Food writers are regularly solicited for food advice—what to cook, how to cook it, and, most often, where and what to eat. Mimi Sheraton understands this phenomenon all too well. As a veteran food writer who began her career six decades ago (before the job title properly existed), spent nearly a decade as the restaurant critic for the New York Times starting in the 1970s, published several cookbooks, and traversed the globe many times over on her culinary quests, she has tasted, formed, and shared opinions about everything from affogato to Zanzibar duck.
Mohn Kichel
June 09, 2021
Ingredients
- 2envelopes active dry yeast
- pinch sugar
- salt
- 3 ½pounds flour (about 12 cups), or more as needed
- 3extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
- ½pound very fresh poppy seeds (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 ½tablespoons salt
- 1 ½teaspoons finely ground black pepper
- 5very large or 7 medium-size onions, coarsely grated
- ¾cup peanut oil, plus oil for the mixing bowl and baking sheets
Yield: Makes about 50 cookies
Preparation
“Homely, rustic, and pale golden brown, these biscuits called kichel are redolent of both onions and poppy seeds.” Recipe reprinted with permission from 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die by Mimi Sheraton (Workman, 2015).
- Step 1
Sprinkle the yeast into 1/2 cup warm water and add sugar. Let stand until the mixture begins to foam, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Step 2
Place flour in a large, wide mixing bowl or mound it on a pastry board or a wood countertop. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the yeast mixture, eggs, poppy seeds, salt, and the pepper, grated onions, and peanut oil. Using a fork, beat these ingredients together, then gradually stir the flour into the liquid mixture until thoroughly incorporated. If the dough is too stiff and crumbly, add a little more water. If it is too soft and sticky to knead, which is likely to be the case, work more flour into the dough until it is light, smooth, and very elastic but not at all sticky.
- Step 3
Lightly flour a work surface, then knead the dough very well until it is shiny and blisters form on the surface, 15 to 20 minutes, depending upon the temperature in the room and the vigor with which you knead. You can also knead the dough in a stand mixer with a dough hook but it will be better if it is finished kneaded by hand for at least 5 minutes.
- Step 4
Lightly oil a mixing bowl. Place the dough in it, cover it with a towel, and place the bowl in a warm, draft-free corner to rise until it has doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Step 5
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush 2 or 3 large baking sheets with oil.
- Step 6
Punch down the dough, divide it into convenient-size batches, and using a lightly floured rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out 1/4 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough in squares, diamonds, or circles; the squares and diamonds should be about 3 by 3 inches, the circles about 2 inches in diameter.
- Step 7
Arrange the kichel on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Prick the surface of each kichel with a fork and brush the top lightly with peanut oil. Bake the kichel until golden brown, about 45 minutes.
- Step 8
Transfer the kichel from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool thoroughly as soon as they come out of the oven. Packed in an airtight container they will keep for weeks.