Creamy Spinach Dip

Alright folks - listen up: there is less than one month left until the Super Bowl!! Now, I am not really a huge football fan... I am more into the social aspects of the whole football thing, but the one thing I do know about football related events is my job at said events. My job when it comes to football and the Super Bowl is very important - I am the party planner, menu planner and chef extraordinaire!! So, my apologies to those of you who don't get caught up in the hype of the whole football thing, but leading up to the Super Bowl, there will likely be a lot of party dishes and appetizer ideas posted here... just sayin'!

But really, who can have enough appetizer recipes? I sure can't; I'm always bookmarking something for a later date or far off occasion. Sooo I'm sure you can put these recipes to good use regardless of whether you're into the Super Bowl hype or not.

I made this spinach dip for Christmas eve this year and it was a hit. I've made it many times and someone always asks for the recipe. So I'm going to share it with you! A little secret - its dead easy. So here we go:

Creamy Spinach Dip
Recipe minimally adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup sour cream (recipe calls for fat free, but I always use full fat)
• 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan, divided
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 2 (8 oz) blocks cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine 1 1/2 cups mozza, sour cream, 2 tbsp parmesan, pepper, garlic, artichoke hearts, cream cheese and spinach. Mix until evenly blended. Turn mixture out into baking dish and level mixture into an even layer. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozza and 2 tbsp parmesan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Serve with fresh bread, crostini or tortilla chips for dipping. Consume while hot.

Mmmmmm.... lets all pause while we drool over this picture of creamy, spinach goodness!! This recipe originally called for using low fat everything - feel free to do that when you make it, but I never use low fat ingredients when I'm entertaining and this is no exception. In my experience, the full fat version ALWAYS tastes better!! But I do realize that some of us have resolutions to keep, so don't worry, I won't judge and your guests likely won't notice the subtle difference.

This post has been linked up with Jane Deere's Fusion Fridays Link Party! Stop by to check out what other creations my fellow bloggers have posted in Fusion Fridays. You won't be disappointed. :)

Happy Baking my Friends! Thanks for stopping by. :)

How To... Whip Cream in Under 60 Seconds!

Hello Friends! Hope your week is off to a fabulous start. I was out of town for work Sunday and Monday, but I'm back now (woot!) and also back to blogging. One of the things I'd like to blog more about in the coming year is how to do certain things in the kitchen - I'm not talking about certain recipes, I'm talking about skills we should all have so we don't have to buy the processed version or ideas for a better way to do something we might already do in our day to day culinary adventures. I posted a few how-to posts during 2011 (how to roast garlic, how to carmelize onions, etc), but I want to have more posts like that in addition to my usual recipes and wine suggestions.

So why not start the year off with something most of us love - home made whipped cream! Not that yucky processed stuff you spray out of a can. I'm talking creamy, decadent (and sinful) cream sweetened to taste with sugar and flavoured subtley with dreamy mexican vanilla. But sometimes we just don't have time to wait or maybe you don't want to listen to the stand mixer whip at full speed for 5 or so minutes while we wait for the cream to whip to the perfect consistency (if it even whips up properly on the first try).

Boy have I got a trick for you! If you're impatient like me, you'll love this one. Dump some cream in the small bowl of your food processor. Add some sugar and vanilla to taste (start with a couple tbsp sugar and a tsp or so of vanilla). Put the lid on and run the food processor until your cream whips to soft peaks. Check after 30 seconds to see how its doing - it will take just under a minute to be done perfectly every time. Just don't overwhip or you'll have butter. :)

Note that in my pictures, I'm whipping a very small quantity of cream (just enough for one mug of hot chocolate and then a couple extra spoonfuls for tasting - strictly quality control of course!!). This tastes perfect on a delicious mug of Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate.

Hope you find this useful! I know I was intrigued when I first saw this technique about a year ago (and yep, I'm just sharing it with you now!). Stay tuned for some great posts later this week.

Until then, Happy Baking my Friends!

Restaurant Review: Ignite Cafe, Langley BC



Daily Ignite Specials posted curbside

I work in downtown Langley (the old part) and its been really hard to find a yummy lunch place close to the office. Well, you can imagine my excitement when Ignite Cafe was opened by local owner Dan. Absolutely delicious food - aways fresh and everything is made from scratch! Check out Dan's facebook page to stay current on whats going on at Ignite and to see some photos of his awesome food.

This is a great little restaurant open for lunch on weekdays and dinner on the weekends (be sure to make a reservation for the dinner service - seating is limited). I've broken down my review of our most recent lunch experience at Ignite Cafe into the following sections: Restaurant, Location, Food, Service, Atmosphere, Price.


Ignite interior, viewed from front entrance

Restaurant: Ignite Cafe
Location: 5572 - 204 Street, Langley, British Columbia

Ignite wine list

 Food:

The food at Ignite is always delicious (soup of the day is sooooo good!!). Dan sources ingredients locally and always has the freshest produce. He makes all of his soups, sauces and dressings from scratch and it shows - the taste is always superb. I recently had lunch at Ignite and my group tried the french onion soup, potato leek soup, the Ignite Burger (topped with avocado, proscuitto, yummy flavoured mayo and stuffed with provolone cheese), the Cajun Chicken Sandwich (topped with delicious cajun seasoning, avocado, delicious spiced mayo, roasted red peppers with a full chicken breast - thats right - a full chicken breast that is perfectly cooked - none of these pre-processed chicken patties here), and the daily special - Roasted Chicken Panini. All of these sandwiches were served with fresh greens topped with an absolutely divine homemade vinaigrette.

The only downside (if you can really call it that) is that there aren't any fries with the burger! But honestly, given the size of the burger, unless you have a HUGE appetite, you won't even miss them. And if you do have a big appetite, or if you're starving... probably if you talked really nice to Dan he would whip you up some kind of potatoey goodness to go along with the burger!!

Overall rating for food: 5/5

Soup of the day: Potato Leek

 Service:

I've got nothing bad to say about the service here. They check back to your table regularly to make sure you have everything you need. Dan usually comes out to check on the tables even if he's got a server on staff that day - that’s what makes it special and makes the service so great. Its always personal - Dan remembers you and he'll take care of you when you're in his place. And you'll always get service with a smile. :)

Overall rating for service: 5/5

Soup of the day: French Onion

 Atmosphere:

This cafe is cozy and makes the perfect lunch place. Not the most ideal location (its pretty hidden on a side street and street parking can be hit or miss) in the older area of downtown Langley, but the food makes it more than worth checking out!

I haven't noticed any music on at the cafe each time I've been in (maybe its on, but it must have been a little too quiet because I didn't notice!!) - it would add a nice touch to have some music playing while customers were there otherwise if there are only a couple tables of customers it can be a little awkward when you can hear everyone elses conversations!

Overall rating for atmosphere: 4/5

Special: Roasted Chicken Panini

 Price:

Prices are super reasonable at Ignite. You get a huge burger for only $11! Most of the prices range from $7 - 16 (a little more for some of the daily seafood specials). Considering the locally sourced, fresh, healthy ingredients used in preparing the food, you're getting a bargain here.

Ignite also offers wine at reasonable prices starting at $28 per bottle or $6 per glass. For such a small place, they carry a decent variety of wine - most people should be able to find something they like to drink on the menu.

Overall rating for price: 5/5

Cajun Chicken Sandwich

Picture doesn't do the Ignite Burger justice!! Fantastic, huge burger!

 

As you can see, I like this place. So do my co-workers and my friends. I'll be back and I would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a great lunch place (or weekend dinner place) in Langley. See you there friends!

Another interior shot of Ignite Cafe

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Did you make New Years resolutions this year? What kind of resolutions do you usually make? I always make New Years resolutions, and I'm always dead set on achieving them... for about a month, then my motivation wears off and I revert back to my old ways. Part of that may be the fact that my resolutions are usually overly ambitious and I try to change overnight. The fact is that change takes time - it doesn't just hapen overnight, and developing new habits and ways of life is tough so you have to be patient with yourself. This year I haven't talked much about my resolutions, but I feel like I need to document them here. I made sure I didn't set too many goals for this year and that they are achievable for the most part. Here are my resolutions for the year - both personal and blog related:

1. Improve my blog through the use of better photos and more frequent posting. Plan posts in advance and stick to my schedule.
2. Be nicer. At home, at work, to my friends.
3. Get active a minimum of four days per week. Doesn't have to be anything crazy, just get off my butt and walk the dog, do some crunches, go for a run or do a workout off my Nike Training App I just downloaded for my phone (its free and its awesome - go download it if you're wanting to get active - it is a great tool to help you be successful).

Reasonable right? I'm looking forward to improving myself in 2012 in little ways and eventually those little things will add up to big things. :)

Any way, on to what you came here for - the recipe!! Peanutty, chocolatey, creamy goodness in a mug... it is like a taste of heaven! Sooooo smooth and decadent. You probably won't want to share... its that good. But you should share because that's the nice thing to do (or, just double the recipe!!).

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate
Recipe minimally adapted from Bonnie the Baker

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups skim milk or 1% milk
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp smooth, creamy peanut butter
• whipped cream, mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows for garnish

Method:

1. Mix cocoa, brown sugar, milk, cinnamon stick, and vanilla extract in a medium saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until mixture is smooth. Simmer to let the cinnamon stick flavour the hot chocolate for a couple minutes. Lower the heat and stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Heat mixture to desired temperature, but don't simmer or bubble the mixture at all or it will get grainy.
2. Pour into large mug. Garnish with whipped cream, mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Makes one large mug.

This one is nice and easy to whip up on a week night and you will love to savor it while reading your favorite novel or browsing your favorite food blogs.

Happy Baking my Friends!

Kabobs: Thai Coconut Curry Pork Kabobs & Satay Chicken

I've never made kabobs before. Don't get me wrong - I like a good kabob, and I've tried a few of the recipes before, but I've never actually gone to the effort of actually cutting up the meat and threading it onto skewers. I'm torn about whether I would go through with the effort again. It was kind of neat, but I'm not that excited about eating off a skewer - I'm find with little chunks of meat that I can just eat with a fork. So you can decide what you want to do with these recipes - you can cut the meat up, marinate and then cook, or thread it onto skewers and cook it that way!!

We'll go easy on the blabbing today because I have two recipes to share with you!! Hope you enjoy.

Pork Skewers with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce
Recipe from the Guy Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich

Ingredients:

• one 398ml can light coconut milk
• 2 tsp hot asian chili paste
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pork tenderloin (about 500g), cut into long, thin strips

Method:

1. In a food processor or blender, combine the coconut milk, chilipaste, cilantro, oyster sauce, curry powder, brown sugar, and garlic. Whirl until pureed.
2. Place the pork strips in a ziploc bag and add half of the marinade. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for several hours. Cover the remaining marinade and refrigerate.
3. Thread pork, accordion-style onto wooden skewers. Grill pork over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, turning several times, until its just cooked. Be sure to soak your wooden/ bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking so they don't burn on the grill.
4. Meanwhile, put the reserved marinade into a small pot and boil for 10 minutes to thicken. Brush some of the curry sauce over the pork as it comes off the grill. Serve the pork skewers over basmati rice, drizzled with the remaining curry sauce and sprinkled with more fresh cilantro.

This one was definitely my favorite - I just can't resist a yummy thai curry sauce (actually, pretty much any thai food is irresistable to me).

Satay Sticks with Peanut Sauce
Recipe from the Guy Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, sinless chicken, pork, or lamb, cut into thin strips
• Marinade:
• 1/4 cup kecap manis (sweet indonesian soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp honey
• Peanut Sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 tbsp kecap manis
• 1/4 cup chicken broth or water
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 tsp asian chili paste

Method:

1. In a large ziploc bag, combine the meat with the marinade ingredients. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Drain the marinated meat and thread onto skewers. Grill over medium-high heat until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes in total.
3. To make the sauce, whisk the garlic, peanut butter, kecap manis, chicken broth, lime juice, and chili paste together in a small bowl.
4. Set the sauce in the center of a round platter, and arrange the skewers like spokes around the edges if you are feeling artistic & fancy.

Both of these recipes are quite simple, just be sure you allow time for the meat to marinade because that's where the flavour comes from. You could probably bake the kabobs in the oven too if your weather conditions don't allow you to grill outside. :) Bake on a fairly high heat and broil a little at the end to get a little bit of browning on the meat.

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Chicken Taquitos!

 I have been meaning to make these for a long time. I originally saw them on Tracey's Culinary Adventures a while back (think March - yep I've been procrastinating for a while), but then I totally forgot about them with the busyness of life. Well, lucky for me, Tracey posted a New Years post roundup of all of the favorite recipes of 2011 and these made the list. That was all the motivation I needed to make these Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos. You could easily make these on a weeknight - just buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store so you don't have to cook your own chicken and you can whip these up in under 45 minutes.

I've made a couple of changes, but the recipe is mostly the same as Tracey's because it is really delicious and flavourful without an arm-load of ingredients. I served mine with a green salad, spanish rice and guacamole, salsa & sour cream. It made for a tasty and filling meal. You could totally serve these up as part of a dinner party if you wanted - make up a pitcher of margaritas and serve some cold Coronas and you've got yourself your own little mexican fiesta party!

Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos
Recipe adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients:

• 3 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4  cup salsa verde
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tsp chile powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 tbsp chopped green onions
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded montery jack cheese
• 8-12 flour tortillas (recipe called for corn tortillas, but I couldn't find them in my grocery store!!). Corn tortillas will make it so these crisp up more and brown more evenly in your oven.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Spray a baking tray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the cream cheese, salsa verde, lime juice, chile powder, cumin, cayenne, onion powder, garlic, cilantro, green onions and 1/4 tsp kosher salt. Add chicken and cheeses and stir until evenly distributed. Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Spoon 2-3 tbsp of the filling onto the lower third of the tortilla, and then roll tightly. Place seam side down on prepared baking tray. Repeat until all filling is used.
4. Spray taquitos with cooking spray and then sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake 15-20 minutes until tortillas are crisp and filling is hot. Delicious served with salsa, sour cream and fresh guac!

Yum, yum, yum!! What are your favorite Mexican recipes? If you have one you really like, I'd love to hear about it. Mexican cooking is fairly new to me and I would love to have some tried and true recipes to start out with. Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Cranberry, Rosemary and Toasted Pecan Bread

Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a great evening ringing in the New Year last night. We had a fairly quiet night here - complete with a Harry Potter movie marathon and a family nacho making competition (post, complete with pictures and an announcement of the winner to follow soon!!). Despite being quiet, it was very enjoyable and gave us a great chance to reflect on the year just past and set some goals/ resolutions for the new year.

In some ways this has been a really challenging year and in other ways it has been a spectacular year. We've had a number of difficulties within our family including a number of health issues, but we're getting by. We've also been blessed with being able to take some beautiful vacations together and enjoyed success in our studies and careers. I hope you and your family have been blessed this year and haven't encountered too many challenges. Thanks for following along on my blogging journey and checking back regularly to see what I'm up to. You guys really keep me going some times. :)

With some of my time off over the holidays, I've had time to reflect, cook and bake! One of my baking escapades included this cranberry, rosemary and toasted pecan bread. It was absolutely spectacular!!! This is probably the best bread I've made all year (and if you look back, you'll notice I make quite a lot of bread). The bread is beautifully moist, light and flavourful and is delicious on its own, or toasted and spread with a little butter. It would also probably make great grilled cheese sandwiches with some proscuitto and gruyere cheese.



Cranberry, Rosemary and Toasted Pecan Bread

Recipe adapted from Amy's Kitchen Table

Ingredients:

• 1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/3 cups warm water
• 1 pkg active dry yeast (1/4 oz)
• 2-3 cups bread flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp kosher salt (2 tsp would be enough if you aren't a big fan of salt - the bread is fairly salty)
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/2 pkg of fresh cranberries
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp water
• coarse salt for sprinkling

Method:

1. First, make the cranberry sauce you will use in the dough and when assembling the bread. Place cranberries, red wine and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until cranberries are popping and the sauce is very thick (about 15 minutes). Set aside to cool while you prepare the dough.
2. Stir together warm water and yeast. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for five minutes or until frothy. Place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add 2 cups all purpose flour and the whole amount of whole wheat flour, salt, sugar and rosemary and mix until dough comes together. Knead with dough hook for 4-5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add 1/4 - 1/2 of the cranberry mixture and work into bread. You may need to add up to one cup of additional all purpose flour in order to make the dough the correct consistency (should be smooth and just slightly tacky). Mix in the pecans. Some pecans may stay in the bottom of the bowl, just turn the dough out onto the counter and knead in those pecans with your hands, using fingers to push them into the dough. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for one hour.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine egg and 1 tbsp water to make egg wash and set aside.
4. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and roll out until about 1/2 inch thick (roughly into a 12 x 12 inch square. Fold in 1" flaps on each side of the dough. Spread the dough with the remaining cranberry sauce. Then starting at the top, roll the dough tightly (as you would if making cinnamon buns). Pinch the seam so that the roll stays together.
5. Lay the roll seam side down on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and place back in warm place to rise for 45 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of the rise time, preheat oven to 350F. Brush dough with egg wash. Then using a sharp knife, make slashes diagonally across the dough at two inch intervals all the way down the loaf. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when you perform the "knock test". Cool completely before slicing.  

Make this bread! You won't be disappointed and it will disappear very quickly in your house.

This post has been Yeast Spotted!

Happy Baking my Friends! All the best to you in 2012!