Baked samosas

A few nights ago I was sitting around, perusing my roommate's Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's cookbook and came upon this interesting recipe for Indian-style baked samosas. While I wasn't sure about the book--a lot of the "recipes" seem to involve emptying the contents of one TJ's item, like hummus, onto a plate and serving with TJ's organic baby carrots--this recipe caught my eye. It's essentially a rip-off of the Moosewood cookbook's vegetarian samosa recipe, but they've adapted it to involve those pre-washed/peeled/cut sweet potatoes and frozen TJ peas. I was inspired by the simple crust recipe, involving nothing more than flour and buttermilk, and adapted the already-adapted recipe into my own version. I made samosas with the sweet potato/pea filling and a second version of my own creation, a sort of curried ground turkey meat filling with onions and raisins. This raisins balance the spice and saltiness of the curried meat perfectly. Once you make the crust, whose buttermilk lends a gentle tang to the dough, you are free to create just about any filling you wish. Both of these are winners though, in case you're tempted to try them!

Baked Samosas, adapted from Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's, by Deana Gunn and Wona Miniati, Brown Bag Publishers, 2007.

Buttermilk crust

2 1/2 c white flour

1 c buttermilk (or plain yogurt--not fat-free)

1/2 tsp salt

Sweet potato filling

1 large sweet potato, or 2 smaller ones

1/2 c frozen peas

dash of coriander (dried)

dash of cumin

fresh chopped cilantro (can omit if unavailable)

Curried ground turkey filling

1/2 cup raw ground turkey

1/4 c minced onion

2 tbsp raisins

pinch salt

1 tbsp curry powder

*pepper, coriander, cumin should be added to taste

oil

To make the crust:

Mix flour and salt in a medium bowl and then create a well in the middle. Pour in buttermilk and stir the mixture until the dough forms a ball. Add a little flour if dough is too sticky, but remember that dough should be soft. Cover with plastic and set aside in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour while preparing the filling(s).

To prepare the sweet potato filling:

Wash sweet potatoes and place in a pyrex or microwave-safe dish. Use a knife to make cuts in the raw potatoes. Then cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap. Place in microwave and cook on high. This may take from 6 to 11 minutes. When cooked/soft throughout, remove sweet potato, and peel when cool enough to handle. In a small bowl, mash the cooked sweet potato with a fork, and stir in the frozen peas and spices. Set aside--in fridge if samosa assembly will be further delayed.

To prepare turkey filling:

Heat a tablespoon of cooking oil in a frying pan on the stove. Add minced onion and let cook for a minute over medium heat. Add turkey meat and break up with spatula to avoid large clumps of meat from forming. Once meat loses its pinkish hue throughout, add curry powder and additional spices. Once mixture is thoroughly combined, add raisins. Remove from heat and let cool.

To assemble and bake the samosas:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove dough from fridge. Break the dough evenly into about 10 small balls. Roll (or flatten with your hands) each one out to be about 6 inches in diameter. Smaller balls will work too; the dough will just be thicker and you can fit less filling in each one. Place about a heaping tablespoon of your filling of choice into each samosa. Fold the dough over the filling to create mini crescents, and press the edges of the dough firmly together to close off. Place samosas on a greased or floured baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving. Best served with mango chutney!

*Note on the cookbook: Bizarrely, the authors of this Trader Joe's book have nothing to do with the company, and merely set out to create as many recipes as they could with the products that Trader Joe's carries. A nice idea, (think "stuff white people like") but one problem with trying to follow all the recipes is the lack of consistency in TJ's store-to-store stock. The authors have a nice-looking recipe for Green Garbanzo Salad, but I was only able to purchase frozen green garbanzos at TJ's for one week at the Geary/Masonic San Francisco location in 2007. They were great, but unfortunately, one bag was all I got. This book could just as easily be called "easy weeknight dinners;" you can buy the same products at a different grocer and probably get the same results from the recipes.

Crab Cakes

Good evening friends! I regret to inform you that I forgot to take a picture of this evening's crab cakes. Let that be a testament to their mouth-watering, pan-fried and crispy golden glow coming off the pan. They offered no choice but to be eaten immediately. In lieu of a picture, I have a recipe. I began by following a recipe from this month's Olive magazine (a BBC publication), throwing in my own touches and changing the recipe along the way. You can pretty much get away with whatever you want where crab cakes are concerned. Use fresh chopped onion if you have it, or dried, and throw in dried or fresh herbs as desired.

Crab Cakes for Two
2 tins crab meat (120 grams each)
1 heaping tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 egg, beaten
1 tsp sweet smoky paprika
1 dash dried onion pieces
1/2-3/4 c bread crumbs (I used matzoh meal)
pepper
cayenne
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Drain crab meat, then add to a bowl along with all the ingredients and mix thoroughly with spoon or hands. Make sure mixture clings together in one large clump. Then divide into 6 individual "cakes." Place cakes onto a plate or baking sheet and press down slightly to flatten. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to firm.

Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet (or frying pan). When hot, add crab cakes and cook over medium high heat, adjusting if cakes seem to brown too quickly on the bottom. (Add more oil upon flipping cakes; this will help prevent them from sticking to pan.) Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove from stove and serve warm, with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Suggested accompaniment: Baked sweet potatoes.

Grape Jelly-Chili Meatballs

My mom and I discuss this odd dish frequently. This is one of the few all-American (kind of) meals she makes--with a twist. The meatballs (which have morphed from being made with ground beef to ground turkey over the years,) are then served with pasta--preferably bow-tie/butterfly shapes (farfalle)--and covered in a delicious stovetop brew of grape jelly and chili sauce. EWW, right? Wrong--these are so good. As soon as I get the recipe from my mom, I'll post.

And now, a challenge. Readers, I've been lacking inspiration in the kitchen as of late. (As you guessed by my infrequent posting.) I haven't made anything new and exciting, instead running through the usual kitchen staples: chili, stir fries, pasta. It's just a passing phase, and I'll be back to trying new recipes, but I'd love to know if you have a food challenge for me in the meantime. Ideas?

Lots o spaghetti, oh!

A week has flown by without much posting. What can I say--will you forgive me? Still, I have been eating, as usual. Weird aches and pains ail me, but nothing stops me from loving food. It's a sickness.

At any rate, in the past few days I've been mixing it up with spaghetti. What is "it"? Turkey meat sauce, broccoli, chicken sausage, cheese. Uhmm-mmm. Only the tastiest of salty treats for my spaghetti (excluding one favorite--prosciutto).

Thursday I took in a spaghetti crust pie, a delicious dish from my childhood, made straight from Better Homes and Gardens Step-by-Step Kids' Cookbook. And tonight I made spaghetti with meat sauce (ground turkey), only the turkey didn't look "normal;" it seemed almost fluid, liquidy, and didn't break up into big chunks, and almost smoothed out entirely into the tomato sauce. WEIRD. Still, it's hard to go wrong with garlic, tomatoes and meat. At least it all tasted good!

Spaghetti Crust Pie
6-8 oz spaghetti
2 tbsp butter
2 eggs, whisked
1/3 c parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
tomato sauce (your own/store bought)
cheddar cheese
additional toppings of your choosing

Cook and drain pasta. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine pasta, butter, eggs and cheese. Stir until well mixed. Pour into a buttered 9 or 10" pie pan and press gently into sides so that it forms a pie "crust." Pour sauce and toppings on top (except cheese) and bake in oven for 20 minutes. Then add cheese and let cook for 5-10 minutes more, until it starts to bubble, but not burn. Let cool 10 minutes, then serve. Enjoy!

Care for a slice?

After all that talk of pizza I began to crave the real, easy-to-make, homemade kind. And yes, it is easy to make! My crust isn't genius, but it's solid and good, with a slightly sweet note from the honey (adapted from the CCA cookbook Breads, originally published in 1985 by Ortho Books, which appears to have been run by the Chevron corporation. Very interesting.). The recipe for the crust takes 15-20 minutes to make, and then 30-40 minutes more to rise. This isn't a 30-minute meal, but again I emphasize its simplicity, and overall deliciousness. Plus, you can have your favorite toppings, and if you happen to find any stray hairs in your pie, you'll know who they belong to. You. I hope.

Easy Pizza
Dough:
2 1/3 cups unbleached flour
1 packet yeast
1 cup warm (not scalding) water
1 tablespoon honey
pinch salt
2 teaspoons olive oil

In a medium bowl, measure two cups flour and make a well in the center. Pour yeast into center, and add about a half cup of the water. Add honey to yeast and stir once. Let stand and watch for yeast to bubble up and form smooth clumps (3-10 minutes). Then add salt and start stirring mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula, scraping the side of the bowl. Add olive oil, and continue adding the rest of the flour and water. Start kneading dough with hands (alternately, use bread hook on mixer to make the dough. Hands are fun, though). Keep kneading until dough forms into a cohesive, not too sticky ball. (Add a little more flour if it's too greasy or sticky. Remember, a little stickiness is good.) When you press your fingers into the dough and it starts to spring back, cover with plastic wrap and set in warm area (I like the next-to-stove location) and let rise for 30-45 minutes. When doubled in size, punch down and let rest for another 10 minutes before rolling out and shaping.

Baking the pizza:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If you're like me and don't have an applewood-smoked oven, using a simple baking sheet should work just fine to bake the pizza. Using half the dough, roll out until dough is about 1/6 of an inch thick. You don't want to stretch it so that it breaks, but if you like a thin crust, you have to keep rolling it out. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, pricking crust with a fork if it rises up. Remove from oven. Crust should have begun to harden and turn a light golden color. Toppings are up to you: I like to coat the base with a homemade pizza sauce (tomato paste, herbs, water, garlic simmered on stove for about 20 minutes), and then top with additional ingredients. This pizza was inspired with eggplant, mushrooms, garlic oil, fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a tiny bit of pancetta and parmeggiano. Bake in oven for 10-20 minutes, until cheese melts and toppings are cooked.

Remove from baking sheet and let cool on rack for 10 minutes before slicing, unless you like to scald your mouth (as I do) and immediately start picking at it to pull off a slice. Patience is a virtue. And I have little.

Of course, enjoy!

Fajita Special

Sometimes the best dinners are the ones where you end up using odds and ends from the fridge and the cupboard. There's a sense of satisfaction to be had realizing that the can of beans sitting on the shelf from over six months ago has finally been put to use! Or the clamshell of tomatoes--some of which have been slowly withering away--can be finished off before the expiration date. It's a struggle against time, making sure that all the food you once so industriously purchased, thinking it was best to "stock up and save," is put to use before it goes bad.

And now, for a brief photo tour of my fajita special:

Flour Tortillas

+

Chicken with garlic and jalapenos

+

BEANS
(Not pictured here)

+

Fresh, homemade salsa

+

Grated cheddar

=

Fajita Special

Che Buona Pasta!

In Italian, pasta means lots of things, from what we think of as pasta (spaghetti, rigatoni, etc.) to dough, to a general "good guy" (“è una pasta d'uomo,” literally translates into: he's a good dough of a man). However, one pasta dish that Italians might not know about, or care for, is the kind that is transformed into a cold salad. I learned this before speaking the language or having met any Italians myself. My mom made this dish as I grew up, and she always likes to tell the story about how she adopted it from her Italian-American friend, who first made it for her Italian relatives (taken from a Bon Appetit recipe many years ago). Apparently, it didn't receive much of a warm welcome from the Italians, well, mostly because it wasn't, uh, warm. That's us Americans, right? We like to create a new spin on what’s old. We can make warm pasta? Then we’ll make cold pasta too, please. And so "cold spaghetti salad with fontina cheese" was born!

This dish is easy to make and serves many, making it excellent for casual dinner parties. Extra ingredients like roast chicken or sausage can easily be added to the finished recipe if desired.

Recipe for Cold Spaghetti Salad with Fontina Cheese:
1 1/2-2 lbs spaghetti
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb mozzarella, chopped into pieces
1/2 lb fontina cheese, chopped into pieces
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
6 roma tomatoes, diced
20 leaves fresh basil, washed, cut and dried
olive oil
salt + pepper, to taste
parmesan to taste

Bring water to a boil in a large 1 gallon pot. Salt the water just as it begins to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, then drain. While pasta is cooking, add 4 tbsp olive oil to a skillet and add garlic when pan and oil have warmed. Over a low flame, allow garlic to infuse in oil for 2 minutes, then extinguish flame. Once pasta has been drained, return to pot that was used to boil it in. Add garlic and oil to pasta and stir. Add cheese to pasta in pot. It will be very clumpy and difficult to mix. Turn on a low flame and begin stirring pasta. It may take about 15 minutes for the cheese to melt and break up. (Avoid letting the cheese remain in one large clump.) Continue stirring until cheese is largely melted, with smaller clumps of pasta adhering throughout pot. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, and stir. Turn off heat and remove pasta from stove. Add basil and let pasta cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or chill it in the refrigerator and serve cold. Add parmesan to taste, and enjoy!