Spinach and Artichoke Dip that Will Keep your Guests Asking for More!!!

So last Friday my husband and I attended a BBQ for a friend's going away party. I wanted to bring something special, that could easily be transported and that did not require too much fuss (let's face it, no one wants to have to assemble a dish for one hour once you get to a party!). 

I first I thought maybe I'll bring a salad, then I thought this party is a bunch of guys' place so there may or may not be utensils to eat said salad so scratch that. Then I thought how about some bite size appetizers, but then I started to wonder just how many people are gonna be at this thing? and since I had no idea I thought I better better bring something that can feed a crowd. So how about a dip? 

When they think of a dip, people go for the traditional salsa or guacamole, but I decided to go with something a little more intricate a spinach and artichoke dip. Although we lived about half an hour for the party, I figured I could cook it at home at serve it there. All I had to do is wrap the dish in aluminum foil once it was cooked and voila we were on our way to the party. 

The dip was a success and it was enough to please the large crowd. Bonus, I didn't have to do anything special to it when we got there so I got to hang out with my friends and didn't have to worry about a thing! 

Hope you enjoy it too!

Baked Spinach and Artichoke dip

(inspired from a recipe found on Sweetspot.ca)

One 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained

1 package (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed

3/4 cup light sour cream

1 package (8 oz) light cream cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1 garlic glove, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375F.

Using your food processor, finely chop the artichoke hearts and spinach.

Add the sour cream and mix well.

In a bowl, mash together the cream cheese, the parmesan cheese, garlic and salt and pepper until well blended.

Add the cream cheese mixture to the artichoke and the spinach, stir well.

Place the dip in a baking dish (in this case I used a large souffle dish).

Sprinkle with the grated mozzarella.

Bake until heated through and bubbly, about 25 minutes. 

Serve wam with tortilla chips or baguette.

Serves a large crowd

Key Lime Pie

I have never been a big fan if citrus desserts (lemon meringue pie is one of my least favourite thing to eat...), but last year on my honeymoon I tried key lime pie and that completely changed my opinion of citrus based dessert.

We were in Key West, Florida and since I like to try local delicacies, I just had to try Key Lime Pie (I also tried conch fritters, but that was not quite as good). We tried it at a local restaurant and also on our cruise ship. The one on the cruise was to die for and I just had to have the recipe! Luckily the recipe was in their cookbook which we were able to purchase onboard.

I must of made this recipe half a dozen times since purchasing the book and everyone whose tried it has loved it. It's a nice summery recipe and it could easily be done as individual pies (great idea for a potluck!). I promise that this one will be a crowd pleaser!

Tip of the week:

If you only have graham crackers on hand and no graham cracker crumbs, here is a quick way to turn your crackers into crumbs. Place the crackers in a large ziploc bag and seal it.

Using a rolling pin, roll over the bag until the crackers are completely crushes. and voila! you've got some graham cracker crumbs!

Key Lime Pie 
(Savor The Royal Caribbean International Cookbook, Volume 2)

Pie Crust:

Graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Filling:

1 cup sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (4-5 limes)

Garnish:

3/4 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoon confectionner sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons lime zest

Preheat oven to 350F
Mix graham crackers crumbs, sugar and melted butter inside your pie plate.

Press the mixture in the pie plate and around the edges.

Place in the oven and bake for 7 minutes.
Place condensed milk in a mixing bowl, and beat at low speed, adding egg yolks once at a time
Add lime juice, and mix thoroughly.

Place mixture in the graham cracker crust pie shell.

Bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Let cool and refrigerate for 2 hours.

In a medium sized bowl, beat the cream and the confectioner's sugar until soft peak form.

Top the pie with the whipped cream and the lime zest

Served chilled.
Serves 10

Blueberries and cream cupcakes for St-Jean-Baptiste Day

So today is a holiday in Quebec. One of the only days of the year (aside from Christmas and New Year's) when the grocery stores are closed. Today is also the day that I decided to do a marathon cooking session. Now normally would not this be a problem (after all I did go grocery shopping last night), but today also seems to be the day that I'm running out of my staples.

So I started my day around 7:15am as we were expecting company around 11:00 and then we'll be attending a barbecue later in the afternoon. I had a full plan of action on this rainy day (at last I was able to use the oven since it's rainy and cold today!)

1) Key lime pie
2) Spinach and artichoke dip
3) Blueberries and crean cupcake

Simple enough and pretty straight forward until I realized that we forgot to pick up baguette for our typical French lunch (pate, cheese and cured meat). So I got out my trusty Joy of Cooking cook book and got to making bread.

In the end, everything worked out (you'll be able to see all the other recipes later this week, but let's just say that I didn't sit down (not even for a minute) until my husband's parents arrived!

So today's featured recipe is the blueberries and cream cupcake. I chose this recipe as the cupcakes are white and blue, the colours of the Quebec flag which I thought was pretty fit given that this is "la fete Nationale!"

This is a pretty simple, no fuss recipe that I modified from Martha's Stewart Cupcakes book. Although it is labelled as a cupcake, my husband and I both felt that it tasted more like a muffin than a cupcake (but they were still delicious!)

Hope you enjoy!

Blueberries and Cream Cupcakes
(inspired by Martha Stewart)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup milk
2 cup fresh blueberries, plus more for garnish
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup confectionner's sugar
1 pack of instant pudding

Preheat oven to 350F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

Using your mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Beat in vanilla. Add the pack of instant vanilla pudding.

Reduce speed to low. Add flower mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk and beating until combined after each.

Fold in blueberries by hand.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 fill.

Bake until pale golden for about 25 minutes.
Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers (if they last that long, but that never happens at my house).

To finish, dollop cupcakes with whipped cream, and garnish with blueberries

Makes 24 cupcakes

Quick Refreshing Appetizer

I know, I know, it's been almost a week since my last post, but summer is such a crazy time for me both at work and socially. As soon as the nice weather starts it seems like everyone wants to hang out (which is a fantastic thing of course!). With the nice weather also comes gardening and all the summer sports (in my case softball and pretending I can golf...). Have you also notice how everyone seems happy in the summer? Regardless how bad one's day has been, it's nothing that having a cold beer or frozen drink on a terrasse won't cure!

So my husband and I spent the last weekend enjoying the nice weather walking around our little town and attending different festivities. There was a car show going on (so many cars and so many people, it was insane!) and we saw some pretty cool cars, including one of my all time favorite: the DeLorean (what can I say, I love, love Back to the Future, bonus it was on the next day!). After walking around for a while we came home to enjoy some refreshing drinks (Strawberry daiquiri was my drink of the day!) and some appetizers.

Luckily I had a few key ingredients on hand. Fresh Mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and basil. That's all I needed to whip up some mini cheese kebabs! They're super quick to put together (I'd say including taking all the ingredients of the fridge and serving them, it took about 15 minutes) and they are a crowd pleaser. Over the years I've done several variation, but the one we enjoy the most is this one. Enjoy!

Mini mozzarella and tomato kebabs
(inspired by a recipe from Kraft Canada)

1 ball of fresh mozzarella
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 bunch of basil
1 sweet bell pepper
1/4 cup Kraft Zesty Italian vinaigrette

The pepper into 1 inch cubes and place on a toothpick

 Cut the mozzarella in one inch cubes and place on the toothpick

Take the basil leaves and place them on the toothpick

Do the same with the cherry tomatoes

Once all your kebabs are ready, place on a plate and poor the dressing over the kebab. Let in rest for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Blueberry and caramelized nuts salad

I love thursdays. Most people like fridays and saturdays better, but I'm a thursday girl. When I was in University, Thursday night was sorority meeting night followed by a night of partying at Gert's (our University student bar). Ah the good times we had (wish I could remember them all! Now Thursday night means 5 a 7 night, a time when you can blow off some steam and enjoy a drink with some good friends. In the summer, (since I work for the University) Thursdays mean weekend since we don't have to work summer fridays (unfortunately, that does not start until next week, but still)!

Typically on "bar night" we get home late and we're not that hungry (all that popcorn and chips eating and drinking tends to fill us up!) so we generally opt for a salad and fish. My husband has never been a huge fan of salad (he tends to see salad as a tasteless product that you eat to loose wait) so I have been on a mission to change his mind incorporating nuts, fruits, a cheese in our salads to make then still a healthy option but tasty at the same time.

Since blueberries are now in season (at least the American ones), I decided to make them the base for this week's salad. A few weeks ago, my mom bought me this neat blueberry vinegar so I also decided to incorporate that.

So here is it, my blueberry and candied pecan salad! Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Blueberry and Candied Pecan salad

Salad: 

2/3 cup blueberry
2 cups lettuce

Candied Pecans:

1/2 cup pecans
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon water

Dressing:

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons blueberry vinegar (can easily be replaced by raspberry vinegar)
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Finely cup your lettuce. Add your blueberries and set aside.

Warm up a small non-stick pan to medium heat, add the pecans and roast for 2-3 minutes.

Add the brown sugar and the water. Cook until the pecans look like this.

Add to the lettuce.

In a small mason jar, put all the ingredients for the dressing. Close the mason jar and shake.

Pour on the salad.

Enjoy! Serves 2-4

Grilled pork chops with blueberry sauce

I have a confession to make, I did not feel like cooking tonight (I guess it's a good thing that I made this recipe a few days ago!). It's not something that happens often to be honest, but every once in a while I just wish dinner would magically make itself.

Tonight since it is sunny outside (even if it's a little chilly), I feel like sitting outside and enjoy the sun while sipping a nice sangria (I have this great recipe I've been dying to try...)! I guess I'll have to settle for the next best thing which is playing softball and drinking beer with friends!

Anyways, even if I did not cook tonight, the reason why I chose to post this recipe is because this is one of Rachel Ray's famous 30 minute meals. I know you hear it all the time "this is quick and simple" "this can be done in no time" and you end up slaving away in the kitchen for what seems like forever, but it this case it's true, it really takes no time at all to make and you'll get a great meal.

This is also one of those recipes where fruits and meat are put together to create a unique tasting dish. The lemon zest in the couscous gives it a fresh taste and the blueberry and the thyme is always a wining combo. Hope you enjoy!

Grilled pork chops with blueberry sauce

(Everyday with Rachel Ray)

5 tablespoons olive oil 

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 pt. blueberries

2 tbsp. sugar

1 lemon, zested (use only half of the zest for the couscous) and juiced

3 sprigs thyme

Salt and pepper

4 bone-in, 1/2-inch-thick pork chops (7 oz. each)

1 box (10 oz.) couscous (1½ cups)

2/3 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

  

Preheat a grill. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-low heat; add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, thyme sprigs and 1/2 tsp. pepper.

Simmer until the blueberries have released their juices and the compote has thickened, about 5 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs and keep the sauce warm.

Brush the pork chops with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning once, for 8 to 10 minutes for medium; remove from the grill and let stand.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, prepare the couscous according to package directions. Fluff with a fork, then stir in the parsley, lemon zest and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the couscous onto plates. Add the chops and any juices and spoon the berry compote on top.

Serves 4