It’s Saturday night!!!
Got something to share?
Bring it on!!!
Hot Spinach-Artichoke Dip
Show: Paula’s Home CookingEpisode: Neighborhood Cocktail Party
Cook Time: 30 min Level: Easy Yield: about 4 cups
Ingredients
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
- 2 (13 3/4-ounce) cans artichoke hearts
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a casserole dish with nonstick spray.
Heat the spinach in a microwave oven on high for 5 minutes and squeeze dry. Drain the artichoke hearts and coarsely chop in a food processor.
Combine all the ingredients except the jack cheese in a large bowl. Stir well. Scrape into the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle the jack cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Transfer to a chafing dish and keep warm over a low flame. Serve with bagel chips.
p.s I like the old fashion thing we do down here in New Orleans. We put it on either fresh French or Italian bread!
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Comments
69 responses to “Saturday Night Treats”
My partner is baking a chicken. We’re also having a baked acorn squash with butter and fresh nutmeg. Yummy! On this cool evening, it will be really good.
Acorn squash is a good fall food. I like spaghetti squash too. My kids used to love it when they were little!
Buttercup squash is my favorite.
Mine too – baked with butter and brown sugar (love all squash)
My mouth would be so watering if I hadn’t just stuffed my face with lasagna.
Spinach/Artichoke dip is a regular for any one in New Orleans.
I’m going to bring out some more of my old Creole recipes for you. I have an old book written by Sister Mary Ursula Cooper that’s got all the classics!
Mmmm, good.
Damn! Can’t wait!!
Sorry I’m late and you may not read this, but I was going to request some Louisiana recipes!!!! Is that cookbook the Catholic Cookbook? I’m obsessed with Cajun/Creole food and collect as many great cookbooks as possible. I’ve requested the …can you make a roux book for xmas.
By any chance, would you have the duck quesadilla with bacon sauce from Coop’s?
She’s an OP nun but it’s just called the Art of Creole Cooking. A lot of my neighbors are chefs and one set owned a restaurant called Flamingo’s which was quite the place to eat in its day. When the last of the partners passed, I inherited a lot of his cooking stuff and books. I think this one’s been out of print for ages. And I’ll check, I have nearly all the secret recipes for Flamingo’s.
Oh…thanks for that dip recipe…I have one. With Thanksgiving around the corner, I thought I would post a recipe for a Spanish Cuban way of making the Thanksgiving turkey. It also is a great way to get rid of some frustration…
1 12 pound frozen turkey (I prefer Butterball)
Salt and Pepper
1 entire head of garlic (nice fresh and big)
Fresh oranges
Fresh limes
Fresh lemon
Dry sage
Dry thyme
1 can chicken broth (I prefer Swanson’s)
Take the turkey and defrost it. Then the night before you cook the turkey make the marinade.
Salt and pepper the bird inside and out.
Get the cloves of garlic and peel them. I use the bottom of a flat, strong mug to pound them, then I remove the peel. Slice the clove in half. Do this for the entire head of garlic. Then get yourself a big sharp knife. (This is the part my son loves.) Start to stab the bird all over the breast, legs and thighs. You want to be able to stick the pieces of garlic into the holes you just made in the bird. (What happens is the garlic will roast when you cook the turkey…) I will also stick a few cloves of garlic inside the birds cavity. Now put the bird in the roasting pan.
Okay, now squeeze the oranges, lemons and limes, this is making a sour orange juice, if you have access to fresh sour oranges, then please use that. Squeeze equal parts of the juice to get a full cup. Then pour this all over the bird.
Take the dry sage and thyme and rub this all over breast and legs, be sure to get it into the stabbed parts as well. I do not put a whole lot of sage and thyme on the bird because I do not like it when there is too much herb.
Cover with aluminum foil and put this in the fridge. When you are ready to cook take it out and pour in the whole can of chicken broth. Do not pour this over the bird, just pour it directly into the roasting pan. Then recover with the foil, make sure you put the foil tight around the pan.
Stick this bird in a preheated 425 oven for 15 minutes. Then lower the temp to 325. After one hour of cooking at 325, start to baste the bird every 15 to 20 minutes. Keep the cover of foil on the bird…and cook until the turkey is done…whatever the time required. About 30 minutes prior to when the bird is done, take off the foil and brown the top of the bird.
Take it out and flip the bird over, so the breast is facing down in the juices. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
Usually the turkey is falling apart by the time this is all done, so to serve it I will slice it up thin and put it in a serving dish. Keep the juices that are in the roasting pan and strain it. I will use this as it is like gravy, but for those who like the usual kind of gravy…just get some in a jar.
The garlic will roast up slow and have a real good flavor that seeps into the bird.
I hope you enjoy it, it really comes out good and everyone who tries it wants me to give them the recipe.
-JJ
Wow, those fruits in there sound like it would make it great and sage is my favorite holiday spice! I’m definitely going to try that!
I have to use the three different citrus because we do not have sour oranges up here in biscuit and gravy land….but I tell you Dak, it makes a great bird. Very juicy and the sweetish flavor of the roasted garlic does make the turkey delicious.
All the oranges down here are satsumas and they’re very sweet. I love limes though on anything and garlic. Those two things and butter … never can get enough!
That sounds wonderful!
Doesn’t it? I’ve always loved l’orange sauce on ducks, but the thought of it being a little tart from the lime sounds so good.
Sour oranges http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/sour_orange.html is what that mixture of citrus taste like, be sure that you take the seeds out when you squeeze the fruit, otherwise it will make the sauce bitter. I use just regular juice oranges. Do not use key limes! Use the regular limes! I hope you try it out. I will post a great Sicilian Way with Olives, its another one of my recipes I make during the holidays and give it out as gifts.
Just an idea here, but if there was a bunch of personal recipes that your readers have, perhaps it could be sort of an outreach for the blog…get the recipes together to make a little disk/download to sell with all proceeds going to a charity down there in New Orleans. (I don’t know, I am just thinking out loud….)
That’s the most unusual turkey recipie I’ve ever seen – well the most unusual that sounds really good anyway! Love the combination of flavors you’ve got going there.
I’m always afraid of letting any of the juices out of the bird, that it’ll dry out, even reticent to slide in a thermometer and there you are poking big knife holes all over it! I love courageous cooks.
Well, Zaladonis…I think the reason it stays juicy is basting the thing every 15 minutes. The marinade then starts to seep into the knife holes where the garlic is stuffed. Also, flipping the bird over for 10 minutes prior to serving also brings all the juices from the bottom up into the breast. I know some of my friends will make a turkey breast Cuban style, and also do a turkey the regular way. Sort of have 2 types of turkey over the holidays.
Drooling, despite the pizza I’m eating. This sounds GOOD. Wonder if I can tempt my partner to make it instead of the traditional turkey..
Yum!
I just got back from a Mexican Restaurant. I can’t even think about food. (But that turkey recipe sounds really different and good!)
The girls always like my dad’s recipes for anything holiday-based but I’m always looking for something new. The one thing I will say about post-Katrina New Orleans is that we now have lots of good Mexican restaurants when there were only one or two before. That sounds good.
I’ve done Martha Stewart’s Turkey 101 a couple times and have always gotten raves. You bake it wrapped in cheese cloth that’s been saturated in butter and white wine. Then you baste it every half hour with the left over butter and white wine mixture. During the last hour or half hour (I’d have to look it up) you remove the cheese cloth so that the outside crisps. It’s uber-moist and yummy!
oh, sheesh, now I’m completely up for Thanksgiving. The guys at Bywater BBQ do a great buffet and I’ve take youngest daughter and friends there the last two years … it’s like cheap and they lay out a huge spread. I do miss the smell of Turkey in the house though. The Joint smokes Turduckens, however, and it’s four doors down. You can’t believe what it smells like when they’re smoking those things and frying up turkeys. The entire neighborhood smells juicy.
Oh, I bet that smells amazing! Well, I have a hot cup of tea ready, and I’m going to watch Season Two of Prime Suspect that just came in the mail today. Enjoy your evenings!
Prime Suspect is a great series!! Love Helen Mirren.
Darn you, I’m a lurker, I’m not supposed to comment – this is not protocol.
first, Helen Mirren is probably one of the most brilliant actors to date, bar none, and for the Meryl Streep defenders, sorry Helen’s better.
Next, your recipes sound delicioso.
Third – .
Shrimp Dip
1 cup shrimp – mashed to heck (or 1 can if you can’t get unadulterated fresh)
1 cup finely diced celery
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 can tomato soup (yeah I know, sounds gross, but …)
2-1/2 tbsp gelatin disolved in 1/2 cup hot water
1 cup mayonnaise
1 – 8 oz pkg cream cheese.
Mash shrimp till fine, heat soup till boiling and add cream cheese to melt. Whisk well till smooth. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased mold and refridgerate for 24 hours – makes a consistency that you can put on canapes.
If one prefers a dip – use 1 tbsp of gelatin.
Okay, that sounds good too!!! And I love it when you comment instead of just lurk!!! gosh darnit!!!
hey whats up DK
Getting ready to celebrate youngest daughter’s bday! Hiya!
Hi boogieman!
I would make one change to Paula’s recipe: use frozen artichoke hearts instead of canned–they ahve more artichoke flavor.
As for squash, I like them all, but am partial to Cinderella Pumpkin (http://www.comusmd.com/pumpkin_cinderella.html) and Long Island Cheese squash (http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1050). Both have a sort of chestnut-like flavor.
I’ve got to try those. I’ve never heard of either one.
You may not be able to find them in a regular supermarket–I never do. I find them at farmers markets and farms.
We probably have some good local squash here in Indiana. I’ll have to find out. We have Hoosier cantaloupes that are fabulous!
Love Cinderella Pumpkins too, discovered them at our Farmer’s Market. I make soup with them.
We grow the Cinderella Pumpkins here. I have one, ONE, left after the CSA customers took them, and someone took more than their share. Anyway, I’m going to be making pumpkin cheesecake from it, and probably pie too.
I’ll have to try growing the Long Island Cheese Squash and see how it it.
If anyone has a chance, try the New Zealand Blue pumpkins (also called a Jarrahdale). They are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. They have about 5% butternut squash taste and the rest pumpkin. My friends own a pumpkin farm and I was just up there in Half Moon Bay. I made some pumpkin bars that use sweetened condensed milk and dayum people almost died.
Never even heard of them. But with the sweetened condensed milk, I can only imagine how wonderful. I have a thing for Key lime pie and anything close to that consistency.
I’m late to this thread – and boy, Outis, you just hit my homesickness nerve. I spent 7 glorious years living on the San Mateo Coast and whenever I think about returning, that is where I would go. I think it’s the loveliest part of the California coastline.
The pumpkin festival in HMB is a great one! I’ll definitely be on the lookout for this pumpkin – not sure I’ll find it in NJ, but since we are the Garden State, maybe one of the small farms will have it.
OMG, I’d love to have that pumpkin bar recipe!
Everybody is posting savory dips (most of which I have already stolen 😀 so thank you!). Now that it’s getting cooler, baking is more ‘in,’ and I have a sweet tooth….
BANANA BREAD
1 1/4 c. self rising flour or hot bread mix
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. (2 or 3) mashed bananas
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Nuts (optional)
Mix all ingredients.
Grease bread pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.
Additional
1 ripe (not over-ripe) plantain
salt
nutmeg
Peel the outerskin from the plantain and discard. Lightly salt the fruit and dust with nutmeg. Roast in an oven preheated to 350 degrees in a shallow baking pan until fruit is golden brown and soft (between 20 and 30 mins) turning once midway. (Or you could just cheat and buy the Goya roasted plantain in the hispanic section of your grocer’s freezer section with the appetizers) Place the roasted plantain whole in the baking pan with the banana bread mixture. Bake according to instructions above. Remove and let cool for 10mins. Serve with mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Yum!!
I got plantains growing in the backyard so this will give me one more use for them!!! Thx!
Call me the plantain king. I want my last meal to have fried plantain on that plate somewhere. I’m very jealous that you have a tree in your backyard. The underripe ones can be fried into chips, and the ripe ones can be fried and served for breakfast or with dirty rice. One of these foodie open threads, I’ll post my plantain and bacon mash. It’s a great side dish that can be served with any number of meats and at major holidays…. 🙂
it’s not a tree, it’s a bunch of trees that want to take over the neighborhood. You can’t believe how quickly and rampantly they grow. Chop them all down and a year later ten more of them grow back up and they’re at least 10 feet taller too.
Man, and my one try at a banana tree died of cold pain in the winter. Heh. And it never did make a fruit.
Fresh plantains are a delicacy and I remain jealous of your bounty! 😀
I love platinos, delicious!
Ah! Mofongo!
Love love love banana bread. And it makes the house smell so freakin wonderful when it’s baking!
Only problem I have is not eating the entire loaf when it’s warm out of the oven.
PS – I put a little sour cream in mine.
Banana bread is a favorite of mine too. Do you put the cream right in the batter? How much?
Yup, right in the batter at the same time I add the bananas. 1/2 cup.
Don’t tell anyone but I also put in a stick of butter.
Baking isn’t my main thing but no matter what I make I’m big on layering flavors.
You don’t have to keep silent about the butter. I do it too!! 😀 I was planning on making some banana bread this week (my bananas will be nicely overripe on my Wednesday-day off). I must try sour cream!! Thanks for the tip!
I usually use butter even when lard or shortening is called for. It does depend on the recipe, but most times I’ll just use the butter.
I would say its why I’m this nicely round shape, but I’m pretty sure chocolate has more to do with that!
I actually have 4 bananas veering toward over-ripeness, too. Now I’m inspired.
And yeah, I’m of the Julia Child school about butter in general. I’ve given up enough fun things over the years; butter isn’t going to be another!
I want to know as well. Do you add the sour cream as a dollop after slicing, or fold it into the batter? I would guess that it is a nice contrast to the sweetness. Sounds good……
We are eating late. Homemade pizza and computers. Heh.
Earlier I had a homegrown salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, dried cranberries and croutons. It was pretty good. I’m finally getting the hang of making reliably good blue cheese.
Is your blue cheese from goat’s milk?
Wish I could apprentice at your farm for a season!
Yes, it is. It’s easy to do, it’s the aging that can be tricky. Wrong temps and humidities and it’ll turn into camembert or muenster. Not that there’s anything particularly wrong with that.
We have thought about taking on apprentices. Right now it’s just a two person operation. I love showing people how to make cheese though, so if you are ever in Seattle, let me know!
I just might take you up on that! (Good friends, a couple with two little girls, live on Lopez Island, so every once in a long while I get out there if I’m on the West Coast. Was last there a couple years ago.) If I can ever figure out how to post my own picture as an avatar I’ll put up one on the ferry there.
So excited to hear making goat cheese is easy. My partner is very keen on having goats – he’s crazy about animals but he’s of the mommy can I have a dog and then she takes care of it persuasion, so we’ll see how well I handle chickens first.
Goats are amazing animals. My partner too was the one who got us into it, and yes, it’s me that takes care of them mostly, although he does do the feeding of those not being milked, and helps with the hoof care and rounding up and so on.
Anyway, goats rock. Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Just a teaser… our goats are very small, they weigh 40-70 pounds and are no bigger than a medium sized dog. Each doe can produce up to 1 to 2 quarts of milk a DAY. That’s 3-4 pounds of milk from a 40 pounds doe. They eat very little, and are super intelligent. Point is, you only need two miniature goats (they do much better in pairs than alone) to have all the milk and cheese you’ll need.
I am a fiber artist and spinner, so I have a question for you sima…do you have any fiber goats, like angoras? And what about their milk production if you do….
Speaking of chocolate, my partner made me goat milk fudge for dessert. I’ve been feeling under the weather, I guess he thought this’d bring me out. It certainly brought me out as far as the fudge plate!
Just to answer some of your answers DK down here: any “secret” recipes or good recipes you can share would have me giddy as a school girl. Living in CA I have to order a lot of ingredients, so it takes me longer to get my act together. Been wanting to go back to New Orleans all fall just so’s I can eat!
I just got a call from Dr. Daughter who is on a plane to here. She said about the same thing. She misses ‘home’ cooking from New Orleans and those wonderful unique ingredients. I’ll have to send her a new year’s gift from the Cajun Grocer.
I love that place since you turned me onto it. I can’t imagine what deprivations your daughter must be going through living away from home. When I went to college, I whined to my mother too about all the food I missed and one time she sent me a fed ex of my favorite burritos (I’m from So Cal). They didn’t taste as good as freshly made, but they were better than nothing. When I plan out my trips to NOLA, it’s always done by where I’m going to eat each day. It’s like a marathon and I usually only last a few days before I keel over. But it’s worth it.