Knish me, dahlinks!

Took Edie out in the morning to Pier 17 for a runaround, then back home before it got too hot. Spent the afternoon making knishes and grenadine, and had a few parents and kids over in the afternoon for a combination playdate/tasting.


TODAY'S COOKING
Knishes: Followed this recipe on the recommendation of last week's knish lecture. It was OK, I guess the compromises it makes (modern chemical leavener vs traditional yeast, volume measures instead of weight, lack of certain descriptives, etc), is to appeal to the general public, not someone hungry for the authentic, true knish with a culinarily precise, repeatable product. But it came out ok -- the dough was a little more brittle than I like on a knish, but over all it was solid. I departed with the recipe on a few small things, like:

1. a 2 hour slow caramelization on the onions in much more oil than what they recommend, which all ended in the potato mixture, 
2. and I let the dough rest for a solid hour to make rolling and cutting easier. 
3. Also, the recipe describes an assembly that would result in a bagel-shaped knish, which I dispensed with and did a simple square dough, lump in the middle, then folded up the sides to make a kind of giant open-faced dumpling, aka Shao Mai.
4. I also used white pepper for black, which gave a distinctive sharp note which I like, and I think it looks nicer in the finished product.

Grenadine Syrup: The lecturer presented lime rickeys as a drink that was served at Ms. Stahls, which I don't have a memory of, but sounds great. She did it with some store bought grenadine, a splash of lime and seltzer. After googling a few recipes, it was an easy do: 1 part 100% pomegranite juice, 1 part 100% tart cherry juice, 2 parts powdered sugar, brought to a simmer then cooled. In a 12 oz glass, 4 oz of syrup, one wedge of lime, squeezed, and fill to the top with extra bubbly seltzer. Stir and serve with a little ice.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good yogurt with peanuts, honey and vanilla, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: noon, small glass of lime rickey


LUNCH: 1:15pm, hamburger, knish, health salad, pickle, lime rickey, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 6pm, knish, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACKS: 7:30-9pm, multigrain pretzels with nutella, chocolate squares, popcorn, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5