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As promised here is one of the Valentine’s dinner recipes. I hope you enjoy it! 

Ingredients
1 whole head garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 10 oz package chopped spinach, frozen
¼ cup milk, skim
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1 8oz package cream cheese

Directions
Cut off pointed top portion of head (1/4 inch) with a knife, leaving the bulb intact. Place on double thick square of foil. Drizzle oil over garlic. Fold foil up around head to enclose. Bake in 375 oven for 20 minutes or until garlic is soft. Let cook so that removing garlic can be done quickly and without burning yourself.

Cook spinach according to package directions, omitting salt. Drain well, press out excess liquid. Squeeze pulp from garlic cloves and dice place in saucepan. Add drained spinach, milk, hot pepper sauce, and pinch of salt. Stir until well combined. Add cream cheese, process until nearly smooth. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until heated through. Serve with sliced French bread.

As always here is also a ready to print recipe as well: Roasted Garlic Spinach Dip

I’ve been slacking as of late and had little time to keep adding to the collection. I think even the dinner menu has been looking pretty busy with eating out or doing a quick recipe. One of my resolutions is to keep with it and keep posting at least on a weekly basis.

I am working on getting pictures of each item I am cooking and sharing with you. I was trying to take pictures before but the battery died and we could find the charger for weeks. So now with the batteries charged I will be trying to post a picture along with each recipe. I know I’m more willing to try a dish that I’ve seen before versus no pictures. I will update any old recipes too so that all recipes no matter how old they are you can view a picture. Hope you enjoy!

I was wathing some random cooking show the other day and they kept adding shallots to everything so I of course wanted to at least se what the differenc was between a shallot and well an onion. So I found some reasonablly priced shallots at the grocery store. Then I didn’t want to make what the show had made. I wanted something simple and of course quick. So here is the recipe I came up with to use the shallots. Here is what you need, serves 2

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1-2 T olive oil
• 1/4 flour
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 2 tsp dry parsley flakes
• 1/2 cup of chicken stock

Mix flour, salt, and pepper in shallow bowl. Coat chicken with thin layer of flour mixture. Heat oil on medium high in frying pan. Add chicken to pan and cook until golden brown.

Add chicken stock, shallots and parsley. Simmer gently about 10 minutes, cooking until light gravy forms.

Ready to print recipe: Pan Seared Chicken with Shallots

Victoria and I were talking about some of the most expensive foods in the world. Saffron came up as one of those food items. I wanted to try and see if the price meets the hype. Well I’ve tried this recipe twice and I’m here to say I will purchasing some saffron for my mom and my sister-in-law to add to their kitchens. The saffron adds a nice hint of color and a nice warm flavor that I suspect I’ve probably had this spice before.

So here is what you need for the potatoes with saffron and parsley.

• 1 lb red skinned potatoes chopped into large chunks
• 3 to 4 threads of saffron
• 1 T salt
• 2 T melted butter
• 1-2 T dry parsley flakes
• Pepper

Place potatoes in pot and add cold water to cover potatoes by 2 inches. Add saffron treads and salt. Let potatoes boil for 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Drain liquid from potatoes and stir in melted butter and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ready to print recipe: Potatoes with Saffron and Parsley

Spagetti not really started as a working title and just stuck as a name for a simple quick dinner. The basic concept is that it’s a pasta dish without using the standard spaghetti noodle. There are so many different pasta noodles that are produced why not just mix them in with some pasta sauce?  So our version of spagetti not really typically involves some bow-tie, penne or mafalda pasta. These pasta noodles are all bite size and the pasta sauce doesn’t flip off like a spaghetti noodle. These are important traits of food since I typically eat dinner in my work clothes. Pasta sauce doesn’t wash out easily and work clothes are not nearly as fun to buy as casual clothes are.

As a recap of what Spagetti Not Really for 2 servings

• 1/2-1 lb ground beef browned
• 14 oz prepared pasta sauce
• 7-8 oz pasta noodle of choice

Cook ground beef until browned. Drain any excess fat. Add pasta sauce and cook until sauce has warmed to person heat.  Meanwhile cook pasta noodles per package directions. Mix together pasta and meat sauce with pasta noodles and serve.

Hope you enjoy Spaghetti Not Really as much as we do.

Ready to print recipe: Spaghetti Not Really

Grilled potatoes sounds great but what I’ve learned is that just potatoes is not appetizing as it sounds. The foil protects from some grill flavors from mixing with the potatoes. So I started to experiment by adding some additional flavors.

What you will need for two servings:

• 2 medium red skinned potatoes diced
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 1 T butter
• 1 T light cooking oil
• 1 T dry parsley flakes
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp all purpose seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Create flat foil packet with all ingredients in. Heat grill to high heat and place foil package in center of heat. Cover grill and let cook for 10 minutes. Flip foil package on other side and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Gently peel open foil package careful of the hot steam to check to see if the potatoes are cooked fully. Potatoes should be fork tender. Remove from foil and serve.

Ready to print recipe: Grilled Potatoes with Shallots