How do you make a New York City Knish? or Serbian Burek?

Meat Burek

This recipe is from "100 Years of Cooking with St. Nicholas," a community cookbook by the St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church School Congregation, Monroeville, published last year. It was was adapted from recipes contributed by Christine Rajkovich and Mary Ann Markinova Lindberg. For a copy of the cookbook, send $13 plus $4 shipping and handling to Cookbook Orders, c/o Cathy Stupar, 119 Highland Drive, Jeannette, PA 15644. Details: 724-527-5629 or 724-523-2784.

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, melted, plus 2 tablespoons for sauteing onions

3 medium-size yellow onions, chopped; or 1 large Bermuda or Vidalia onion, chopped

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 package dry onion soup mix

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 large eggs

1/2 pound phyllo dough, thawed according to package directions

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (optional)

Place 2 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven and heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the beef, pork and the onion soup mix. Cook the meat until thoroughly browned. Season with salt and black pepper. Pour off the fat and set the meat mixture aside to cool. In a large measuring cup with a spout, beat the eggs well; set aside.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place 4 sheets of phyllo dough in the bottom of a 13- by 9-inch baking pan, brushing each sheet with melted butter. Cover the dough with one-half of the meat mixture and one-third of the mozzarella, if desired. Drizzle some of the beaten egg over the cheese.

Cover the egg with 3 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with melted butter. Cover with half of the remaining meat mixture, one-half of the mozzarella, if desired, then drizzle with some of the beaten egg.

Add another layer of 3 sheets of phyllo as before, followed by the remaining meat and cheese, if desired. Drizzle more of the egg on top, but reserve some for the final layer.

Complete the dish with 4 layers of phyllo, each brushed with butter. Pour the remaining egg over the top. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until nicely browned. Let rest before cutting into squares to serve.

NEW YORK KNISH

INGREDIENTS

6 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled

1/4 cup butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 cube chicken bouillon, crumbled

salt and pepper to taste

18 sheets phyllo dough

1/4 cup butter

DIRECTIONS

Place potatoes into a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender. Drain, and set aside.

While the potatoes are boiling, heat 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, and cook until soft and translucent.

In a large bowl, mash the potatoes until smooth. Mix in onion and butter mixture, crumbled bouillon, and salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.

Layer 3 sheets of phyllo dough one on top of the other, and cut this triple-layered sheet in half. Drop one spoonful of potato mixture into each phyllo piece. Roll dough around mixture, tucking ends under. Repeat this step with remaining sheets of phyllo dough to make 12 knishes. Brush with remaining 1/4 cup butter, and place on baking sheet.

Bake in a preheated oven 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

I'm glad to see that LC can copy and paste recipies, but DO NOT USE HIS KNISH RECIPE! He has clearly never eaten a knish before in his life.

I'm guessing that you're trying to make knishes because you've eaten one before, and liked it. You will NOT like any knish made with phyllo dough, unless you want a greasy, flaky, pastry-like knish that you would never, EVER find on the streets of New York. That recipe will yield something more like a flaky sausage roll (filled with potato instead, obviously) that you'd eat in the UK.

I have tried several knish recipes, and in my opinion, they never come out as good as the ones you buy from a street vendor in New York, but this recipe has yielded the closest results - I have modified it so that you can get a real knish, and not just a bite sized hors d'oeuvre.

INGREDIENTS

5 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large onions, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

5 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed

DIRECTIONS

Place potatoes into a pot with enough water to cover them.

Bring to a boil, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until tender.

Drain and set aside if onions are not yet ready.

While the potatoes are boiling, heat 1/2 cup of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, and cook until soft and translucent. Mix the onions and their oil into the potatoes, and mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside while you make the dough.

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, 1/2 cup of oil, warm water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Gradually mix in flour until the dough is stiff enough to remove from the bowl and knead. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for about 5 minutes.

Let rest for a few minutes to relax the dough.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Grease a cookie sheet.

Cut off a piece of dough about the size of fist. Roll the dough out into a rectangle, being careful not to make it too thin.

Dollop some of the potato mixture into the top center of the dough, leaving enough dough on each side to press together for a tight seal, and enough dough on the bottom to fold it in half to cover the potato (you'll have a pocket of potato, with three sides to seal shut).

Pack the potato in tightly (you don't want a crumbly knish), and then seal the edges.

Repeat the process with remaining dough and filling.

You COULD place the knishes onto the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 30 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown, but if you want a REAL knish, you've got to fry it.

When they're done, letting them to cool will allow them to set up better, which means it'll be easier to cut them open and pile in whatever you like - mustard, grilled onions, etc. Of course sometimes they're just too irresistable to let cool...

Hope you enjoy this recipe, and that it takes you back to the streets of New York! If you're not feeling ambitious, legendary knish makers, Gabila's now sells packs of four in an orange-yellow box at most grocery stores. You just pop them in the microwave, and they're suprisingly like the originals, if a bit chewy when overcooked. If we get them in Austin, Texas, I figure you can find them anywhere, haha!