RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Ruth Heiges Kreplach #1 - meat
Q .Michaelyn wrote: Please post your kreplach recipe. My husband has told me how much he misses his grandmother's kreplach, I've tried but I just dont't seem to get it right. ----------------------------- A. Does he have the memory of the taste and what might have contributed to it? That would be crucial, because recipes for kreplach filling can be as diverse and particular as the recipes and techniques for making chicken soup. I'll try to relate how I make them. Quantities are, in the great Jewish tradition, approximations. A lot of leeway is given to your personal taste. [At least, by doing this, my daughter will not have to worry, some day, about deciphering what I meant from the "tzetaleh" in my recipe box, but will do a 'net search and possibly find this in some archive. ;-)] BTW, the first time I made these with my mother, I proudly took out the jarful of schmaltz which I'd fastidiously rendered; well over a cup of it. I expected she would use a careful amount, considering her fierce watch over cholesterol. Well, I thought I'd about fall over when she peered at it critically and said, "That might be enough." For the meat, I use two parts chicken to one part beef, and I usually make a much larger amount than I'm listing. So, let's go with: Filling for Kreplach ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 pound cooked chicken 1/2 pound cooked beef 2 - 3 cooked chicken livers or 1 turkey liver 3 - 4 large onions, finely chopped 1 cup schmaltz (possibly more!) salt and black pepper to taste Heat the schmaltz in a large skillet and add the onion. Fry until the onions are deep golden brown. Mince all of the meat and the liver in a meat grinder. The very nature of kreplach is based on using up leftover meat, but I use leftovers differently. So, I usually buy ground chicken and beef to make mine. It is still necessary, though, after browning the already-ground meat, to run it through the grinder or food processor, to assure it is fine enough. You want it to be almost pasty. When the onions are browned, add them all, with the schmaltz, into the meat mixture. Season well with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Dough ~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 cups flour 2 eggs 1 teaspoon salt Measure out the flour onto the work surface. Make a well and put in the eggs and salt. Mix by working the flour into the eggs with your fingers. Knead the dough, adding flour _until it feels like your earlobe_. I learned this from a woman from Greece who is an excellent cook. This is the perfect texture for noodle dough. Cover the dough, to keep it from drying, and let it rest for a half hour. During that time, you can go and wash off your earlobe. ;-) Now, I have never, ever made the right amount of dough for the amount of filling I've prepared. The solution is either to make more dough or freeze the filling for another time. Put up a large pot of slightly salted water to boil. So, after the dough has rested, take a portion and roll it out on a floured board. It should be rolled as thinly as possible. The dough is very elastic and requires a bit of work, but you should work at it until it is very thin; almost translucent. (The dough still in reserve should continue to be kept covered.) With a *very* sharp knife, cut the dough into rectangles of about 2 to 2-1/2 inches. Put a teaspoon of filling in the middle of each rectangle. For each, fold the rectangle into a triangle, over the filling. Seal the edges *tightly*. (If they open during cooking, all the filling will be lost into the water.) If need be, slightly moisten your fingers with water and crimp the edges well. Take the two points of the triangle at the sides, pull them behind the folded-up edge, and pinch them together to form a little circle of dough. Drop in the boiling water and cook for 15-20 minutes. (Prepare the next batch while this one is cooking.) Remove with a slotted spoon and drain thoroughly before storing. Note: Because this is such a time-consuming dish to prepare, you are well off preparing the meat one day then actually making the kreplach the next day.
