Onion Flat Bread

Chewy all purpose flour version 

This flat bread is a cross between focaccia and a crisp flat bread. 

This recipe evolved out of my experiments trying to bake fabulous bialys (I have been baking good ones, but not fabulous...yet....so they are not quite ready for prime time on this blog).  I am posting two variations, one made with all-purpose flour and the other made with part white whole wheat and part bread flour (you can use traditional whole wheat flour, it will taste more "whole wheaty," but will work similarly). Aside from the different flours yielding bread of different texture, thickness of the final rolled-out portion and baking time changed the bread from a chewy flat bread to a crispy type flat bread.  

Crispy whole-wheat/bread flour version

Choreography:

• The dough ingredients are mixed, kneaded and left to rise for an hour. This is not a pretty dough, it is on the "dry side," using less water than usual for 4 cups of flour. It will look lumpy and oily but will hold together. It will begin to puff pretty quickly when covered and placed in a warm place or in my new (fabulous!!!) proofing box. If you have a proofing cycle in your oven use it, otherwise warming the oven to 80 degrees works well. 

• After an hour, the dough is turned and deflated and is covered and left to rise again until double in bulk (45 minutes - 1 hour).  
• The dough is then divided into 2 oz portions, rolled into balls, allowed to rest and then rolled out to thin disks. After rolling out, the disk is pricked with a fork ad topped with an onion topping. 
• The onion poppy seed mixture can be made ahead of time and frozen (I don't like chopping the onions and find it's easier to make a relatively large amount of onion topping and freeze in smaller portions). I also use this topping  in Onion Pockets.   Do NOT chop the onions in a food processor, too much liquid is released and the topping will be watery. Freezing the diced onion however does not make it watery, the bread crumbs counteract any tendency to liquefy. Defrost completely before using. 

• The disks are quickly baked in a hot oven - until just browned (which will yield a chewy flat bread) or a bit longer until fully brown (forming a crispy flat bread).

Equipment:

Kitchen scale, measuring cups and spoons

A flat surface to roll out dough portions (I use a silicone mat, making it easy to lift the rolled-out dough and move to the baking pan)

Rolling pin

Stand mixer (you can mix this dough by hand, but the whole wheat-bread flour version benefits from an electric dough mixer)

Sharp knife for mincing onion
A good quality baking sheet or a baking stone. The baking sheet will be used upside down (see the photo below)
Baking parchment for covering the baking sheet

Ingredients:

This flat bread can be made with all purpose flour OR a combination of white whole wheat and bread flour. The flour mixtures affect the bread texture, the all purpose flour version will be a bit fluffier and softer. 

Dough:

17 oz all purpose flour (a bit more than 4 c) OR 8 oz white whole wheat flour mixed with 9 oz bread flour

4.5 tsp (2 packages) instant yeast (See my posting on yeast for more information on using yeast)

2 Tbsp granulated sugar 

8 oz (1c) warm water 

2.5 oz  (1/3 c) neutral vegetable oil (I use canola for this bread)

2 tsp kosher salt
flour for dusting the work surface and baking surface 

Topping:

1 medium onion (3-4 oz) onion, diced finely 

1 Tsp poppy seeds

1 Tsp bread crumbs

Procedure:

1. In the bowl of your mixer (or a large mixing bowl) combine the flour, yeast and sugar. 

2 Add approximately 3/4 of the water and mix into the flour mixture. 

3. Dissolve the salt in the remaining water and pour into the flour mixture along with the oil. Combine well. If you are using an electric mixer blend on the low speed until the flour is hydrated. If you are mixing by hand, use a flexible scraper to help you blend the entire mixture. 

3. Knead by machine for 3-4 minutes or hand knead until well blended. This will not be a pretty dough. It will look lumpy. 

4. Leave the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour.
5. Prepare the topping by finely dicing the onion and mixing with poppy seeds and bread crumbs. It is best to prepare the topping and allow to stand for an hour or two before using it. This gives the bread crumbs time to absorb any liquid released by the onion pieces. 

6. The dough will look puffy after an hour. Turn and deflate the dough in the bowl (there is no need to turn out and knead). Re-cover the dough and allow to rise until double in bulk (anywhere between 45-60 minutes).
7. Preheat the oven to 410 degrees.
8. Deflate the dough and divide into 14 two-ounce portions. Roll into small balls and allow to rest for 10 minutes before proceeding. This rest period will help relax the dough and make it easier to roll out.

9. Prepare the pan (if you are using a baking pan, you will be using it upside down).  Line with a sheet of parchment paper that is lightly floured.  If you are using a baking stone, preheat and then dust with some flour.
10. Roll out one dough portion on a floured surface to a disk that is approximately 4 inches in diameter. The dough should be between 1/4 and 1/8 inch thick.  A 1/4 inch thick disk will yield a chewy flat bread, the thinner one can be baked into a crispy flat bread.

11. If you are using an upside down baking pan: Move the rolled-out disks to the prepared pan.   Leave a small amount of space between each disk.  Pierce each disk with a fork and top with a small amount of the onion topping. Press the topping into the disk.

If you are using a baking stone, prepare several disks, slide onto a well floured pizza peel, pierce with a fork, add topping, tap down the topping and slide onto the hot stone all at once.

 12. Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Slide the baking pan into the oven and bake for 13-15 minutes, depending on whether or not you want the flat bread to be chewy or crisp. Check the color of the disks after 10 or 11 minutes in order to judge when you want to take the bread out of the oven.

13. Remove from oven when the flat breads are done and cool on a rack. This bread is best used warm and fresh or double wrapped and frozen until you are ready to use. If you freeze the bread, defrost and warm for a few minutes before serving.

Baked Potato-Flour Dough Knishes

Baked Knishes made with potato-flour dough 

(various fillings including meat and/or vegetables) 

Knishes are of Eastern European origin but are ubiquitous in the American-Jewish world. Growing up in New York City we could purchase them hot from Kosher delis or sometimes, in the "old neighborhoods" from street vendors. I remember them being described as "square" or "round."  An old time knish bakery, Yonah Schimmel's still exists on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In Brooklyn there was a knish store on Flatlands Avenue that had, what seemed at the time, an unlimited variety of knishes filled with potato, fruit and cheese fillings. Gabila's, which makes a fried dough type knish is available in many supermarkets; Gabila's knishes are made from a thick dough unlike the home-made type.

Knish is also a Yiddish slang word.....I won't go into that here, you can look it up on the Internet.

The decision to give making knishes a try came up during a conversation about Fred's grandmother and her early attempts at knish making. Her sister-in-law, Aunt Debrusey, shared the recipe with Fred's grandmother; however, Debrusey sabotaged (perhaps inadvertently?) the initial attempt when she shared the recipe. Since we all know people who share recipes while leaving out a key ingredient or technique the story hit me as link to a well-entrenched family customs of specific family members in all families. "Boil potatoes," Debrusey said, "then mash them and add flour."  Fred's grandmother asked, "How much flour?"  Debrusey responded, "As much as they will take," neglecting to mention to cool the potatoes, first.   Fred's grandmother proceeded to mash hot boiled potatoes and continued to add flour as the hot potatoes absorbed an enormous amount of flour to result in an unusable dough, if, at that point, it could be called that. The dough wasn't right because the key point that Aunt Debrusey didn't communicate was to mash and COOL the potatoes completely before adding the flour.  There was also a story of a chocolate cake recipe which flowed out of the oven, but that is for another time. Anyway, Fred has memories of eating his grandmother's knishes, so she eventually worked out the details, although the recipe is lost. She made her knishes as individual round pastries, I opted for a time saving technique - rolling the dough into rectangles, filling and forming 12-14 inch logs that are baked and then cut into individual knishes.

According to Gil Marks, the food historian and cookbook author, knishes evolved from simple fried patties made with kasha and/or mashed turnips. A simple dough of mashed root vegetables may have encased a filling.  When the potato reached Eastern Europe, it quickly became the favorite filling and the dough evolved to make use of flour that allowed for stretching and rolling out, thus increasing the ratio of filling to dough. Late 19th century Eastern European immigrants brought a knish making tradition with them to America (and I would imagine elsewhere); knishes were sold as street food on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in immigrant neighborhoods of Brooklyn.

Depending on where a dough recipe originated there are subtle differences that probably relate to available ingredients.  According to Marks, "Litvak" type dough often combines mashed potato and flour. The knish recipe that follows uses this type of dough. The dough is easy to make and handle.  Knishes are usually served as a side dish; however, I made the pictured knishes with a cabbage and meat filling, serving them as the main course served with a warm vegetable dish.

Choreography:

The initial preparation of the dough and filling should be made ahead of time, the dough should chill at least for an hour and up to the better part of a day. The filling needs to be cooked and cooled. I did both at the same time and came back to assemble and bake several hours later. The assembly, which requires rolling out the chilled dough, filling, rolling up and baking will take a bit over an hour (this includes the 40 minute baking).  Cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing the baked logs into slices. Cooled logs can be well wrapped in foil and then placed in an airtight container or plastic zip lock bag and frozen.  When defrosting, open the bag, unwrap and defrost on a flat surface. Re-warm in a moderate oven for a few minutes. 

Equipment: 

Saucepan to boil potatoes

Masher, fork or food processor for mashing potatoes 

Knife or mandolin slicer to cut up vegetables (if you are making a vegetable filling) 

Saute pan for cooking vegetables 

Large bowl and mixing spoon for mixing dough 

Measuring cups, spoons, sharp knife 

Baking sheet

Parchment paper to line the pan 

Ingredients: 

Dough:

2 cups mashed potatoes

2-3 Tbsp margarine or vegetable shortening (For authentic foodies- you can try shmaltz!)  

3 extra-large eggs

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp turmeric (optional, used for color)

3 c all purpose flour 

1 egg (slightly beaten for egg wash) 

Fillings: 

Cabbage Filling:

4-5 cups shredded cabbage 

1 scant Tbsp kosher salt or 2 tsp sea salt 

1 large onion, diced 

oil or shortening for sauteing onions (about 2-3 Tbsp)

pepper to taste 

Cabbage/Meat Filling:

To the cabbage filling, add 2 cups shredded or finely chopped cooked beef (I used left over roast beef) 

Potato Filling or Potato-Cheese filling: 

4 cups mashed potatoes 

1 onion, diced 

1 extra large egg 

2 tsp kosher salt  (or 1 1/2 tsp sea salt), pepper to taste 

Variation: add 1/2 c farmer cheese or drained cottage cheese. Cut back on the salt. Correct seasoning. 

Other filling suggestions can include 4 cups cooked ground beef (with sauteed ovens, garlic, salt, pepper), 4 cups cooked kasha (cooked with sauteed onions and a bit of mashed potatoes to bind the mixture),  3 cups Farmer Cheese mixed with 1 cup shredded hard cheese (bound with an egg and a bit of breadcrumbs). 

Procedure: 

Dough:

1. Peel and boil potatoes. Mash very well, measure 2 packed cups. Add salt and shortening or margarine to hot mashed potatoes, mix and allow to cool. 

2. Combine cooled potatoes with eggs and turmeric. Mix vigorously.  

3. Mix in flour and work it into the potato-egg mixture. 

4. Lightly grease a bowl, add the dough and turn so that the surface is lightly greased. 

5. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1-8 hours. 

Cabbage Filling:

1. Shred cabbage, dice onion.

2. Boil slightly salted water, add cabbage and simmer for 2-3 minutes to partially cook the cabbage. Drain. 

2. Add oil to saute pan, saute onions until the begin to turn translucent (about 5 minutes).

3. Add the drained cabbage, continue to cook until totally softened (10-15 minutes). Correct seasoning.  Cook over low flame until dry. 

4. Cool the mixture. 

Assembly: 

1. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper, preheat oven to 370 degrees. 

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Divide the dough into 4 or 5 pieces. 

2. Flour a work surface and roll out one piece of dough to a rectangle, approximately 12 inches by 5 inches. 

3. Add filling along the long edge and roll securely. Move to the prepared baking sheet. 

4. If you are adding meat to the cabbage filling, sprinkle the meat on top of the cabbage before rolling up the dough. 

5. Brush beaten egg liberally over each unbaked knish roll. 

6. Slip into the oven (top 1/3 of the oven). Bake 20 minutes, reverse the pan 180 degrees and bake an additional 20 minutes. 

7. Cool 5-10 minutes so that filling can set. Cut each roll into six portions if you are serving. See instructions above for freezing if not using within 2-3 days.