Burek

I was preparing for a dinner party for a group of people who have never tried my cooking, and needed something a little less daring, a little more American, and certainly less spicy. I decided to go with a Middle Eastern/Indian menu. Hummus is popular, kebabs are palatable, and I could still find ways to experiment. But I wanted to use ingredients I already had in my kitchen--one of which was sheets and sheets of puff pastry. I searched for Middle Eastern recipes using puff pastry with limited results. I did, however, run across a Bosnian recipe for Burek--which I had eaten before at a Middle Eastern restaurant--and thought its taste could pass for Middle Eastern. The clincher? It was made with filo dough, not puff pastry. Would it work? I followed a recipe for Burek that I found online and tried rolling it with puff pastry. The results were bland, relatively tasteless, but the puff pastry seemed to work out rather well. I tried it again altering a Sambusa recipe I had gotten from a Somali woman (Sambusa is the Ethiopian equivalent to Indian samosas). The results were pleasing. Crispy, tangy, and impressive looking. Great for guests.

Burek
-1 lb. ground beef, browned
-5 cloves garlic, minced
-1 T curry powder
-2 tsp. salt, or to taste
-juice of 2 lemons, plus rind of 1/2 lemon
-freshly ground black pepper
-1 onion, chopped and browned
-1 T dessicated coconut
-1 tsp. cumin seeds
-1 tsp. cardomom
-1/8 cup pine nuts (optional)
-melted butter

Saute the onion and garlic. Add beef and brown. Then add remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring regularly until almost dry.

Roll the puff pastry to nearly twice its size. Cut in half twice lengthwise. Brush with butter. Add meat filling to length of puff pastry. Roll into a coil, brush again with butter, and bake in preheated (375F) oven until golden.