Shmaltz Recipes

SCHMALTZ AND GRIBENES

Steps:

• In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, toss chicken skin and fat with salt and 1 tablespoon water and spread out in one layer. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, until fat starts to render and skin begins to turn golden at the edges.
• Add onions and cook 45 to 60 minutes longer, tossing occasionally, until chicken skin and onions are crispy and richly browned, but not burned.
• Strain through a sieve. Reserve the schmaltz. If you want the gribenes to be crispier, return to the skillet and cook over high heat until done to taste. Drain gribenes on a paper-towel-lined plate.

SCHMALTZ AND GRIBENES

Steps:

• Rinse the pound of chicken skin and fat, pat dry, then chop it into small 1/2 inch pieces.
• Toss the chicken skin pieces with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Place the skin and fat into a skillet on the stovetop (make sure it's cast iron or nonstick!) and turn heat to medium low. Cover the skillet and let it cook on medium low for about 15 minutes. Liquid fat will start to pool at the bottom of the skillet.
• Uncover the skillet and raise heat to medium. At this point you can add onion, which will give you an onion-flavored darker colored schmaltz, or you can render the fat without onion for a cleaner, purer fat with no onion essence. Most Jewish cooks prefer to render the fat with onion. Let the skin and fat cook for another 15-20 minutes, breaking the pieces apart with a spatula and stirring frequently, until the skin starts to brown and curl at the edges. At this point there should be quite a bit of liquid fat at the bottom of the pan-this liquid is your schmaltz.
• Remove pan from heat. Pour the schmaltz from the skillet into a container, using a mesh strainer to catch any small pieces of skin. A golden oil will result-this is called schmaltz. It can be used in a variety of Jewish dishes or as a cooking fat.
• If you cooked the onions as the fat rendered, your oil will be a darker golden color with an orange hue. The schmaltz will stay liquid at room temperature; it will become solid and opaque if you refrigerate it.
• If you cooked the skin and onion together, return to medium heat and continue cooking in the skillet until the skin is deeply golden, curled and crispy, and the onions are dark brown. Drain on a paper towel and serve.
• If you did not cook the onions with the skin, you can cook them after the schmaltz is collected. Return the cooked chicken skin and fat to the skillet.
• Turn heat to medium and sauté the mixture for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Don't leave them alone for long or they'll burn! Adjust heat lower as needed to keep from blackening too much.When pieces are dark brown and crispy, remove the gribenes from the skillet with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel. They become crispier as they cool.
• Gribenes can be snacked on as-is or added to other dishes as a topping.
• Rinse the pound of chicken skin and fat, pat dry, then chop it into small 1/2 inch pieces.Cut your onions into slices, then cut slices into pieces around 1/4 inch long.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss the chicken skin and fat with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper, then spread it out into a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet.
• Place baking sheet in the oven and let it roast for 20 minutes, until the skin starts to turn golden and curl at the edges. Fat will have started collecting on the sheet.
• Add onions to the hot baking sheet, spreading them out evenly throughout the chicken skin.
• Return to oven and continue roasting for another 40-50 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crispy and the onions are dark brown. When stirring, make sure to move the pieces on the outside towards the center, and move the center pieces out towards the middle, so the pieces evenly brown.
• When the pieces become crispy, remove from the oven and let the tray cool down. Strain the fat from the tray through a mesh strainer into a collection container.
• The gribenes are delicious to snack on or used as a topping. The schmaltz should be saved and used in a variety of savory dishes. In will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.

RENDERED CHICKEN FAT (SCHMALTZ)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Place the fat and skin scraps in a heavy-bottomed, nonreactive pot ( cast iron , copper, and aluminum can give your schmaltz an off taste). Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the scraps render most of their fat and begin to brown.
• Add the onion, if using. Raise the heat to medium. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken scraps are golden brown and crispy, but not burnt. Turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
• Strain into a heatproof glass or Pyrex container. Canning jars work well for this. A fine-mesh strainer will work in a pinch, but cheesecloth or a paper or cloth coffee filter are best.
• Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to six months.

SCHMALTZ (RENDERED CHICKEN FAT)

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Partially cover the pan and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. The fat will begin to crackle as it cooks. When you no longer hear the fat crackle, remove the lid, reduce the heat to low, and continue to cook until the skin becomes crispy, about 15 to 25 minutes. Lower the heat, if necessary, to keep the skin from browning too quickly. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Strain into a small bowl. If desired, reserve the crispy skin. Refrigerate, covered for up to 1 week.
• Tip: Trim the chicken fat and skin from whole birds before roasting and store it in the freezer until there is enough to render, or ask your butcher for some.

SHMALTZ

Steps:

• Cut up the chicken fat into 1 inch chunks.
• Cut the skin into pieces, about the same size as the fat.
• Cut the onion into quarters, and then into slices.
• Do not mince the onion.
• In a heavy, preferably non-stick pot, place the chicken fat and the skin.
• Over a medium-high fire, let it cook until the fat has melted and the skin is beginning to get golden brown.
• Add the onion and the salt (you decide how much).
• Once you add the onions, don't leave the pot alone.
• Mix frequently to avoid sticking and buring.
• Keep cooking until the onions are a gorgeous golden brown color and the skin pieces are dark brown (but not black).
• The skin has now turned into something heavenly called gribenes.
• Remove the pot from the flame.
• Let cool and then strain the mixture into a glass or metal bowl.
• Pat the gribenes with a paper towel.
• You can now pour the cooled shmaltz into a jar and keep it indefinitely in the fridge or freezer.
• Keep the gribenes separate from the shmaltz in another jar.
• Your shmaltz is now ready to be used in matzo balls, kugels, chopped liver, and for frying.
• Gribenes are best eaten in a sandwich with chopped liver, or sprinkled on the chopped liver as an edible garnish.

SCHMALTZ AND GRIBENES

Steps:

• 1. Wash fat and skin well in a colander, and pat dry. Place in a heavy skillet, and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
• 2. Cook, uncovered, over low heat (you can turn it up a bit once the fat has begun melting). When the fat starts to melt and get slightly brown, add onions (and garlic cloves if you like), and continue cooking until onions and cracklings are golden brown and crunchy.
• 3. When partially cooled, strain over a bowl to remove onions and cracklings, and refrigerate them in a covered glass jar. Poor schmaltz into another jar, cover, and refrigerate.

SCHMALTZ (RENDERED CHICKEN FAT) RECIPE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine chicken fat and skin with just enough water to barely cover. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then lower heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring frequently, until fat has mostly rendered, water has cooked off, and chicken skin and fat pieces are small, browned, and starting to crisp, about 50 minutes. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
• Strain rendered chicken fat (schmaltz) through fine mesh strainer and use as directed. Reserve crisped chicken skin, fat, and onion (called gribenes in Yiddish), if desired (they can be eaten as a snack with salt, or stirred into chopped liver).