Fried Meat Kreplach Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare 1 of the 3 fillings and refrigerate before you begin preparing dough:
• Meat Filling
• 1. Heat corn oil in a skillet; sauté onions until nicely browned, remove with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Add meat to the pan and sauté on high heat, stirring frequently until all meat is browned. Put the onions back in, and sauté with meat, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Let cool.
• 2. In a bowl, thoroughly mix meat-onion mixture with all remaining ingredients.
• Potato Filling
• 1. Heat corn oil in a skillet, and sauté onions until nicely browned. At the last minute, add garlic, which browns quickly.
• 2. In a large bowl, combine onion-garlic mixture with all other ingredients, and blend thoroughly.
• Cheese Filling
• 1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and blend thoroughly.
• Make wrappers and cook:
• 1. Sift flour and 1 teaspoon salt into a large bowl, and create a well in the center.
• 2. Pour eggs into the well, and, wetting your hands, knead into a dough. Add water, and continue kneading until dough is smooth. Roll dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover the bowl with a damp cloth, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• 3. On a well-floured board, roll dough as close as possible to paper-thinness with a floured rolling pin. Cut into 2-inch squares. You can roll each individual square a bit thinner before you fill it. Have bowl with beaten egg, a teaspoon, and filling at hand.
• 4. Place a flatware teaspoon of filling in the center of the square and fold diagonally to create a triangle. Seal sides with egg mixture.
• 5. Bring a pot of water to a vigorous boil, add 1 tablespoon salt, drop in the kreplach, and cook for 20 minutes. Serve in chicken soup or, for dairy fillings, with sour cream and fried onions.

Steps:

• For filling: In a small skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté until well browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Toward end of cooking add garlic, and stir well.
• Add beef, breaking it up well with side of wooden spoon. Sauté until it has lost its raw color. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, and sauté another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
• For dough: Mound flour on a wooden board (or in a large mixing bowl). Make a well in center. Break eggs into well, then add 2 tablespoons lukewarm water. With a fork, beat eggs and water together, incorporating a bit of the flour. As liquids blend, continue to push flour into well. Drizzle in 2 more tablespoons water, one at a time, or as needed to make a cohesive dough.
• When dough is well blended, mix it by hand, then begin to knead it on a flat surface. With a bench scraper, turn dough and press it with your fingertips, then knead a few strokes again. The dough should remain slightly sticky but become smooth and elastic; if dough is very sticky, lightly sprinkle work surface with flour. Form dough into a ball and let rest on the board, covered with a bowl or a piece of plastic wrap, for 30 minutes.
• Using half the dough at a time, and keeping other half covered, roll out very thin on floured board. You may need to stretch as you roll. Alternately, use a crank-handled pasta machine on thinnest or near thinnest setting.
• To fill and shape kreplach, cut rolled dough into 3-inch squares. Put 1 rounded teaspoon of filling in center of each square. With a brush or a finger, moisten edges of squares with water. Fold dough from corner to corner, forming a triangle, and seal carefully.
• To cook kreplach, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Working in batches, if necessary, add kreplach -- do not crowd pot -- and boil until dough is cooked and tender to taste, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain and cool. (Kreplach can be frozen at this point. To use, thaw in refrigerator or at room temperature.)
• Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add about 1/8-inch vegetable oil. When oil is shimmering, add boiled kreplach and fry until well browned and crispy on both sides. Serve hot, accompanied by applesauce, if desired.

Steps:

• Prepare Dough - Beat egg slightly, add salt, flour and enough water to make a stiff dough.
• Knead dough well, let stand covered for 30 minutes.
• Roll out very thin and spread on cloth to dry. It must not be the least bit sticky but not so dry that it will break or be brittle.
• Prepare Meat Filling - The original recipe simply used chopped cooked meat. Our family version put the meat and browned onions through a meat grinder. I'm going to try using a food processor and roughly chop the meat and onions.
• Add egg, salt and pepper to meat and onion mixture.
• With knife, cut the dough in 2 inch squares.
• Place a teaspoon of meat mixture on every square and then fold each into a triangle, pressing the edges together. Wet the edges with water or egg yolk if needed to get them to stick well.
• Drop kreplach into boiling salted water or soup, and cook for 15 minutes.
• Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve. (They could also be served immediately in hot soup).
• Prior to serving, thaw (if frozen) and brush tops with oil, butter or schmaltz. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through (I'm totally guessing on the time since this was not in the cookbook notes, so monitor closely so the kreplach does not get browned on the tops).

Steps:

• Separate the onions into rings.
• To draw out the moisture, toss in a bowl with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; set aside for about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.
• Then place the onions between sheets of paper towelling, pressing down to soak up as much onion water as possible.
• Meanwhile, prepare the chicken: roughly shred it (preferably using your fingers, so you can find little bits of gristle or bone) and place in a bowl.
• If the chicken is very dry - usually the case if you are using chicken left over from soup - spoon some broth over it, mix well, and let it drink in the liquid for at least 15 minutes.
• Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over med-high heat; add the onion, and keep tossing with a spatula as they soften and begin to golden.
• Stir in the garli and continue cooking and turning, until the mixture is a deep caramel color, but before it turns crispy, about 5 minutes.
• Stir the onions into the chicken and let cool slightly,
• Add the egg, dill, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Refrigerate the mixture for at least an hour.
• Fill and trim the kreplach using about 1 heaping teaspoon of filling per krepl, folding into a tight triangle, and sealing with the egg wash.
• Poach the kreplach, in a large wide pot, bring at least 5 qts of lightly salted water to boil.
• Slip in the kreplach, one by one, being careful not to overcrowd the pot (if necessary cook in batches).
• Lower the temperature slightly (the kreplach might explode if the water is boiling furiously) and poach until tender - 3-5 minutes (exact time will vary on the brand of wonton wrappers used).
• Lift out the kreplach, a few at a time with a large skimmer, gently shaking the skimmer so the water drains back into the pot (they are too fragile to pour into a colander).
• Serve the kreplach in soup. Or serve poached or sauteed kreplach with gravy, fried onions, or fried mushrooms as a side dish or appetizer.