Hot Spinach Dip

I love to have people over to my house and shower them with food. Blame it on my Italian/Latin heritage. We are natural host. If there is a party, we are there cooking, dancing and making sure that everyone around us is having a good time. We love to have people sit at our table to eat and drink and totally enjoy every bite.

Since I moved to Tampa, I have not had the chance to do this. Because well, most of my friends live in other states, cities and I frankly to lazy to go make new friends. Yes, I’m shallow that way.

When I meet Tom, I was glad, because that meant 2 things: One, I could stop cooking for one! And two, I was going to heritage friends by proxy. I was not disappointed; so far his friends are witty, funny, smart and just love to eat – perfect combination if you ask me. Which means that my inner host kicked into overdrive and now we are having dinner parties more often.

And a dinner party must have appetizers! And Internet, this appetizer is the easiest thing you will make (don’t let the ingredient list scare you off) and people will beg you for the recipe once they smother the first piece of toasted goodness with this Creamy Hot Spinach Dip.

Ingredients
1 box of frozen Spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 onion, cut into small pieces
1 clove of garlic mince (or garlic paste)
3 tablespoon Butter
3 tablespoon Olive oil
2 cups of fresh spinach, chopped rough (if desired)
1 envelope of Vegetable soup mix
1/2 cup of mayo
1/4 cup of sour cream
2 tablespoon of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 teaspoon of mustard (Dijon type)
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of Gorgonzola cheese
2 round of bread (or similar country, crusty bread) for bowl, another for dipper pieces.

Follow directions to unfreeze the frozen spinach and make sure it’s squeezed dry.

In sauté pan, place the butter and olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and cook for a bit until a bit soft, add the garlic and cook a bit more then add the drained frozen spinach as well as the fresh (if using). Mix and cook for about 5 minutes or so, then mix in the dry vegetable mix. Stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and place in a bowl to cool down.

When spinach mixture is cooled. Mix in the rest of the ingredients (Mayo, Sour Cream, Mustard and the cheeses) Stir until everything is incorporate. At this point you can store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before using. If you are preparing the same day, then turn the oven to 350 degrees

Take the bread and form a bowl by cutting the top and scooping/hollowing out the inside, reserved and put it aside. Spread a bit of butter inside and then scoop the spinach mixture inside, spreading in and around the bread bowl. Spread a bit of Parmesan cheese on top.

Cover the bread bowl in aluminum foil, place in a baking sheet pan and into the oven it goes for about 20 minutes. At about the 15 minutes mark uncovered and cook another 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Take out of the oven, and let sit for about 5-10 minutes. Turn your oven to broil (medium setting) During this time, take the scooped pieces of bread and break off until small bite side pieces. The same for the additional bread break into rustic pieces with your hands. Spread on a baking sheet, drizzel with a bit of olive oil and place into the oven to toast up. About 2 minutes or so. Need to keep a watch on it so your broiler does not burn the bread

Take out and arrange the bread bowl dip in a serving plater, with the toasted pieces of break around it. 

Served and bask in the praises

Quesillo

Ok folks this is so easy, there is no excuse to make one every weekend. It's rich, it’s creamy and oh, so good.

In Venezuela, as well as most of Latin America, everyone makes Flan and most of you probably have tasted some type of version of this creamy custard dessert. In Venezuela we make our version of Flan and call it: "Quesillo". The ingredients are your basic eggs, milk, vanilla, caramel and sweeten condense milk and a dash of run. It is bake either in a pressure cooker, or in the oven using the bain-marie (also known as a water bath) technique. Or the most original way will be in a cracker/cookie can, which I will talk about later.

The desert gets its name because, "Queso" mean "cheese" in Spanish and when its bake right and un-molded, it comes out looking like a "cheese". And while it’s super simple to make, oddly enough, most of the Venezuelan makes it only during a special celebration. Every birthday party has a cake and a Quesillo.

The cast of ingredients is composed of eggs, sweeten condense milk, whole milk, vanilla, lime peel and rum. But first we need to make the yummy caramel sauce - all it takes is sugar and a bit of water.

In a heavy sauce pan and mix the sugar and water, over high heat. The sugar will start to boil and then will start to slowly turn colors on you, first into a pale amber, and escalating into a medium, dark color; NOTE: Once you hit the pale stage DON'T WALK AWAY FROM IT, because it will jump into the medium and then dark very, very fast and if there is nothing more horrible, is BURNED sugar!

So, make sure you are on top of it at all times. When you see it turn into a dark rich color, remove from heat and pour into the baking dish. Tilt back and forth to cover the bottom and sides of dish, getting it nice and evenly coated. Again, be careful, the caramel at this stage is very hot and may burn you (Badly!). I usually cover my baking dish with a towel while I'm coating it.  Let the caramel in the pot cool, so put it aside.

Side note: Let’s talk about the baking dish for a bit. You can use any you like. But, my grandmother taught me to use a cracker or cookie can as seen below. Don't let the look fool you, this is the best thing to make the Quesillo in.

Yep, you read it right, a can! Which it’s the perfect baking vessel, it has a lid, which fits nice and tight and its the right height and it may sound totally off the wall, but the can gets cured with past baking and the caramel and custard just taste better. But, you can use anything you like if you can not find, or feel comfortable using a can.

Back to making the actual custard.

Turn your oven to 400 Degrees.

The next step are simple enough, in a blender, pour the can of condensed milk - YUM! (lick those finger - go ahead you are allowed, I can wait) Then take the empty can and measure the whole milk and pour into a separate glass container (I use a measuring cup) with the strip of lemon peel and put in the microwave for about 2 minutes to warm up. Back to the blender I go and pour the warm milk, then the vanilla and run (if you are using, which I highly recommend you do) the blender at medium speed for about 1-2 minutes, while you are running the blender, you start adding the eggs one by one until fully incorporated.

Pour the custard mixture into the baking dish that you coated with caramel and place inside a larger pot. I usually like the specs of the lime peel, but if you don't you can strain the custard before it goes into the coated caramel baking dish.

You are ready to bake it! Take your baking dish and cover the top with aluminum foil, nice and tight. Then place into a bigger heavy dish/pan. You are ready for the water bath - Pour in enough hot water into larger pot to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish. TIP: if you squeeze the previous peeled lime into the water, the pot you are using will not turn black during the baking process.

Slowly place into the middle rack of your hot oven and bake about 55 minutes, covered. Then uncovered and bake another 20 minutes. The custard is ready when you touch it and it feels firm but a bit wiggling in the middle. Take out of the oven - again, be very careful, since the water inside the large pot it's very hot! Set aside to cool off, about 30 minutes or so. Once is cooled, place in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours before serving. I recommend you leave it overnight.

When ready to serve and un-mold, dip the flan in a saucepan of hot water, or in the sink full of hot water from the tap for a few seconds. It should lose up, but sometimes, you need to run a knife around the edge to help it a bit. Invert the Quesillo onto a plate with lip in order to save all that yummy caramel!

Served and enjoy the praises

Ingredient

(Makes a medium size Quesillo) if you need to make a bigger one, double the ingredient

Caramel Sauce:

6 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of water

Custard

1 (14-ounce) can of Condensed Milk

1 (14-ounce) can of whole milk (use empty condensed milk can for measure)

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 lime peel or 1/4 teaspoon of grated

1 tablespoons of dark rum (could omit if desired, but I highly recommend not do so)

6 eggs (4 whole eggs, 2 yolks)

Instructions:

See above

Picadillo

There are numerous versions of Picadillo. It's usually made all over Latin America, but living in Florida, most people identify it as a Cuban dish. But, pretty much everyone in Latin America has their own version. It is often served with rice and in some cases as the filling for pastries, like empanadas. In my house it’s basically a quick dish that is made when Tom begs for it. Its simple and quick and everyone pretty much loves it.

You start with the ground meats. I use a half mixture of ground beef and ground turkey or pork, in this case whatever is on sale in the meat department in your local supermarket. Plus using a leaner type of ground meat makes the whole dish lighter. I season the meats in a bowl with salt and pepper, a bit of milk (about 1/2 tablespoon) and a bit of cumin (1/2 teaspoon), mix it all and let it rest for a bit.

In a large skillet, that has been pre-heated on medium-high heat, pour about 2 tablespoons of oil (regular, I use corn/vegetable oil) and change the heat to high, take my bowl of meat and start to brown it, breaking up the pieces and letting it cook until all the fat moisture is dry, I also add about 2 bay leaves at this point as well and some dry oregano, about 1/4 teaspoon.

Then while that is going, I chop up into small pieces 1 red pepper and 1 green pepper. I do the same with 1 large onion (or 2 medium) and about 2-3 cloves of garlic.

I then add it to the brown meat and mix it all around... making it look like this:

Go back to the cutting board and cut up about 4-5 tomatoes (at this point you can also use 1 large or 2 medium can of diced tomatoes). If you use the fresh tomatoes, before I mix them into the meat in the skillet, I season with salt and pepper and then in they go. Give it a swirl and go back and mix in about 1/4 cup of raisins (or more if you want a bit of a sweeter dish), give it another swirl. And get working with the olives. Some people like them whole or cut in half. I like them chopped, not too much but enough that they become part of the dish. (for those that have picky eater kids, this is a good way to "hide" them in plain sight). Dump them in the skillet and give it another swirl.

Next up the liquids! I use red wine, but you can also use dry white wine. I usually pour about 1 cup of red wine, 1/4 cup of tomato paste or ketchup and about 1/2 cup of water. A tip: if you use the can tomatoes (which you can), the liquid will take place of the water. I give it a good toss around. After about 5 minutes of that bubbling along, I taste it and adjust the season by adding a bit of salt and pepper, I also add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1 or 2 chicken flavor bouillon cubes depending on the taste. At this point, I reduce the heat to Medium-Low and I let it cook about 20 minutes of so, stirring it from time to time, adjusting the liquid (more wine or water) for more sauce/less sauce. I like my picadillo on the dry side with enough juices to sort of coat it, if you like it soupy, then by all means, finish cooking it once you hit your desire consistency.

I usually served it in a bowl, over white rice and with a spoonful of sour cream (optional!).

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound of ground meat (Beef, Turkey, Pork)
1/2 teaspoon of milk
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoon of cooking oil (corn/vegetable)
1/4 teaspoon of dry oregano
1 large red and green pepper (each) chopped
1 large (or 2 medium) yellow onion chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
4-5 tomatoes chopped (or 2 medium cans of tomatoes)
1/4 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives (drained of liquid)
1 cup of red (or dry white) wine
1/4 cup of tomato paste or ketchup
1/2 cup of water (if needed)
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1-2 cubes of chicken flavor bouillon cube
Salt and ground pepper to taste

How to:

In a bowl mix the milk, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano with ground meats. Heat the oil in a skillet and brown the ground meats with the bay leave and oregano until liquid evaporates.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients all the while stirring and tasting and adjusting the salt and pepper. Cook about 20 minutes until desired consistency, let it rest for a bit and then served over white rice.

Enjoy!