon)

- salt & pepper to taste

Method:

> slice radishes with a food processor or knife

> mix all ingredients into bowl

> chill for a few hours (or overnight) before serving

For the full posting about the Guatemalan lunch, go here. 

Where have you been?

It's a good question, really.

Honestly, I let it get out of hand this past Christmas and I said "Yes"; I helped, hand-made, and hosted; I cleaned, visited, baked, cooked, and did many other things I do not specifically remember. It was a wonderful holiday full of loved family and friends and I wouldn't change it.

Ranch Dip

There is something about it... creamy and delicious, a good ranch dip or dressing makes everything better. 


After looking in stores for the perfect iteration, I am usually appalled either by the price or the ingredient list. Is it really that hard? Is a good ranch dip out of reach?

Fear not, amazing home-made ranch dip awaits!!

Simple & Classy

When I make dinner, my goal is usually to make one thing that is special and make everything else simple. This makes the meal feel classier and takes little effort.

A few weeks ago, dear friends of ours came to visit with their four children. We then had six children in the house, ages 8, 7, 6, 5, 5, & 5 as well as four adults.

What do you feed to an active bunch like this?

Prepare Ahead: buying larger quantities of meat to pre-marinate, spice, dice, and sauce them yourself!

About once every week or two I buy several larger packages of meat and end up spending about 20 or 30 minutes with them.

How do you know what is a good price for meat? Start by looking at the price per pound or the price per kilogram. The price per kilo for regular ground beef will usually be the cheapest; the price per kilo for boneless skinless chicken breasts will be the most. 

With beef, watch the prices per kilo and compare them to other cuts - when I bought these “marinating” steaks, they were $1.20 per kilo cheaper than cubed stewing beef!!

Another important thing to watch is the “best before" date or the “packed on” date. I always want to take home the freshest meat, so next to the price per pound, that is the next most important.

This week, I bought one package of marinating steaks and one package of chicken thighs with the bone in.

In our family, lunch is leftovers from dinner the night before, so when I am packing up meat, I am actually packaging one dinner and one lunch for four. 

This is a wonderful opportunity to plan ahead if you are cooking for one or two or if there are several nights of the week when you need to throw something in the slow cooker or the oven on low before you run out the door for a few hours. This pre-planning has saved us from eating dinner out and spending nearly $40 when the dinner in the oven costs less than $10 and will also feed us lunch tomorrow. 

Pizza... Home Made Pizza

There is something so warm and comforting about the smell of baking bread when it is cold and dark outside. On those days, I find myself scouring cookbooks and food blogs looking for the recipe I will bake. Last night, it was home made pizza from a cookbook my mother-in-law made for Chris when he left home.

Making your own pizza dough is actually quite simple. It involves paying attention for small periods of time, lots of ignoring, a few minutes of baking, then - VOILA! - pizza!!

Yes, it is that simple. Okay, it might take a little longer the first time or two, but after that, it is simple AND quick.

A Latte & Granola

Well, I did it. I made granola and coleslaw and I created dinner with meat found in the freezer and it was wonderful!! That second latte did rescue the day!

Dinner Tonight: Curry

After school on Thursdays, the boys and I get home quickly and eat a snack that is more of a meal than a little bite. Then we load into the car with boxing gloves, shorts and tee-shirts and head off to their kick-boxing class in Calgary.

By the time we get home, it is nearly 7:00 and with bedtime FAST approaching, if dinner is not already ready, the wheels fall off and the kids end up going to bed way too late, cranky. 

Here is my solution for tonight’s dinner... curry! I will prep everything before I go help out in Kindergarten this afternoon and I will start the slow roasting before we leave at 4:20 pm for the 5:15 pm class.

RECIPE: Apple Curry

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef, sliced and diced (I chop up cheap steaks for this, but ground beef would also work or stewing beef cubes)

1 large onion, diced

2 large apples, cored and diced

1 can coconut milk

2 tbsp yellow curry paste (or curry powder if you don’t have the paste)

Method:

> mix it all together in an oven-proof casserole dish, clamp on the lid, and put it in the oven at 325*F for 2-2.5 hours; alternately, you could use a crock-pot


> rice, the amount and method you usually use (I will talk more on rice a little later)

Garnish:

fresh cilantro & green onions sprinkled over

I will post photos of this tomorrow as well as any sides I create to go with it! I have no idea what they will be, but I know my fridge is brimming with produce that begs to be eaten! 

* For an authentic experience, do not use any forks, spoons, or other utensils when eating.  Use only your fingers on your right hand and rip up a piece of Indian Naan Bread to scoop and sop the yumminess up!!

** Yes, I am seriously suggesting that you eat rice, small pieces of meat and veg, and sauce with your fingers. Think of how much fun your kids will have!


UPDATE: 
My 7-year-old decided that this was the VERY BEST curry he had EVER had and ate three large bowls before declaring that he was too full for a fourth. 


Here is a photo of the apples, vegetables, coconut milk, and curry paste before I added strips of cheap beef. And curry in the bowl served over brown basmati rice - with cilantro and kosher salt - yummy!