Cheesy Spinach Dip

I love eating at CIBO. hmmm, who doesn't? :)

It was my friend Sheila who recommended Spinaci Zola and when I tried it, i instantly liked it. I religiously order it whenever we go there.

Last Father's day, we found out that Javie likes it so much, that he did not want to share it with us. Hmph. haha! Well, of course we did not let that happen! ;)

Cibo's Spinaci Zola has Gorgonzola cheese. I would like to recreate the same thing at home, but it hurts to say I do not have any deli store nearby. Here we go with improvisations (or shall we say: maski-paps!).

So here's our home-made spinach dip:

Water for boiling

250 grams spinach (i bought 3 bunches from the grocery)

about 4 cloves of garlic

olive oil

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup + 1/4 cup guick melting cheese, grated (1/2 cup for the mix and 1/4 for topping)

salt and pepper

about 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated (for topping)

Prepare boiling water. While waiting for the water to boil, wash the spinach, drain and take off the leaves for boiling. Put spinach leaves in the pot of boiling water and allow 2 to 3 minutes to boil. drain well and wait for it to cool.

Chop spinach as fine as you can. You may want to use your electric chopper/food processor.

Pre-heat your oven toaster at 175C

Heat olive oil in a pan, sauté garlic, add the chopped spinach. Give it, say, 2 to 3 minutes to cook with the oil and garlic, then put off the heat, add the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the grated guick melting cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well until everything is incorporated. At this point you may also want to add a glug or 2 of olive oil again.

Then put the mixture on your baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of  grated guick melting cheese,and parmesan cheese. Put baking dish into the oven for 10 to 12 mins or until you see the top bubbling and cheese is a bit toasted already.

Best eaten with toasted bread, or like what you see on the photo, I used Fita biscuits (my favorite combination!). The other time I ate it with soda crackers, but it was just so-so!

While it's not anywhere near Cibo's version, I am happy to say that it still is good n' cheesy no to forget healthy! What's important is, Javie really liked it! 

Ahhh, joys of motherhood :) 

Next project: Spinach and Artichoke dip!!! :)

Potato Gratin with Creamy Cheese Sauce and Bacon Bits

One of the joys of working from home is being able to spend a little more time in the kitchen, even if you barely have a minute left to "log in". I like the adrenaline rush when the pot is boiling  and there goes my alarm saying "hey you gotta go now". Then come the sprinting and running up the stairs to my little office space. :)

We had so much potatoes last weekend. When Archie and I have our market day, he's actually in-charge of the vegetables. Because of too much excitement, he kind of "unintentionally" hoards tomatoes, onions, garlic (which I don't mind by the way because I love garlic!), carrots and potatoes. 

The first four are fine as we use them most of the time. Lately, the potatoes aren't used much. I have been watching on my diet for the past couple of months that I veered away from eating starchy foods (and lessened my carb intake and blah blah!)

So with all the potatoes piling up on our veggie tray, I figured they need to be given the attention they deserve! I thought of making mojos, mashed potatoes, sautéed potatoes with rosemary and gratin. I know, potatoes are very versatile! OK, so the debate in my mind (and tummy) went on for a few minutes and the gratin won! Which hubby was so happy about :)

I have no proper recipe for this, nor I followed a classic procedure on how to make a potato gratin.

Here's what I had and what I did: 

8 medium-large potatoes

8 cloves of garlic, minced

olive oil

about 2 tbsps butter

about 200 grams of bacon, chopped

3 packs of all purpose cream 

1/2 cup fresh milk

salt and pepper

2 blocks of quick melting cheese, grated

about 1 cup of grated mozzarella

First I buttered a 9 X 13 pan, set aside and pre-heat the oven at 180C.

I boiled the potatoes until they're tender enough but not to the point that they're mushy (I think this took about 30 mins to boil and make them tender) peeled and sliced them in rounds about 1/4 inch thick (I think this is thicker that the usual) and set them aside.

For the creamy cheese sauce and bacon bits, I sautéed the garlic in olive oil and butter, then added the chopped bacon. When bacon was cooked, I poured the cream, about 1/2 cup of grated quick melting cheese and fresh milk, a little salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble, I placed the first layer of the sliced potatoes on the buttered pan, poured some the sauce, just enough to cover the layer, sprinkled some grated cheese, then onto the next layer and so on. For this batch I had 3 layers. For the final topping, I used a combination of quick melting cheese (what's left of it) and mozzarella cheese. (I forgot I had Parmesan cheese. totally!)

I placed the pan in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through until the top was already a bit toasted and cream is bubbling. I placed the pan on the cooling rack and waited for a few minutes before serving.

So this was what I had for lunch on my busy Tuesday and Archie's "baon" for work! :)

Ahhh, the perks of working from home = the joy of having home cooked meals, served warm with love <3

P.S.

Days are getting busier and fuller. My little boy will be back to school next week! I didn't forget that it was my blog's 3rd birthday last May 16. Belated happy birthday bloggy! I so wanted to write a birthday post but that day was packed, as well as the following day! So better late than never! ;)

Dulce de Leche Vanilla Cupcakes

Happy Easter! :)

As happy as Easter, I am delighted to share with you that I have made my first vanilla cupcakes from scratch. My good friend, Kitty has requested for vanilla-ish cupcakes. After searching for recipes, I believe I found inspiration from Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla cupcakes.

The Magnolia Bakery recipes I found in sites use self-rising flour + flour combination. I have no access to self-rising flour here so I researched on how to make it. It also requires 2 cups of sugar and 2 sticks of butter.

One of my best friends, Toni, who's based in LA, mentioned to me that she finds the original too sweet and a bit dry (must with the butter cream frosting?) I value her opinion a lot. So for the sugar, I reduced mine to 1 and 3/4 cups.Also, based from my experiences in using butter alone (in cakes/cupcakes), the output usually ends up on the dry side even if I "undercook" it. So with that, I also added oil in the recipe.

The use of Dulce de Leche as topping was inspired by Estrel's Caramel Cakes. I've been dreaming to try it since Archie's a fan but I was scared to try out chiffon! While I was at the planning stage for these vanilla cupcakes, there was a light bulb moment and I had a strong feeling that Dulce de Leche would be a perfect topping.

And it was! Husband-approved. Yey!

So without further ado, here's my take on Vanilla Cupcakes (inspired by Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla cupcakes):

2 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170C/350F. Line cupcake pans with liners and set aside. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Put softened butter in a bowl. Cream butter until smooth. Add sugar, mix until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time.

Add dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. Mix well.

Fill the cupcake liners with the batter, about 3/4 full, pop in the oven, rotate pan halfway through.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes (or 22 minutes max, in my opinion)

Let cupcakes cool on a wire rack. Serve plain, or with your favorite topping/frosting.

The cupcakes were a bit crusty on the outside, moist on the inside. The crusty part eventually became softer and moist after a few hours.
Note to self: On the next batch, I will add some more oil, maybe 2 more tablespoons, and will try a combination of brown sugar and white sugar to make a moister cupcake.
For the Dulce de Leche, as you can see in the photo, I made it 2 weeks ago and stored in the fridge. Tips and directions can found in Manang's blog :)

Remove label of condensed milk and clean the can. Boil the can of unopened condensed milk for 2 hours in a pressure cooker, or 4 hours in a regular pot.

Fill the pot with water and make sure there's enough water to cover the whole can. About 2 to 3 inches above the can is okay.

After the boiling process, set aside first and leave the can to cool before opening.
Spread over the cupcakes and enjoy! :)