Samosa Lettuce Wraps with Simple Yogurt Sauce

I like to play with flavors and concepts when I cook, taking two things I like and melding them together like in this recipe which combines the flavors of an Indian samosa with the idea of a lettuce wrap. I love samosas, those great little deep-fried pastry triangles of peas, potatoes and Indian spices but I don't love what deep fried pastry does to my bottom half. I thought if I put them in lettuce, I could still get the flavors but make it much healthier. In addition to being a great lunch to take to work or easy dinner, they work great as a pupu/appetizer. This recipe is made to be "tinkered" with--use whatever ground meat and curry or spices you like--the way I usually make it is below. I switch out the lettuce; green leaf lettuce, iceberg lettuce cups or sometimes baby lettuce leaves (as shown in the picture above) which are great for appetizers. Samosa Lettuce Wraps
2 medium waxy potatoes (about 1 cup when diced)
2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 gloves garlic
2 Tbsp curry powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lb ground turkey breast
3/4 cup frozen green peas
1 Tbsp Nigella seeds* (optional)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Lettuce leaves or lettuce cups for serving
Simple Yogurt Sauce (recipe below)
Cilantro, mint and cucumber slices for garnish

Either boil potatoes until tender (10-15 minutes), let cool slightly peel and crush into small lumps with your hands or peel and dice raw potato into small cubes and cook in microwave about 5 minutes until tender. Set potatoes aside. Heat oil in a medium non-stick pan and saute onion about 5 minutes, add garlic, curry powder, cumin, turmeric and cayenne and mix with onion. Add ground turkey, mix into onion, spice mixture and cook turkey until lightly brown and done through. Mix in potatoes and frozen peas and cook mixture about 5 minutes until heated through. Add in Nigella seeds and cilantro. Serve in lettuce leaves or cups with Simple Yogurt Sauce, cilantro, mint and cucumber slices to garnish.

*Nigella seeds, if you aren't familiar, are black seeds that are frequently used in Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. The seeds taste like oregano and have a bitterness to them like mustard-seeds. You can omit them or substitute black mustard seeds. I put them in because I like the way they look and taste and I had a whole tin of them that came in an Indian spice set to use up!

Simple Yogurt Sauce

1 cup Greek yogurt, drained

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 clove garlic crushed

1 tsp ground cumin

2 Tbsp mint or cilantro, finely chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and season to taste with salt & pepper. Let sit at least an hour, preferably overnight for flavors to meld. *The sauce stays mixed better if you drain the yogurt first using either a coffee filter or cheesecloth in a colander or a yogurt strainer. You can also add grated or chopped cucumbers to this sauce--just salt cucumbers, place in colander,drain off excess juices and pat dry with paper towel before adding to yogurt.

Other things to do with samosa mixture:

• put it in a pita or tortilla style wrap
• eat it on top of a salad
• eliminate the potato in the recipe and use it to top a baked potato or
• bake potatoes, halve and scoop out insides, (use this for potato in recipe) put the mixture back in potato shells for an Indian twice-baked potato
• eat on top of rice or cous-cous
  

Spinach Soup with Goat's Cheese Toasts

I LOVE soup and I LOVE making soup in my Le Creuset Round Dutch Oven in the best color ever...Lemongrass. It sits on top of my stove always and gets used frequently. There is something about stirring whatever ingredients I have together in this big, solid pot that just make it taste all the better. This is a soup recipe I cut out from a magazine--unfortunately I am bad about noting which magazines my recipes come from, but I am going to guess either Good Food or Fresh from the UK.

Spinach Soup with Goat's Cheese Toasts
Serves 6, Prep time 10 minutes, Cooking time 20 minutes

30g Butter (a smidge over 2 Tbsps)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 medium potatoes, peeled, diced
500 grams frozen spinach, thawed (about 18 ounces or I just used two 10oz packs)
4 cups (1 liter) chicken stock
1/2 cup (125 ml) cream

Goat's Cheese Toasts
8 baguette slices, toasted
1 garlic clove, halved
100g (3.5 ounces) soft goat cheese
1 Tbsp snipped chives

1) Melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Saute' onion and garlic for 3 minutes until soft. Stir in potato and spinach. Add stock and bring to boil. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, until potato is tender. Cool slightly. Puree with a hand blender, stir in cream and season to taste. Reheat on low.

2) Meanwhile, make Goat's Cheese Toasts. Rub baguette slices with cut sides of garlic. Top with cheese, chives and a grind of pepper. Serve with soup.

The soup was good; a pretty basic spinach soup. When/if I make it again I will probably add some curry to the recipe to give it a bit more punch. I had to cook it about 25 minutes to get the potatoes tender--so dice them pretty small if you want to do it quicker. I used a seeded baguette and some garlic-chive goat cheese I had for the croutons and they really elevated the flavor of the soup, as did the lemon juice I squeezed in the soup at the end to brighten up the flavors. Not sure why you would be making 8 toasts for the 6 people the soup says it serves--unless you have two favorite people who get two toasts each, but you could make more or less toasts easily. (I would recommend more!)

A good soup for a lazy afternoon...

"Mystery Cake" for Retro Recipe Challenge #11

With my first recipe "Challenge" (Weekend Cookbook Challenge#27) under my belt, I decided I should go for #2 this weekend; Retro Recipe Challenge #11: Your Mother Should Know, hosted by Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness. It was similar to the first challenge in that it asked for a retro recipe but this one had to be from a year before your Mother was born. I thought I was set because I have several vintage cookbooks but it turns out my earliest one was published in 1933 and my Mom was born in 1931. Luckily I found an excellent resource at Amazon.com, called Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads by Sylvia Lovegren. (This is a fun book, very interesting to read and I plan to cook a few more retro recipes from it). Looking through the recipes and information on the 20's and 30's I had several contenders in my mind but it finally came down to two choices, both cakes, because this is supposed to be a challenge and once again (with feeling), I AM NOT A BAKER! I do admire bakers more than I can say and occasionally aspire to be one but frankly I am much better at "tinkering" with recipes and measurements than sticking to them to the letter which means I usually end up with about a 60% success record when baking. But enough about my issues and on to the finalists...

I was torn between two cakes; a Pineapple Upside Down Cake and a Mystery Cake by Campbell's Soup; basically a spice cake with a can of tomato soup as the secret ingredient. The Pineapple Cake sounded better, I love a good upside down cake and it provided a nice connection to my home in Hawaii but I have made similar cakes before. Although not being either a spice cake or tomato soup fan, I still could not resist the weirdness and kitschy appeal of the Mystery Cake, frosted with Philly-Vanilly Frosting so that was the winner.

Sylvia Lovegren writes about the Mystery Cake: "One of the newest and most popular cakes was a mystery or surprise cake--not surprising because everyone in the Thirties seemed to love "clever" cooking. This cake was a 1925 culinary contribution from Campbell's Soup and tasted surprisingly good. "But," said Joy of Cooking (1964) "why shouldn't it? The deep secret is tomato, which after all is a fruit." Mystery Cake was most often frosted with another brand named product--frosting made from Philadelphia brand cream cheese."

Mystery Cake
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon or mace
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup seedless raisins, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 (15oz) can condensed soup
Philly-Vanilly Frosting (below)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices together in a medium sized bowl. Toss the raisins to coat with 1/4 cup of the flour mixture. Cream the shortening in a large bowl. Add the sugar gradually to the shortening, creaming until light. Beat in the eggs until thoroughly mixed. Add the flour mixture alternately with the soup to the egg mixture. Stir until smooth. Fold in the raisins. Pour into two greased, floured 8" layer pans. Bake until cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Frost with Philly-Vanilly Frosting.

Philly-Vanilly Frosting
1 (8-ounce) package Philadelphia brand (of course) cream cheese
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the cheese until soft in a large bowl. Work in the sugar, then beat in the melted butter and vanilla. Continue beating until very light.

Both the cake and frosting were very easy to put together. The cake batter was an interesting orange color from the soup--for some reason I was expecting red?! I used golden raisins as I thought it would look better in the cake. I also checked my cake at 25 minutes and it was done--so watch cooking time. I baked the cake last night and frosted it this morning. The cream cheese frosting is good but the cake looked a little "blah". Trying to imagine what I might do if I were a typical "house-wife in a hurry" in the 20's-30's, I decided to "jazz it up" simply by zesting an orange, mixing in a bit of sugar and sprinkling it on the top of the cake, then sort of "swirling it with my knife into the frosting. I think it gave the cake a bit more visual interest and the hint of orange in the frosting complimented the flavor of the cake well and looked nice against the orange color of the cake when it was sliced.

The cake was pretty darn good actually! There was no discernible tomato flavor, just a mildly spiced cake, very moist. I don't think anyone would guess the mystery ingredient if you didn't tell them it was in there. Since I have only made and frosted one or two other layer cakes in my life, due to a traumatic cake making incident in my early teens (I'll cover that another time), I was very pleased with the results. A success for my second challenge entry!

Poke

Poke, (pronounced po-kay) is a dish from Hawaii that I truly love. Poke basically means "to cut or slice into pieces" and it consists of small, approximately 1" cubes of raw fish, most commonly ahi tuna), seasoned with salt, spices and depending on the type of poke, a variety of ingredients like seaweed, onions, sesame oil, chili oil, shoyu, etc. It originated when early Hawaiian fisherman cut up their raw fish and seasoned it with whatever spices and things they had available.

I try to get my visitors to Hawaii to try it and have some success, usually dependant on whether or not they eat sushi, as unlike ceviche, poke is most definitely raw fish and not "cooked" by citrus juice. Unfortunately, not everyone sees the beauty in the small cubes of glistening dark red fish and when you throw in the seaweed as in the limu, poke at left above, I usually get a crinkled up nose and a "that's OK" when I offer it to them. For those who do try it however, they are usually quickly converted and want to eat it throughout the rest of their visit.

You can buy poke most anywhere--fish markets, grocery stores, roadside trucks, etc. It is considered home or comfort food here--you will find it at buffets, parties and cook-outs but you will also find it on the menu at upscale restaurants. You can make it at home, but to be honest it is far easier to just stop and pick some up.

I eat poke often, for lunch or dinner, with rice or a salad or most often just the poke itself scooped up on a taro chip. That's when it is best--especially when it has been one of those days. Not a bad day necessarily, but let's say a day at the end of a long week. A day when you got up really early to go to work to take a 5-hour facilitator-led computer class on line that started at 5:00 AM, then that was followed by another long meeting and although you vowed to leave work by 1:30 or 2:00 at the latest, the time slipped by and you left work just in time to hit Friday traffic. That's when a quick stop at the grocery store (not the finest poke but certainly the most convenient) results in 1/2 pound each of limu and shokyu poke and a bag of garlic-taro chips. Then you drive home, put it in a bowl, find a favorite pair of chopsticks and dig in, relaxing, (watching the new Grey's Anatomy you DVR'd last night and then realizing eating small red chunks of raw fish is maybe not the best food to eat while watching bear mauling victims and surgical contests--"intestines in the hands!" so then turning off the TV), reflecting on your week, enjoying the fresh local flavors and thinking "Lucky you live Hawaii" where you can enjoy as much poke as you want.

Banana-Pineapple-Coconut Muffins

The Banana Snack Cake was such a hit at work and I still had two "ugly bananas" left so I decided to make something slightly healthier and found these "Calypso Muffins" also from Allrecipes.com. (Why with well over 100 cookbooks must I constantly go online for recipes?).

I made them as specified except for using the pineapple juice to cook the oats (as someone mentioned in the comments below) and also taking out the nutmeg, adding cinnamon and upping the coconut extract a bit, (I am not a nutmeg fan and wanted to taste the tropical fruit more). I also chopped some macadamia nuts, mixed them with some shredded coconut and brown sugar and sprinkled the mixture on top of the cupcakes before baking. Over all they were pretty good; very moist, maybe slightly"sticky" (for lack of a better word) from the oats and pretty flavorful. Like the snack cake, they came to work and are being demolished fairly quickly.

Shaorma

When most people come to Hawaii they want “local” food, but if you come and visit you should try some Greek food or “Mostly Greek, Not So Fast Food” as it is stated at one of my favorite places to eat The Olive Tree Café in the Kahala area of Honolulu. Long before I moved to Hawaii, when I would travel here for work, this little place was where I would ask my hosts to take me for dinner whenever given a choice. (It got me a reputation as a pretty cheap date as the food is relatively inexpensive but oh it is GOOD!) The Olive Tree Café is a simple but always crowded little place, BYOB with a small “glass” fee; where you order at the counter, jockey for a table and go pick up and pay for your food when they call your name over the speaker—cash only. Because it gets so crowded every night, it can be a trick to find parking and maneuver for a table which you do by staking out a few feet of territory, patrol it staring down (politely) anyone who looks like they are eyeing “your” tables while hovering over the diners already seated, praying that they will finish and get out so you can sit down. Because I have little patience for this and it is on my way home for work, I typically call in my order to go, park illegally at the nearby post office, dash in to get my food and head for the safety of my own home.

If I am eating with a group we get some pupu’s—the hummus is killer; garlicky, spicy and complex with grilled pita (order extra pita as you’ll need it), the mussels ceviche marinated in lime juice and spices, the giant beans in tomato sauce-yum! What keeps me coming back several times a month however is their version of Shaorma—a wonderfully spiced patty of ground lamb served in a pita with cucumber, tomato and sesame-tahini dressing; served with a salad topped with the best Greek-feta dressing ever. It is so good I order it about 98% of the time to the exclusion of everything else on the menu. If I do order something besides shaorma, like the delicious lamb shank special, I usually end up slightly regretful, thinking the whole time of my beloved shaorma. Theirs is not traditional, as sharoma is usually a middle eastern style sandwich with shaved lamb, goat or chicken but trust me it hits the spot. (Here is my last take-out container of the Olive Tree's Shaorma--excuse it's appearance, it should be prettier but I dropped it on the way in to my house!)

My friend Natalie, who is a very talented cook, loves the shaorma too and got it in her head to try and recreate it at home quickly and simply, using a falafel mix after noticing the similarities in the spices and flavor. After hearing her idea I had to try it too. Now ground lamb is very hard to find here. Safeway used to carry it and then stopped (maybe I was the only one buying it?) Natalie used ground turkey and since I had a pound of ground buffalo that I needed to use I made my first attempt out of that and my second attempt a few days later out of ground turkey breast. It is not exactly like my beloved Olive Tree Shaorma but it is quick, tasty and a great way to stretch a pound of ground meat. (See the pictures below from my first attempt the other night with the buffalo--I got six good sized patties)

Quick & Easy Shaorma

1/2 box or about 5 ounces Falafel Mix (I generally use Cashbah or Fantastic Foods. Save the other 1/2 of the falafel spice for another time)

1 lb ground meet of your choice

1 small onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic,

1/4 tsp cayenne (or more if you like it spicy)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

olive or canola oil for frying patties

Following package instructions, combine 1/2 of package falafel mix with 1/2 the water on package directions and let mixture sit for about 15 minutes to set and form a paste. Meanwhile finely dice onion and crush garlic gloves. In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, except oil and mix together well so everything is combined. (I find much like meatloaf, using your hands to mix is easier and more effective). Form patties in the size and shape desired out of the mixture. (If you are planning to put it in a pita, an oblong patty works best. I usually just eat mine with salad and/or rice, so I either make small or larger rounds). Heat a large pan over medium heat. When hot, add oil and cook patties until browned on both sides and cooked within. Usually 3-5 minutes per side--dependent on size of patty. Serve warm, in pitas with humus or tahini sauce, lettuce. tomato, etc. or eat with salad and rice, serving humus/tahini on the side.

Although most of the seasonings are in the falafel mix, I find extra cayenne and cumin give it a flavor boost. You can play with the spice quantities or add different spices based on your preferences.

Banana Snack Cake

I am not exactly sure why there were several large bunches of really ugly looking bananas with a "Help Yourself" sign on the kitchen counter at work but I felt I had to do my part and take a small bunch home. Since in addition to being a strange greenish color with brown spots, they were much too soft for my taste so I needed something to put them in. I had this Banana Cake recipe from Allrecipes.com saved that I have been wanting to try--probably more for the topping than the cake itself. I threw it together and in the oven tonight. It went together quickly and baked up well, (which my lack of patience and baking skills appreciated!) The streusel like topping of chocolate chips, chopped peanuts and brown sugar was rich and almost a little bit too much for the moist tasty cake underneath. However I did manage to eat a small piece and the rest is going back to work--a big improvement over the bananas it came from.