Anne Can Cook

This week, I did something I've never done before: I mapped out my dinner menu for each night. It went really well for the first few nights. I stuck to the plan, I shopped for the plan when I went grocery shopping. I had my spaghetti and my mom's enchiladas. Tonight, I was going to make those knishes from Broke-Ass Gourmet, when I remembered that I didn't pick up potatoes because my grocery store doesn't sell red potatoes individually. Then I came home from work and discovered that the outlets on one side of my kitchen had stopped working, and, of course, the fridge was without power. So after I fixed that (hello, extension cord), I didn't feel like making knish dough or going to get potatoes or doing much of anything. That's when I remembered I had some all purpose Pillsbury dough in the refrigerator. Assembly to cook time took me all of 20 minutes, and then I had these little puffs of delight:
Cream Cheese Bacon Cups
1 roll of multi-purpose dough, cut into 12 squares
5 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Onion powder
Shredded cheese
Cream cheese (I used whipped, because I like it)
Penzeys Fox Point seasoning (or whatever you like, but really, get some Fox Point)

Preheat your oven to 375F and grease a muffin tin! Place one square in each muffin indentation and form a little cup. Divide the bacon crumbles evenly amongst the twelve dough cups, sprinkling some in the bottom of each. Add a dash of onion powder to each cup. Add a pinch of shredded cheese (about a Tablespoon) to each cup. Place a dollop of cream cheese on top of each cup. Finally, add a dash of Fox Point on top of the cream cheese.
Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from the muffin tin to cool.

These would be really great little appetizers, or you can do what I did and eat them for dinner. I have no shame.

A lot has happened since I updated last. I was camping out in my coworker's living room for about a month and a half. While we did some cooking together (mostly the mock Alfredo and some stir fries and things), I haven't really added anything new to my repertoire.
Last Friday, I moved into a new and massive apartment by myself. I love it. I even love it's imperfections (uneven floors). Most of all, I love the kitchen. It's huge, there is a ton of counter space and storage, and the oven works! What more could I ask for.
I broke in my new kitchen by eating a take and bake pizza from the local grocery store. That thing fed me for two whole days. By the end of the weekend, I was ready to start cooking again. As luck would have it, the glory that is StumbleUpon and the brilliance that is my friend Carolyne sent me a recipe for Cheddar-Thyme Potato Knishes. I have already declared my love for mashed potatoes, and so putting them in a pastry seemed like an excellent idea to me. The recipe is from BrokeAss Gourmet :

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten, divided
• 1 tsp salt, divided
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling and dusting
• 2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and diced with peel intact
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme (about 2 twigs)
• 1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the over to 325F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil, set aside. Combine 2 beaten eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, baking powder, vegetable oil and flour in a mixing bowl. Stir together until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 8-10 times, until dough becomes slightly elastic. Cover dough and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.

While dough rests, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add diced potatoes and cook until very soft, 12-15 minutes. While potatoes cook, heat butter in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and thyme and cook for 5-6 minutes until onions are lightly browned and very fragrant. Remove from heat and scrape into a mixing bowl. Once potatoes have cooked, drain them and add them to the bowl with the onions and thyme. Add cheese and mash with a fork or potato masher until potatoes have very few lumps. Add remaining 1/2 tsp salt and fresh ground pepper to taste and set aside.

Once dough has finished resting turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times and form dough into a cylinder, about 8” long. Cut dough into 8 equal pieces. Use a rolling pin to roll each piece into a 4-5” circle. Scoop 3-4 tbsp of the potato mixture into the center of of each circle and pinch the ends together, so it looks like a little bundle.

Beat remaining egg together with 1 tbsp water. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the tops of the knishes with the egg wash.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until knishes are golden brown.

Serve hot, with sour cream if desired.

When I made this recipe, it called for two tsp. of vegetable oil for the dough. So my dough never got elastic. It was flavorful to be sure, but it was also heavy and awkward. Anyway, I commented on the recipe at BrokeAss Gourmet and they have since changed it to the proper proportion. Good job, folks.

The knish filling is marvelous. Cheddar-y, thyme-y mashed potatoes. Yum. I added about a tsp. of garlic powder and used Penzeys Shallot Pepper instead of freshly ground. I also added about a tsp. of Penzeys Bouquet Garni to the onions while they were cooking. More herbs, more better in my opinion.

Would I make these knishes again? Yes. Definitely with the update to the dough and maybe with a little cream cheese added to the potatoes. They are very comforting and kept pretty well. I had two for dinner the night I made them and two leftovers last night, plus leftover mash.