Samosa Bites with Cilantro Chutney

Samosa Bites

2 pounds baking potatoes, like russets
1/2 cup ghee or clarified butter
1/2 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced jalapeno
1 cup fresh peas
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted, crushed
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, minced
1 package small square wonton wrappers

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Wash and dry the baking potatoes. Bake the potatoes in the oven until done, about 45 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then split in half lengthwise to release steam. When cool to the touch, use a fork to mash and fluff the potatoes. Place in a mixing bowl. Discard potato skins.

In a large saute pan, heat the ghee or oil. Saute the onions, garlic and jalapeno until onions are golden brown. Add the peas, ginger, cumin, and coriander. Cook another 20 seconds. Pour over the mashed potato. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and taste to correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir in cilantro. Allow to cool completely before shaping into samosas.

To form the samosas, take a generous tablespoon of the filling and place on top of the wonton wrapper, right in the middle. Dip your finger in a bowl of water, paint the edges of the wrapper with water to help seal the wrapper and proceed to roll wrapper around the filling, making sure that the top flap is folded to secure filling. Repeat process until you have used up all the filling.

Place the samosas on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Spray the samosas lightly with cooking spray. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cilantro Chutney

2 cups cilantro
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup water

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor.

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Debbie's Famous Rum Balls

My mom, Debbie, has been famous for her rum balls since I can remember. Every Christmas, we would make dozens of batches for friends and family. It was a group effort. My mom and dad would perfect the combination ingredients, usually adding too much rum and having to make it less soupy by adding more graham crackers or nuts. I would help roll them into balls and dress them in powder sugar. My grandma lives for these rum balls! Even lately when she doesn't seem to be eating as much as she used to, she still loves to eat the rum balls!

So when my husband asked me to make a batch for his work friends, I thought it would be a great idea and something I could start doing for our new little family's holiday traditions. Maybe when Jay gets older, he can help me roll them, too.

Debbie's Famous Rum Balls

• 2 cups graham crackers, finely ground
• 2 cups nuts, finely ground (she uses walnuts but any nuts can work. I used pecans and they were great!)
• 1 container chocolate cake frosting
• A couple shots 151 rum, to taste
• 1 cup powdered sugar in a medium sized bowl

Take the ground graham crackers, nuts, frosting and rum and mix thoroughly in a bowl. It will be thick. I got in there with my hands and mixed it like I was kneading bread which worked well. Or you can be civilized and use a spoon but be ready for an upper body workout! Once mixed well, sample the mixture. If it's too dry, not rummy enough, etc, add more rum. If it's too soupy or just too strong, add more of the dry ingredients. You get the picture. You want a soft mixture but one the will roll and hold its shape as a ball well.

When you're happy with your ratio, roll up your sleeves, it's time to get messy! Take a small amount of the mixture, roll it into your hand to form a ball and roll the ball into the powdered sugar. The ball size is your call but I think they're best when they're quite small, maybe 1/2 tablespoon of mixture or less.

Anyway, so you're made your first rum ball! Now proceed with the rest of the mixture until it's finished. Of course, you have to sample throughout the process to make sure they're still tasty! Have fun!

Butternut Squash Tortellini

This is a quick but tasty fall-type meal. Squash is one of my favorite foods this time of year. I bought the smallest squash I could find at Krogers but it was still much too large for 2 cups worth so I'm going to make Butternut Squash Soup from the remainder (and I'll throw in the extra fresh sage!) Maybe I'll even post about it if I remember! (Remember, I do have a newborn!)

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 –2 cups (1 small) butternut squash, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 8 to 10 fresh sage leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 package frozen cheese tortellini or ravioli
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss squash, onion and 2 chopped sage leaves in oil, salt and pepper. Transfer to a roasting pan and roast 20 minutes, turning once or twice, until tender. Cook tortellini according to package instructions. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry sage leaves in one layer for 1 minute. Flip and fry until crisp, about 1 minute more. Remove from skillet to drain. Reduce heat to low, add broth and bring to simmer. Add drained pasta and butternut squash/onion mixture. Adjust seasoning, garnish with fried sage and sprinkle with cheese.

Gingerbread Scones

I think I've mentioned this before: I love fall foods! Give me anything spiced with some cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, etc and I'm a happy, happy girl (hence why I love Indian food so much). I made these scones for a 2 year old's pajama party brunch that got cancelled due to the birthday boy getting sick (poor kid!). Whatever shall I do except... eat them all myself! (My husband is helping, too). Most scones seem to be dry and hard but these are rich and moist, like a gingerbread cookie almost, but a cookie you can eat for breakfast! They're great room temperature or nuked up in the microwave with a hot cup of coffee or chai!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour


• 3 tablespoons brown sugar


• 2 teaspoons baking powder


• 1 teaspoon ground ginger


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom


• 1/4 cup cold butter or margarine


• 1/3 cup molasses


• 1/4 cup milk


• 1 egg, separated


• sugar for sprinkling

In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, combine the molasses, milk and egg yolk until smooth; stir into the flour mixture just until moistened. Turn out onto a floured surface; knead gently 6-8 times. Pat into an 8-in. circle; cut into 12 wedges and place 1 in. apart on a greased baking sheet. Beat egg white until frothy; brush over scones. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Our Samosa has arrived - 1 month birthday celebration!

It's been a while since I posted. The last several weeks of my pregnancy were very tiring and I basically gave up on cooking so even if I had had the motivation to post something, I didn't have anything interesting to post about!

Our little Samosa arrive on Oct 7, 2008 after 41 hours of long back labor. We named him Jayant Kieran to honor our Indian and Irish heritages. He was 7 lbs. 2 oz and 20" long. Since he was my first, I don't have anything to compare birthing to but apparently it was a pretty strenuous labor and it didn't scare me away from having another kiddo so I guess I handled it pretty well. I only wish I could have done it without an epidural been able to do the waterbirth but at least we have a happy, healthy baby. I can always try again for a natural birth next time.

Nov 7 marked his 1 month birthday so we had a birthday party! I can't believe a month has gone by already! To celebrate, I baked a cake, one of the first things I've done in the kitchen besides heating up frozen meals in a long time! I made a "Better than Sex" cake but since it's inappropriate for a 1 month old and not something he can relate to, I decided to rename it "Better than Boobies" cake.

Better than Boobies Cake

• 1 package Devil's Food or German Chocolate cake mix
• Water, oil and eggs (as called for on cake mix package)
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 17 ounces caramel sauce
• 8 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 2 Health bars, broken into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cake as directed on package in a 13x9-inch pan. Cool 15 minutes. Poke top of warm cake every 1/2 inch with handle of wooden spoon, wiping handle occasionally to reduce sticking. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk evenly over top of cake, let stand until milk has been absorbed into cake. Drizzle with caramel topping. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours until chilled. Spread whipped topping over top of cake. Sprinkle with Health bar pieces.

Chick-fil-A Rocks!! ... and explanation of my absence...

Well, I'm 35 weeks pregnant now and cooking hasn't been much on my mind lately. Actually, I take that back, I have been "thinking" of cooking a lot, I just don't execute a lot of my thoughts due to extreme exhaustion and the inability to move around readily! If I do get up to do something, the urge to pee hits me and by the time I'm done in the bathroom, I've totally forgotten why I was getting up in the first place! Yes, it's a sad existance but I know there's a means to the end! (Soon, soon!)

Meals consist of frozen Contessa dinners, pasta, soups, etc. Nothing really very photo worthy.

But yesterday, Labor Day, after work my husband and I took advantage of the Chick-fi-A Customer Appreciation Day and tried their new Chick-N-Strips for free (just had to sport our Gator gear!). They are sooooo good! Chick-fi-A has been a major craving for me anyway so I was thrilled to be out for a night of cooking-free food. Their new Chick-fi-A Sauce is absolutely delicious, too. It's like a combination of honey mustard and bbq sauces and I could just drink it! My husband and I were using it for the waffle fries, too. Good, good stuff.

Anyway, I really have good intentions to post new recipe soon... I have photos on my camera and everything... but we'll see what happens.