Breakfast Samosas

Blogging Marathon #28
Theme: Samosas

One classic breakfast combination here in America is scrambled eggs and home fries, stir fried potatoes with onions and peppers. I have seen many versions of Indian Scrambled Eggs or Indian Omelette, adding Indian spices to eggs and sometimes making it pureVegetarian by using crumbled paneer or tofu, instead of the eggs.

When trying to think of unique samosa fillings, I was glancing through one of my cookbooks for inspiration when I came across a recipe for Aamlait (Indian Style Omelette) and then I thought about putting breakfast inside a samosa and that's how I came up with this filling. I added a little cassava (yuca) also only because I had it available and that puts a little of my Caribbean heritage into this breakfast samosa. I also added a little cornmeal into the dough to give it a crispier outside.

This is really a fusion samosa, with a little bit of India, America and the Caribbean all rolled into one!

Breakfast Samosas

Yield: 12 samosas
Filling Ingredients:
3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons oil
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon mustard seed
2 teaspoons cumin seed
1 onion, finely chopped
3 scallions, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1/4 cup carrot, grated
3/4 cup cassava (yuca), grated
1 2/3 cup potatoes, grated
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon red chile powder (cayenne pepper)
1 cup tomato, chopped
salt, to taste
Dough Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon black onion seeds (nigella)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
7 tablespoons warm water
3 tablespoons ghee
2 tablespoons Greek/strained yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt

To make the dough, combine flour, cornmeal, onion seed, salt and baking soda in a large ball.
In a small bowl, mix water, ghee, and yogurt. Mix well.
Add this to the flour combo in the bowl and mix until you have a soft dough.
Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside while you make the filling. Dough should rest for 1/2 hour.
Heat 2 teaspoons oil.  Add eggs and cook, stirring often, to scramble eggs.
Heat remaining oil in a large skillet. Add mustard and cumin seeds. When they start to pop, add onion, scallions, bell pepper, ginger paste and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, until the vegetables soften.
Add potatoes, cassava, carrots, turmeric, coriander, cayenne and salt.  Stir to combine and cook for 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes and eggs and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust salt, if necessary.

Using this procedure, stuff samosas and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
Brush the tops of the samosas with milk and bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve with chutney or ketchup.

With the extra filling (I had about 3/4 cup leftover), it was just as good with some toast for breakfast.

LIKE THIS RECIPE? LEAVE A COMMENT..I LIVE FOR THEM!
Chef Mireille

Spinach Mac & Cheese Samosa

Blogging Marathon #28
Theme: Samosas 

When Srivalli announce the BM themes, I knew I had to pick the samosa theme. I have always loved samosas and ever since I found the perfect samosa dough recipe last year, this has become one of my favorite savory snacks to make. I already have made a few samosas with unique fillings like Mava Samosa (stuffed with coconut, jaggery, chile) and Kala Chana-Spinach Samosa. This week I'll be featuring a few more out of the ordinary samosas.

I got the inspiration for these samosas from a restaurant I visited a few months ago. One of the items on the menu which I ordered were Mac & Cheese Wontons. When I started thinking of some interesting fillings for samosas, I thought this would work in samosa dough as good as they had worked stuffed into wontons.

With this cheesalicious stuffing, this is definitely not kind to the waistline so not something I would make often. However, it would do great to serve at parties. Since I always bake samosas, at least there is no added oil that would be if I fried them.

Spinach Mac & Cheese Samosas

Serves 14
Dough Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon black onion seeds (nigella)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
7 tablespoons warm water
3 tablespoons ghee
2 tablespoons Greek/strained yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cups spinach leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 oz. pepper jack cheese, grated
1 cup cooked pasta
salt and pepper, to taste

In a skillet, heat olive oil. Add onion and bell pepper and cook for about 2 minutes, until softened. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Heat butter in a pot.  When it starts to melt, add the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly until it turns golden.  Add milk, paprika, oregano and mustard. Mix well and cook until roux (butter-flour mixture) has dissolved into the milk and thickened, about 5 minutes.
Turn off flame and stir in cheese until it melts. Add spinach mixture and salt and pepper, to taste. Mix well.
Add cooked pasta and mix well, so the pasta is well coated with cheese sauce.

Fill samosas. See procedure here.

Bake for 20 minutes at 425 F.

When I had the wontons at the restaurant, they were served with a cheese sauce which I thought was a bit too much cheesy overkill. Instead, try them with chipotle mayo or mango ketchup.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#28

LIKE THIS RECIPE? LEAVE A COMMENT..I LIVE FOR THEM!
Chef Mireille

Picklese

After I made Banane Peze and Sauce Pois a few months ago, I said I would be giving you some more Haitian recipes to represent that half of me that is virtually not represented at all on this blog.  To that end, before I can get to some of the delicious food recipes, I am showing you this basic condiment that is used on just about everything we eat.

A jar of picklese is found in the kitchen cabinet of every Haitian household.  The vinegar preserves the vegetables so that it is not necessary to refrigerate it.

Picklese

Ingredients:
6 Scotch Bonnet peppers, stems removed and quartered
12 black peppercorms
3 cloves
3 cups white vinegar
3/4 cup cabbage, shredded
1/2 large carrot, sliced
1/2 bell pepper, cut into strips

Place all ingredients in a glass jar.
After 48 hours, your picklese is ready.  The vinegar will soften the vegetables.  The vinegar will also be very spicy at this point.  About 1/4 teaspoon and maybe a piece of pickled vegetable or two is used  on an entire plate of food when the picklese is first made.

It can be stored in the kitchen cabinet for several months.  The vinegar will continue to get stronger as the months go by and you will continually need to use less and less so that a few drops for a plate of food is all that is needed a few months later.

LIKE THIS RECIPE? LEAVE A COMMENT..I LIVE FOR THEM!
Chef Mireille