An Interesting Discovery

Vegetable Samosas with a variety of
condiments:  Tamarind Sauce, Tamarind-Date
Chutney, Mint Chutney and Mango Chutney

During a recent trip to Maria Groceries, I saw something really interesting in one of their freezer cases:  boxes of big, tasty-looking samosas.  But they not only looked tasty... they looked familiar.   In fact, they looked identical to the samosas served at our favorite Indian restaurant, India Star.   With that in mind, I had to buy some.

The samosas are made in India and imported and distributed by Deep Foods, Inc.   They distribute a lot of Indian foods, including a Tamarind-Date Sauce we really like.  The box is marked "Institutional Punjabi Samosa."  Each box includes 15 samosas, and the back of the box gives directions for preparing them (thaw, then deep fry).  They're very reasonably priced, especially when you consider that they are restaurant-quality appetizers.

These turned out to be really, really great samosas, and it also turns out they taste as much like the ones at India Star as they look like the ones at India Star.  In other words, they're identical. 

Now, that said, I don't know with absolute certainty that India Star serves up mass-produced samosas rather than making their own.   I just consider this extremely likely.   I also don't really care.  These are really, really good samosas, and I know from experience that making samosas can be pretty time-consuming, so I'm not going to begrudge a restaurant taking a short-cut so long as they serve up quality stuff. 

I'm just glad I found a reliable source of really good, fast-to-prepare samosas.  I cook a lot of Indian dishes, and having a quick, easy and reliably good appetizer to go with them is a good idea.  These samosas give me yet another reason to shop at Maria Groceries.

Crab Rangoon

I'm a big fan of Crab Rangoon, when it's made right.  But that's the problem.  In my opinion, the versions you get in restaurants are rarely very good.   More often than not the filling tastes of nothing but cream cheese, and much of the time it's questionable whether any crab meat has ever been in the same room as the Rangoons, nonetheless in the filling.  With this being the case, and with the two Chinese restaurants where I live being pretty much dreadful, I decided to satisfy my recent craving for Crab Rangoon by making my own.

From the outside, Crab Rangoon may appear somewhat fussy to make.  Folding the wrapping around the filling, sealing it, then the messy deep-frying.  In truth, though, it really doesn't take long to make them, the technique is simple and as long as you use a deep enough pan, the mess isn't that great.  Done right, the results speak for themselves.  These crispy, golden-brown packets of flavor make a great appetizer or a great side to another Asian dish. 

When making Crab Rangoon, you should also consider what dipping sauce(s) you are going to use.  Much of the time homemade is the way to go, but since we made these on a weeknight along with a main dish, we went with the fast-and-easy option of using the sauces sold in the supermarket.  One or more sweet or sweet-and-sour sauce is a must, and for me personally, hot mustard is also a must-have.

Crab Rangoon
yield = approx. 4 dozen

2                packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese
1                can (6 ounces) lump crab meat
3                tablespoons chopped fresh chives or green onion tops
1                teaspoon sugar
1/2             teaspoon white pepper
1/2             teaspoon table salt
1/8             teaspoon garlic powder
1                package wonton wrappers
4                cups peanut, canola or vegetable oil (for deep frying)

Microwave the cream cheese for about 1 minute to soften it.  Add the crab meat, chives (or green onion tops), sugar, white pepper, salt and garlic powder.  Stir to mix thoroughly.

Spoon about two teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper.  Wet the edges of the wonton wrapper, fold over to close, press the edges together and fold over the outside edges, pinching tightly.  Continue with the remainder of the cream cheese mixture.

Add 4 cups peanut, canola or vegetable oil to a Dutch oven.  Heat to 350 degrees.  Add 6-8 rangoons to the hot oil.  Fry 2 minutes or until the edges start to turn deep brown; flip and fry another minute or so, then transfer to a plate lined with paper towels, then transfer to a serving plate and cover with a clean dish towel.

Continue with the remaining rangoon, letting the oil heat back up between batches.  Serve with dipping sauces or other Asian condiments of choice.

Vegetable Samosas

I was recently discussing Indian food on one of my favorite cooking message boards, Cookaholics Bulletin Board, and asked if anyone had a good recipe for vegetable samosas.  Juli and I love samosas, but I'd not yet found a good recipe for them.  One of the board members posted links to two recipes at the Canadian Living website, including this one.  My thanks to jeanf, because thanks to her recommendation I now have a good recipe for samosas.

I made a few adjustments to the Canadian Living recipe, to reflect my and Juli's tastes.  I think the as-written recipe will probably work fine, except that you'll almost certainly have to add a bit more than the suggested amount of liquid to get the dough to come together.   The version posted below reflects my changes to the Canadian Living recipe.

I really enjoyed making this recipe.  In one of the early steps, fragrant spices are fried in a few tablespoons of oil. This both enhances the of the spices and flavors the oil so the oil transfers the flavors evenly to and through the other fried ingredients.  Beyond that, the scent of the frying spices was wonderful.  That was the point when I knew these were going to be really, really good.  Each additional step just confirmed that.

Put simply, these are as good as any samosas we've ever had, and a lot better than most.  The thin, flaky crust surrounds a moist, tasty, fragrant mix of vegetables and spices.  Every mouthwatering bite delivers a combination of crunchy pastry and steaming-hot vegetables.  Samosas are usually served and eaten as an appetizer, but these Vegetable Samosas are hearty enough that a few of them of them would make for a satisfying, light meal.   I will definitely be making these again, probably often. 

Vegetable Samosas

yield = approx. 24 samosas

2             cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4       teaspoons cumin seed + 1 teaspoon
1/2          teaspoon table salt + 1/2 teaspoon
1/2          cup chilled butter
1/2          cup + 1 tablespoon milk
2             cups diced, peeled potatoes
3/4          cup diced, peeled carrots
3             tablespoons vegetable oil + additional for frying
1 1/4       teaspoons brown or black mustard seed
1             teaspoon ground fennel seed
3/4          teaspoon ground coriander
3/4          teaspoon ground fenugreek seed
1/2          teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4          teaspoon cayenne pepper
1             onion, minced
2             tablespoons fresh, peeled and grated ginger
2             teaspoons minced garlic
1/2          teaspoon table salt
3/4          cup frozen peas
3             tablespoons lemon juice
2             tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

In a food processor, combine flour, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and salt.  Pulse in butter until the mixture forms fine crumbs.  Pulse in 1/2 cup milk.    Remove dough from the food processor bowl and knead in additional milk 1 teaspoon at a time until the dough forms into a coherent ball.  Press into a disc, wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Add potatoes and carrots to a saucepan and cover with water.  Cook 10 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Fry mustard seed, 1 1/4 teaspoon cumin seed, fennel, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric and cayenne for about 1 minute or until the cumin seeds start to pop.  Add onion and fry until it just starts to brown (about 4 minutes).  Add ginger, garlic and salt and fry until the onion is well-browned, about 2 more minutes.  Stir in potato mixture, peas, lemon juice and cilantro.  Transfer to a bowl to cool.

Cut the dough into 12 pieces and form each into a flat round.  On floured surface, roll out each dough piece into a circle, approx 6 inches across.  Cut each circle in half.   One at a time, form each dough semi-circle into a cone, pressing the edges together and sealing with water (see picture below). 

Fill each cone with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the potato mixture.  Moisten the open edge of the pastry and press together to seal. 

Heat about 3 cups of oil in a Dutch oven to 350 degrees.

Fry the samosas in batches of 4 or 5 at a time, adding each one individually using tongs, a slotted spoon or a wok strainer.  Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes, flipping after about 3 minutes.  Remove to a tray or plate lined with paper towels.  Serve warm with chutneys of choice.

Cheesy Jalapeno Bean Dip

By the end of last weekend, I was pretty close to exhausted, so I decided I was going to take it fairly easy as far as cooking, and take some time outside the kitchen to kick back and watch some TV while munching on chips and dip.  Turns out there wasn't a whole lot worth watching on TV, but the chips and dip part of the plan turned out great!

The recipe below reflects one I learned to cook more than 20 years ago, while in grad school.  A friend of mine knew a lot more about cooking than I did, and among his various other culinary achievements, I thought his bean dip was possibly the best ever.   I watched him make it enough times that I picked up the basics, and it's evolved over time to the current version.  It's more flavorful than spicy, it has a great texture and it stores and reheats well. 

I like this recipe quite a bit, and hope you will, too. 

Cheesy Jalapeno Bean Dip

yield = about 4 cups of dip

1       teaspoon vegetable or canola oil
1/4    cup finely-chopped, fresh jalapeno peppers
1       teaspoon grated garlic
1       teaspoon ground cumin
1/8    teaspoon cayenne pepper
1       large can (31 ounces) or two small cans refried beans
4       ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2       tablespoons taco sauce

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat.   When the oil is shimmering, add the chopped jalapenos and stir-fry about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, fry 30 seconds, then add the cumin and cayenne and cook another 30 seconds.

Reduce heat to low and add the refried beans, stirring to mix the jalapeno mixture evenly with the beans.  Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, then stir in the cheddar cheese and taco sauce.   Cook, stirring often, until the cheese is melted and incorporated into the dip.  

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with choice of chips.

Note:
I used Ortega Medium Taco Sauce and served up the dip with Tostitos Scoops.

If you like more heat to your dip, you might add a bit more cayenne or a few dashes of hot sauce.