RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Karen Selwyn Sambusak Sephardic Pastries - dairy, meat
Cheese- or Meat-Filled Pastries: Rae Dayan's Sambusak "Sambusak are the most popular Syrian-Sephardic pastries, and are eaten throughout the year. Cheese is the traditional filling for Hanukkah, meat for the Sabbath. This recipe makes a lot of pastries, but they freeze perfectly, so you can enjoy sambusak at any time. "If you are making cheese sambusak, use butter in the filling because these pastries will be eaten at a dairy meal. If you make meat sambusak, you must make the pastry with margarine, according to dietary laws." Lyn Stallworth and Rod Kennedy, Jr. Dough 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons salt 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature 1/2 cup cold water ½ cup sesame seeds Cheese Filling 1-1/2 pounds Muenster cheese, grated 3 lightly beaten eggs 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1-1/2 cups sesame seeds Meat Filling 1 cup finely chopped onion 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound chopped kosher shoulder beef 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 cup pine nuts To make the pastry, first combine the flour and salt. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter or margarine and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Add the water. Knead until a ball forms. Let the dough rest as you prepare one of the fillings. To make the cheese filling, mix all ingredients together well. To make the meat filling, saute the onion in oil until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped meat and brown it, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, about 20 minutes. Let meat cool, then add the spices and pine nuts. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the 1/2 cup of sesame seeds on a large plate. Break off walnut size pieces of dough. Shape each into a ball and dip it lightly on one side into the sesame seeds, then roll it, seed side down, into a 3-inch round. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of the round. Fold it over to make a half-moon and crimp the edges together tightly so that filling will not burst through. (Sambusak can be frozen at this point. Place them in a single layer on a tray lined with wax paper and freeze them. Place frozen sambusak in double plastic bags and return them to the freezer. To bake frozen pastries, place them on ungreased baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes in a 400 degree F. oven, or until golden.) Place pastries on ungreased baking sheets and bake them for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Yield: about 60 pastries Source: The Brooklyn Cookbook Lyn Stallworth and Rod Kennedy, Jr.
