spinach & cheese = a match made in heaven

I'm trying out new recipes for Thanksgiving and holy holy have I got one for you to try.

It's very possible that I like anything with spinach and cheese, especially Gruyere cheese. I tried this recipe today though and thought it was extra wonderful so I wanted to share it. Even the picky husband liked it! So here we are, Spinach Gratin, brought to you by everyone's most favorite and fabulous chef, the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten:

Spinach Gratin

Ingredients

* 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
* 4 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large)
* 1/4 cup flour
* 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
* 1 cup heavy cream (I used all whole milk, no heavy cream)
* 2 cups milk
* 3 pounds frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (5 (10-ounce) packages)
* 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 15 minutes.** Add the flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Add the cream and milk and cook until thickened. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach and add the spinach to the sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Transfer the spinach to a baking dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and the Gruyere on top. Bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve hot.

**Next time, on Thanksgiving if not before then, I will saute the onions a little longer, until they're not just translucent but golden brown. The best part of the gratin was the golden bits of cheese around the top edge of the dish, so I think if you get the onions to brown a bit too it would have that delicious sweetness and crispness that this dish needs.

Week 2 (Mel): Tortilla and Butternut Squash Soup

I SO happily received a copy of New England Soup Factory's cookbook for Christmas last year but (probably because I have too many cookbooks) hadn't made anything from it until this week. Scott and I both thought this particular recipe looked delicious so I gave it a try.

I had some time Monday morning so I decided to go all out, Rachael Ray style. I bought my groceries AND prepped the vegetables when I got home from the market. When I got home from work, I opened the fridge, grabbed everything I needed in one trip without dropping anything (just kidding), and started cooking it up. It smelled *really* good. I loved that there was cheese, cilantro, and lime juice in the soup. And scallions!!! Mmmm!!! In the end, I liked it, and even had two bowls. There's so much left over though and it was also just so different that it's not something I'm craving more of. Scott didn't like it at all, so now neither of us are going to eat the left-overs. I'm still glad I tried it. As you'll see below, it calls for 8oz of tortilla chips. I bought baked tortilla chips, feeling guilty about the calories, and 7oz ended up being a whole bag! I guess I wasn't expecting that. So maybe if I had used a better-tasting chip the overall soup would've been better, but I still don't know. Also, I don't think the flavor of the butternut squash was at pungent as I thought it would be, given it's in the title and all. Maybe make half the recipe yourself if you want to give it a try (though you probably don't if you're reading any of this!) because I'd be interesting in getting someone else's opinion on it. It stinks though, because it's a recipe from one of my favorite restaurants. Their soups never disappoint me! Eh, anyway, here you go:

Tortilla and Butternut Squash Soup
Makes 12 to 14 servings

3 Tbs. salted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups diced onion
3 carrots, sliced
3 ribs celery, sliced
1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
12 cups chicken stock (I used veg. of course)
1 cup sherry
8 oz. salted tortilla chips
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups shredded Montery Jack cheese
1 can (4oz) diced green chilies
1 bunch scallions, sliced
2 Tbs. freshly squeezed lime juice
8 dashes green Tabasco sauce (I used red)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large stockpot melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, carrots, celery, and butternut squash. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the stock and sherry. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the squash is soft and tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the tortilla chips until wilted. Add the cilantro and cheese and let the cheese melt into the soup. Puree the soup in the pot using a hand blender or working in batches with a regular blender until completely smooth. Add the chilies and scallions. Stir to combine. Season with lime juice, Tabasco sauce, and black pepper. Return to the stove and summer an additional 5 minutes.

Week 2 (Jenni): Spiced Lentil Tacos

Week Two of this challenge was much better than Week One! This recipe is great, and I have been excited about it since it arrived in my inbox two weeks ago. Yes, I got this recipe in my inbox, from SELF magazine.

After a full day of playing housewife - no seriously, I sat and waited for the plumber to fix our hot water, I re-potted some plants, did the dishes, made 2 dozen cupcakes - I cooked dinner and had it ready mostly in time for my hungry family to return from a hard day at work. I also re-wrote a section of my grant application. Spread the word - I'm quite a catch!

But, back to the Recipe Challenge. This was relatively easy, and also my first time cooking with lentils. I think I should have simmered them longer, but I forgot to set a timer (the cupcakes needed attention and the plumber needed to be paid at the same time the lentils began simmering, and I became momentarily overwhelmed!) I was unable to mash them as described in the recipe, so we just left them whole. Rave reviews from the whole lot of us as we had our "family dinner" on the couch in front of Grey's Anatomy. Somehow I think Ryan and Chelsea might be enjoying this challenge more than anyone!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed
• 1 package (2.25 oz) taco seasoning
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped (use half for less heat)**
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce**
• 8 taco shells
• 1 1/4 cups shredded lettuce
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat (2 percent) cheddar

Preparation

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion, garlic and salt until onion begins to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add lentils and taco seasoning. Cook until spices are fragrant and lentils are dry, about 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Mix sour cream, chile and adobo sauce in a bowl. Uncover lentils and cook until mixture thickens, 6 to 8 minutes. Mash with a rubber spatula. Spoon 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with 2 heaping tsp sour cream mixture, lettuce, tomato and cheese.

**I did not use a chipotle chile and adobo sauce, instead I used regular salsa and mixed that with the sour cream. It was an ingredient we had, and pretty darn tasty if you ask me!

Week 1 (Jenni): Farfalle with Zucchini, Yellow Squash, and Mint

I got this recipe from a book that I found on our shelf. I thought it was my roommates cookbook, but she says it's mine. I'm not sure. I decided on a pasta dish, as I needed to "carbo-load" in preparation for the 12 mile run I did on Saturday. I found this recipe and it sounded interesting. It wasn't actually as good as I thought it would be, I think the ratio of pasta-to-vegetables was too heavily weighted toward the pasta. Also, there wasn't much flavor infused into much of the dish. That said, I had leftovers the following day, and they were much better. The mint flavors were much more noticeable. So, perhaps this is a much better prepare-ahead meal.

12 ounces of Farfalle (I used elbows)
1 Tablespoon EVOO
1 Scallion, trimmed (I used about 3 or 4!)
1/2 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 small zucchinis, very thinnly sliced
1 small yellow squash, very thinnly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 Tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves (I used 2 tbsp)
1 Tablespoon grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano, plus more for topping. (I used more!)

1. Cook pasta, save 1 cup of boiling pasta water before straining.
2. heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add scallion and garlic, cook for 2 minutes. Add zucchini and Squash and cook until just wilted, about 3 minutes.
3. toss pasta with vegetables and stir in basil, mint, cooking water, and cheese.

Quesadilla

My lunch this afternoon was a creation made out of desperation - a desperate need to go grocery shopping that is. I opened my fridge and decided what few things I had in there needed to be eaten before they went bad. Things I had to choose from: colby jack shredded cheese, chicken I had cooked a few days ago, half an avocado, strawberry jelly, cream cheese, tortillas, frozen peas, 5 frozen bananas (waiting to become muffins, bread, smoothie...something), brown rice and black beans in the cupboard. The options seemed slim, but the choice obvious. I chopped up the chicken - which I had marinaded and cooked with some Stubb's marinade that I was given at Christmas. I sprinkled the cheese and black beans on one tortilla on my griddle. Threw on the chopped chicken, slapped another tortilla on top. And waited. Then I tried to flip it. This wasn't as disastrous as I had imagined, but it wasn't totally clean either.

The result, a totally yummy and quick lunch! Not too bad for a lazy Saturday.

More orzo, please!

So speaking of orzo, I have to share a deliciously easy meal with you. It's my version of "risotto."

I cook up some orzo in vegetable broth. When it's almost done, I run some frozen peas (because you know I have lots of those hanging around!) under hot water to just thaw them a bit. Back to the orzo, I reserve about a ladle of the broth, and strain the rest. I put the orzo back in the pot I cooked it in, with the reserved broth, peas, and a little butter, and heat it up a bit. I then add salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, and a little milk. Sometimes I'll even add some freshly grated nutmeg. I keep it on medium-low heat while stirring to see if I need more milk. And that's it! I know it's more of a side dish than a "meal," but sometimes that's just what you need.

Yogurt, kids.

Okay. So without naming names for the benefit of a certain search engine (except for Thermos, all right), here's the deal with the yogurt and making my own:

1) Once upon a time I was shopping for who-knows-what when I saw a yogurt maker I wasn't even looking for. It was a French one, which made me think back to the glorious yogurt AISLE (yes, a whole AISLE, pure heaven) at the grocery stores in France, so I knew this thing had to be good. I am not keen on machines and gadgets, and generally think they're a waste of money and space, but this purchase was no luxury. I eat yogurt ALL THE TIME, so I knew that making my own would save me money in the long run. So I bought it and then let it collect dust for a good 11 months. One day I thought, this is stupid that I keep buying it every single week while I have a perfectly good machine waiting for me at home. I busted it out and learned how to make it. It was easier than I had imagined, and I was a fool to wait so long. A fool.

2) To simplify: Heat up milk to a certain temperature. Cool down milk to a certain temperature. Add starter (some yogurt) to milk without killing the bacteria. Incubate for several hours (this is where the machine was used) at a certain temperature until it becomes yogurt (bacteria, yum!). Refrigerate yogurt for a few hours before eating. Try not to wolf it down all at once because it will be so much better than the crap that's sold in the store. And that's it. I did this almost every week for several months.

3) Then the machine started going sour on me (pun intended). It was a model that made the yogurt in eight individual servings. The four cups in the center of the heating element were always curdling before the four cups on the ends were even done. Something was wrong with the heating element and there was nothing I could do to fix it. Just to be doubly sure it was that and not user error, I made another batch. I ended up keeping the good half and throwing away the overheated half. Remember the nursery rhyme about Little Miss Muffet? Well, once the curds and whey separate during the yogurt-making process, there's no turning back and the affected batch is ruined.

3a) Out of this mistake, there was one time where I thought, hey, I'll strain it and make labneh.

3b) Creamy, smooth, mild, nice texture. Success. I'd do it again instead of wasting a ruined batch.

4) So I threw out the machine with much regret. I had gotten my money's worth out of it, but I was disappointed that it died on me so soon. Sure, I was using it just about every week, but it was for less than a year. See what I mean about machines? Not worth the hype. I vowed to not buy another one, but instead find a better method. Now that I was familiar with the process, I thought, now it's time to experiment and branch out. What did people do before these machines were made? I consulted my cookbooks for the answer. They used other incubation devices: the pilot light on a gas stove, a heating pad wrapped around the bowl, a double-boiler-type insulation method, even naked in a covered bowl on the kitchen counter. There are so many methods that don't require extra stuff (hell, even a heating pad isn't exactly a staple for a lot of people). The best one I heard was from dear old Pops speaking from personal experience: a Thermos. A Thermos!

5) Here's a hint: use one with a wide mouth. (You definitely don't want to use one that's meant for beverages.) I went through the same steps as before, only now using my new incubator. And the biggest surprise? The end result was even better than before, both in terms of taste and texture. So, I thought I had a loss, but instead I really won. This is the way I've been making it ever since. So easy. And there's less stuff I have to clean (8 cups, 8 lids).

6) One of my friends who bakes her own bread (and no, I don't mean she does it using a machine) encouraged me by saying once you get the basics down and you know how long the different steps take and you do this on a weekly basis, it's really not so bad. And she's right. It gets easier and easier the more you do it and refine your technique. Starting it is the more difficult thing, but you've just got to jump in at some point and learn from your mistakes.

Those are the basics. If you ever want real and more complete directions, you know how to reach me. (I have a phobia of writing anything of substance on the interwebs.)

Cinco de Mayo. . . but not.

Last week, I had a lovely dinner with an old friend at the Border Cafe. I had only been there once before, back in high school, so I was interested in trying it out again. One word: YUM! The only problem with going to the Border Cafe was that it left me craving MORE Mexican food. So the very next night, I decided to make my own.

I've never made quesadillas, but you know, cheese and tortillas. . . not that difficult. Looking to make it more interesting, I made black bean and corn quesadillas, with monterey jack and cheddar cheese. They took all of about five minutes. I made them as I cooked them, right on my electric griddle, with just a little canola oil. I flipped them only once, and as soon as I did, added a little more cheese on top while it was warm. I then covered them lightly with foil just to keep the heat in and melt the cheese on top. I served them with salsa, guacamole, and tortilla chips -- all care of Whole Foods.

For an easy side dish, I made Rice a Roni (yes. . .) Spanish Rice. You can either make it with a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes or a 16 ounce jar of salsa. I went with the salsa. Talk about semi-homemade. . .

What's a Mexican meal without a good margarita? Now this whole meal was a little spur-of-the-moment. I was thinking about it while I was at work, and actually bought what I thought I might need on my way home. I thought in my head that I had some frozen limeade concentrate from the last time I made margaritas. I was wrong. What I did have was some Mango Tango. . . for Scott. Luckily, at the time I needed something to mix with my tequila and triple sec, Scott had merely tasted the Mango Tango. He thankfully decided it was giving him a stomach ache. So I had a Mango Tango Margarita. . . and a very good evening.

Ravioli Goodness

So here it goes, my first blog post!

I started making this ravioli dish maybe a year and a half ago. It's a good comfort food dish for those cold winter days we have way too many of in Boston. I guess my inspiration came from a lot of my favorite things. . . cheese, spinach, garlic, CHEESE. . . you get the idea. I first cook a package of frozen chopped spinach in the microwave for a few minutes. Then, I heat some EVOO with maybe two tablespoons of butter in a large saute pan. Once the butter is melted and a little bubbly, I add about four cloves of chopped garlic and half a package of roughly chopped crimini mushrooms. Meanwhile, I have a large pot of water on the stove at a high temperature, awaiting the frozen Mamma Rosa ravioli (at least I think that's the brand -- two packages, in a white and red bag). After the mushrooms and garlic have been in the pan for a few minutes, I add a little salt and pepper, and let them cook a little longer. Next comes the spinach (squeeze that liquid out, please!) and a can of rinsed petite cut tomatoes. Yes, rinsed. I tried to add the whole can as is once and it had a funny taste. (As a side note, I think it's a good general rule to rinse ANYTHING that comes out of a can!) Add more salt and pepper to the pan. Once the veggies are cooked, add another two tablespoons of butter, and sprinkle maybe two tablespoons of flour on top. Stir and cook the flour for a couple minutes, then add 1 3/4 cups of whole milk. Bring this to a light boil, stirring often. This is a good time to add the ravioli to the pot of boiling water. Cook the ravioli according to the package -- six minutes I believe. Drain. Once the milk comes to a light boil, keep it at that temperature for a few minutes, or until it has thickened a bit. Turn the heat off, and add some freshly grated nutmeg and Parmesan cheese into the pan to taste -- I've never measured either of these, but for the cheese, I would guess about 1/3 or 1/2 cup. You'll likely need to add more salt and pepper at this point too. Toss the ravioli with the sauce, and enjoy!