Spanakopita

Spanakopita is an amazing dish made with spinach and phyllo dough. It works great when you want to make some finger foods, or a main dish. Here is a couple of takes on it.
From allrecipes

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds spinach, rinsed and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 8 sheets phyllo dough
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9x9 inch square baking pan.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot.

My Version.

• grape seed oil (healthier than the olive oil because it can stand a higher heat) 
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 pounds of spinach or amaranth rinsed, (no need to chop, it will cook down eniough)
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup of hard or crumbly cheese (goat, feta, mozzarella, sheep)
• 1/4 cup of yogurt
• 4 oz of cream cheese (1/2 a package) 
• Phyllo dough (usually when you buy it, it comes in severally rolls in a box, I use one roll. that has several sheets) 

Preheat oven to 350 an oil a 9 by 9in pan

saute the onions and garlic in the grape seed oil. When the onions are becoming translucent put the spinach or amaranth and the parsley in and cook until the greens are limp. Mix all the other ingredients, minus the dough and olive oil in a bowl. Take a tbsp of the spinach, and mix into the bowl mixture, repeat until the egg mixture is tempered. If you add it to the spinach, or all the spinach to it at once, then the eggs will be all scrambelly and not... Well not right. The texture will be off. You might as well have made an omelet. Once it is tempered you can mix it all together. Put one layer down on the pan, and brush with oil, do this 2 more times so that you have 3 layers, then spread 1/3 of the spinach mixture down then put 3 more phyllo sheets down with oil on top of each. Spread another 1/3 of the mix down, and repeat with the sheets, and spread the rest of the mixture and put another 3 layers down. Cut with a sharp knife, with 3 cuts North to South and East to West. You can also do diagnal cuts so that you have triangles. Bake untill golden on top, about 30-40 min, but if it starts getting to golden before your minutes are up and you think the rest needs more cookin', then put some foil over the top to stop it from browning to much. 

If you want those perfect little triangles, all wrapped up, trie this method (you can use whatever filling recipe you want) http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Greek-Spinach-Triangles-Food_com-123167 or http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Spinach-And-3-Cheese-Phyllo-Triangles-Recipezaar

I just cut the sheets into fours, and wrap like a burrito, then place them seam side down. 

Happy SpanakopitaIng!

Rain and food

Life has bean a bit slower this week, and also a bit dreary, with the ever present need for rain and the relentless taunting of those darn clouds that never seam to want to let us have any respite from this early onset of the mid summer high heat. We were graced with a slight patter of rain that lasted about, oh say... 3 or 4 minutes that only busted up the humidity, making it feel hotter, and letting us smell that glorious geosmin, (an organic compound that humans are unusually sensitive to, that is in beats and newly wet soil) tantalizing our senses, and waking up that longing to stand in, or at least watch, the rain.

So, I have bean cooking, a lot, and making the house hotter, unfortunately (thank the Lord for ceiling fans!) but to the delight of my husband and my Father in Law, and my neighbor who got to chow down on some spanakopita, (those creamy spinach and phyllo triangle things) and salad.

Over the last couple of days I have bean reading The Feast Nearby. A charming book on getting your food locally and living on a tight budget. The chapters consist of short essays with recipes at the end of every one. They are basically about what the author, Robin Mather, did during her time living in Michigan by a lake with her dog, parrot, neighbors, and eventual chickens. I recommend it for the recipes, and some nice inspiration and a bit of how to's. 

My dinner.
Yesterday I made vegetable enchiladas, and a lime-cheese tart.


Tart:
8oz package of cream cheese, softened.
14oz can of sweetened condensed milk, (recipe)
1 egg
4 limes, juiced
1 pie crust in a tart, baked blind. (or you can use a gram cracker crust)
1 cup of frozen raspberries
1 peach
1 apricot
some mint, and some flowers

preheat the oven to 325. Blend together the cream cheese, the milk, the egg, and the lime juice. put in the pan, (with the crust already baked) and bake for 50 min. let rest overnight. Then put the frozen raspberries on top and let thaw in the refrigerator. Take off the raspberries, (the juice should have permeated any cracks in the cake)  and start putting the peaches on around the edge. Then put the raspberries in the middle, and then put apricots on that. Then put flowers and mint on like in the picture. refrigerate until you serve it.

The enchiladas were basic enchiladas with red sauce, but I used 2 small zucchini, 2 onions, 1 small thing of broccoli, corn from 2 corn cobs, and 1 pound of snap peas. I sauteed the onion in a big pan, then added everything else plus 2 cups of the sauce and 1 cup of water. I covered it and let it cook until everything was fairly soft.
For the sauce I put 8 cups of those whole dried red chilies in a pot and cover with water. let them cook until soft. strain but reserve the juice. blend with some of the juice or all if needed. put back into the pan, add 1/4 tsp of salt, 2 tbsp of oregano, 1 can of no salt tomato sauce. Cook until it thickens a bit.
To put the enchiladas together, put like 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of a pan (like a 9 by 13) and put 1 tortilla in the pan near the edge. Put some veggies in the middle and fold the sides together and flip with the "seam" down. repeat until your pan is full. Put about 1,2 to 1 cup of cheese on top. Bake 325 for 15 min, or just keep in a warm oven until you are ready for dinner.

(Yesterday when I started this post, I meant to finish it last night but instead i went over with my husband to my neighbors house to see his goat. So, I am happy to inform you that in fact, it rained early this morning.) 

Mexican casserole

The other day my cousin and friend came over tho watch The Life Aquatic and eat Mexican casserole. We had so much fun, and everyone lived the movie (of course) and food.

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion sliced thinly
• 1/2 can of corn (I used can corn because that was the cheapest organic corn at the store) 
• 1/2 can of olives, chopped
• 3 medeum tomatoes chopped
• 1 cup of black beans, cooked (You can also just use a can of beans that have bean drained and rinsed.)
• 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. cornmeal
• 1/8 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/3 c. whole milk
• 1/8 c. vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 bunch of cilantro, chopped
• 2-4 tbsp of Mexican seasoning
• 4 jalapenos roasted, pealed, and chopped.
• 1/2 cup of cheese, shredded
• the rest of the cilantro, another couple of tomatoes, sour cream, cheese, avocado, and whatever else you want as garnish. 

Preheat oven to 400. Layer the first 5 ingredients in a greased 9 by9 inch baking dish. Mix all the ingredients from the flour to the Mexican seasoning. It should resemble a quiche/cornbread mix. pour over the veggie layer, then put the jalapenos on top and bake for 30min or until the top is golden. (If you want to try the toothpick trick, then expect it to come out with small pieces of batter on it. It will be almost clean.)  Put the cheese on top, and bake for 5 min, turn the oven off and open the door slightly. 10 min before serving, take it out so that it can cool a bit. 

New recipies.

I have bean having so much fun!

 Taking care of the chickens,
 
Making lemon Cheesecake, so easy, I took the thin mint girl scout cookie recipe, and replaced the cocoa powder with flour, added some sunflowers, time, and lemon, and baked it in the pie pan, then added some lemon and time to a basic cheesecake recipe.
 
Went grocery shopping with my wonderful husband,
 
And had a book swap party with my cousin and friend, and some rather delicious pizza,
  
Pizza crust, so easy and fast! recipe from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quick-and-easy-pizza-crust/

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker's peel dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

For the pesto sauce I did a bunch of parsley, with about 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, a clove of garlic, 1/2 of a lemon juiced, 1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil, and enough water to make it blend.Then I just put it on the unbaked crust, with mushrooms, green olives, onions, tomatoes, and some goat cheese on top.

 

For the red sauce I just used tomato paste. It tasted yummy and it is supper easy. Then on that I put mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, black olives, onion, goat cheese, basil and a little bit of the pesto sauce drizzled on top. So easy and so yummy!

 

Soon I will have my craft room up and ready, with lots of nifty ideas. Have a great day!