Chickpea Samosas with Raita dip; and a Thank You dinner

Note:  I've been nominated for Babble's 100 Top Food Blogs!  I have 12 more votes to get into the top 50.  If you like what I've done here, would you follow the side link to Babble and vote for me?  I am on page #2 "Snippets of Thyme"

Remember how proud I was of my husband for working so hard on a major project that his company is implementing this year?  Well, he, in turn,  is just as proud of his supportive work team.  I popped into what they call "The Big Room" at work and was so impressed with his group.  They have really pulled together so many nationalities and cultural differences to form a cohesive team that has reached the fruition of a year long journey.

My husband asked if I would like to have some of his work mates over for a thank you celebration to show his appreciation.  Knowing that his team is from all over the world, I thought that would make for an interesting and diverse evening of great shared conversations.  

Of course, as all of you know how this "snippets" mind works, food flew straight to the top of my list of "to dos".  We would have Europeans, South Americans and Indians attending our little soirée.  I needed to prepare a list of dishes that could cater to a vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian crowd.  I reveled in the laundry list of "what-ifs" I could cook up.

My daughter suggested samosas.  Yes!  Samosas are so delicious and I had just run across a recipe for vegetarian samosas filled with peas and chickpeas.  That would be a great vegetarian option for our menu.

We began cooking several days in advance of the party.  I think we made about 50 or so of these flavorful packets.  Folding the triangles was awkward at first but before long we were clicking along and the scented samosas were piling up.

Madeleine and I imagined generations of Indian women deftly folding samosas up at an expert pace.  We giggled at the image we must present trying to get the technique just right.

The filling for these chickpea samosas is so aromatic.  Not long after all of the ingredients were being mixed on the stovetop did the kitchen fill with enticing smells.  Spices are important in Indian food and it was so interesting to become familiar with cumin, mustard seed, ginger, and cilantro combined.

After brushing the filo dough triangles with butter, we slid tray after tray of them into the oven.  Again the smell of these delectable bundles filled the entire kitchen.  

The cold yogurt and cucumber dip, called Raita, that accompanied these samosas is  a great accompaniment.  As the layers of flavor from the samosas build, the cold and creamy yogurt adds a softening touch.

It was a wonderful evening getting to know these hard workers who hail from all over the globe.  We stayed up into the evening listening to  funny stories from Scotland,  about cooking with cactus in South America, and  the  multitude of differences between cuisines from the diverse regions of Northern and Southern India.  Wouldn't it be something to zip to each country and really see these wonderful stories played out in kitchens all over the world!


 Spicy Chickpea Samosas with Raita:
(adapted from Cooking Light April 2011 issue)


Ingredients:
(yields 12 servings)
Samosas:
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup frozen or fresh green peas
1 tablespoon water
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
24 (14x9-inch) sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons butter, melted


Raita:
3/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
3/4 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Directions:
To make samosas, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add chopped carrot;  cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add 1/2 cup onions, ginger, and garlic;  cook 1 minute, stirring constantly (Snippets notes:  Wait until the pungent smell fills the room.  It's wonderful!)  Add green peas, 1 tablespoon water, and chickpeas;  cook 1 minute.  Remove from heat;  stir in 1/2 cup cilantro and 1 tablespoon juice.  Cool  (Snippets Notes:  I made this filling ahead of time and kept it in the refrigerator)
Preheat oven to 400˚F
Place 1 phyllo sheet on a large work surface (Snippets Note:  I used 2 sheets at a time because one was too difficult for me).  Cover remaining dough to keep from drying.  Coat with cooking spray.  Fold layered sheets in half lengthwise.  Spoon 2 tablespoons filling onto bottom end of rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border.  Fold bottom corner over mixture, forming a triangle;  keep folding back and forth into a triangle to end of phyllo strip.  Tuck edges under; place, seam side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Brush with melted butter.  Repeat with remaining sheets of phyllo.  Bake at 400˚F for 10 minutes or until crisp and golden.


To make raita, combine yogurt and remaining ingredients.  Serve with samosas.  (Snippets Notes:  I made the yogurt mixture the day before the party.  I kept the cucumbers out until right before serving so they wouldn't get soggy)

Potato and Leek Galette...and Listening

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Cooking is relatively easy.  Listening is hard.  


I repeat...Listening. is. hard.  


I have always wanted to be a better listener to others.  Time and time again, I fail rather  miserably in that category.  Look at me.  I am such a chatterbox, word warrior, sentence streamer... that I have to resort to talking to the World Wide Web.  Seriously!


The advice I have been told over and over again by mothers who have gone before me and reared teens is that the key is:  Listen to them. 


Sheeeeesh.   Like I said, this potato and leek galette is easy!  Listening... is a challenge.  What they didn't say to me is that listening involves hearing what your KIDS' interests are, not what I would prefer discussing.  My kids' eyes glaze over when I get tickled by how expertly I diced my onion and want to demonstrate for them my newfound technique.  Where is their fascination with my budding culinary talents?

My eyes glaze over when I am excitedly approached and  eagerly engaged in a scene by scene description of the current novel  or heroic deed  of "Vorax the Brave" in the latest video game.  Whether it be play-by-play of Vorax's escapades within the medieval lands or scene-by- scene of the tortuous struggles by "Saffron the Light" throughout the novel, its not always easy to engage actively in your teens' world of hobbies.


But I'm working on it... the "glazed eyes" that is.  Video games and fantasy fiction just aren't up my alley!  I'm working on being a better listener; just like I am working on mastering recipes that strike my fancy; just like I am working on mastering photography so that one out of 5 photos I submit to food publications don't get rejection e-mails.  


(To my fellow food bloggers...don't you just hate those rejection e-mails?  Ouch.  Oh that could be a lament for another article...)

Anyway, just as I am listening with my eyes to the nuances of light on the tip of a frosted cupcake and with my nose to the just right smell of baking bread, I am working on listening to my teens.

Now, a little about this galette.  It is delicious.  Who doesn't like crisped potatoes and leeks sliced in a pancake round?  My biggest piece of advice making this is to be sure (REALLY SURE) that you use a a non-stick pan.  Are you listening?  Hmmmmm??  If not, return to the top of this article and re-read.  I took a risk and thought I could flip the galette easily enough.  Nope.  Need a non-stick pan.  See?  I didn't listen!   Sigh.

This would make a great appetizer for a small group.  Its a nice little savory to cut into wedges for a party.  The colors are pleasing but the aroma is what is enticing. 

Enjoy!  I'm going to go now and hear what my kids have to say... about Vorax... and Saffron!

Potato and Leek Galette with Watercress
(adapted from Martha Stewart Living, April 2011)




Prep Time: 10 minutes      Total Time:  20 minutes
Yield:  Serves 4


Ingredients:






1 large russet potato, peeled and grated (1 1/2 cups)
1 small leek, white and pale-green parts only, thinly sliced crosswise and rinsed well
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup watercress, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Recipe:

Place potato in a bowl of cold water, and let soak for 10 minutes. Drain well in a salad spinner or squeeze in a clean kitchen towel to remove excess water. Combine potato, leek, flour, nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Scatter potato mixture in skillet, and press lightly with a spatula to make sure it holds together. Cook until underside is golden, about 6 minutes. Flip. Raise heat to medium-high. Cook until underside is golden, 4 to 5 minutes.

Turn out galette. Toss watercress with lemon juice and 1 1/2

teaspoons oil, and place on top of galette. Slice into 8 wedges.

Fava Bean and Goat Cheese Dip with Radishes

After being so thrilled to find all of those beautiful fava beans at Canino's  Mexican Market here in Houston, I knew I was set to make this delicious looking dip in Martha Stewart's April issue.  We had a busy weekend with many activities beginning to wind down for the school year.  I knew there might be some fast food runs here and there so I wanted to make something healthy for at home.

My son's "Odyssey of the Mind" team qualified for the state competition. That would keep us quite busy for half of the weekend.  His team was challenged to build a contraption that would perform a "simple" task like hammering.  They had to come up with a skit and tie the contraption to a storyline that included a famous person from history.  They created a story line about a lost invention of Leonardo da Vinci. 

The ingredients that went into this dip were simple but so aromatic. It was a wonderful dish to pull together because it is so visually appealing.  The lemon zest and juice with the fresh snippets of tarragon made my nose buds tingle.

Fresh Fava Beans from the market

The soft goat cheese is a perfect partner for the mild fava beans and the sharp crispness of the radishes.
I just cannot believe I haven't eaten radishes until now.  They are so good...well...especially spread with this dip.

Fava beans are the prettiest color green.  They are fun to shell because the pod is so big that they really "snap" quite satisfactorily!

The team did a great job.  Often I had to chuckle at the variety of pieces and parts teams were carting up and down the hallways.  All items for costumes and apparatus must come from scrap parts so some of the uses of foil, candy wrappers, soda cans, and whatnot were pretty amusing.  The judges were wonderfully kind and supportive of the kids.  Many of them had funny hats that they wore during the competition to create a light-hearted mood.

As the school year draws to a close, events like this help mark the end of so many new experiences for us here in our new home of Texas.  This was a tough move for all of us but we are finding our place slowly but surely in this metropolis.  We enormously appreciate the diversity of cultures all coming together in this city.  We always feel like we've just tipped the edge of discoveries waiting for us here.

Fava Bean and Goat Cheese Dip with Radishes

Fava Bean and Goat Cheese Dip with Radishes Recipe:
(adapted from the April issue of Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients:

2 pounds fava beans, shelled
1/2 cup soft goat cheese (4 oz)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest,
plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon water, plus more if needed
1 bunch radishes, halved if large

Prepare an ice-water bath.  Bring a saucepan of salted water to boil.  Cook fava beans until tender, 1 to 2 minutes.  Drain, and transfer to ice-water bath.  Let cool.  Drain, and peel beans.

Pulse beans, goat cheese, oil, tarragon, lemon zest and juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a food processor until just combined but still chunky, about 6 or 7 times.

Stir in water.  Add an additional tablespoon water if mixture is too thick.  Transfer to a bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Sprinkle with pepper just before serving.  Serve with radishes. (Snippets Notes:  I found these imported thin crackers at Whole foods that had bits of figs and hazelnuts in them.  I know, it sounds odd but in addition to the radishes, they also added a nice crunch)

Ingredients:

How to Make your own Tater Tots!

When I see Tater tots, the first thing that comes to mind is Gilmore Girls. Lorelei and Rory would have these ridiculous junk food gorge sessions which would always feature Tater Tots and Pop Tarts. Watching these episodes would always give me a craving for super processed frozen food and junk but always with the knowledge in the back of my mind that I would probably take two bites and then realize how bad the stuff tastes. Regardless, ever since I saw this Tater Tot recipe from Pennies on a Platter (via the Kitchn) I've been wanting to try them. And then I had some leftover potato from some potato skins I made for the Oscar party I went to on lst weekend so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try them out!


Now, I saw that the original poster tried a few variations using bread crumbs and corn flake crumbs before finding success with crushed potato chips. BUT I still wanted to try my own topping experiment so I made two different kinds. I made half following the original recipe which is very straightforward so I am not going to re-post the recipe. Also since I was using already mashed potatoes I just kind of eyeballed the measurements to the amount of potatoes I had (guessing it was about half the recipe). The other half I coated with a mixture of the remaining potato chips, panko crumbs, corn flake crumbs and freshly grated parmesan. They did look fancier and quite pretty, but in the end I do have the say the pure potato-coating definitely had more of that potato flavour which made it truly a tater tot. The "fancy" tots were nice and crunchy, but ended up tasting a bit stale (which is, incidentally, exactly what the original poster claimed).

So I can confirm for a fact that the recipe over at Pennies is pretty damn good and probably doesn't need any adjustments. I might try using a baked chip in the future (I used Original Lays) but other than that I see no reason to mess with a good thing. Next up...homemade Pop tarts?

Salsa

Just in time for the Big Game in a week! This salsa is so fast and easy to make, and the happy thing is, people will never know you did it in 5 minutes!!!

Salsa

1 lg can of Hunt's whole tomatoes
1 Serrano or jalapeno pepper
1/2 of a small onion, cut into chunks
1/4 tsp garlic salt
pepper to taste
chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Drain the juice from the tomatoes into a blender. Add the Serrano or jalapeno (for a milder flavor, remove the seeds) and the onion and salt. Blend well. Then add the tomatoes and pulse 2-3 times. Add pepper to taste and chopped cilantro if desired.

*Note* If you get a spicy pepper and would like to make the salsa more mild, you can add 1 can of tomato sauce. This is really good with the Tostitos Lime Chips!
Also, we like the Hunts brand of tomatoes. This is one thing that I buy name brand on. We bought the Kroger brand once and there was literally a lot of juice and 3 tomatoes out of that whole can.

Recipe courtesy of Debbie B.

Yum. Just Yum.

I've been meaning to write about these since I made them for a Christmas party back in December. But then there was that slew of Christmas baking and I felt it was more seasonally appropriate to post the toffee and cookie recipes first. And then I just got really lazy, and was somewhat unmotivated by the lack of pictures (this picture above is the ONLY semi-decent one I have, and was taken AT the party before anyone was allowed to try one). But anyway, late is better than never and these were wayy to good to leave undocumented.

It's funny - the first thought I had when I tried one was "Hey, they taste like pretzels!". Well, duh. I don't know why I was so surprised, but either way, these pretzel bites have that wonderful chewy, salty goodness of a delicious soft pretzel and are SO good when paired with a melty cheese dip. The recipe does take a bit of work but it's so worth it. They were a huge hit at the party and disappeared in record time. I'm itching to make some more in mini pretzel form...just need an excuse so that I don't eat the entire batch myself in one sitting! Maybe for Superbowl Sunday?


Soft Pretzel Bites
Adapted from SmittenKitchen and theKitchn

2 cups warm water (100-110 degrees Farenheit)
1 tbsp + 2 tbsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp canola oil
1/4 cup baking soda
1 large egg
Coarse or pretzel salt

1. Pour warm water and 1 tbsp sugar into a bowl, and stir to combine. Sprinkle with yeast and let sit for 10 minutes until foamy.

2. Add 1 cup flour to yeast, and stir with a wooden spoon or using an electric mixer until combined. Add salt and 4 cups more flour, and mix until combined. You're supposed to continue mixing until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, but at this point I just started using my hands. Start kneading and add the last cup as necessary until the dough is smooth. I actually found that I didn't need the last cup of flour at all.

3. Pour oil into a large bowl; swirl to coat sides. Transfer dough to bowl, turning dough to completely cover all sides. Cover with a kitchen towel, and leave in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.

4. Heat oven to 450 degrees Farenheit, 230 degrees Celsius. Set a large pan with about 2 inches of water (I used a large wok) on the pan to boil. Hopefully by the time you're finished shaping the pretzel bites it will be boiling.

5. Lightly spray a few baking sheets with cooking spray (or use parchment paper, new love of my life! I had some issues with the bites sticking to the pan so I would probably go with the parchment next time). Heavily flour a work surface and dump dough out of bowl. Flour hands and shape into a large rectangle roughly 3/4 of an inch in thickness. Using a bench scraper, knife or pizza cutter, cut off 1 long strip, 1 inch wide and set aside. Cover remaining dough with a damp towel. Cut dough strip into 1 inch pieces and set aside, covering them with a damp towel.

6. Repeat the process until all dough has been cut into pieces and has been placed under a towel.

7. Once water is boiling, add baking soda and 2 tbsp sugar to it (careful, it will foam up!). Once the foam goes down, reduce heat to a simmer (there should be a few bubbles rising to the surface but not a rolling boil). Add enough bagel bites to fill about half the pan; they will swell up and you don't want them to crowd as it will be difficult to flip them if this happens. Simmer for 60-90 seconds on each side. I had some issues trying to figure out how long exactly to simmer these for as theKitchn makes a comment about making sure not to undercook these, just make sure the bites look like they have plumped up a bit before removing.

8. Once each side has cooked, remove from pan and place on cookie sheet and make sure the pieces do not touch, but fit as many as you can onto the pan at once (I think I ended up with three pans full of pretzel bites)

9. Beat egg with 1 tbsp water. Brush pretzels with the egg glaze. Sprinkle with salt. Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes, rotating the tray once halfway through. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack for cooling. They are best eaten fresh, or the day of but they'll keep at room temperature for another day or so uncovered (I just kept a paper bowl over the bowl of leftovers). You can also freeze some as soon as they're cool and reheat until warm in an oven later.


Beer-Cheddar dip
This is more of a guideline than a real recipe - really I just kept throwing in more beer and cheese until I thought it tasted right.

1 part beer (any light pale ale or lager will do)
1 part cream cheese
1 part grated sharp cheddar

1. Heat cream cheese in a small saucepan until it is melty. Add beer and mix until combined. Slowly add grated cheddar while whisking the sauce to ensure there are no lumps. Add more beer/cream cheese/cheddar to taste.

Signature Dish

A few months back I read this article which got me thinking about what my "signature" dish might be. Something that, time and time again is requested for potlucks or parties, that may originally be from another source but has been made my own over time. I was discussing it with a friend and realized what it was. It's not a special casserole, or roast chicken, or even a great dessert. It's...taco dip.

Yes. TACO. DIP. That fattening but disturbingly addictive layered dip that was probably at the last barbeque you attended. You can likely name at least five people that make on a semi-regular basis. It's not particularly original, and definitely isn't classy. But I've been asked to make it so many times I can't even count, and have been told more than once that it's better than the other taco dips. So as much as I'm almost ashamed to admit, this is my signature dish. At least during barbeque season anyway.

This might sound really obvious, but the "secret" to my taco dip is the guacamole. For some reason most taco dip recipes out there don't include guac, but it really makes all the difference. I make a homemade, chunky guac for this layer and I swear that the amount of compliments I get on my taco dip has a direct relationship to the amount of guac in it. Just trust me on this.

Taco Dip

1 8oz block of light cream cheese, softened (I don't normally use light or low-fat products, but since the dip itself is so heavy and people have a tendency to eat a LOT of it I figure it's probably for the best)
1 250ml container of light sour cream (see above)
1 packet taco seasoning (I use the reduced salt kind)
1 small jar of mild or medium salsa
1-2 tomatoes, diced
Guacamole (see recipe below)
Cheese (not really sure how much...1 or two cups. Enough to cover your casserole dish)

Casserole dish...a 3 quart container in any shape should do it. Preferably glass so that you can see the layers. Or you can halve the recipe and use a smaller container. This makes a lot of taco dip.

1. Put the cream cheese in a bowl and kind of "cut" it with a fork. Start mixing small amounts of sour cream, using the fork to blend the two. This makes it easier to blend the two smoothly vs. just having sour cream with clumps of cream cheese floating around. Keep doing this until you've added all the sour cream and then mix in the taco seasoning until smooth and spread over the bottom of your dish.

2. Layer salsa. If you're using a glass dish and want the layers to show, start at the edges and work your way in with each layer.

3. Layer diced tomatoes, then guac as above.

4. Sprinkle the entire thing with cheese, enough to cover.

5. Cover with saran wrap (or a lid) and refrigerate until ready to eat. Either way, its best after it's been in the fridge for about an hour or so after the bottom layer has had a chance to firm up again.

Guacamole
2-3 avocados
1 shallot, finely diced (I only use about half of it)
1 lemon
Salt and pepper

1. Pit and scoop out the insides of avocados into a small bowl. Add shallots and the juice of 1/2 or whole lemon (depends on how lemony you like it) and season with salt and pepper

2. Run a knife through the bowl a few times until you get the chunkiness that you like. I make my guac pretty chunky, as you probably know so you can use a fork or something if you like it smoother