Spinach Gratin

Adapted from a recipe in “Barefoot Contessa Parties”

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 large sweet onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
3 pounds frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (5 (10-ounce) packages)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (or your favorite blend)

¾ cup French Fried onions

Directions :
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Add the cream and milk and cook until thickened, stirring often. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach and add the spinach to the sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Transfer the spinach to a 9x13 baking dish or gratin dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and the Gruyere on top. Bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve hot.

Note: You can make this ahead and put the spinach mixture in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.  Before baking, bring it to room temperature and then bake as directed above.

Baby Greens with Beets, Glazed Pecans & Goat Cheese

Beets!  I thought that I would never enjoy eating beets!  Much to my surprise & delight, beets are pure perfection in this light French salad!  I sort of cheated & used a jar of pickled beets but the next time I make this I will purchase beets in the produce section and roast them!

For salad:

8 cups baby greens

1 jar sliced pickled beets, drained

1 cup glazed pecans

4 oz. goat cheese crumbles

For Vinaigrette:

2 ½ Tablespoons red wine vinegar

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons honey

Dash of salt & pepper

Whisk together all ingredients for vinaigrette.  Drizzle over greens (to your taste), coating all leaves.

Divide the greens among 8 salad plates

Top each with beets, glazed pecans, and goat cheese.

Oh so  yummy!

Beef Daube Provencal

This classic French beef stew is simple and delicious! It may even be better the next day!  This is a recipe that I saw in Cooking Light magazine and adapted it to my family’s taste.  As you may know, I am a slow cooker fanatic, so I did mine a la slow cooker.  Enjoy!

Yield:  8 servings

Ingredients

2-3 teaspoons olive oil

4-5 garlic cloves, crushed  

1 (3-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes

1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)

3/4 cup red wine

2 cups chopped carrots (I used bagged matchstick carrots)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup beef broth

 1 small can tomato paste

1 1/2 Tablespoons herbes de provence

2  (14 1/2-ounce) cans diced tomatoes 

Salt & pepper to taste

1 package cooked medium egg noodles

Heat oil in a skillet over low heat. Add garlic; cook 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.  

Place beef, garlic, wine, carrots, onion, beef broth, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and herbes de provence in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or low for 7-8 hours. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over egg noodles in shallow bowls along with a tossed green salad and crusty French bread!

Cranberry Cinnamon Bread Pudding

Being a New Englander, Ken just loves warm puddings... i.e. bread pudding, rice pudding, grapenut pudding, and such.  Since I had part of a loaf of bread that was about to expire, I decided to surprise him with a bread pudding for dessert!  I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com that I liked and modified it to our taste.  I hope you enjoy it too!  The entire house smells like cinnamon and vanilla when you're baking this!

Ingredients:

6 slices day-old bread

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

½ cup craisins

4 eggs, beaten

2 ½ cups milk

½ cup Splenda or 1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2.  Break bread into small pieces into an 8-inch square baking pan.  Drizzle melted butter over bread.  Sprinkle with craisins.

3.  In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, splenda, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Whisk until well mixed.  Pour this over bread and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soking up the egg mixture.

4.  Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

We like to top the warm bread pudding with freshly whipped cream!

Moroccan Casablanca Chicken Stew

One of my Moroccan tagines

Have you seen the movie classic "Casablanca"?  Well I first fell in love with Morocco when I saw this movie.  I am disappointed to say that I have not yet been to Casablanca or to Morocco!

I first fell in love with Moroccan food when a little Moroccan restaurant opened in Chapel Hill, NC.  It was only open for a few years much to my dismay.  The ambiance was beautiful… warm & cozy with beautiful low tables and cushions, elegant oriental rugs, and gorgeous dinnerware.  Once I walked in I was forever smitten!  The food did not disappoint and I have been a lover of Moroccan cuisine ever since!

Being the proud owner of 2 authentic Moroccan tagines and a modern Emile Henry one, I feel compelled to put on my Moroccan chef’s hat from time to time and either make my tried & true or experiment with new dishes.

That being said, I strayed a bit and made this most recent recipe in my beloved slow cooker!  Yes I did and it turned out perfectly.  If I had been having a dinner party, I could have transferred everything into a tagine and no one would have known the difference!

Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless & skinless chicken breasts

1 pound boneless & skinless chicken thighs

5 carrots, peeled & sliced

2 large onions, thinly sliced

1 cup dried, chopped dates

1 cup raisins (preferably golden raisins but “regular” will do)

1 (15 ounce) can chicken broth (more if necessary)

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (or Wondra)

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Spray your 5-6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray.

Place the carrots and onions in the slow cooker.

Add the chicken to the slow cooker and top the chicken with raisins and dates.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the broth, tomato paste, flour, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon and ground black pepper.

Pour over the chicken mixture in the slow cooker. 

Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours.

Serve in bowls with couscous, orzo, or rice.  (Note that couscous is more common in Morocco but I love it with orzo!).  Nice accompaniments are pita bread and a cucumber salad.  You can top it with sliced almonds and a bit of cilantro as garnish!  Yummy!!!