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

Diablo Cookies

WARNING: these will cause mixed emotions for you. Highly addictive in nature. You've been told.


Last September while travelling in BC, we visited a food truck in Tofino called TacoFino. They have a cookie called the "Diablo Cookie" that a friend said we had to try.

TacoFino Cantina in Tofino, BC

We tried it, and it was good. Amazing, in fact. Chris found the recipe online (I have no idea where).

When we arrived at my parents house a few days later, we had to whip up a batch.

My Mother likes food a certain way. She does not like sweets or chocolate, she does not like cookies and she hates, above all else, spicy food.

I wanted you to know all of that... and these are her favourite cookies.


RECIPE: Diablo Cookies
Pre-heat oven to 190ºC / 375ºF

Ingredients:
[the dry]
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sifted cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cayenne
1 cup milk chocolate chips or large milk chocolate chunks

[the wet]
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp fresh minced ginger (or fresh squeezed ginger juice)
coarse sea salt (for garnish)

Method:
1. mix the dry (if using chunks, reserve to the side for now)
2. mix the wet
3. combine the dry and the wet

4. on a greased cookie sheet, press fist sized dough balls and sprinkle with rock salt (or sea salt or coarse salt of any kind) and sugar; if using large milk chocolate chunks, press two into the middle of the cookie before sprinkling salt & sugar on top

5. bake for approximately 11 minutes or until the cookies start to crack - they should be fudgey in the middle

6. leave on the sheet to cool for a few minutes before removing to a rack

Makes 12 large cookies. Don't eat them all in one sitting.

And as a note - I always try to lower the amount of sugar in EVERY recipe I make; in this one, the amount cannot be lessened with this quantity of cayenne; the sugar helps cut the heat. It should also be noted that the texture is compromised when the sugar is cut.

Makes an AMAZING compliment to a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

As consumed at several Friends Church lunches

Potato Salad

Ever find one of those recipes that is just... the BEST?! When you eat what you've made you think, "How have I lived my life up to this point without this food in my life?!"

Yeah, this is one of those.

Now, I can't take credit for most of this recipe; much of it is owed to Tyler Florence. You can find his original here.

When Chris and I make a recipe, we tend to pare it down and make it with quantities of ingredients that make our life simpler. Also, we tend to cook for a bit of a crowd.

At this point, some of you are thinking of that potato salad you had three years ago that was flavourless, watery, and left you disappointed. Firstly, I did not make that salad and secondly, this is ENTIRELY different from that salad. This one is actually good.

RECIPE: Potato Salad
Serves 12 (for your bbq this weekend)

Ingredients:
5 lb bag baby potatoes
12 eggs
1 bunch scallions (green onions), whites and greens sliced up together
1 small jar capers, drained
2 cups mayo
1/4 cup dijon
8-10 good pickles, diced (I use Kuhn brand as they don't contain preservatives)
reserve the pickle juice
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 bunch fresh flat leaf parsley or cilantro (whatever you prefer), chopped - including stems
1 bunch dill, chopped
the juice of 1 lemon or lime

Method:

> turn the broiler on high

> after washing the potatoes, quarter them, lay them on a sheet pan, and put them under the broiler (second rung from the top) for about 10 minutes; they should be golden and tender when you take them out of the oven; leave them on the pan until they have cooled

> to boil the eggs, put enough water into the pot to just submerge all the eggs; bring the water to a boil then turn it down to medium before lowering in the 12 eggs; put the lid on the pot and set the timer for 9 minutes; cool in cold water, peel, and dice the eggs up fairly small

> add the chopped eggs, scallions, capers, dijon, diced pickles, red onion, parsley or cilantro, dill, and lemon juice to the bowl; stir together

> stir in the potatoes to coat

> lastly, add in the mayo, determining how much is needed for the rest of the salad; thin down with pickle juice to your hearts content

> enjoy

Twenty Minute Dinner

Right now, I don't have time. I don't have extra time at any point in my day. There is just so much going on with the end of the school year, spring sports, our dogs, my husband's job change, garden, family moving... and then it's time to make a healthy dinner before rushing out the door and on to the sport of the evening.

I just don't have time.

But I have these cubes of stewing lamb in the fridge. And I a litre of canned tomatoes. We must be out the door in less than one hour so I have 20 minutes - at most - to make a healthy, filling, delicious dinner. Here I go!

RECIPE: Quick Curry
serves 6

Ingredients:
3 cups white rice (+ water to make the rice)

<for the curry>
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala (brown curry powder)
0.5 tsp kosher salt
1 to 1.5 lb (450-700g) stewing lamb, beef, or cubed meat of any kind
1 litre (quart) of canned tomatoes
1 cup raisins
1 cup yogurt

<for the cauliflower>
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp madras curry (yellow curry powder)
1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets

<serve with>
chopped cilantro
unsalted peanuts


Method:

1. measure the rice and get on with cooking it

2. bring the oven rack up to the second from the top and turn the broiler to high

3. over high heat, heat the oil for the curry in a large skillet then add the spices and stir together for 1 minute until fragrant

4. add in the meat and stir to coat the meat with oil and spices

5. in a large bowl, mix the olive oil and madras curry; chop the cauliflower and add in the florets and toss them to coat the cauliflower (I also had a leek in the fridge and chopped that into the cauliflower; any veggies would work here)

6. once the meat is cooked, add the litre of tomatoes and the cup of raisins; stir together

7. pour the cauliflower onto a cookie sheet - in one even layer - and put under the broiler for about 10 minutes

8. chop the cilantro and pour the peanuts into a bowl for the table

9. set the table and pour a glass of wine (or crack open a beer)

10. stir in the yogurt right before serving the curry; it may curdle a little, not altering the flavour at all, it just looks a little funny, like when I made it!

11. ENJOY!!!

Alternate:
- instead of stewing lamb, you could use beef, chicken, shrimp, pork, goat, chopped onions, mushrooms, or chickpeas
- instead of in the oven, you could steam the cauliflower in a pot on the stovetop
- instead of cauliflower, you could use cabbage

This was so delicious, I really did make it two nights in a row!!