Almost Houston's Spinach Dip

One of my favorite restaurants of all time is called Houston's. I have been going there my whole life and I have always gotten the same exact thing - grilled salmon and spinach dip. This is the most perfect salmon you will ever eat and my whole family compares all other salmon to Houston's - no other restaurant has so far matched how perfectly cooked the salmon is cooked at Houston's.

But this blog post isn't about salmon. It's about Spinach dip. Houston's also makes this amazing spinach dip. Ten years ago, my mom found a recipe for their spinach dip in a newspaper. So she has been making me almost Houston's quality spinach dip for years. It is my friends and mine favorite snack - all my friends always want to come over just so they can eat this amazing spinach dip.

However it is A LOT of work.

Recipe:

1/2 cup of grated Romano cheese
1 large clove of garlic
1 (10 ounce) package of frozen spinach
1 (6 ounce) jar of artichoke hearts (i have also used artichoke quarters and that works fine too)
1 (8 ounce) container of soft garlic-chive cream cheese
2 large eggs
1 cup of shredded mozzarella (and more for on top)

Before you even think about making this spinach dip, you must let the spinach thaw out. Once it has thawed out, then you must firmly squeeze the spinach to remove the moisture. If you do not do this then the spinach dip will be runny.

Then you must do the same thing to the artichoke hearts.

After removing all the moisture from the artichokes and spinach, you can start combining all of the ingredients into a food processor.

The spinach dip mixture will fill about 2 small baking dishes. Before placing the baking dishes in the oven, place some more mozzarella on top of the spinach dip.

The oven should be preheated to 375 degrees. The spinach dip will bake for about 20 minutes. I leave the spinach dip in the oven until it gets nice and golden brown around the edges and on the top.
This ensures that everything has been completely cooked through.

Last thing to do is to enjoy! This spinach dip is so delicious. At Houston's, they serve the spinach dip with tortilla chips, salsa, and sour cream. However, I prefer my spinach dip with tortilla chips only. This dip does not come out runny (like queso), it comes out thicker. This allows for a perfect dip to chip ratio.

Crepes

I have to admit breakfast is not my favorite meal, however I LOVE crepes! They are one of my favorite things to make my boyfriend.

At first struggled to make a good crepe. They always seemed to be like a swedish pancake and not paper thin like a crepe.

But behold I have mastered the art of crepe making. The key is to make sure that the crepe batter is really thin.

This recipe is very simple and quick to make. But is very delicious and it is always appreciated.

Recipe: (makes about 8 crepes)

1 cup of milk
1 cup of flour
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of butter (melted)
6 tablespoons of water
pinch of salt

The batter does sometimes come out a little lumpy. Do your best to get rid of the lumps but the lumps do not have an effect on the taste.

To cook the crepes, I heat a pan to medium heat and use butter instead of Pam. The butter helps with the browning of the crepes.

I heat the pan to medium heat with butter, which helps with browning. Then I use a measuring cup to pour the batter into the pan. The secret is to tilt the pan and spread around the batter. I cook the crepes for about 3 minutes on each side.

 I like to eat my crepes with only Nutella while my boyfriend likes to add fruit.

The crepes come out very thin and sweet while the Nutella adds chocolatey goodness. They are perfect with a large glass of milk.

Meet the Grill Master

Since I do love to grill any and all types of food, I thought it would be good to introduce the man behind the grill, Chris aka McCheffin (a nickname given to him by his college roommates because he was cooking all the time).

How did you first get interested in cooking?
I first got interested in cooking four years ago when I went on a diet and lost over 20 pounds. While I was on the diet, I had to cook meals for myself, which sparked my interest in cooking.

What's your favorite food?
Chicken Parmesan

What's your favorite thing to cook?
I like to slow cook anything. It is fun and the meat comes out so tender, it just falls off the bone.

Favorite restaurant?
Curry House. It is a Japanese American type place. I love the Pork Katsu Curry - it's really spicy, which I love. Curry House has different flavors that are hard to find anywhere else.

Would you ever consider cooking/grilling as a career?
No. Maybe after I retire.

Banana and Nutella Cupcakes

 What is the best thing to do with overly ripe bananas? Make them into cupcakes! The recipe already calls for ripe bananas so it's perfect! 

So banana cupcake and Nutella frosting. 

Recipe (cake recipe taken from: http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/09/banana-cupcakes-nutella-buttercream-frosting/): 

• 1 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup mashed over-ripe bananas (from about 2 medium bananas)
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice (I just squeezed one whole lemon into it)
• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup buttermilk

The cornstarch is really important in these cupcakes. The bananas are very watery and tend to make things it is baked into very watery without the addition of cornstarch, which is a thickener.

I cooked the cupcakes at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

While the cupcakes are cooling, it is time to make the Nutella frosting.

I just made my own frosting without a recipe.

I put about 2 cups of powdered sugar, 2 sticks of butter and a whole container of Nutella.

Frosting the cupcakes is definitely my favorite part of baking. I put the frosting into a plastic baggy and pipe it onto the cupcakes. This allows it to look "fancy" and gives it more of an impressive look.

These cupcakes are the perfect combination of banana and Nutella. The cake is moist and has banana chunks in it which gives it more of a banana taste/feel to it.

These cupcakes always earn me rave reviews at parties and family gatherings.

My ability to bake and cook is always something that I have taken for granted as it comes easy to me but I am slowly realizing how much of a gift it is that I am able to cook and bake. Not all people are as comfortable in the kitchen as I am. I am just lucky that I grew up around the kitchen baking with my mom. 

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Whenever there is a birthday coming up, I am always the first one to volunteer to make the cake. I love to bake so why not bake the birthday cake. They tell me what flavors they like and if they want cupcakes or a cake and I go to work.

So for this blog post, I coach field hockey and one my player's birthdays was coming up. I however, chose for her to make apple pie cupcakes sine we had apples lying around that were going to go bad soon if someone didn't use them.

Apple Pie cupcakes: Spiced cake, with apples inside, buttercream frosting, and a salted caramel drizzle on top. People are always impressed that there are apples in the middle.

Recipe: (taken from http://www.spoonfulofflavor.com/2014/10/31/apple-pie-cupcakes-vanilla-buttercream-frosting/) Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes.

For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups milk

I only used all-purpose flour and it turned out just fine. I like to add the eggs last as the eggs are not supposed to be whipped every much - just enough to incorporate them into the batter. 

I line cupcake tins with whatever fun designed cupcake tins I chose to use. Then I use an ice cream scooper to put the batter into the cupcake liners. You typically want the cupcake liners to be about 3/4 full - you have to take into account the fact that they will rise when baked. 

While the cupcakes are baking for about 10 minutes - I prepare the apple filling. I normally use a combination of red and green apples - this gives it a tart-sweet flavor.

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 cups peeled and chopped apples
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¾ cup water plus 2 tablespoons water, divided
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Heat the butter over medium heat and then add the apples and seasonings. Cook for about 5 minutes so the apples release their juices and start to soften. Let this cool before adding to the cupcakes.

After the cupcakes have cooked, I take them out of the pans and let them cool. 

Once they have cooled, it is time to add the filling. I use a knife to carve out the middle of the cupcake. It is up to you how much of the middle you take out but I think it is important to try and get a lot of apple filling in there. So I try to take out some of the middle and part of the sides. Then I put the apple filling - i push it down into the cupcake a little bit and that helps get as much filling as possible. 

Next, it is time to make the frosting. 

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

I like to frost my cupcakes the "fancy" way by putting the frosting into a plastic baggie and cutting a hole in the corner so I can pipe out the frosting. This method however requires more frosting than the recipe makes so you will need to add about a cup more of powdered sugar and an extra stick of butter if you want to use this method.

My favorite part is adding the salted caramel drizzle. 

There is a way to make this from scratch but I prefer to use the smuckers sundae syrup caramel. This is just easier and tastes just as good. I like to add some salt to the syrup as well for this salty sweet taste. 

These cupcakes are a lot of work but people are always amazed at how "intense" these cupcakes are. One of my players told me that I should "sell these for $10 each" because they are so good. 

                          Please comment and let me know what you think!

Grandma's Lemon Bars

This recipe has been in my family for decades.  My boyfriend LOVES all things lemon and he can easily eat a whole pan of these lemon bars in a weekend if not a day. My family is now lucky enough to have meyer lemon trees in our backyard, it is that much easier to make these sweet-tart treats.

One crucial element of these bars is the crust, which is flaky and buttery.

To make the crust:

1 cup of butter
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of flour

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make sure to well spray the pan to make sure the crust doesn't stick. Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes until the crust is brown around the edges. 

While the crust is cooking, you need to start making the filling.

4 eggs slightly beaten (i add them at the last minute)

2 cups of sugar 

6 tablespoons of flour

6 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of grated lemon juice 

As soon as the crust comes out of the oven, it is important to immediately add the filling and put it back in the oven. Then it will typically bake for around 30 minutes to an hour depending upon the size of the pan. I bake it until the filling no longer jiggles. 

Lastly, it is important to add the powdered sugar immediately after. It is supposed to create a crispy crust but in my experience these bars end up being ooey, gooey, and delicious. 

I never gone to a party or event with these lemon bars and not gotten rave reviews. 

Meet the Chef

I thought it would be interesting and fun to do a small Q&A about the face behind the blog - ME!

When did you start baking/How did you get interested in baking?

I got interested in baking from a young age because of my mom who loves to bake and has a HUGE sweet tooth (as do I). When I was in first grade, I used to make brownies and sell them at a bake sale on the corner of my street. Since then I have loved to bake. By 6th grade, I had memorized the recipe to make chocolate chip cookies (which have now become one of my signature dishes).

Do you consider yourself more of a baker or a chef? 

I think I consider myself more of a baker. I started out as a baker but as I have tried to develop a healthy lifestyle, I rarely bake. But not because I don't like baking - I just want to be healthy and eating chocolate chip cookies every week is not considered healthy living unfortunately. But I do like cooking - it is always exciting to try something new like making risotto or your first 4 layer cake for the first time.

What's your favorite food?

People are always surprised when I say this but I have an obsession with cauliflower. Roasted cauliflower is my favorite (some people might call it burnt cauliflower). I have tried all kinds of cauliflower and they are just delicious!

What's your favorite thing to bake or cook? 

This one is a toughy. I would say my favorite thing to bake is a four layer peanut butter and chocolate cake. It has two layers of reeses pieces cheesecake and two layers of chocolate cake. In between each layer is some caramel and salted nuts. On the top is peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache. I like this cake because it is a very challenging cake to make and I love a challenge. It was actually the first cake that I made entirely from scratch - I made it for my friend's birthday party and it was a hit!

Overall, I just like to make new and challenging things. When my friends have birthdays coming up they just tell me what they want such as a cake with peanut butter and chocolate. Then I get to decide what exactly I will make.

What's your favorite restaurant?

My favorite restaurant hands down is Rio Grill. They have this amazing balsamic artichoke. The heart and stem are so tender - it's amazing. And they give you free bread - what's not to love?! Rio makes a tasty margarita (called a Rio rita) as well. For an entree, my favorite dish is the half-smoked chicken with broccolini. It comes with this chili butter sauce that is just to die for. It is creamy yet slightly spicy but oh so tasty.

Rio leaves you feeling full but at the same time wanting to (finish the last piece of bread) shove more food in your mouth. I go there practically once a week and get the same thing everytime and it is always satisfying.

Would you ever consider baking as a career?

I would consider it as a side career but not as a full time job. Baking has always been a fun outlet for me and that could change if I had to do it as a career.

Fancy Food Fridays

I love to challenge myself and make difficult yet delicious meals. So I decided to make a marinaded filet mignon atop parmesan risotto. I had never made risotto before but it is always so delicious in restaurants so I wanted to see if I could make some delicious risotto (spoiler alert - I CAN!).

So to start off I marinaded the steaks. I find most of my recipes on Pinterest and this one was called the Best Steak Marinade so I decided to give it a try

Here is the recipe for the marinade (posted via indulgy.com):

1/3 of low sodium soy sauce
1/3 of olive oil
1/3 of lemon juice
1/4 Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons of garlic powder
3 tablespoons of fresh basil
1 tablespoon of dried parsley
1 teaspoon of ground white pepper
1 tablespoon of minced garlic

I let the steaks marinade for about three hours before the grill master (my boyfriend) threw them on the grill. We put the grill on high and cooked the steaks for about 4 minutes a side.

While the steaks are cooking we made the risotto. 

Here is the recipe (posted via foodnetwork.com):

1 1/2 cups of Arborio rice (this is rice especially for risotto).

1 cup of white wine (we chose Pinot Grigio but you can pick any dry white wine).

3 to 4 cups of low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 medium onion

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup of parmesan (more to sprinkle on top)

4 tablespoons of butter 

salt and pepper to taste

To make risotto it takes about 40 minutes. So to start out you sweat the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes with two tablespoons of butter with the pan on medium heat. While this is happening, put the chicken stock in a separate pan over medium heat so it can warm up. After the onions become somewhat transparent you add the rice for only two minutes - just so the butter can cover the rice. Then add the cup of white wine - once that has been absorbed you can begin to slowly add a ladle full of chicken broth at a time. Only add more chicken broth once the rice has absorbed all of the chicken broth. This process will continue for the next 20 minutes until the rice is cooked. At the last minute you add the parmesan and remaining two tablespoons of butter to the risotto. 

After letting the steaks rest for about 5 minutes, we sliced them and put them on top of the risotto and sprinkled extra parmesan. The result was a beautiful dish. And thankfully it tasted amazing as well.

The steak was delicious. The marinade really brought the steak to life - i hate to say this but the lemon really brightened up the dish (thankfully it didn't taste like lemon though). The steak was tender and juicy. The risotto was creamy and delicious. It had this rice-oatmealy quality that was awesome.

Tonight, I felt like a real chef cooking items like risotto but it really was not that hard and it was definitely worth all the time it took to create it. 

I've Got Sole

My boyfriend is not a huge fan of seafood (but I LOVE seafood), however, dover sole is one of the few fish that he will eat.

Dover sole is a fish that my mom has been cooking for us for years and it is easy and delicious!

This delicious dover sole dish is Panko crusted Dover sole (you can use any kind of sole like Petrale).  It takes about 30 minutes in total to prepare and cook.

I start out by dredging the fish in flour. I typically add spices to the flour as well as such as Thyme, Oregano, Garlic Powder, Paprika, and Basil. My boyfriend loves spicy food so he adds ancho-chile and Cayenne pepper powder. We let the Dover Sole sit in the flour for around ten minutes.

Then we put the fish in egg wash and coat it with panko bread crumbs. We put the fish on a drying rack before cooking them. This allows the coating to really adhere to the fish.

    We cook the fish in a hot pan with olive oil on medium heat until golden brown (around 3 minutes a side). 

The fish comes out crispy - its so delicious! My boyfriend likes to eat the fish with lemon but I personally like to eat the fish with ketchup (my favorite condiment by far).

Sides

Yum Yum Sides

When planning dinner, one of the things I struggle with the most is figuring out what to make as side dishes. So this will be one of many posts about the amazing possibilities of side dishes.  My family and I are always very health conscious so our dinners typically revolve around a meat and some kind of veggie. 

One of my personal favorite vegetables is broccolini (not really sure how it differs from broccoli but it is very delicious). I start off by steaming the broccolini (i typically remove the leaves from the stalks). Then I put the broccolini in a pan with some olive oil. It typically cooks for 6-7 minutes and then I add garlic and soy sauce. The broccolini comes out being salty and delicious. This dish has always proved to be a winner for everyone because it is tasty and very easy to make. 

Another one of my longtime favorite sides is corn. I LOVE grilled corn. The charred flavor with butter is just so tasty. I like to grill (have my boyfriend, the grill master, grill) the corn - add butter and some truffle salt. The truffle salt adds a really great earthy flavor to the corn that makes it delicious. Anything with truffle flavor is always a winner. The truffle flavor also adds a bonus of impressing your friends. Not many people use truffle salt or oil so people will be impressed when you use it. However, it can be very hit and miss since not everyone likes the taste of truffle. 

Porkalicious!

         First blog post! So exciting!! I decided to start things off with my new favorite recipe! It started off as a recipe for steak but its really good on pork tenderloin as well. My boyfriend and I love to cook dinner together. We are always looking to find delicious dinner recipes and we were delighted to find this amazingly delicious recipe! 

       The marinade is really easy to prepare. I like to do it the night before and this allows the meat to really soak up all the marinade. 

Here is the recipe (recipe taken from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/176770/the-best-steak-marinade/): 

1/4 cup of Olive oil
1/4 cup of Balsamic vinegar 
1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup of soy sauce (low sodium)
2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard (i normally add an extra teaspoon or two)
2 teaspoons of minced garlic 
salt and pepper to taste

I start off by grilling the pork loin (by me I mean my boyfriend who does all my grilling for me since he is a great on the grill) and then I put it in oven at 350 degrees. In terms of cooking temperature - 145 degrees is medium rare and 160 degrees is well. But I typically cook it to 150 degrees. 

Then I let the pork loin sit for 15 minutes before I start slicing it. 

I like to add a little extra sauce to my pork loin. But it is typically very tender if you let it sit long enough. If you cut it too early then the juices will run out and pork will become dry. 

This is an AMAZING recipe! My mom and boyfriend's mom both consider this the best pork recipe they have ever had and my mom doesn't even really like pork (except for this recipe of course). 

What to do with the leftovers? If there are any! 

 I love to make sandwiches with the leftover pork. For example, I take sourdough bread with             mozzarella and pork and cook it on the panini grill. Then I dress it with the pork loin marinade  - seriously delicious!