Samosas

 

A samosa is a savory Indian stuffed pastry. It is usually stuffed with potatoes, peas, onions, and spices. It’s traditionally vegetarian, but is also good with beef or chicken.
This was my first attempt to make them, so they’re not as beautiful as I would like, but they tasted great!

Samosas

Dough
1 package (2) refrigerated pie shells

Filling

1 cup frozen peas
2 large potatoes (red or russet)
1 tablespoon butter
1 c finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon dried coriander
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
cooking spray

Set the frozen peas out to thaw.

Cut the potatoes into small squares, about 3/4″ each. Boil potatoes until tender. Drain potatoes, roughly mash, and set aside.

While the potatoes boil, chop onion, shallot and ginger. Heat butter in a medium saucepan. Add onions, shallots, ginger, mustard seeds, coriander and salt. Saute until onions are soft.

Add onion mixture to the potatoes along with the lemon juice, peas and cayenne. Fold ingredients together gently to avoid smashing the peas.

Preheat the oven to 425°. Roll out ready-made pie shells on a floured surface, just enough to make them nice and even-slightly thinner than they originally come. Cut the dough into 4 inch circles.

Spoon filling onto half of the dough circle, fold the empty side over the filling. Pinch the edges to seal the samosa.

Spray the tops of the samosas with cooking spray. Bake on a lightly greased sheet pan or pizza stone for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 375°, and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown.

Most samosas are in triangle shapes, but I found it much easier to fold them into half-moons like an empanada.

Chicken Fried Rice is easy to make and delicious!

After I posted a Pantry list yesterday, I made this, and remembered items I failed to include. So I’ll say here that every time I think of something to add to the Pantry or Fridge, I’ll just edit those lists. 

Fried Rice

1-2 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tbsp. chopped ginger
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
1 bunch chopped green onions (separate the white from green)
¼ chopped red bell pepper
2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 ½ tbsp. soy sauce
1 dash sesame oil
1 large cooked chopped chicken breast
2 c cooked rice
1-2 tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
3 large eggs

Optional: 1 jalapeno pepper or serrano pepper and cilantro

Finely chop ginger and garlic together in a food processor. Heat oil in a large nonstick sauté skillet. This time I used bacon grease left over from the morning, and it might well have made the best batch ever! When oil is hot, add ginger, garlic, bell pepper, and the white part of the green onions. Sauté until fragrant. Add the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and chicken. Reduce liquids until veggies are almost dry. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly until the rice is very hot. Add the Hoisin and combine completely with the rice. Cook until the rice begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. Push the rice to one side of the pan. Add the three eggs and scramble them hard, then mix the rice and eggs together, adding the green onion tops last. Serve with sliced peppers and cilantro.

Six More Weeks of Winter!

Since Punxtsutawney saw his shadow, I thought I’d post a recipe for gumbo just in case we’re in for six more weeks of winter. This will keep you warm when the weather gets cold!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

• 1 large bell pepper
• 4 stalks celery
•  1 large onion
•  1 bunch green onions
• 1 tbl sp oil
• 1 10 ounce bag of frozen okra
• 2 cans chicken broth + 2 cans water
• ¼  to ½  cup dry  roux (This is available at HEB in the seafood section)
• 1 whole chicken – cut into pieces
• 2 links andouille sausage (HEB)
• Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning (Original) http://shop.tonychachere.com/seasonings-c-8030.html

6 cups Cooked rice DO NOT ADD RICE TO GUMBO! Serve gumbo over rice in individual serving bowls.

Chop bell pepper, celery, onion, green onions (reserve green onion tops for later).Heat oil in a large soup pan; add chopped vegetables. Season with Tony Chachere’s. Saute until onions are clear. Add chicken broth and water. Dilute roux with a little cold water to make a smooth mixture. It should be cake batter consistency. Spoon the roux mixture into the vegetable/chicken stock mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 35-40 minutes. While that is cooking, cut your chicken into pieces, sprinkle liberally with Tony Chachere’s, and slice your sausage into rounds about as thick as you like it. After the 45 minutes goes by, put your chicken pieces into the pot. If the liquid does not cover the chicken, add enough water to make sure that happens. Cook that for about 45 minutes, then add the sliced sausage and okra. Cook for 15 more minutes. Test the chicken with a fork for doneness.

**If you don’t like okra, leave it out, or  put it in at the beginning with the other vegetables so it will cook down until it’s unrecognizable.

Serve gumbo over white rice.

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