Spinach dip in a Sourdough bread bowl

For the Bradshaw Family Christmas party this year, we were assigned to bring an appetizer. After mulling over our options, we settled on spinach dip, one of my favorite dishes.

I headed to the local Walmart figuring I would find the little soup mix box with the recipe on the side. They didn't have it. I picked up the Great Value brand Onion Soup mix and figured I could make it work. I knew I also needed spinach, mayo, sour cream, and water chestnuts, based on prior experiences with spinach dip, so I grabbed these items and headed home. Oh, and also some sourdough. A boule and a square (for dipping).

Fortunately, I found this recipe online using the onion soup mix. It's basically the same as the more well-known Knorr recipe, except with a different flavor soup.

Spinach Dip
1 10-oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 c mayonnaise
1 packet onion soup mix
1 1/2 c sour cream (about 16 oz.)
1 can water chestnuts, drained and diced

1. Thaw and drain spinach. I pour the spinach into a colander and let lukewarm water run through it in the sink until it is no longer icy. Squeeze water out of spinach. I also find it helpful to chop the spinach a little extra.
2. Mix sour cream and mayonnaise.
3. Add onion soup mix and stir to combine.
4. Add spinach and water chestnuts and continue to mix until well dispersed.

Spinach dip is especially yummy and pretty when presented in a sourdough boule. You will need to cut out the top and middle of the bread boule to turn it into a bread bowl. This is accomplished by taking a knife and carefully slicing into the top of the bread, being sure not to cut through the bottom. You have to use your hands to pull the inside of the bread out, and then continue to shape the inside so it can hold the max amount of dip.

For our party, I doubled the amount of dip (still using only one can of water chestnuts). I cut the sourdough boule insides, and the sourdough square loaf, into small cubes (~ 1-2"). Not all of the dip fit into my bread bowl so I kept the extra in a separate bowl. The idea is to use the small bread cubes to dip into the spinach dip, and at the end you can also eat the bread bowl (of course!).

Spoonbread (with Jiffy mix)

Recently, I threw together the ingredients (minus the beer) for the Bowl o' Red chili mix from Cibolo Junction Thomas had been given a while back. While it finished cooking in the slow cooker, I decided we needed to have some cornbread to go with it. I like cornbread, but it often tends to be on the dry side, so rather than just following the instructions on the back of my Jiffy mix, I decided to see if I could find a spoonbread recipe that used the Jiffy mix.

This was my first experience with spoonbread. I learned about it recently on this blog and it made me ever so curious! Fortunately, I found a recipe that called for my Jiffy mix and whipped it up. Here it is, with my alterations:

Spoonbread
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 can cream corn (the orig. recipe called for an 8-oz. can, but I used the normal size)
1 c sour cream
2 eggs
1/2 c oil
1/2 tsp salt
I also added about 2 Tbsp flour to compensate for the additional cream corn

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease square baking dish. [I put a little bit of butter in my 9"*9" glass Pyrex and put it in the preheating oven]
2. Mix all ingredients together. Pour into baking dish. The original recipe suggests the dish be a "hot, greased skillet."
3. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center; original recipe says this should be about 35 minutes, but it probably takes 45 minutes or more.
4. Serve with your favorite chili! We found that when we served it right away, it was pretty soft and crumbly, but on leftover night, it was able to be sliced like standard cornbread (still moist, though).

The spoonbread went perfectly with this chili - which was pretty darn good itself!

oxox

Quiche Lorraine

A slightly modified submission to the blog by Thomas' mom, this came from his dad's (her husband's) mother. A few quotes and tips that came with the submission:

• "It is the best American recipe I have ever had, and is a good as many- (better than the poor quality) french ones."
• Use a deep dish pie pan. You can use a regular pie plate, but you will have too much liquid.
• It will actually taste even better one day after. (Maybe you should double it for leftovers.)
• "Bon appetit!"

Quiche Lorraine

Pie Shell
1.5 C flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 C shortening
4-5 T cold water

1. Mix flour and salt.
2. Cut in shortening.
3. Mix water in slowly until all is moistened.
4. Form into a ball, and roll to about 1/8" thick.
5. Transfer the shell to a greased pie pan and crimp the edges.

Innards
1/2 lb bacon
1 onion
1/4 lb mushrooms
1 lb guyère (or 1/2 lb swiss and 1/2 lb monterey jack)
4 eggs
1 C sour cream
1 C milk
salt and pepper

(**UPDATE 3/13/2011: we used slightly less cheese and only 1/2 c milk today and our quiche was much less liquidy**)

1. Preheat the oven at 375°.
2. Fry the bacon.
3. Chop the onion and sauté it in the bacon grease.
4. Slice the mushrooms and sauté them with the onion.
5. Mix the bacon back in and sprinkle into the pie shell.
6. Add cheese over the bacon.
7. Mix the eggs, milk, and sour cream together and pour into the pie shell.
8. Add salt and pepper. The pepper dots add to the look, so put lots in.
9. Bake until it passes the toothpick test. Let sit to set 15-30 minutes.
10. Cut, serve, and eat.

Bradshaw Taqueria ?

Thomas bragged on these burritos for months before I finally got to try them! We first made them together about 2 months ago and while I must admit I was skeptical at first, this is now probably one of my favorite recipes. We made these together a second time while visiting my family over Christmas vacation.

The Swiss cheese was the ingredient I shied away from the most at the beginning. I love cheese, but Swiss has never been a favorite of mine. It works pretty well with the other ingredients, though, so I'd definitely recommend it. Additionally, the bean/tomato sauce process does seem kinda strange the first time. But trust me, it's worth it!!!

Thomas' Burritos

Tortilla ingredients:
1 part vegetable oil (we used 1 1/2 c oil/milk/water to make 15 tortillas)
1 part milk
1 part water
flour

1. Begin by mixing equal parts oil, milk, and water. Add flour and continue to mix until batter becomes a thick consistency.
   
   
   
2. Keep adding flour, kneading until mixture becomes doughy.
   
   
   
3. Separate dough into small balls. They should fit in your cupped hand.
   
   
   
   
4. Roll out the dough. Try for somewhat round and very thin tortillas. They shrink up and thicken a bit in the pan.
   
   
   
5. Sprinkle a bit of salt into a heated frying pan. Transfer one tortilla into the frying pan. As it cooks, the color will change slightly. Once the bottom is thicker and a more golden color, use a spatula, or if you're like Thomas, your hands, to flip it over and cook the other side.
   
   
6. Stack cooked tortillas until filling is ready!
   
   
   

Beans:
2 cans Cannellini beans (White Kidney beans)
1 small (8-0z) can tomato sauce
spices: cumin, thyme, basil, salt to taste

1. Drain beans. Combine beans and tomato sauce in a saucepan. Save one bean can; remove label and wash.
   
   
   
   
2. Drain off a bit of the tomato sauce and use the clean can to mash the beans.
   
   
   
3. Add spices to taste. Thomas likes a lot of cumin.
   
   
4. Cook bean mixture on the stovetop until heated.
   
   

Other ingredients:
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 tomatoes, diced
grated Swiss cheese
sour cream


To assemble:
Begin with a tortilla. Spread on a bit of the bean mixture and some sour cream. Add grated Swiss cheese and sprinkle in a few tomatoes and peppers. fold bottom up and sides around. ENJOY!!