Tag Archives: appetizer

Radish Dip

14 Sep

My husband loves radishes, and since they were 2 for $1, I bought some on my last trip to the grocery store.  He usually eats them raw, but this time suggested I make the radish dip I had made once before.  Last time it was actually more like a spread, so this time I changed it a little to make it more like a dip.

Radish Dip

What you need:
2 cloves garlic (You may add more or less depending on your taste level.  I actually used 4 cloves tonight and it was a bit much for me)
2 bunches radishes, quartered
8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz sour cream*

How to Make it:

Peel the garlic cloves and mince in a food processor.  Add the radishes and mince them as well.  Add in the cream cheese and sour cream, pulse until well blended.  Serve with chips or your favorite veggies.

*Note that if you want this to be more of a spread than a dip, omit the 8 oz sour cream and add another 8 oz of cream cheese.

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Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

12 Sep

My mom’s side of the family is Greek, and growing up, we lived in the same town as my grandparents.  And no, not next door like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  We did get to see them often, though, and I did get a chance to learn some Greek traditions, attend some services at the Greek Orthodox church, and learn how to cook some traditional Greek dishes.  This also means that most of the dishes I learned how to make, I make from memory or sight, add a handful of this, a little of this, a little of that, until it looks right.  However, I have measured out the way I make spanakopita to my taste, and when I got all the spinach from Bountiful Baskets over the last 2 weeks, I knew I wanted to make this to be able to share how I make it since I get asked a lot.  So, here we go!

Spanakopita

1 roll phyllo dough (You can find this in your grocery’s freezer section with the pies and baked goods)
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

Filling for spanakopita:
2 lb fresh spinach, chopped, or 3-10oz pkgs frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 lb feta cheese, crumbled
4 eggs
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp dried dill weed

How to put it together:

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Combine the ingredients for the filling and set aside.  Brush bottom and sides of 12″ X 18″ jelly roll pan with melted butter.   Lay phyllo dough in bottom of pan, and brush completely with butter. (Note: Depending on the size of your pan and the size of dough you find, you may need multiple pieces of phyllo dough to cover the bottom of the pan) Repeat the process of laying dough and buttering to create 5-6 layers of dough.  Pour filling over phyllo dough and spread evenly.

Spreading the filling on the phyllo dough

Place a layer of phyllo dough over the filling, again, brushing it completely with butter. Repeat the process of laying dough and buttering until you have 3-4 layers.

Score through top layers of the pastry with a sharp knife. I cut mine in straight lines to make squares, then add diagonal cuts to make triangles.  Pour remaining butter over.

Bake for 1 hour or until pastry is golden brown (see picture at top). Remove to rack and cool for 5 minutes.  Cut and serve!

 

You can find the cheese version of this, Tiropita, in this post.

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Steak, Potatoes, and Roasted Corn Salsa

6 Sep

Busy night of cooking for me!  We had a ton of meat in the fridge.  I had thawed out steak and had hot dogs on hand to grill out for Labor Day.  Then, hubby had invited over some friends to cookout on Tuesday, so I decided to not grill on Monday and wait until Tuesday.  Hubby went to the store and bought 2 more packages of steaks and 2 packages of brats.  Then, the friends ended up not being able to come over, so 1 package of brats went to the freezer and I decided to go ahead and grill a package of hot dogs and a package of brats, plus all the steaks.  I also had a few potatoes left from Bountiful Baskets, so I decided to grill those as well.  (Don’t get me started on potatoes, hubby also bought a 10 pound bag of them when he bought the steaks, not knowing that I already had close to 10 pounds at home.  This is why only I should do the shopping!)

Anyway, we had plenty of steak left, so we cut it into pieces, and hubby has requested that I make steak and egg burritos, to which I will add roasted Poblano peppers and onion.  More about that tomorrow, back to tonight’s meal.

The day before, I put all the steak into a 9 x 13 glass pan and marinated them with Dale’s Seasoning.  No, it is not made by my hubby.  We recently discovered this at the Commissary and laughed because it has his name, but seriously, this stuff is really good.  Then, I prepped the potatoes. I washed them really good, then mixed together olive oil and Italian seasoning to brush on them, and rolled them up in aluminum foil.  Then, it was time to put it all on the grill!

As that was cooking, I worked on finishing up roasted corn salsa.  I had already roasted the 7 ears of sweet corn that I received from Bountiful Baskets on 9/3 because I didn’t want it to go bad before I got the chance to use it.  To roast it, I take off some of the outer husks, then pull back the husks to remove the silk.  I put the husks back around the corn and put it on the grill.  I leave it out there 20-30 minutes, turning every so often, and get nice, roasted corn.  If you don’t have a grill, you can roast the corn in your oven’s broiler.  Turn the broiler on low, and line a baking sheet with foil.  You can leave the husks on or remove them.  Place about 6 inches from the broiler and turn the corn every so often until it is roasted.

Next, you cut the kernels off the cob.  Now, the tricky part is what else to add.  I will give you a rough approximation of what I add, but salsa is really about making it to your taste.

  • 4 ears of corn, roasted, removed from cob
  • 1/2 yellow or red onion, or 1 bunch green onion, chopped (I use whatever I have on hand or what is cheapest)
  • 2-3 jalapenos, seeded and diced
  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • 2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced
  • 2 tsp garlic salt
  • Juice of 2-3 key limes or 1 large lime

Here is the final result to serve with your favorite tortilla chips.  We usually get the scoop type tortilla chips, it’s easier with this chunky salsa to be able to scoop it up.  Note that this is a double batch of the recipe above since I had 7 ears of corn.

After this was all finished and cleaned up, I went to work on some fruit that is currently in the food dehydrator.  I will have a full (hopefully good) report on that tomorrow!

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