From the NBC12 Weather blog:
#1 Hurricane Isabel 2003
Producing wind gusts of 73 mph in Richmond, the hurricane blew down thousands of trees across the area, knocking out power to over 2 million households. Its combination of strong winds and heavy rain killed 36 people and caused an estimated $1.85 billion in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in state history. No storm has had more impacts on the area than this one, which is why Isabel is the worst hurricane in Central Virginia history.
Yes, Hurricane Isabel was one scary storm. The wind was howling and we could hear trees falling but we couldn't see where they were falling. Michoel, me, and the kids all slept together in one room cuz the kids were so scared. (OK, I was too; it was terrifying, especially since it was night and you literally had no idea if a tree was about to fall on your head. Add to that that there was no power, you can sorta get the idea.) We woke up the next morning to find our neighbor lost part of their house.
Yes, that is my van in the first picture. After a few days I abandoned ship and took off to New York with my kids. Destination, Crown Heights. My good friend Ora took us in. You have to realize that I was a coming there with 5 kids and no leaving date planned. Yet she welcomed us with open arms. We ended up staying by her until after Rosh Hoshana, when we finally had power back in Richmond. (We had been without power for a full 11 days!) For one of the day meals, we ate by my friend Chanie Moskowitz. She made a delish main dish, Veal Knish. Over the years I have had to adept it, because she used puff pastry, and I no longer eat puff pastry. So without any further ado, I bring you ...
VEAL KNISH
I'll just remind you once again, I do not use measuring spoons or cups unless I am following another recipe, until I learn it well enough to not use them. So bear with me here.
This past Shabbos I made them, and since it was just the three of us, I only had 1 pound of veal. The recipe does work better with 2 pounds, since the knishes are sooooo yummy. (You are warned ahead of time; no complaining when you are popping these like candy. They are good both hot and cold!) I serve them with gravy.
You take your ground veal, and brown in a skillet. You want to get a really good sear on it. I add onion powder, pepper, and ground cumin while it is sauteing.
(The only reason the cumin isn't organic is because after all these years I STILL haven't run out of the old one. Looks like I am almost at the bottom of the jar, and the next one WILL be organic. Also, I usually use spelt matza meal, not regular. They taste exactly the same, btw.) Once you get a good sear, and the meat has cooled, add some matza meal to it.
Then you need to add some eggs. I added 3, cuz it needs to be able to hold together well.
Once it is all mixed together well, you can start adding them to the egg roll wrappers. I found that you can get them very crispy by cooking them in the oven on a high temperature with very little oil. I usually work with 3 or 4 at a time. You need to work fast and keep the extra wrappers covered, cuz they dry out. (Not as bad as phyllo dough, but don't walk away and start playing on Twitter and expect that they won't dry out.) As I said, I spread 3 or 4 out, and you brush the sides with water. Put a nice little lump of the veal mixture in the middle, near the bottom.
Then fold over the two sides, leaving the center open. If you put too much filling in the middle, then when you roll them up, they won't seal well. The brush water on the top half of the knish. Don't worry about the bottom, it will seal up when you roll them.
Now the fun part, roll them up carefully while not popping a hole in them. (Just cuz they look better when they are perfect. You aren't frying them, so you don't have to worry about anything leaking out.)
Then you, Lather, Rinse, Repeat, until you either run out of egg roll wrappers or you run out of veal mixture. I ran out of veal mixture first. No big deal, wrap up the egg roll wrappers really well, and toss in the freezer for the next time. (Or use heavily spiced mashed potatoes to make potato knishes!) Once you have them all done, put them on a tray lined with parchment paper. (I am a cheapskate; I reused the paper from my challah.)
Now, if you thought the rolling was fun, wait until you hear the next step! Dump out the water and fill your little bowl with some oil. Not a lot. I probably put 2 tablespoons in and it was too much. Now, hold them carefully in your hand and brush all the sides with oil. Yes, it will get on your fingers, and no, I didn't take a picture because I didn't want to get oil on my phone. It's only two weeks old!
Bake at 425 for ten minutes. If you put them on the bottom rack, they will get very dark. However, since these were going back in the oven before Shabbos, I didn't want them that dark. I cooked them on the top rack. After ten minutes, take them out, and turn each one over.
Cook another 10 minutes, and then remove from the oven.
Serve hot with instant gravy (unless you know how to make gravy from scratch w/o a roast, then please LET ME KNOW!)
Again, no whining to me when you are popping these little babies like candy. If you want to use puff pastry, then simply cut each sheet into three sections along the folds. (You will have 6 sections in total.) Put the veal mixture on one, and lay a second section on top. Do that 2 more times, so you will have 3 veal knish logs. Brush the top with an egg mixture, and bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes until the puff pastry gets golden brown. It is a lot more fattening, and not as easy to eat cold. Maybe that isn't such a bad thing, seeing as I just downed five of them in one sitting. YIKES! (I was hungry, stop laughing!) Anyhoo, let me know if you make them and you like them. In my house though, we call them Veal'nish. Could someone pass me the gravy?
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