Name: Before Empanadas There Were ‘Komm Morgen Wieders’
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1.0 large yellow onion; 1/2 stick butter, divided and melted; 3.0 cubed, seasoned and cooked stew meat (don’t overcook!); Soup stock, as needed; 2.0 all-purpose flour; 4.0 eggs; 1.0 whole milk; 1 1/3 cups water; 1/4 stick butter, melted

Servings 4 ×

Ingredients

1 large yellow onion

1/2 stick butter, divided and melted

3 lbs. cubed, seasoned and cooked stew meat (don’t overcook!)

Soup stock, as needed

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 1/3 cups water

1/4 stick butter, melted

Meal Type / Course Entrée

Skill Level Intermediate, Advanced

Cuisine Latvian

My dedicated mom made certain dishes from scratch that always thrilled, the kind of meals that were prepared no matter the circumstance, especially when I would come home from the University of Buffalo on holiday breaks.

My first year of higher education was spent in Pennsylvania at Albright College, but that didn’t last long, even with the full scholarship. Pre-med at SUNY Buffalo was the new direction I chose before eventually making a life-altering move to the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. (More on those cooking adventures in a future column!). The seven-hour trip from Buffalo to the homestead in Roslyn, Long Island, always drained my trusty ’67 VW bug. Gas was .57 cents a gallon for her fill up; once I was home Mom took care of filling me up with her classic “komm morgen wieders.”

My Latvian parents were multilingual. Latvian or German between themselves and the relatives; we kids learned German first, along with their growing shared volume of English. I remember being told my brother’s first days at kindergarten were not well received, and that he was sent back to focus on more better English.

Strange, he ended up becoming a world-class neurosurgeon and basically forgot his youthful Deutsch “gesprochen” (translation: spoken German). I still keep my “die sprache” sharp, handy and ready for any Oktoberfest that may avail itself when the pond can be safely crossed again. Translated, komm morgen wieder means “come again tomorrow.” How cool to call out a meal for its preparation and consumption? These treats were made in volume, as they keep well in the fridge and taste even better as the days pass. They certainly augmented my tightly clutched care packages when returning to the dorm. Sometimes a superior New York-style strawberry-covered cheesecake would also be on the front seat of the Beetle.

Tasty times to be had at the Ellicott Complex at SUNY Buffalo. I helped break those dorms in, literally and figuratively with insane “smoke-ins” and now it’s medical? But I digress …

KMWs are the ultimate on my list of comfort foods. Right now I would happily drive that 800-mile round trip just to get a taste of those knishy-beefy-crepey-concoctions made by Mom’s loving hands. Luckily, my memory now serves me well enough to serve you well enough. Komm morgen wieders are so delish, they might become your ultimate comfort food, too, no matter your ancestry. Latvian, German, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Polynesian … it won’t matter, because KMWs are addictively tasty.

Memories cooking with my mom: priceless. The contraptions, meat grinders and Popeil Chop-O-Matic, and the magic of knowing what to do and how to work them, baby!

All these devices, even the newest versions, are part of the mystique and magical Zen that attracts newer generations to the art of cooking. Just think about how much emphasis on food and cooking has increased in popularity over the last few decades. It’s a shame to me that there are so many “food photographers” out there that think they know how to light the assets, let alone how to cook them. Well, that’s why I’m in business.

About that meat grinder. I had to get a stand-alone one myself, even though I could have just settled on a grinder attachment for the Kitchen Aid. Using it brings me back to my childhood and the sensory memories that I hold in that vault of savory stuff. But let me tell you, grinding pounds of meat is work, as is getting your fingers sprinkled with hot oil splatters – but ain’t it all grand?

I dig the old hands on the delicious ethos of chopping, grinding, mashing and whisking. Food grinders are OG but really cool (and so am I), because they truly get your hands into the meal, and that’s the point. The one I picked up is the CucinaPro 265-08 Healthy Meat Grinder. What technology!

PREPARATION

1 of 12

Sear your meat lightly.

2 of 12

Melted butter in the crepe batter boosts their moisture level and increases the flex needed when forming the KMWs.

3 of 12

Keep them crepes thin!

4 of 12

A stack of cooked crepes ready for wrappin’.

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My glorious new grinder, ready to work its magic.

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Keep those fingers out of there!

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Not gonna lie – meat grinding is a workout.

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The KMW filling station, waiting for the empty crepes to pull up.

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Moist meat is better – soup stock and melted butter keep things deliciously juicy.

10 of 12

A perfect amount of filling.

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Fold once, twice, thrice, four times for a perfectly packaged pouch of delicious.

12 of 12

Stacked an ready to be sautéed, right now or another day.

· Finely chop onion and sauté in 1/4 stick butter until it just starts to caramelize; set aside to cool.

· To make crepes, in large bowl, slowly mix-whisk flour and eggs until blended; slowly add milk while continuing to whisk, then whisk in water, then whisk in melted butter. (Your mix should not be too thick – thinner is better.)

· Heat 12-inch sauté pan over medium heat and give it a light wipe with an oiled paper towel (I like my crepes to start dry).

· This is where quick action makes the crepe right – add about two ounces of batter to the pan and quickly tilt it above the heat, allowing the batter to spread evenly across the surface of the pan in a thin (thin!) layer. The thinner, the better.

· Keep pan on heat until batter starts to look transparent; carefully flip the crepe over (watch your fingers) and continue to cook. Do not brown either side but cook crepe enough so that you can handle it as a wrapper for the meat filling to come; gently remove cooked crepe and place on a platter to cool. Note: It should be thin enough to allow you to see the shadow of your hand when you hold the crepe up to the light.

· Now, to the grinder! Grind up your cubed beef and set aside. Use that elbow grease and work those shoulders. (I was tempted to go full OG and use the Popeil Chop-O-Matic, but I would have been laughing too much to finish the job.)

· Place ground beef, sautéed onions and 1/4 stick butter in pan and sauté re-sauté to get a little “browning” here and there.

· Add soup stock to pan as needed to keep the meat moist, but, honestly – the more stock the better. You can also really go crazy and add lots of extra butter (to also keep the meat juicy) but alas, as I watch my cholesterol levels way more now than when I used to sit at the kitchen table and dig into a plate of these made by Mom, I skipped that part.

· Set aside meat mixture and allow to cool.

· Get ready to prepare that stack-o-crepes! Take three heaping tablespoons of meat mixture and place in center of crepe; fold each side over the center of the crepe to form a small square/rectangle. Be very careful not to tear crepe when folding; repeat until you’ve got a neat stack.

· Sauté the KMWs to a golden brown in 1/4 stick melted butter. Or more. (Did I say that I was trying to watch my cholesterol? Well, I am, at least until after my cardiologist sees me next week. I would hate to waste the effects of the Crestor.); enjoy!

Are you smellin’ what I’m tellin’, because I love it. Come again tomorrow – oopsy daisy, I mean next month!

Sid Hoeltzell is an award-winning Miami-based commercial food and beverage photographer and former “MasterChef” contestant. He has completed more than 450 commissioned works for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, teaches food photography seminars and is a preferred fine art photographer for Christie’s, Sotheby’s and private collections.