1 c. sifted flour
3/4 t. salt
1/2 c. cooked riced potatoes
1 egg, well beaten
2 T. warm water
1/2 c. shortening

Mix and sift flour and salt; add to potatoes. Make a well and add the egg and water. Mix well. Turn out on lightly floured board and knead until light and elastic. Roll out 1/4" thick. Cut with a floured 2 1/2" cutter. Roll out circles until they measure 3 1/2". Fill with 2 tablespoons of filling. Fold in half to form a semi-circle. Seal edges tightly. Turn 4 pirogen at a time into 1 quart boiling salted water. Boil 5 minutes, remove, drain, then fry in shortening until golden brown on each side. Serve with sour cream.

A standard yeast dough or pastry dough can also be used for pirogen. With these
types of dough the pirogen are baked rather than boiled, on a well greased pan at
375° until nicely browned.

BATTER:
1 egg
1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. sugar
1/2 c. milk (or water)

FILLING:
3 potatoes, boiled and mashed
2 medium onions, minced
1 egg
salt, pepper to taste

Beat egg well. Gradually add flour, salt and sugar to make a smooth paste. Add milk slowly, thinning mixture until it is practically a liquid. Beat constantly so there are no lumps.

Put about 3 tablespoons of batter on a hot well greased skillet about 8" in diameter. Turn pan from side to side in order to spread batter quickly. Fry until light brown on 1 side only. Turn onto a cloth, fried side up.

Sauté onions in butter until brown; add to mashed potatoes. Beat egg and add to mixture. Season and beat until smooth and fluffy.

Place filling in center of each pancake on the fried side. Fold dough over in envelope fashion. Fry each blintze in butter until golden brown. Serve with sour cream.

The unfried blintzes can be kept in the icebox overnight and fried when needed. Remove from the icebox 1-2 hours before serving time so filling isn't ice cold when fried.

When making larger quantities than given above, use 1 potato to fill every 2 blintzes.

2 c. water
2 c. sugar
1 lb. cranberries, wash and check for bruises
6 sliced apples (Jonathans are good)

Bring water and sugar to boil. Add apple slices. Boil 10 minutes. Add cranberries and boil until the cranberries pop.

This is a delicious sauce and was always a family favorite.

1 egg
2/3 c. flour (approximate)
pinch of salt

Mix ingredients and knead until dough is soft and elastic. Roll out on a floured board to a thin even sheet. Let this dry until it is no longer sticky, but not so dry that it will be brittle. Fold into a flat narrow roll about 2" wide; with a sharp knife cut crosswise into very fine strips and toss them up lightly to separate them. Spread on a board or cloth to dry thoroughly before storing in jars. For broad noodles cut in strips 3/8" or 1/2" wide; separate and dry.

To prepare noodles, boil in salted water until tender. Drain and add to soup. Or the noodles may be cooked for 15-20 minutes directly in the soup if preferred.

4 T. shortening, preferably chicken fat
1/2 c. chicken broth, warm
2 eggs, separated
7/8 c. matzo meal
1 t. salt
1/16 t. nutmeg

Melt shortening and cool to lukewarm. Add broth. Add to well-beaten egg yolks. Mix well. Add matzo meal, salt and nutmeg. Mix. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Chill 1 hour. Form into 12 balls; drop into boiling salted water. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Lift out with perforated spoon and add to clear soup.

Ed. Note: matzo balls are also known as "knadlach."

2 c. mashed potatoes
1/2 c. minced onion
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. chicken fat (or other shortening)
1/8 t. pepper

Sauté onions in fat until brown. Add with seasonings to potatoes. Mix well

1 lb. farmer cheese
2 eggs, separated
1/2 t. salt
2 T. sugar
2 T. honey
1 T. bread crumbs

Combine cheese, yolks, and other ingredients. Beat egg whites stiff and fold into cheese. Makes 2 cups filling.

Dough made with potatoes
liver (beef, calf, or chicken)
leftover cooked meat
onions, minced and fried
garlic to taste
pepper to taste
chicken fat

Par-boil liver until tender. Put it through the meat grinder along with leftover meat, if it is being used. Add fried onions and seasonings; mix well. Add enough chicken fat to hold mixture together.

Roll dough on a lightly floured board to 1/8" thickness. Place filling in little mounds on half of the area of the dough. Distance between mounds will be determined by size of knishes desired. Fold empty half of dough over the side with the mounds of filling. Cut out rounds by placing a floured juice glass or other cutter around each spot where filling has been placed. Make sure edges are completely sealed.

Fry knishes a few at a time in hot deep fat (vegetable shortening) until brown. Drain. Place them in covered casserole and put into a 250-300° oven for 30-45 minutes. Watch to see that too much moisture doesn't collect. If so, remove cover. Knishes should come out light and puffy.

The amounts used are up to the individual's own judgment, and will depend on personal taste, number and size of the knishes being made. These can be made rather large and served as the major part of a meal, or can be extremely tiny, and used as an excellent hors d'oeuvre.

These knishes are made in the true Rumanian style. The Hungarian people sometimes add sweet and sour cabbage and chicken gribenes to the filling.

DOUGH:
2 glasses flour
2 eggs (if you feel like it)
some water (How much? Like 2 more eggs.)

FILLING #1: (may be a main dish)
Grind together in meat grinder:
leftover pot roast
leftover roasted potatoes
leftover roasted onions

FILLING #2:
mashed potatoes
onions, sautéed in chicken fat

Mix ingredients into a dough. Roll in a long roll about 1 1/4" in diameter. Cut in 3/4" rounds; roll each individually into 5" circles. Place small amount of filling in center of circles; fold over dough into half circles. Pinch edges tight, fluting edges with fingers by folding bottom edge over top edge over and over again. Drop in boiling salted water. Cook 20 minutes; drain. Add a "glop" of chicken fat (about 3 tablespoons) to pot and coat verenickes. Sprinkle with salt.

Get them to the table fast, before they disappear!

The dough ingredients were recorded verbatim from my great-grandmother, Dubba Yucht (Yacht). The "glasses" of flour are yahrzeit glasses. An "egg" of water is an
eggshell filled with water. The directions and fillings are my mother's translations.

2-3 potatoes, boiled and mashed
3 eggs
3 c. flour
1 t. salt

Mix potatoes and eggs until smooth. Add enough flour and salt to make a dough that can be rolled. Roll dough out on a floured board or cloth to 1/8" thickness. This can be cut into individual rounds and filled, or spread with filling and rolled as for a jelly roll and then cut into serving pieces. Bake on a well greased pan in a 375° oven until brown, or deep fry, according to preference. Any filling may be used.

Another method is to pat half the dough evenly onto the bottom of a well greased square baking dish. Cover dough with a layer of filling, then cover filling sandwich style with a top layer of dough. Bake and cut into squares to serve.