My friend F said she was making Samosas last night. I sort of invited myself to dinner (As if I'm going to miss an opportunity to eat homemade Samosas? Ha!). So, after the movie (Hero) I promised to bring the wine and dessert. Of course, I had Palmiers in mind.
I had purchased more Puff Pastry dough, only this time I picked the supermarket variety, instead of the homemade gourmet kind, the one I normally buy from DeLaurenti. My dear friend Alfie had told me Ina (Garten) prefers Pepperidge Farm (from the frozen aisle) so that's what I got. Once again, the Organic Sugar (Trader Joe's), Kosher salt and the cardamon powder came out (I thought it would be a nice complement to the spice and the heat of the Indian Samosas).
This time, success! After thawing the pastry I rolled it out in the sugar and spice, folded and rolled the dough, cut the Palmiers and baked. A few minutes later, (drumroll) out they came. Looking, I must say, not too shabby. Good color, lovely caremelized edges, crunchy and flaky as can be. I plated them, grabbed the wine, my keys and walked fast but carefully down the hall towards the elevator.
One floor down, the elevator stopped. Two neighbors (they must be new to the building as I've never seen them before) walked in. They had pressed the button for the gym floor and they were dressed the part too. Exercise clothing that made their muscly and well toned bodies quite obvious.
They looked at the cookies and smiled. I wondered if they were looking at the cookies as some kind of forbidden fruit, something to look at but not dare to eat for fear of ruining their handsome physiques. I was intent on finding out (insert evil grin)...
Me:"Hi!"
1st Man:"Mmm, those look good"
Me:"Do they? I just baked them. Would you like one?"
Both men nodded.
2nd Man:"Palmiers, right?"
(I must have had this surprised look, accentuated by a big grin and wide open eyes)
Me:"Yes! Yes! They are Palmiers!"
2nd Man: "I know. I used to work at a French Bakery"
We get to F's floor, they both thank me, I smiled back. Bliss! I knew they tasted like Palmiers and now I had confirmation they also "looked" like Palmiers (even if they are still not 100% perfect, as Ina's).
Epilogue: The Samosas were delightful! The dough was not what F had envisioned.. I guess she was less happy with them that I was (they were delish!) But the recipe can be improved just by changing the dough from whole wheat to regular wheat flour dough). We had them with the Patak's Hot Mango Chutney she had purchased at an Indian grocer in Renton (the one adjacent to Pabla Indian Cuisine (Punjabi vegetarian & Kosher btw..). The wine was delicious too (Marquis Phillips Cabernet Sauvignon). Next, came the Palmiers. F liked them very much. We had a few and I suggested F Ziplocked the others for later consumption.
