Italian Bread Bowls

So student teaching is pretty much taking over my life for the next few months. The blog has definitely been put on the back burner. I'm still cooking, but mostly crock pot recipes. Some have been new, but mostly sticking to easy recipes that I've made before. However, yesterday Henderson got snowed in! My first snow day as a teacher! To celebrate, I made Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic Soup and Italian Bread Bowls. Both were EXCELLENT!

I also made really tasty Blueberry Muffins for breakfast. Feeling somewhat remorseful at my lack of posting lately. The whole point of this blog was to help me remember which recipes and I liked and which I didn't, so I guess I should make more of an effort to chronicle my cooking adventures. Still, we've only got so much time, and those lesson plans aren't going to write themselves.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Spinach artichoke dip is one of my very favorite foods. Whenever we go out to eat, I'm always tempted by this appetizer. I hardly ever order it, however, because I hate paying 6-8 bucks for two little scoops of dip! Hardly enough to whet anyone's appetite, if you ask me! I had a perfect excuse to make these tonight, however. We were having two friends over for dinner (spaghetti and meatballs), and this dip seemed a perfect addition to our meal.

Now, I've tried quite a few recipes for spinach artichoke dip over the years. I think I'm officially done looking. This one is my favorite!

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese (I used all Parmaggiano Reggiano here with great success)
  
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

I think the real star in this recipe was the basil. I've never seen it in a similar dip, but it made the whole thing pesto-ish. Totally fabulous! Filing this one away under "Make Often."

(PS--Sorry there's no picture! I was too hungry to wait! Blame it on the pregnancy...)

Chicken Makhani--aka Delcious Food

Thus far, my pursuit of Indian cookery has been somewhat limited. I make a chicken curry that is one of our all-time favorites, naan, and even some chickpea curries. Tonight, I branched out a little more! Still in the chicken realm, since lamb is expensive and virtually non-existent in this area, but still. Progress is progress. And in this case, progress is absolutely delicious!

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1/4 white onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 3 cloves garlic
  
• 1 teaspoon curry madras
  
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup half-and-half (or heavy cream if you want to go nuts)
  
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 
  
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 teaspoon curry madras
  
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup cashews
  
• 1/4 cup water

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Saute shallot and onion until soft and translucent. Stir in butter, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon garam masala, chili powder, cumin and bay leaf. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in half-and-half and yogurt. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with salt pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat, and season with 1 teaspoon garam masala and cayenne. Stir in a few spoonfuls of sauce, and simmer until liquid has reduced, and chicken is no longer pink. Stir cooked chicken into sauce.
3. Blend the sauce with the cashews. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't follow the recipe too faithfully. I realized when I was posting this that I forgot the lemon juice (that would have been good!) and never added water to the chicken...Hmmm. I think we had too many dishes going at once! Without Allen being the naan man, it could have been a disaster of an evening. We had this chicken with basmati, naan, and saag paneer. The saag was good, but I'm going to try a few more recipes to see if I can find one I like better.

PS--I stole this picture. We just BARELY had time to get our food scooped into bowls before House started at 7! No time for photography!! But it looked like that, I promise! Such a gorgeous color!

Spinach Puffs

Is it terribly pathetic when a recipe idea comes from a movie? Well, one of my favorite cartoons is The Emperor's New Groove. I was thinking about Kronk's spinach puffs the other day, and said to myself..."Mmmm. Spinach puffs. That sounds good!" So off I went in search of a recipe. Most were essentially for spanikopita--more spinach pie than spinach puff. I did come across this recipe, though:

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a saucepan, bring the milk, butter and salt to a boil over medium heat.
   
2. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms.
   
3. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes.
   
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and shiny.
   
5. Stir in spinach and cheese.
   
6. Line baking sheets with foil and grease the foil.
   
7. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls 1-1/2 in. apart onto prepared baking sheets.
   
8. Bake at 375 degrees F for 23-28 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Serve warm. Refrigerate any leftovers.

These were tasty little treats! Best served hot, however. We found them to be much less impressive once they'd cooled down.

Garlic Soup

This was probably the best soup I've ever made. Amazingly, it was also one of the easiest and quickest! You know what that means--it's sure to become a staple in the Shull household. We do love our garlic around here!

After looking at several recipes, I decided to go with Julia Child's recipe. So simple!

16 cloves (about 1 head) of garlic
2 quarts water
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp sage
2 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
3 egg yolks
3 tbs olive oil
grated parmesean cheese

1. Bring a cup of water to a boil (I did this step in the microwave in a little pyrex liquid measuring cup). Add unpeeled garlic cloves and boil for 1 minute. Drain, run under cold water, and peel.

2. In a 3-quart pot, add water, garlic, and seasonings (thyme, salt, sage, cloves, bay leaf, and pepper). Boil slowly for 30 minutes. Taste, correct seasonings.

3. In a bowl, beat 3 egg yolks. Slowly whisk in olive oil.

4. Very slowly, add a ladle of soup to the eggs, stirring constantly.

5. Strain out the garlic, pressing to release juices.

6. Add the egg/soup mixture back to the pot. Serve with grated cheese!

This was our appetizer before buffalo chicken sandwiches, but I didn't take a picture of those. They were tasty too, though!

Cauliflower and Potato Curry

If I learned one thing from tonight's experiment, it's that I should ALWAYS trust my instincts. I found this recipe for potato cauliflower curry and was interested. You know I love a good curry! However, the site didn't give a listed recipe, so it was only as I was reading down through the post that I noticed something odd--no garlic, onions, or ginger. I thought this was supposed to be curry? Allen voted to try it like it was written the first time, and it turned out pretty much like I thought it would. Not bad, but would have been better with garlic, onions, and ginger! I'll go ahead and post the ingredients so I have a place to start when we try this again.

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets (or 2 bags frozen cauliflower)
6 medium potatoes, cubed
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons salt
1 small can tomato paste

The method is pretty straightforward.

1. Boil the potatoes about 5 minutes (they will finish cooking in the pan later).
2. Heat a skillet with olive oil. Brown the spices in the oil for a few minutes.
3. Stir in tomato paste.
4. Add cauliflower to skillet, stirring well to make sure all the pieces are coated with the spices.
5. Add 1.5-2 cups water (to cover cauliflower). Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.
6. Simmer until cauliflower is done, adding potatoes towards the end of cooking to heat them up.

Serve over basmati or jasmine rice.

We will definitely be trying this again, with modifications. For one thing, I'll be adding some cayenne, lemon juice, and probably more of all the spices. And of course, GARLIC, GINGER, and ONIONS.

Cranberry Apple Casserole

I first tasted this dish last year, when my boss made it and brought some to work. It's fair to say I've been thinking of it since then, but fresh cranberries are sadly not available year-round. But low and behold, I got two big bags Friday at Sam's!



3 c peeled, chopped apples
2 c fresh cranberries
2 T. flour
1 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c flour
1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c melted butter

*Note: The sugar can be reduced by half without any problem. It really allows the tartness of the cranberries to shine!


1. Combine apples and cranberries. Toss with 2T flour to coat fruit.
2. Add sugar and stir.
3. In a separate bowl, combine oats, cinnamon, 1/2 c flour, brown sugar, and butter.
4. Place fruit in a 2 qt casserole dish. Spoon oatmeal over fruit.

Bake uncovered @ 350 for 45 minutes.

All I can say is--I'm glad I have 6 lbs of cranberries! Allen said he wants this regularly, until he gets sick of it.