Giant Samosas

The night before last I made Samosas.  I wanted to bake them rather than fry them, so I used some frozen puff pastry dough.  The resulting Samosas were just okay.  The dough wasn't substantial enough for the filling.  Last night was pizza night, but I had enough samosa filling to make a couple of calzone sized Samosas.  In contrast to the previous night's version, these were really good.  The pizza dough was sturdy enough to hold up to filling.  The yeasted dough and baked Samosas are not traditional, but they were good.

A note on the filling...the Samosas I've had in the past always had potatoes and peas in them.  Neither Tess nor Lisa like peas, so I substituted braised Kale for the peas in half the recipe.   I liked both fillings equally.

Finally, I served these with a Tamarind Mint Chutney.  The sweet and sour chutney works really well with the potatoes in the Samosas.

For the Stuffing (adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking):

4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 T plus 1 tsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 bunch kale, stem removed then chopped
1 T minced or grated fresh ginger
3 T minced cilantro
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 T lemon juice

Place the potatoes in a pan with water to cover.  Bring to a boil and cook 5 minutes.  Drain and reserve.

Heat the 2 T of the oil and onions in a skillet over medium heat.  Cook until the onions begin to brown.  Meanwhile, in another large skillet, heat the remaining tsp oil over medium high heat.  Add the Kale and cook until it begins to wilt.  Add water to cover, bring to a simmer then cook for 10 minutes over low heat.  Remove from the heat and drain the kale.  In a small saucepan, add the peas and water to cover.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes.  Drain the peas.

When the onions are browned, add the ginger, cilantro, salt, coriander, garam masala, cumin, and cayenne.  Cook for about a minute until the spices are fragrant.  Add the potatoes and lemon juice and mix well.  Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through.  Taste for salt and lemon juice.  Divide the potato mixture into two batches.  Mix the kale into one batch and the peas into the other.  Leave both batches to cool before stuffing the Samosas.

Samosa Dough (Pizza dough from the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook):

Sponge
2 tsp dry yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm water
2/3 cup bread flour (80g)

Dry Ingredients
4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (526g)
1/4 cup rye flour (32g)
1 tsp salt

1/3 cup olive oil

Stir the yeast into the lukewarm water, mix in the bread flour and set aside until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Mix together the dry ingredients.  Add 1 cup of the dry ingredients and 1 cup water to the sponge.  Mix well and let sit for another 30 minutes.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and the olive oil to the sponge.  In an electric mixer with a dough hook, knead for 5 minutes. 

Put the dough in a large bowl lightly coated with olive oil.  Let rise in a warm spot for about 2 hours.

Form the dough into 6 5-ounce balls for the samosas (these are big).  The remaining dough freezes well.

Baking the Samosas

Preheat an oven with a baking stone to 500 degrees for about an hour.

Roll out the dough balls into a thin rounds.  Top each round with 1/6 of the samosa filling.  Fold over the dough creating a half moon.  Starting at the top of the half moon, begin pinching and folding the edge of the dough back onto itself creating pleats all the way around until sealed.

Use a well floured peel to slide the Samosas onto the pizza stone.  Bake until well browned.  Serve with Chutney.

Meat Ragu with Pappardelle

Lisa, Tess, Finn and I went for a hike at Rockville Hills Park near Fairfield yesterday.  Towards the end of the hike, the fog started rolling in and it began to get a bit chilly.  I asked Tess what she wanted for dinner and she came up with this Ragu.  I found the recipe on foodandwine.com a few years ago and it has become a semi-regular at our dinner table.

Pork Loin Chops with Potatoes in Tomatillo Sauce

This was based on Rick Bayless' Tomatillo-Braised Pork Loin recipe in his Mexico One Plate at a Time cookbook. I had some end cut, pork loin chops in the freezer, and didn't have any idea what to do with them. I sent a tweet to Rick and he suggested that I braise them in a tomatillo salsa.

1 1/2 T Olive Oil

2 pounds thick-cut pork loin chops

1 pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed

1 jalapeno (for a very mild dish, more for a spicier sauce)

1 medium white onion, sliced

3 large garlic cloves, pressed through a garlic press

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

salt to taste

1 1/2 pounds creamer size yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and quartered

Preheat the broiler with a rack placed about 4" from the heat source. Place the tomatillos and chile(s) on a sheet pan lined with foil. Broil for 5 minutes until the tomatillos and chile begin to char. Turn over and broil 5 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let cool. Turn the broiler off and turn the oven to 325 degrees. Once cool, transfer the tomatillos, chile and all the the juice from the tomatillos in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Bring the potatoes to a boil and simmer in salted water for about 10 minutes or until tender.

Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add the pork chops. Brown well on both sides and remove to a plate. Remove the pan from the heat and let the oil cool slightly. Place the pan back over medium heat, then add the onions and cook until soft. Turn the heat to medium high, add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the tomatillo mixture and cook until the mixture thickens and darkens. It will be very fragrant. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and cilantro. Add salt to taste.

Transfer the pork chops to the pan, and cover with the sauce. Cover the pan, place in the oven, and cook for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, add the potatoes to the pan and mix so both the chops and potatoes are covered with sauce. Return to the oven and cook 10 minutes more. Remove from the oven and check the internal temperature of the chops. They should be 140 degrees. If not return to the oven and cook another 5 minutes.

Remove the chops to a plate, cover with foil and let rest 5 minutes.

Adjust the sauce for salt, then serve the chops with sauce on top and potatoes on the side.

Garlicky Kale with Toast and Poached Eggs

Ever since my wife had the Boiled Kale with Toast and Poached Egg at Zuni Cafe, it became a standard at our house. Natalie Coughlin tweeted about a Garlic Soup she made which inspired me to change my recipe a bit. This recipe is so simple I was willing and able to make it after completing the California International Marathon earlier in the day.

6 large cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 cup plus 1 T olive oil
1 onion, minced
2 bunches Kale, center ribs removed
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices crusty bread (I like a sourdough batard)
4 poached eggs
Cheese to grate over finished dish (parmesan, asiago, etc.)

Cook the garlic in the 1/4 cup olive oil over very low heat for 30 minutes or so until soft.

In a large pot, cook the onion in the 1 tablespoon olive oil until soft. Meanwhile, cut the Kale crosswise into 1/4" ribbons. When the onion is soft, add the kale and continue cooking. When the kale has wilted completely, add enough water to cover and cook over low to moderate heat for 30 minutes. Once the garlic is soft, remove from the olive oil and add to the Kale. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reserve the olive oil.

Toast the bread and place one slice in each of four bowls. Cover with the Kale and some of the broth. Top with a poached egg. Drizzle some of the oil used to cook the garlic over the egg. Grate cheese over the top and serve.

Tuna Pasta

This is a "I don't feel like going to the grocery store, in fact I don't even really feel like cooking" dish.

Mince some onion and saute it in olive oil. Add some minced garlic and red chile flakes. Chop up a can of imported tuna and add it to the pan. Throw in some white wine and let it cook down a bit. Throw in a tablespoon of butter. Cook some spaghetti noodles until almost done. Drain the pasta but reserve some of the pasta water. Add the spaghetti to the tuna. Add some of the pasta water and finish cooking. Toss with some minced parsley and serve.

Stir-fried Shrimp, Kerala Style

This was based on a recipe from Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's Seductions of Rice cookbook. If I were to make it again, I might cut back on the dried coconut and add some coconut milk. It seemed to need something to make it more saucy.

Stir-fried Shrimp, Kerala Style

1-1/2 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp
1/2 cups dried grated unsweetened coconut
1 T minced garlic
1/4 tsp dried chile flakes
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 T rice vinegar
2 T vegetable oil
1/4 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp raw long grain rice
1 tsp minced ginger
1 large minced onion
1 minced anaheim chile

Chop half the shrimp into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside with the whole shrimp

Combine the coconut, garlic, chile flakes in a bowl. Stir to blend. Add a few tablespoons of water to make a paste. In another small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons water with the vinegar and set aside.

In a heavy pot, heat the oil over high heat until almost smoking. Add the mustard seeds and rice and stir once or twice. Lower the head to medium high and add the ginger, onions and green chile. Cook until the onions are softened, then keep warm over low heat.

Heat an oiled wok over medium heat. Add the coconut mixture and stir for a couple of minutes until the coconut begins changing color. Add the shrimp and stir to coat with the coconut mixture. Add the water and vinegar, raise the heat to medium-high and steam for 3 minutes. Uncover and add the onion mixture. Cook another minute or so until the shrimp are cooked through. Serve with steamed rice.

Fresh Dungeness Crab

Okay, so I didn't cook. I did make a Caesar salad though.