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!