Spinach Maria and Boat Club for June

I am so thankful for being able to attend our monthly potlucks at Boat Club, it means I get to try lots of new dishes and if I'm lucky I get recipes as well.  The best of both worlds.    And last night was no exception.
We had everything from ham to salad to desserts.    We really do have the best cooks here.  I say that every month, but it's true.
And I have to admit to taking the easy way out this time.   I made my Blooming Onion bread and a Black Olive Tapenade, mainly cause I had the ingredients to hand and they were easy to make, and I wasn't feeling inspired.  I did change up the Blooming Onion Bread a little, mainly cause I had some cheddar cheese and some Pepper Jack cheese that I'd already sliced and that were in the freezer.    And of course I always have at least one can of Black Olives on hand so I can make a quick Tapenade.  I used some Ciabatta rolls I had in the freezer for the Tapenade, and that worked well also.
  
Here are the dishes we had last night and I'm following that with the recipe for the Spinach Maria, which was OMG good.

Blooming Onion Bread

Tapenade with Ciabatta Roll slices

Spicy Asian White Bean Dip

Ham

Fresh Sliced Cucumbers

Spinach Maria

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno's

Fresh carrots and tomatoes

Dessert

More Dessert

Creamsicle Cookies

Salad

And here's the recipe for the Spinach Maria.   Shamelessly copied from this blog Nibble Me This  which has some really yummy looking recipes and stunning photography.     Usually served in little ramekins at Calhoun's restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee.  

Calhoun's Spinach Maria

5 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach
4 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 3/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
5 tablespoons melted butter
6 tablespoons flour
8 ounces Velveeta cheese
8 ounces cheddar cheese
4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (for topping)

Thaw spinach in refrigerator for 24 hours. Squeeze as much excess water as possible out of spinach. Heat milk and spices in 4-quart saucepan on medium heat to just below a boil (190 degrees). Then reduce heat and simmer. Saute chopped onion in 1 tablespoon butter on medium heat for 5-8 minutes. Add to saucepan. Combine 5 tablespoons melted butter with flour in a small suate pan. (This is the first step of making a roux, which will thicken the sauce.) Mix until completely blended. Cook on low heat 3-4 minutes to make roux. Add roux to milk in saucepan and mix well. Continue to cook until sauce thickens.

Cut Velveeta, cheddar and Jack cheese into small cubes and add to saucepan. Continue to mix until all the cheese is completely melted and blended into sauce. Be careful not to burn the sauce while cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Add drained spinach to cheese sauce, mix until completely blended. Spoon into 11-by-9-by-2-inch casserole dish and top with grated Monterey Jack cheese. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Pineapple Pie and more...

I had fun on Thursday, I got to make a bunch of desserts and along the way discovered a couple of neat tricks, which made for a very good day.    And of course we also served our seniors a very nice lunch as well.

Pineapple Pie, Marble Cake, Jello

Let me start with the menu:
Spaghetti with Meatballs
Johnny Marzetti  (Goulash with a Cheese Topping)

Green Salad 
Tuna Salad
Peas
Pickled Beets
Garlic Bread
Sliced Tomatoes

Salad

Tuna Salad

Not too shabby, huh?   I think we do a good job.   Oh and the desserts, well, I had fun.    I made a couple of marble cakes, and topped them with some Banana Cream, giggle, so easy to make.

From the other side, Bread Pudding, Marble Cake, Jello

Pineapple Pie, Marble Cake, Jello

And I threw together three Pineapple Pies as well.    I want to share the recipe for them here.   They are such an easy, last minute throw together dessert.  Perfect for when unexpected company comes, or you've run out of time to make something more elaborate or ....    I learned this recipe from Sarge.   He said it was something he would throw together when his kids were young, and they needed a quick dessert.   All I can say is this, it is so yummy, and popular as a dessert.

Pineapple Pie recipe

3 Graham Cracker crusts, either homemade or bought

2 Quarts Heavy Whipping cream, whipped divided into two bowls after being whipped.  ** 
1  Family Size box Instant Vanilla Pudding mix (8 serving size)
1 15 oz. Can Crushed Pineapple

 
Make a graham cracker crust, or buy one.   I made some crusts, and they are so easy to make.   Mix one box of graham crackers made into crumbs with 1 cup sugar and 1 cup melted butter.  You want enough butter so that the crumbs stick together.   This made enough for 3 1/2 pie crusts.  I think I could actually have made 4 but I didn't have enough filling.


Whip up 1 quart heavy cream til soft peaks form, then fold in 1 large box of instant vanilla pudding.   Add 1 can of crushed pineapple, juice and all.  Fold together.   This will stiffen up because of the pudding.  Then divide the filling into three and place one third of the filling into each pie shell.   Top with some more whipped cream.   Refrigerate for at least a half hour.     Decorate with slices of fresh pineapple to serve.   And don't be surprised if people go for seconds on this.
 **  If you don't have fresh cream to whip, go ahead and use some whipped topping in place of the cream.  It works very well.   Just use  2 (two)8 oz. tubs of whipped topping,  1 1/2  for the filling and half of one  for the topping. 

And I also made some whipped cream topping for the marble cakes, but this time I added a small box of Banana Cream Instant Pudding to the whipped Cream and used that to 'frost' the cakes.   They were so good as well.   I have to say I got the idea from Robin, because I had gone to the store to get a couple of things and forgot to pick up some more frosting.   So instead of making a butter cream frosting from scratch, I whipped up some cream and added the instant pudding mix.   You have to try this sometime.   It was so good. 

You might be wondering why I keep using whipping cream, well, thanks to Farm Share we were given a lot of cream, so we're using it.  I make custards, use it to make our own butter, use it where ever we can.   It helps that I'm an 'old' farm girl, and I use the term old gingerly, but I was so lucky to grow up on a farm and have a mother who was one of the best cooks ever to teach me how to cook from scratch.     And also how to cook using the foods I have available.  Thanks to her and my older sisters who I shamelessly ask for hints from, I am a pretty decent cook.  

Fake 'Roasted' Garlic and other tips...

I need to clarify here, it's really not fake garlic, but a faux 'roasted' garlic.   That didn't come out right either.   So it's real garlic cloves, but they're not roasted in the oven for an hour, but instead are cooked in Olive Oil on top of the stove, til they're soft and a little bit browned.   And so darn yummy.    I've actually been making them this way for years.   I was given the tip by a woman at a day old bakery outlet during a conversation about garlic bread.   She told me she used to work in an Italian restaurant and they would go through a lot of garlic, but the owner would 'boil' the garlic cloves in oil, on top of the stove over low heat, and then use the softened, very flavourful garlic for his garlic bread, or wherever he needed garlic.   And with the summer heat upon us, well, in this area at least, it makes sense to make garlic this way and not have the oven on for an hour.   And really, this takes very little time on top of the stove.  
Another added benefit, you have some lovely garlic infused oil you can use to drizzle over spaghetti, add to some butter for garlic bread, or anyplace you want a hint or touch of garlic flavour.     I like to have a whole bulb of garlic done this way, then I just place the leftover garlic cloves into an empty glass bottle, (washed out of course), cover them with the oil and place it in the fridge to use later on.  Empty spice bottles are great for this, or just a small glass jar.

'boiled' in Olive Oil til they just change color

In jar and ready for the fridge

They will keep for about a month, if they last  that long.   The olive oil will solidify, but it only takes a few minutes on the counter top to liquefy again, and you are good to go.  And I put my money where my mouth is, and made some yesterday, just so I could show you how it would look.  ( I even did a taste test, smeared one of the cloves on a piece of bread, drizzled just a touch of the oil on it and salted it.  It was so good).   I've found that a whole bulb of garlic will fit in one small spice bottle, emptied and washed out of course. 














And since I'm just full of tips today, how about making some chicken stock and freezing it in ice cube trays, I know I've talked about this before, but really, having  a cube of frozen chicken stock you can add to some packaged gravy to amp up the flavour, so good.    I was making some rice the other night and wanted to get another layer of flavour so I grabbed a cube of my home made chicken stock, (which I'd frozen in ice cube trays), and added it to the rice.   So easy and quick.   If you're in the habit of buying rotisserie chickens for an occasional quick meal, then cover the bones that are left with some water, add a carrot or onion, then just let it simmer for an hour.  Cool it down and strain the stock and VOILA!!!! you have some home made chicken stock.    I find most commercial stock is way too salty for my taste, so I do make my own.   It really doesn't take that long.   I've even been known to keep a chicken carcass or turkey carcass in my freezer and then cook up a big pot of stock from that.   And here's another hint, those leftover chicken bones, roast them in the oven with a couple of onions and carrots til they brown a little, then add them to pot with some water, lots more flavour that way.  Oh and if you have any of the 'roasted' garlic in your fridge add a couple of cloves.

And last but not least, if you purchase ground beef in those large trays, and divide up the ground beef for separate meals, freeze the meat in a freezer bag, and flatten it, it will thaw much faster.   Better yet, if you're browning meat for one meal, brown enough for two meals and freeze the remainder.   You can always add it to spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, make taco's, or whatever you use ground meat for.    Why not make it easier to get a meal on the table on those days when you are rushed anyway.   I've been able to get a meal on the table within half an hour using my pre-cooked ground beef and just adding some taco seasoning  and we're good to go. 

Pico de Gallo

I love Pico de Gallo, and in fact have been know to make it up on a whim, just because.   And then have proceeded to eat half the bowlful.   Which isn't as bad as it sounds, cause Pico de Gallo is basically just onions, tomatoes and jalapeno's.   And so long as you don't load up on chips, you don't need to worry about the calories.   Pico de Gallo is just plain good food.    I've actually posted the recipe here but it was buried in a post about Acapulco chicken.   And that was not fair to it.   I think it deserves its own post.  So there!


First up, get out your trusty gloves, you don't want to be messing with jalapeno's unless you're properly covered up.   Trust me on this one.   It is very important, unless of course you're into pain, at which point just go ahead and disregard this.    Just kidding, but I've made the mistake of rubbing an eye when I've had Jalapeno juice on my hand and the agony, totally not worth it.

Start by getting your ingredients together.  And nothing in this is really exact because you'll be making this for you, and whatever your heat tolerance is.

  You want some lovely fresh jalapeno peppers, a couple of tomatoes, an onion, cilantro, lime and salt.    Start by dicing up a Roma tomato or two, depending on how much you are making, you want a fairly fine dice, then dice up a white onion, again a fairly fine dice.   And now for the fun, depending on your tolerance or love of heat, you want to mince or very finely dice 1-3 jalapeno's.  Start by whacking off the stem end, slicing them in two lengthwise and then cutting out the seed and membrane.

Add all together and stir, squeeze the juice of a lime over it, add a handful of finely chopped cilantro

and about a half teaspoon of salt, or less to start.  Stir it all up and taste.   You can always add more jalapeno's or tomatoes or any portion to make it to your taste.  This is your Pico de Gallo after all.  

Senior's dinners for May

 I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm one of the volunteer cooks at our local Senior's center.   I've been doing this for a few months now, and am still having a blast doing it.   I'm really lucky in that I have a great group of people who are willing and able to give of their time, energy and expertise and we all work very nicely together. 
And it can get a little nutsy sometimes, just trying to make sure everything is ready and able to be served by noon every Thursday.   We've had some miss-steps, some 'oops and a lot of triumphs along the way.   I feel so fortunate that I've been able to learn and continue to learn from everyone.   I really can't say enough good things about everyone there.   No one does this for the money, no one does this for the glory, they do this because they want to.  And sometimes they don't get thanked as much as they should be.   I want to mention Robin, my fellow cook, she is awesome, and we tend to get along pretty good in the kitchen.  Which is totally wonderful. And I want to say thanks to Sarge who no longer cooks with us, but from whom I've learned so much, and Don, Wally, Dot, Dorothy, Pat, Merle, Vivian, Janice, Reba, and everyone else.   We could not do this without you.   You all are my heroes.   And the people I just mentioned , they're the ones who help out in the kitchen, put out the desserts, work as sous chefs, dishwashers and generally help out where ever we need it. 
Last month was busy, we fed a lot of people, and I thought I would mention some of the meals we had in May.   We ran the gamut from Beef Stroganoff, Roast Pork Sandwiches, Loose Cabbage Rolls, Baked Chicken and BBQ chicken, to Fried Tilapia and Baked Tilapia with Gremolata and Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes, Johnny Marzetti Goulash and assorted vegetables.   

Tuna Salad

Deviled Eggs

Beef Stroganoff

Baked Chicken

BBQ Chicken

Squash Medley

 I also took a picture last week of a cake Dorothy decorated for the raffle.    It was totally lovely.  

    Those are miniature marshmallows, dipped in colored sugar sprinkles and placed on the cake.   I thought it was very pretty, she's really an artist.  

So thgere you have it, a brief glimpse into my month of cooking at the center.   We've got some good meals coming up next month as well, and hopefully, I'll get a chance to take some pictures at least that's my goal. 

In the meantime, if you can give some time somewhere as a volunteer, do it.   Your time and effort is not only needed, it is appreciated.