Curried Vegetable Samosas with Cilantro-Mint Chutney

Spice and I have a slight love affair with Indian food. We order from a nearby restaurant frequently. Their delivery special is out of this world. We always get: chicken tikki masala (mmmm), vegetable samosas, basmati rice and a dessert. Call me crazy but its usually the best dinner of the week.

Much to my surprise then, yesterday I came home to Spice bent over the stove with our latest issue of Cooking Light open to Vegetable Samosas. In reading through the recipe, I couldn't believe how easy they were! Spice quickly saved me some time by telling me all she did was mix the filling together, roll it in a wonton wrapper and stick it in a skillet.

The samosas were different from how we are used to having them. They had a great curry flavor and the wanton wrapper was a delicate and welcomed swap from the fried dough that usually surrounds our samosas.

Give it a whirl:

Vegetable Samosas with Cinantro-Mint Chutney from Cooking Light April 2010

Chutney:

½ cup fresh cilantro leaves

½ cup fresh mint leaves

¼ cup red onion

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon sugar

1 serrano chile, coarsely chopped

1 (1/2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger

 

Samosas:

1 ¼ cups mashed cooked peeled baking potatoes

¼ cup cooked yellow lentils

1 tablespoon minces fresh mint

1 teaspoon Madras curry powder

1 teaspoon butter, softened

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

½ cup frozen petite green peas, thawed

10 egg roll wrappers

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Cooking spray

To prepare chutney, combine first 9 ingredients in a blender. Process until smooth. Set aside.

To prepare samosas, combine potatoes, lentils, mint, curry powder, 1 teaspoon butter, ¼ teaspoon salt and cumin. Gently fold in peas.

Working with 1 egg roll wrapper at a time, cut down middle to form 2 long rectangles. Moisten edges of wrapper with egg. Spoon 1 tablespoon potato mixture near bottom edge of wrapper. Fold up from 1 corner to the opposite outer edge of the wrapper, making a triangle. Fold over to opposite side again as if folding up a flag. Repeat fold to opposite side to form a triangle. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Lightly coat samosas with cooking spray. Add samosas to pan, and cook 1 minute on each side. Drain on paper towles. Serve with chutney. Yields 4 servings.

Buttermilk Pound Cake

It was my birthday on Saturday and it just so happened that I went to Texas for the weekend to visit some family. The first time I ever went to visit them, my Aunt Gina made this poundcake and I could have sworn it was the best cake I had ever tasted! I always forget how good it is and then my Aunt sends me one every year for my birthday and I am taken back by how good it is again and again.

This year, as we ate this cake I found out the story about where it came from. Apparently, my Uncle John's secretary a looooong time ago made this cake and brought it to the office. My Uncle was sitting on one of those plastic chairs and as he was eating it, it broke in half and he fell on his bum! Not that this has anything to do with how awesome this cake is, but it's a funny story, nonetheless.

This year, I got the recipe from my cousin. Such an easy recipe and I promise you, this cake is so soft and the crust on it is just a dream come true. I am so glad I have this recipe in my repitoir now. My life is complete. Carry on.



Buttermilk Pound Cake from my Uncle John's Secretary

3 cups sugar

1 cup shortening

6 eggs

3 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

Grease a large bundt pan and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Cream the sugar and shortening together until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blending well after each addition. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt.

In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk.

Add the flour, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, until completely combined.

Pour dough into pan and bake at 325 degrees for 85 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream (with chocolate chips)

After a year of ice cream making and countless flavors, Spice informs me as I'm making this Strawberry Ice Cream that Strawberry is her FAVORITE ice cream flavor!

Uh...what?! Where the heck have I been?

I asked her why she hadn't made it before if it was her favorite and she said she thought it was too hard. Bwah. Lazy bones! This was so super easy! And tasted great! I even used half and half and fat free sour cream it although it was icy, it was still delicious.

Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream with chocolate chips from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 lb fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vodka or kirsch
1 cup sour cream
1 cup half and half or heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Slice the strawberries and toss them in a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsh, stirring until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring every so often.

Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth but slightly chunky.

Refrigerate for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cram maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add the chocolate chips about 10 minutes before finished.

Chewy Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

I have nothing against the vegans of the world. I have nothing against the raw foodies or the vegetarians. In fact, I have a lot of respect for those who follow a specific diet. (I'm trying REEEEEEEEEEAAALLY hard not to offend anyone here!)

I, however, am not one of them. My body does best when I eat what I crave in moderation. If I want a cookie,  I eat a cookie. That's why, until now I have not made anything vegan. I have a friend who does a lot of vegan baking and comes up with the most original recipes! It blows my mind! I, however, stick to butter and eggs because I am not vegan and want my real cookie.

Until now.

I was craving something with raspberry and chocolate together, because it is simply such a divine combination. I came across a recipe that just so happened to be vegan. After scratching my head and staring at my computer screen long enough, I decided it was time to take the leap into vegan-ness.

I was completely blown away by these cookies. They were moist and soft and chewy and amazing. I have to mention again how moist they were because I thought they would be pretty dry since there wasn't any butter or eggs. Not so. This is definitely a recipe I will come back and make again. I also added chocolate chips just for kicks.



Chocolate Raspberry Cookies (vegan) from Koko's Kitchen

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted if clumpy)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease cookie sheet.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together raspberry preserves, canola oil, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts.

In a seperate mixing bowl, sift together the other ingredients. Add the dry to the wet in 3 batches, mixing well with a fork after each addition. When you get to the last batch you may need to use your hands to work the batter into a soft and pliable dough. Add the chocolate chip and mix until incorporated.

Roll the dough into walnut size balls and then flatten them with your hands into 2 1/2 inch diameter discs. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Pad Thai

My obsession with pad thai started out innocently enough. My friend India and I wanted to go get sushi one night. So we went to Lili's on 57th, which they call "Asian Cuisine and Sushi Bar". If you like Asian food I highly recommend going here if you are in the city. It is super fresh and the variety of food on the menu is overwhelming.

Anywhoo, India and I are ravenous and checking out the menu for which rolls we want (which is silly because we always get spicy tuna of some kind) and we decide we want some noodles to go with it. So we order some pad thai. I took one bite and decided it was my new favorite food. And from that day on, India and I would go to Lili's at least once a week and order spicy tuna rolls and pad thai. And lived happily ever after. The end.

Just kidding!

I finally mustered up some courage to try my hand at pad thai one drizzly night. I couldn't find rice noodles in my grocery store (which was poor planning because there are several other grocery stores I could have tried at), so I used whole wheat linguini noodles. I also didn't include shrimp, because, saddly, I am allergic. Actually, not that sad, shrimp is too fishy for me. And I added some broccoli because its delicious. And please don't forget/leave out the lime juice. It really gives the dish the final kick it needs! And we all want a final kick, right?

This was a very basic pad thai recipe, but sure did the trick for me. Even with the whole wheat noodles, which definitely made it a bit heavier, the asian flavors definitely shined through! Which was exactly what I was looking for. I was slightly nervous to use fish sauce because it just sounds gross, but I persevered and it was worth it!

Pad Thai from Family Fun

1/2 pound dried rice noodles, linguine width (or whole wheat linguini)

1/4 cup Asian fish sauce

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes (optional)

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup shredded carrot

2 cups fresh bean sprouts

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 cup cut broccoli

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the noodles and turn off the heat. Let them stand for 10 minutes, using tongs or two forks to separate the strands as they soften and turn from translucent ivory to white. Drain the noodles, rinse them well in cold water, and drain again. Set them aside. If using linguini noodles, cook as directed on package until slightly underdone.

In a small bowl, stir together the Asian fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, water, and chili flakes if desired, until the sugar dissolves and everything is well mixed. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the egg and scramble it as it cooks just until it is no longer runny, about 30 seconds. Transfer the egg to a plate.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl it around. Add the garlic and toss well. Add the chicken and cook it until the edges have mostly changed color, about 1 minute. Toss it well and continue cooking to brown it, about 30 seconds, then push it to the sides.  Add the carrot and broccoli and cook everything about 1 minute. Scoop the chicken, broccoli, and carrot into a bowl, leaving as much oil as possible in the pan.

Swirl the last tablespoon of oil in the pan. When it's hot, add the noodles, spreading them to the edges. Cook for 1 minute, until the oil sizzles. Scoop up the noodles and turn them over in a big mass. Cook them another minute, then turn them again.

Pour the sauce mixture around the sides of the pan. When it sizzles, place the cooked chicken, carrot and broccoli on the noodles, along with the bean sprouts, scallions, and cooked egg. Gently scoop the noodles from the bottom and turn them over. Continue tossing them to mix in the chicken, carrot, broccoli and egg. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the lime juice and toss the noodles well. Serve the Pad Thai hot or warm. Serves 4.