Free Knishes Recipe

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water
Pinch of salt

Put half the flour into a mixing bowl and stir in oil with a fork. Add water and salt and mix until the mixture forms a dough. Toss on a floured board; work in remaining flour, and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and chill for 1 hour or longer. Roll the dough out on a board as thin as possible. Pull and stretch it into a long rectangle. Cut into 3-inch circles. Put a tablespoon of filling, below, on each circle. Draw the edges of the circle together over filling and pinch together to seal. Brush with chicken fat. Bake on a greased baking sheet at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes, until dough is well browned. Or, roll and stretch dough and spread with filling. Roll up and cut the roll into 1 1/2 inch slices. Lay slices cut-side down on a greased baking sheet and flatten lightly. Brush with fat and bake as above.

Potato Filling
Mash 5 freshly boiled potatoes and mix with 1/3 cup ground crisp cracklings made with chicken. To make goose cracklings (Grieben), cut the fat skin of a goose or chicken into 1- to 1 1/2-inch squares and fry when the remaining fat until well browned, then season with a generous amount of salt and pepper and place in the oven for a few minutes.

Chicken Filling
Crumble 2 matzos and soak until soft in 1/4 cup chicken gravy or chicken soup. Combine with 1 cup finely chopped chicken. Season well with salt, pepper and cayenne and add enough chicken fat to make a soft mixture.

Mashed Potato Filling
2 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg
Salt and pepper
Melted butter
1 small onion, grated

Combine mashed potatoes, egg, salt and pepper. Fry onion in butter until soft but not brown and add to potato mixture.

Serve knishes with sour cream.