Experimenting in the Kitchen Along

[kaz814]

What a fun idea.  Count me in!

[trinalocakary]

This is a cross post from my 50 in 2013 list


I made two amazing baked dips for New Years eve I thought I would share

Baked crab and cheese dip 6 oz of cream cheese (warmed in microwave or oven) 4 oz of sour cream 3 oz of mayonnaise (salad dressing works but makes it sweeter) 8 oz of imitation crab meat 4 oz of Colby jack cheese shredded

Directions: Using the food processor chop the crab up finely and then add sour cream and mayo, after blending that add the softened cream cheese and slowly add the shredded cheese. Place in a lightly oiled Pyrex bowl or pie pan and season to taste (I use Lawry brand seasoning salt) Bake at 300* for 15 to 20 mins and spoon into an emptied out bread bowl or serve with vegetables or chips

Spinach dip

1 package chopped, frozen spinach thawed with the moisture wrung out 1 Med onion finely grated 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2 oz water Pinch of sugar 6 oz of cream cheese (warmed in microwave or oven) 4 oz of sour cream 3 oz of mayonnaise (salad dressing works but makes it sweeter) 4 oz of Colby jack cheese shredded

Using the processor finely mince an onion In a small sauce pan melt the butter and saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes then add the oz of water and the finely chopped spinach with the pinch of sugar. Cook the vegetables until soft and the water cooks out. Mix the mayo, sour cream and cream cheese along with the cheese in the food processor and then slowly spoon in the hot vegetables while processing. Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at 300* Spoon into hollowed out bread loaf or serve in a dish

I heated these up and served them together in one thick loaf of Italian bread (I hollowed out two "bowls") and every 30 mins or so I put the entire thing back in the microwave for 45 seconds or so and put it back out. Not all of the dip fit in each bowl so I refrigerated half and kept stirring it in as the levels went down. These dips were a huge hit

Also i had extra (I made double batches) and I made a mini quiche this morning in small pyrex dishes a good spoonful of each dip whipped up with 2 eggs then baked at 350* for 30-40 mins, it was like a souffle I am now making my husband and roommate a Strata, I had crusts left over from making sourdough party toasts (I used a large loaf of sliced sourdough, and using a spaghetti sauce can I cut out circles then cut them in to half moon shapes, sprizted them with olive oil and a little seasoning and toasted them for the dips) so I soaked the dry crusts in milk then broke them up in an oiled pan and let them soak for a bit while I mixed up the eggs in the blender I put: 1 cup of milk a BIG scoop of each dip (about 1/3 of a cup each) and 8 eggs then I blended it and poured it over the crusts and put it in a 350* oven and after 10 mins I stirred it up to make sure the crusts were coated and it then cooks for 30 more mins.

BTW this dip freezes well

[meleriffic]

Thanks for participating everyone. I've added links to the individual replies containing recipe info to the first post. So if you want to try and find the recipe later, you don't have to search the entire thread.

[cinnamon teal]

What a great thread! I got a new cookbook for Christmas, so I'm sure to have lots of kitchen experiments this year. 

[MissingWillow]

What cookbook did you get?  This is the first year I didn't receive one, but I did buy one for my husband.  Michael Symon's Carnivore.

[cinnamon teal]

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. I really want to try making ravioli with his past dough a recipe and I'm super intrigued by his sausage recipe. I would love to make some good HOT italian sausage. It's really hard to find around here.

[MissingWillow]

How funny, my husband wants his charcuterie book next.  Please let me know how you like the one you received once you give it a try.  I also got my hubby a gift certificate to The Sausage Maker and we have 4 freezers full of meat.    

[meleriffic]

Sour Cream Noodle Bake


Recipe found here.

Verdict: Loved it. Everyone (including my husband who usually hates ground beef and tomato sauces) thought it was great. I did do one thing different though. I put garlic salt on the meat as I cooked it, and I added more when I added the tomato sauce. Super yummy.

[SunflowerSmiles]

oh I need to try that!  that looks so yummy...I love sour cream in anything.

[leighi123]

I made these twice, once for a cookie swap and once for family.  One time I used egg replacer and the other time I used a regular cage-free organic egg.   I also used king arthur "white whole wheat flour", which is whole wheat flour, but lighter in color/texture, we bake everything with it.  I used almond milk instead of soy b/c we don't do soy milk (ick)   My son is allergic to dairy (and dye, I made his white!), and he could eat these! 

They are very eary to make, and the dough rolls out very easily and doesn't stick as much as regular dough.   Its smooth dough due to the powder sugar instead of granuated.   The only hard part was the fancy icing, but you could easily just spread it on instead.   

These tasted sooo good.  Like traditional sugar cookies but even better.  My dad, who is picky about cookies said the cookies were great and the icing the best he ever had.  It dries firm and shiny.   The cookies also bake up and hold the exact shape you cut them in, which is great because so many spread out and make the shapes all wrong.

This recipe is one I'll use again for sure!


Also, I made my own cookie cutter for these, as I didn't have one I liked! 

And another nice thing is that the recipe is on a blog that has a lot of helpful cookie information! 
Recipe here:
http://thedecoratedcookie.com/2010/06/vegan-cut-out-cookies-and-dc-water/