I love long weekends. Today is Sunday, but it feels like Saturday. Kevin is still recovering from his visit to urgent care yesterday. I started the morning by heading to the gym to get in my weekly run. It has been extremely cold in Ohio this weekend and we are feeling the effects of Winter Storm Harper. Yesterday, we experienced rain and some sleet, but late last night, the snow starting falling. At around 3:00 a.m. in the morning, I was awakened by the sound of plow trucks working to clear the roads outside. I peeked out the window and saw a fair amount of snow already accumulated on the ground. The temperature had also dropped to the single digits. When it is this cold outside, I have zero desire to leave the home. I did have to make a quick run to the store to pick up some detergent and dryer sheets as we were out of both. Other than the gym and a quick run to the grocery store, I stayed home and baked throughout the day. I had some ground beef in the fridge and decided to use the beef to make some cumin curry beef puffs. A couple years ago, I went to a restaurant in Columbus and had the most amazing flatbread with spiced ground beef, onions, and cilantro. I thought back to the flavors of the flatbread topping and used it as inspiration to make my cumin curry beef puffs. For the dough, I used my pie crust recipe. I typically like to chill my pie dough overnight, but sometimes when cravings kick in, I take a shortcut. I made my pie crust dough using a food processor and chilled the dough in the fridge for about 45 minutes before I rolled it out. I then cut out circles in my pie dough using my biscuit cutter, filled the dough with cheese and filling, and then let the oven do its thing. The cumin curry beef puffs were delicious on their own, but I served them with a side of sour cream. These puffs make for a great afternoon snack, late lunch, or early dinner. My pie dough recipe yielded about 21 beef puffs. I saved the remaining filling to toss with cooked spaghetti for two additional lunch box meals throughout the week.
Cumin Curry Beef Puffs:
· Pie dough recipe
· 1 pound ground beef (85% lean and 15% fat)
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 1 teaspoon chili powder
· ½ teaspoon paprika
· ½ teaspoon garlic salt
· 2 teaspoons cumin
· 2 teaspoons curry powder
· ½ onion, diced
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· 2 large button mushrooms, finely chopped
· 3 sprigs fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
· 1 tablespoon cornstarch
· 1 tablespoon water
· 2 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
· 1 large egg
· 1 tablespoon water
Directions:
1) Prepare the pie dough following the instructions here. Chill the pie dough in the refrigerator until ready to use.
2) Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
3) Heat a skillet on medium heat. Once hot, add the ground beef. Brown the meat in the hot skillet until it starts to become a deep brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. As the meat is browning, add the salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, garlic salt, cumin, and curry powder. Add the diced onion, garlic, mushrooms, and cilantro. Cook until the onions and mushrooms soften, about 2-3 minutes.
4) In a small sauce bowl, whisk together the corn starch and water to create a slurry. Pour the slurry into the skillet. Cook an additional minute until the ingredients in the skillet begin to thicken. Turn off the heat. Set aside the skillet.
5) Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour a surface and rolling pin. Roll out the dough. Use a small biscuit cutter to cut out as many circles as you can. You can reroll the remaining dough and cut out additional circles.
6) Place the circles on the parchment lined baking sheet. Add about ½ teaspoon of grated cheese per circle. Add about a teaspoon of meat filling per circle.
7) In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water to create an egg wash. Brush the egg wash onto the edges of each of the circles.
8) Pinch around the edges of each circle to seal them. Use a fork to completely seal the edges of the beef puffs. Brush each of the beef puffs with egg wash. Top each of the beef puffs with remaining cheese.
9) Place the baking sheet with the beef puffs in the preheated oven. Bake until the beef puffs are golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Serve with some sour cream or sauce of your choice.
Takeaways: I had a lot of filling remaining after making the beef puffs. You can always double the pie dough recipe to make more beef puffs or divide the filling ingredients in half to make less filling. I made extra filling to use for a quick spaghetti dish I could pack for lunch throughout the week. You can serve the beef puffs on their own or with a side of plain sour cream, plain Greek yogurt, or hot sauce.
