Monday Night Dinner

So tonight I was feeling kind of bold and decided to try making samosas. They are these delicious fried triangles from Southeast Asia and are filled with with a spicy potato mixture. I found a recipe on Foodgawker.com (my new muse), and they looked so good, that I've been dying to make them ever since. My Mom bought some awhile back, and I remembered them being pretty delicious, so I used the best looking recipe I could find. They turned out pretty well, though I have to say, this recipe didn't seem to have enough dough to make all the samosas. . . Rolling the dough out too thin makes them weaker and a lot harder to work with, which left me with quite a bit of extra filling (no problem since the filling is delicious and it's quite good on it's own). So that said, I think next time I will double the dough recipe. Here's what the filling looks like:

Here's what the samosas look like when they're done:

The recipe I used combined this recipe and another I can't find now:

http://threemanycooks.com/recipes/nibbles-and-drinks/spicy-potato-samosas/

Pastry Dough: (not doubled yet, though I would recommend it)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; more for dusting
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 Tbs. vegetable shortening
6-7 Tbs. cold water

Filling:
2 medium potatoes
1 small onion, diced
1/4-1/2 lb ground chicken or pork
3/4 C frozen mixed vegetable Thawed (I recommend something with corn or beans)
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric

Make the dough:
Mix the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening. Add the water slowly until a ball of dough forms. Take the dough and gather it into a smooth ball. Cover and let rest for 1/2 hour.

Make the Filling:
In a medium pot, bring water to a boil. Peel and cut potatoes, then boil for 8-10 mins or until cooked through. Drain potatoes, and once potatoes are completely cool, diced into smaller pieces (1cm cube)

In a large pan or a wok, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add in onion and cook for 2-3 mins. Then, add in the ground chicken/pork. Stir. When the ground chicken/pork is fully cooked, add in mixed vegetable and diced potatoes. Add in all seasoning. Cook for another 2-3 mins. Stir and lightly crush the filling mixture. Transfer the filling into a bowl and let it cool for 10 mins.

Assemble the samosas:

Knead the dough for a minute and divide into 8 equal parts. Working one at a time, place a ball of dough on your work surface, dust it lightly with flour, and roll it into a 6-inch circle. Cut the rolled circle in half. Now you have two semicircles. Each semi-circle will make a samosa.

Place a small bowl of water next to your work surface to help seal the seams. Moisten the semi-circle’s straight edge with water and fold in half. Press the edges securely together to seal. Fill the cone with one heaping tablespoons of the potato filling. Moisten the open side of the cone with water and pinch the opening closed.

Fry the samosas:
When ready to fry the samosas, heat about 4 inches of vegetable oil in a large pan to about 350° F.  Add the samosas in batches of 3-4, being careful not to crowd the pan. Cook the samosas, turning often, until they’re golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer samosas to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Serve immediately

Weekend Cooking Spree

So, here are the results of my weekend baking spree! First, I cooked some of my favorite cookies of all time, chocolate chocolate chip cookies. These are great to add peanut butter chips to instead of chocolate chips, but usually, I prefer all chocolate :) I like this recipe because it's just the right combination of chocolate- not too sweet, but not boring tasting. Also, this is a super simple recipe, and really quick to make!

1 cup butter
1¼ cup sugar

2 large eggs

½ cup cocoa powder
2¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ tsp.  salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.
Beat together the butter and sugar, then add eggs. In separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and then mix with the butter-sugar mixture until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. I recommend putting the dough in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes to make it easier to work with. Scoop and place on baking sheets,  bake 12-15 minutes. Eat warm with a cold glass of milk : )

The original recipe can be found at: http://annies-eats.net/2011/01/14/giant-double-chocolate-cookies/

Next on my agenda was trying to make these wonderful looking cinnamon rolls. Mine didn't turn out nearly as pretty, but they tasted delicious! I think I didn't let the dough rise in a warm enough place 

because they weren't as fluffy as I'd have liked. Those yeast breads sure are finicky! The recipe is quite long on this one, but it's pretty well worth it. I'm not sure that all the extensive rising times are necessary, but I did it anyways, just in case. I will just post the website I found this recipe on since it is so long:

http://www.sprinkledwithflour.com/2011/01/cinnamon-rolls.html

Maybe my favorite thing I made this weekend was a very simple and incredibly delicious pizza bread. It was a lot like eating a calzone, actually. This recipe takes next to no time to put together, and is a good alternative to store-bought pizza or even fresh pizza (there's no Jet's pizza out here, : ( waaaaah ). I made it Friday for my roommate and I, and we devoured it before I even remembered to take pictures of it! So sorry, all I have is the unbaked picture and the recipe.

All you need is:
1 Tube french bread dough (you can find this in the refrigerated section by the Pillsbury crescent rolls)
Pepperoni
Mozzarella cheese
Marinara sauce for dipping (if desired)
1 egg, beaten
Italian Spices

Start off by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Now roll out the french bread to one long rectangle. Spread the mozzarella and pepperoni evenly over the surface of the dough. Roll the bread tightly into a cylindrical shape, and make sure the seams are pinched closed so no cheese escapes. Brush the beaten egg over the surface of the loaf and sprinkle with Italian seasonings. Bake 20-25 minutes until the top is a light golden brown.

Recipe: http://fakeginger.com/?p=1568

I'm sure it won't be too long until I have another baking spree, haha, I can't seem to keep myself away from it! Anyways, if you try any of these recipes out, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Hello!

My kitchen space/laboratory!

Hey there, world, friends, and/or random strangers. My name is Lauren, and I like cooking and baking as well as sharing recipes. I use the website foodgawker.com a lot to find good recipes, and the pictures on that site are fabulous as well. . . When I post about something I cooked, I'll probably try to add a picture or two, but I wouldn't expect much by way of quality : P The lighting in my kitchen is terrible, and I don't have a great camera, but I'll try to take some decent pics! Also, I plan on going on a baking spree this weekend, so I figured now was a better time than ever to start my blog!