Microwave Dill Pickles

Ever since I was a little girl I liked dill pickles. The Becka is exactly the same. She puts them on all her elaborate sandwiches and we go through several jars a year. My sister-in-law served us delicious microwave bread and butter pickles. Even our pickle-hating older daughters liked them. I fiddled with the recipe and came up with this dill pickle variation. The results were fast, crisp and tasty.

1 English cucumber (4 cups sliced cucumber)
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 bunch fresh dill
2 teaspoons non-iodized salt (pickling, kosher)
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (or more to taste)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1-1/2 cups water

I used a large 8 cup pyrex (microwavable) measuring cup to make the pickles.

Cut cucumber into pickle-sized slices and put in large container with garlic and dill. Heat vinegar, water, salt and hot pepper flakes in another microwavable container and heat to boiling (3-4 minutes). Pour hot liquid over cucumber and make sure it is all submerged. Microwave cucumbers and liquid for another 6-7 minutes, stirring twice until cucumbers are tender crisp. Let mixture cool and then pack vegetables and liquid in 2 pint jars. They are ready to eat once chilled. Keep in refrigerator and use within a couple of months.

Yield- 4 pints

Vegetable Samosas and Tamarind Sauce

We enjoy spicy potato and green pea samosas from the local Indian restaurant and grocer. The restaurant serves large ones for about $2 apiece and they come with a container of sweet and spicy tamarind sauce. The Indian grocer sells smaller machine made samosas at 3/$1 or handmade ones at 2/$1. Why would anyone want to make them? The ones we buy are deep fried and the paper bag they come is stained with lots of grease. I made these lower fat ones with phyllo pastry and they were quite easy once the ingredients were assembled. The tamarind sauce took very little time to make as well. Feel free to adjust spices to your taste

1-2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds (ground slightly with mortar and pestle)
2 small or 1 large onion finely chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt

Heat oil and add seeds and onion. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until onions are starting to soften. Add the other spices and mix together.

Add:

3 cups finely diced potato- about 1/4" dice ( I used small new potatoes and did not peel them)
1-1/2 cups frozen green peas
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Mix all ingredients and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until peas are thawed and potatoes are starting to soften. Turn off heat. Preheat oven to 400F

Open a package of thawed phyllo pastry and lift off 3 sheets. Cut the sheets lengthwise into 3 or 4 long strips. I found the thirds easier to work with and they made a larger samosa. Place 1/4-1/3 cup of vegetable mixture at one end of the phyllo strip and fold diagonally like a flag. (Here is a video link that shows how to do it) Place samosa on a baking sheet and brush all sides lightly with oil.

Bake samosas for 20-30 minutes until nicely browned. The larger sized ones need a little more time. Let them cool before serving unless you like burning your mouth.

Makes 12-15 medium sized samosas.

Tamarind Sauce

I buy tamarind paste in rectangular packages. There are plenty of large seeds in the paste.

8 oz tamarind paste
8-12 oz boiling water

Cover paste with boiling water, break up into chunks and let it sit and soften for a while. Put the mixture through a medium sieve. Add sweetener to taste. I used 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup Splenda. Heat in a small pot until mixture bubbles. Add spices to taste. I added:

2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
dash of cayenne pepper