Samosas, Mimosas, Samoas

A great success of a party, culinarily and funkily! Recipe for mimosas is unnecessary (juice+champagne dudes), recipe for samosas is previously posted, and recipe for samoas follow. honestly, i would not recommend making these unless you're interested in a long-term baking/dish-doing adventure (or you're throwing a theme party that hinges on their presence). they were awesome, probably as good as the real thing, but they take a lot of steps and a lot of dishes. so save them for a boring rainy day in girl scout off-season.



Samoas
makes ~30 big and ~50 small cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Up to 4 tablespoons milk

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

12 ounces good-quality chewy caramels, unwrapped

3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt

8 to 12 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are fine)


Preheat to 350°

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with the vanilla until fluffy. mix in the flour mixture (use your hands if you don't have an egg beater, spoon will not be strong enough). Add a few tablespoons of milk if it's too dry to come together, but don't let it get sticky and wet - you want it as a dry as possible without falling apart.

cut the dough into a few pieces for easier handling. roll each piece out on a piece of parchment or wax paper to about 1/4" thickness. press another piece of wax paper on top and refrigerate for a half hour or so.

Preheat to 350. Take out your rolled dough sheets and cut out circles using the top of a cup or whatever is handy. if you have something the right size to make holes in the middle, go for it (we used the bag of a frosting tip attachment... the cap of a highlighter would also work). gather up the scraps and re-roll it out to make more circles. put the cookies on lined baking sheets - they can be pretty close together cause the refrigeration keeps them from expanding. bake 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300. Pour out your coconut on two making sheets and toast until lightly browned, stirring as necessary (the edges will probably brown before the middle). Meanwhile, melt your caramels on the stove with the milk, stirring until totally dissolved. when the coconut is ready, mix it in to the caramel. carefully spoon and press the mixture onto your cookies (they are fragile).

melt the chocolate on a double-boiler and dip the base of each cookie in it, then set the cookies on waxed paper or baking parchment. if you have extra chocolate, you can put it in a bag and squeeze it over the cookies to make them pretty (we ran out). refrigerate until the chocolate is completely set and the cookies peel off easily. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

i wanted to make lasagna because of my excitement over our new pasta machine, but unfortunately all of carefully-crafted home-made noodles were drowned in all of the delicious cheesy, squashy mush. i would reccomend either using store-bought noodles, which are naturally thick and chewy, or rolling out your home-made noodles thicker than usual and maintaining a high pasta-to-filling ratio. otherwise a totally delicious recipe, and i was happy with the changes i made from the original (more garlic and cheese!).

our recipe only made enough filling to make a bread-loaf-pan worth of lasagna, so we used the rest to make a traditional red-sauce lasagna in another pan. below i've doubled the measurements so that there should be enough of everything to fill a standard lasagna pan.



Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

1 box lasagna noodles or about 3 c flour worth home-made noodles
2 medium butternut squash
1 head garlic
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3 c whole milk
1/3 cup parmesan
~2 cups ricotta
1 egg
1 small bag shredded mozzarella (or equivalent amount fresh sliced mozz)
2 huge bags of baby spinach, or equivalent amount other greens (we used some turnip greens), washed and chopped
1/2 - 1 lemon

pre-heat your oven to 400. If you are home-making your noodles, or using boxed ones that require parboiling, prep them now. For home-made noodles, parboil VERY briefly and then shock under cold water before using.

Chop your squash however is easiest for you (i find simply in half works). brush it with olive oil and salt and pepper it up. remove 2 cloves from your head of garlic, then slice off the top edge of it (to expose the cloves inside their skins) and rub it with olive oil and place it on the tray. roast everything until soft. scoop/peel the squash and puree it. adjust seasoning and set aside.

make the bechamel by melting the butter in a pan, adding the flour, and cooking for a minute. Add the milk and then simmer for a long time until it is quite thick... about glue consistency. Stir in most of the parmesan, saving a few tablespoons. then puree it with all of the roasted garlic (obvs with the skins removed). season and set aside. turn the oven down to 350.

heat up a bit of olive in in a pan. mince the two reserved cloves of garlic and toss then in. add the greens, plus the juice from about 1/4 of the lemon, and season with salt and pepper. cook until JUST wilted, only like 30 second for spinach and a few minutes for sturdier greens. Set aside.

mix the ricotta, egg, juice from about 1/4 - 1/2 of the lemon, and salt and pepper to taste.

build your lasagna by pouring some bechamel in the bottom of the pan and the starting with a layer of noodles. next add a layer each of squash puree, ricotta, greens, and mozzarella, and then repeat (order does not matter). be moderate about the amount of filling or it will turn into a pile of mush wheh it is baked. end with a layer of noodles, followed by a bit of bechamel and then sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the top. bake your lasagna for about 40 minutes covered in tin foil, then remove foil and bake for another 15 without it (place under the broiler for extra bubbly goodness). enjoy!

Horseradish mashed potatoes & asparagus w/ parsley dressing

Just made these for dinner and it was sooo good. Very simple ways to make basic potatoes and veggies more exciting, and the two went together better than I thought they would. Make it in the summer and grill the asparagus, or swap in summer squash.



Horseradish mashed potatoes

8ish medium potatoes, peeled and cut into evenly-sized chunks
4 tbs butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup cream or half-and-half
2-4 tablespoons horseradish, wasabi, or mixed
salt and pepper to taste

Boil yer potatoes until tender but not falling apart and mash 'em up with everything else.

Roasted asparagus with parsley sauce

1 bunch asparagus
1 bunch parsley
2 lemons
2 large or 3 small cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

turn the oven up to 400. trim yr asparagus and lay it on a baking sheet with a tiny bit of oil and some salt and pepper. Roast for about 15 minutes, or until it's tender without getting shriveled and crispy.

Meanwhile, puree your parsley and garlic with the juice from the lemons (you can chop everything up fine and mix it together if you don't have a blender or food processor). stir in the oil and season to taste. When the asparagus is ready, dress it and enjoy!

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

The last time I made cinnamon rolls, I used a very complex recipe from BBA using brioche dough that required me to get up waaaay too early in the morning. This recipe was much easier and just as delicious, although it does still require you to wake up an hour prior to breakfast time. The original recipe called for a powdered sugar glaze, but I opted for an improvised caramel glaze instead and was very happy about the decision.




Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

4 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup buttermilk
~4 cups flour
1 pkg instant dry yeast
1 tsp kosher salt

1 cup brown sugar, packed (white will do in a pinch)
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
¼ c finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Whisk together the egg yolks, egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add the yeast, salt and ~2 cups of the flour and stir to combine. Add another cup of flour and start kneading, adding flour until the dough is very soft but not sticky - keep coating the outside of the dough lightly with flour and pressing to prevnt it from stick to your hands. The less flour you add, the more tender the rolls will be. Once the dough is very smooth, put it in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, 2-3 hours.

Gently stretch the dough into an aproximately 18x12" rectangle, being careful not to punch it down too much. Brush the surface with melted butter and then sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, and optional nuts evenly over the surface. Roll the dough up as tightly as possible, pinch the seam, and place it seam-side-down. Using a fast sawing motion, slice the log into 10 even pieces. Place the pieces close together in a buttered baking dish (don't worry if the dish isn't filled). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, wake up a little more than an hour before you want to eat. Place the dish in an unheated oven (sans plastic wrap) and place a dish full of boiling water below them. Let rise 1/2 hout until they're puffed up a bit. Take them out of the oven and preheat to 350. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden on the edges.

While the rolls bake, prepare:

Caramel glaze

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
6 tbs butter
~1/2 cup cream or half-and-half

Heat the sugar and water over medium in a heavy-bottomed pan, stirring constantly until it is dissolved. then STOP STIRRING and let it boil, monitoring constantly. Let it get golden brown but no darker than that (it will burn very quickly). remove from the heat and stir in the butter, then slowly whisk in the cream. Let cool and then poor over the rolls.

Actually successful naan!!

Last week we fed our Brooklyn family Indian food as thanks for giving us shelter, and for the first time ever we made naan that was soft and puffy like the restaurant kind, as opposed to the usual thick, pizza-dough-like results. No surprise that the winning recipe came from Manjula, and my guess is that the awesome texture can be attributed to the high proportion of fats in the dough (yogurt AND oil). Oh Manjula, why do we ever stray from your side?

Soft, puffy, buttery naan

1 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
pinch baking soda
2 tbs oil
2 1/2 tbs yogurt
2 cups AP flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water. stir in the salt, sugar, and soda. Stir in the yogurt and oil, then gradually incorporate the flour. Knead until very smooth and elasticy. Let rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours, until almost doubled.

Heat the oven as hot as it goes with a baking stone in it (baking sheet will work but not as well). Push the dough down and divide it into 6 parts. Turn the oven to broil, roll each piece into a ball, dust with flour, and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll each piece of dough out into a thin circle (thinner = softer and puffier), lay it out on your baking stone, and let cook until puffy and brown. When you take it out of the oven, immediately put it under a cloth so that the steam will keep it soft. Repeat with each piece. Brush the naan with melted butter before serving. Spiced butter or butter with sauteed garlic and/or onions would also be nice.

Pasta-machine linguine with garlic cream sauce

SO EXCITED about gorgeous new pasta machine we received for gift day that we immediately had to make linguine... but it can totally be made by hand as well (that's how we did it for three years). Recipe for awesome pasta dough is here.


Basic garlic cream sauce

1 stick butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup romano or parmesan
salt and (lots of) pepper to taste

Melt all of the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan and toss in your garlic. Saute until fragrant but NOT AT ALL BROWN. Stir in the half and half and when it's hot, stir in the cheese. Season and adjust the proportions of everything. Enjoy with pasta and some leafy vegetables to help with all of those artery clogs.