“[A good deli] is like a barbershop with food; everyone knows each other by name and it’s just cozy,” Jeremy Kneller Hernandez, owner of Kneller’s Delicatessen & Appetizing in Tucson, Arizona, told the Journal. “When I have people in the deli here, who are literally hanging out all day eating breakfast and lunch and talking to people … it warms my heart.”
Hernandez – whose father is Hispanic and from East LA; his mom is Jewish from Queens – would spend summers with his grandparents in New York. There, family gatherings were never missed and his bubbe’s cooking was non-stop in the kitchen.
“The aroma of brisket, kugel, rugelach, and schmaltz – so much schmaltz – would fill the air with a sense of warmth and a lot of love,” he said. “My grandpa and I would hit a delicatessen almost every morning before Oyster Bay for a day of fishing or the Shea Stadium for a Mets’ game.”
After working in the world of food since age 15 – and feeling as if the deli was a second home – it was finally time for him to open his own place. He wanted to bring the deli vibe to the desert.
Jeremy Kneller Hernandez shares his love of deli, his dual-cultural upbringing (“ I’m very grateful to have had both experiences,” he says.), and the role of music in his life and in the kitchen. He talks about some of the ways he “spices up” traditional deli food and his take on his great aunt’s knish recipe, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.
“There’s something about the flow of making knish,” he says. “It’s a beautiful melody that comes together with just perfect timing; it’s fun to make and it’s really fun to master.”
Learn more about Jeremy Kneller Hernandez and Kneller’s Delicatessen & Appetizing at knellersdelicatessen.com and follow @knellersdelicatessen on Instagram and Facebook.
For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:
yield – 25 knish
Filling
5 russet potatoes peeled
1 yellow onion peeled and diced
1/3 cup butter
2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1.5 tsp white pepper ground
2 tbsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Knish Dough
5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 cups blend canola oil
2 beaten eggs
2 tsp white vinegar
1 cup warm water
Instructions
For the Filling:
Boil a large pot of water and salt the water ALWAYS. Quarter your potatoes and boil for about 20 minutes until tender with a fork. While potatoes are boiling, dice your onion and caramelize them in a pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil. Let them caramelize on low until it renders and turns brown. When potatoes are done boiling, drain them then add them into a large pan or keep in the pot. Add butter to melt. Roughly mash them. You don’t want them to be smooth but a little rough and slightly chunky. Add and mix all the rest of your ingredients for the filling and then let cool in a fridge for 30 minutes.
For the Dough:
Grab a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly your flour, salt and baking powder. Create a well in your flour. Whisk all the rest of your ingredients separately from the dough. Once mixed, add it into your flour well. Mix rapidly and thoroughly with your hand until it forms a solid one ball. Place on the counter with a pinch of flour and knead the dough for 5-7 minutes. Put back in the bowl as a ball and cover with plastic wrap or towel and let proof for 30 minutes at room temp.
Have some extra flour handy. On a large flat smooth counter throw your dough ball on the counter. Cut the dough into 6 evenly pieces. Throw some flour on the counter and start pressing down on the ball with your palm to make a square like shape about 10×10. Use a roller and roll out your dough ball so it is slightly translucent and rectangular 20×10. Grab an egg and scramble it to egg wash the top end of your pastry dough sheet. Place a log of your knish filling on the bottom of the dough and leave 2 inches from both sides and bottom. Wrap the bottom of the dough sheet on top of the filling log and roll it out all the way. Then close and fold the sides on top. Cut some off if there is too much extra. make 5 indentions evenly with your hand like a karate chop. Then slice them with a knife or dough scraper. Then fold in each piece to make an enclosed knish ball. Repeat this with the rest of the dough and filling. Then preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Egg wash your knish on parchment paper on a sheet tray. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Enjoy.
Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: [email protected].
