What's going on here???
So, behind my back, this "blog" has become a posting board for attempted recipes??? Well, I feel, then, that it is my obligation to contribute...I shall begin with a story: The week before last, Andrew told me that we were invited to dinner with our "Wine Snobs" club. No, it's not a real club. No secret handshake or anything. Just a few stuffy people being literal wine snobs, complete with sniffing, swirling, and spitting, as well as telling stories about wine virgins and lauging hautily. (Do I paint a great picture or what???) So, anyways, all invitees have a choice: They may bring a wine that is preselected by the members, or they may bring a dish for dinner. Without asking me, Andrew asks the hostess what dish we can bring. She asks for a vegetable side. He says sure - again without asking me, considering that, of course, I would be the one to cook the vegetable side. Vegetable side? Like corn w/ butter? Steamed okra? Now, we have to remember that this is a "Wine snobs" party. They may be snobby about food, too! And come on - it's me! I can't come to a party with buttered corn or anything else that can be made in a microwave. So, I go to Costco for inspiration. I find a Weight Watchers cookbook - which I now love!!! There's a recipe for Swiss Chard Au Gratin? What the heck is Swiss Chard? But the Au Gratin part, I like! I also see these spinach nuggets that look interesting. I buy those also. When I get home, I read my new cookbook while eating the nuggets, and then I think of spanakopita. I find a recipe and decide that I'm going to make it. But is that a side??? Or is it an appetizer? Hey, I'm not sure, so why not just make two dishes! Even more impressive, right? I also find a recipe for a asparagus quiche. I bring all three recipes to the store to shop - Swiss Chard Au Gratin, Spanakopita, and Asparagus Quiche. While I'm there, I find another recipe on the back of a bag of almonds for broccoli and cheese...with a twist! I get the ingredients for everything but the quiche...I'll save that for another time. In attempt to shorten this story...I make the spanakopita (kinda like rolling Greek lumpia), and the broccoli. The rest of the dinner? HoneyBaked Ham and homemade rigatoni & cheese. The spanakopita? A hit!!! The broccoli??? A home-run!!! Better than the main course, itself. Don't believe me, ask the dishes! Plus, I went home with absolutely zero leftovers!
Now alas, the recipes:
Spanakopita (~27 pieces)
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
2 - 10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 - 4 oz pkg crumbled feta cheese
4 eggs, beaten lightly
salt & pepper, to tast
1 1/2 - 16 oz pkg phyllo dough
3/4 pound butter, melted - seems like a lot, but melt it 1/4 at a time as you use it
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Slowly cook and stir onions until softened. Mix in spinach, dill, and flour. Cook approx. 10 minutes, or until most of the moisture has been absorbed. Remove from heat. Mix in feta, eggs, salt, and pepper.
Cut phyllo dough in half. Using one sheet at a time, lay flat & brush with butter. Place a small amount of spinach mixture on one corner. Fold dough into triangles around mixture. Brush with butter.
Place triangles on a large baking sheet. Bake in oven ~45 minutes, or until golden brown.
*Just like lumpia, can be premade and frozen. Do not do last buttering until ready to bake.
Broccoli Cheese Amandine (4 servings)
4 c fresh broccoli
5 oz Velveeta cheese
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c toasted sliced almonds, preferrably Sunkist Almond Accents Italian Parmesan
Steam broccoli for 5-8 minutes, until tender but firm. Place cheese, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring once, or until cheese is melted. Toss broccoli in cheese sauce. Sprinkle with almonds. (I also mixed almonds in with broccoli. Love them nuts!!)
posted by chachimae @ 12:28 AM
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