May 16, 2008
Spinach, Swiss and Vidalia Quesadillas
Yesterday for lunch I wanted something Mexican and the more I thought about it the more quesadillas kept popping into my head. I had some Swiss cheese, I had picked up some Vidalia onions the day before and I needed to thin out my spinach window box (you can't get more local than your own front porch!) so I decided to put them together, along with some whole wheat tortillas and make a quick lunch.
What You'll Need per Person:
2 whole wheat tortillas
1/4 of a Vidalia onion, cut into strips (Note: Any kind of onion will work.)
1-2 cups of baby spinach leaves, julienned
Extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of cayenne pepper
1 ounce of Swiss cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 450 F.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and sauté onion and spinach leaves in a little extra virgin olive oil with a pinch of sea salt, some freshly ground black pepper and some cayenne pepper until tender. Remove the sautéd veggies and set aside.
Wipe out the skillet and heat over high heat until hot. Spray with non stick spray and place a tortilla into the skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the side down is golden browned and then remove from the skillet and place the browned side down on a cutting board. Give the skillet another spritz of non stick spray and repeat the procedure with the other tortilla.
While the second tortillas is cooking place the sautéd veggies on top of the tortilla that is resting on the cutting board. Top veggies with cheese. When the second tortilla is browned add it browned side up on top of the other tortillas. Carefully place the tortillas on a baking pan so as not to loose any of the filling and bake for 3-4 minutes to let the cheese melt and blend with the other ingredients.
Remove from the oven. Let sit for 2 minutes and then cut into wedges. Serve with sour cream and/or salsa.
Notes: You can add other things to the filling. Mushrooms work well, so do bell peppers. If you want you can add beef, chicken and/or shrimp. The filling is completely up to you.
Posted by Dianne at 12:15 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
May 15, 2008
Creamed Spinach
A friend of mine's mom used to make a mean creamed spinach. I always loved coming over to her house when I was in Knoxville, because inevitably she would make that dish because she knew I loved it as much as her family did. It was a nice little oasis away from the drudgery of everyday life.
As much as I love this dish I never asked her how to make it, because at the time I doubted my abilities in the kitchen...Years of being oppressed can do that to a person, but many years later I put two and two together and figured out exactly what was in the dish and was able to recreate it to the point that it brings back such fond memories.
Every time I make this dish I think of her, even though I haven't seen her in years. In a way I guess it's my little tribute to her and that makes me happy.
What You'll Need:
Extra virgin olive oil
6-8 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 - 1 pound bag of frozen spinach (Note: You can use fresh spinach, but I don't have quite enough of it yet to do that, but it's growing everyday!)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 to 1/3 cup of half and half or heavy cream
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a large sized skillet over medium to low heat sauté garlic for a minute or two until soft. Don't let it go too far and turn brown. Add the spinach, a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper and cook until all of the liquid has evaporated and the spinach is soft. Stir in half and half or heavy cream and cheese and cook stirring constantly until cheese is melted and any liquid is gone (about 2 minutes). Serve immediately.
Notes: Sometimes my friend's mom would switch things up a bit and add in sautéd mushrooms or onions in with the garlic. It's a very forgiving recipe and very easy to tweak.
Posted by Dianne at 8:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
May 14, 2008
Key Lime Milk Chocolate Chip Bars
In keeping with the same theme of my pick for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie I decided to make something Key Lime related to send to work with Jamison to share with his coworkers. At first I thought about making some Key Lime Cookies, but the idea rapidly evolved into these bars instead.
The chocolate and the key lime give each other a nice playing off of point. The coconut also gives it a nice overall flavor. The bars are soft, tender and cake like due to the sweetened condensed milk and coconut and overall it's just a very nice way to play around with Key Lime.
What You'll Need:
1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick of butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup of key lime juice
1 cup coconut
1 cup of organic cane sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3 1/2 cup of unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups of milk chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 F.
In the bowl of a mixer dump the sweetened condensed milk, butter and eggs on medium speed until well blended. Next add Key Lime juice and mix until incorporated. Add coconut and stir in on low speed until well mixed. Add sugar and mix until blended. Next add sea salt, baking powder and baking soda and stir into the wet mixture. Slowly add flour at low speed and mix until just incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
Spray a 13 X 9 inch pan with non-stick spray and spread the batter out in the dish. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and done through. Remove from oven and let cool in the dish. Cut into squares and serve.
Notes: You could add in some cashews or macadamia nuts to an added crunch.
Posted by Dianne at 12:26 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
May 13, 2008
Tuesdays with Dorie My Pick: Florida Pie! Plus Coconut Creamsicle Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Covered Goji Berries Just for Fun!
It's Tuesday! So you know what that means...Tuesdays with Dorie
If you're a frequent guest to Dianne's Dishes you've heard me talk about my love for Key Lime before and if you come back you'll most likely hear about it again. When I looked through the book I looked at several recipes as a possibility for this week, but I kept coming back to the Florida Pie. I know some people are not fan of Key Lime, so it will be interesting to see how everyone did with this recipe and I know several people that didn't like the idea of coconut in with the Key Lime, but I had always been curious as to how the two would blend so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to test some boundaries and after all that's what makes being in the kitchen fun.
I actually made a few tweaks to this recipe. I decided to make the pie in an 8 inch springform pan, instead of a pie dish to make it have a bit more height. I also added some whole, raw cashews on top of the crust and I did not bake the crust either.
For the lime juice I strayed a bit too. I added in 3/4 a cup of Nellie and Joe's Double Strength Key Lime Juice instead of using fresh juice and I used 3/4 a cup instead of 1/2 a cup and I really liked the depth of flavor it brought to the pie overall. It was most definitely a nice addition.
In terms of the meringue I did not follow the recipe. I didn't heat the egg whites, I simply just made meringue by beating the egg whites with organic cane sugar. I also forgot to add the coconut to the meringue, though I had intended to make that addition. In the end though the pie overall turned out fine without it so maybe it was a providence. ;o)
Usually on Tuesdays I send whatever I make if it's possible to work with Jamison, but this one was a bit on the messy side for that, so I made some Key Lime Milk Chocolate Chip Bars to send along with him instead in the spirit of the whole Key Lime theme. I'll post the recipe for those tomorrow so be sure to check back then!
Anyway, this is my choice for this week. Overall I was very pleased with how it turned out. The cashews were a nice surprise and I really liked the coconut overall too. The pairing with the Coconut Creamsicle Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Covered Goji Berries was fabulous as well! I would definitely make this again.
Be sure to stop over at the Tuesdays with Dorie blog to see how everyone else's pie turned out.
What You'll Need:
1 9-inch graham cracker crust (page 235), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, separated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1/4 cup of sugar
What You'll Need for the Coconut Creamsicle Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Covered Goji Berries:
2 - 12 ounce bottles of Izze Clementine sparkling juice
1 - 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup of organic cane sugar
1 cup of dark chocolate covered goji berries
1 cup of coconut
Note: The above ingredients are set up to work in this ice cream maker
Getting Ready to Make the Pie:
(Note: First make and freeze the ice cream. See instructions below.)
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.
Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the reaming juice, again mixing until it is blended. Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.
Bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.
To Finish the Pie with Meringue:
Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.
Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.) Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.
To Make the Ice Cream:
In a large bowl stir together ingredients. Dump mixture into the tub of your ice cream maker and freeze according to your model's directions. Remove from ice cream machine when it's done and place in the freezer until firm. Serve alone or along with the Florida Pie.
Posted by Dianne at 6:04 AM | Comments (57) | TrackBack (0)
May 12, 2008
Fruity Watermleon Smoothie
Most mornings I eat some sort of fruit and occasionally I like to make a smoothie. Smoothies are great because it's an easy way to get in several servings of fruits and/or vegetables in one sitting, all while having a delicious breakfast or snack! Pick the fruits and/or veggies you like (you can even throw in nuts and/or seeds if you like!) and take it for a spin the blender and you've got an instant, healthy breakfast or snack that will really hit the spot.
What You'll Need:
1 cup of watermelon
1/2 cup of blueberries
3-4 strawberries
1 banana, sliced (Note: I usually use a frozen banana, but I didn't have any frozen bananas today so I used ice instead. If you use frozen fruit you can leave out the ice.)
1/2 cup of orange juice
5-6 ice cubes (Optional)
Dump ingredients in the jar of your blender and blend until smooth. (Did I mention how easy this was?)
Makes one large smoothie or two small smoothies.
Notes: There is no need to use any sweetener in a smoothie as the fruit/juice is sweet enough in and of itself. You also don't have to use ice or frozen fruit, but I like the way it makes the consistency of the smoothie.
Posted by Dianne at 9:28 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day!
Posted by Dianne at 1:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
