Il Popeye Benedicto

I love spinach. I also love poached eggs. And I love them in a combo.

So tonight, I had some fresh spinach, some eggs, some salami, a few pieces of whole wheat bread and some salami in the fridge.

The result? Il Popeye Benedicto!

I fried the salami a little bit in a hot cast iron skillet with just a little bit of olive oil. Removed them. Mike used the same skillet to make some excellent home fries. When they were removed, I wilted the spinach in the same hot skillet, in a little olive oil, with the burner off. There was enough heat to wilt it. Meanwhile, I boiled a little bit of water in a pot, plunked in a little bit of vinegar when it was at a boil, put in two eggs and let them float for about 4 minutes. Toasted some of the whole wheat, topped each slice with half of the spinach. Then placed two salami slices on that, and then one egg. Topped the whole thing off with a few small slices of Monterrey jack cheese, and voila...Il Popeye Benedicto served along side of home fried potatoes.

It was so yummy, I forgot to take a picture!

-J

MMMM Pie!

I had some leftover egg whites in the fridge, some leftover Nilla Wafers from some banana pudding, a mango and cantaloupe from my Orlando Organics delivery, and I wanted to use them up for a pot luck dinner tonight...so I pondered...and then I thought MMMM Pie!

So here it is...Mango Melon Mint Meringue Pie!

Mango Melon Mint Meringue Pie

• Cookie Crust:
  4 cups finely crumbled vanilla wafers
  3/4 cup white sugar
  14 tablespoons butter, melted
  1 ½  teaspoon ground cinnamon

           Crush cookies in zip top bag. Divide between 2 10” pie plates. Add half of the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon to each plate. Mix by hand and press into pie plates. Bake in 350 degree oven, 7 minutes. Set aside.

• Filling:
  1 mango diced
  1 cantaloupe, diced
  1 T chopped fresh mint
  ½ c orange juice
  2 T lemon juice
  lemon zest from half a lemon
  6 oz Greek yogurt
  1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
  3/4 cup white sugar
  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  4 eggs, beaten

Puree fruit with juice and zest. Blend in Greek yogurt. In separate bowl, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add to puree and blend until well mixed. Blend in eggs. Pour into prebaked cookie crust. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

• Meringue:

             6 egg whites

             1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
             12 tablespoons sugar

Mix egg whites and cream of tartar on low for 1 minute. Add sugar one spoonful at a time and beat on high until stiff peaks form. Don’t over beat!

Top pies with meringue and bake for 15 additional minutes until brown.

Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing, Poached Egg and Clam Chowder

The title says it all. Mmmmm!Along with nearly everyone else, I've resolved to drop some pounds this year. I've found that carbs, while they pretend to be my friend because they taste soooo good, are actually the thing that makes me heavier than I want to be. So we're trying to live a reduced carb lifestyle. One of the benefits of that is that we get to use things like bacon! I don't know about you, but I think it's a pretty fair tradeoff...less bread or potatoes or pasta, more bacon! I also love spinach, so I'm sure you see where this is heading.
Mike wanted a nice soup to go with our spinach salad with hot bacon dressing, so he made a delicious red clam chowder. It's not exactly Manhattan Clam Chowder, but it sure is good. He started with cooking some bacon, which we'd use in both dishes. When that was done, he reserved some of the browned bacon and some of the fat for me for the hot bacon dressing, and then he put in some chopped carrot, parsnip to cook them down some. He browned some onion, celery, and green pepper in the same pot. Later he added tomatoes (from our garden!) and his spice blend of thyme, fennel, and all kinds of assorted goodies that he won't tell me and let them simmer for an hour or so in 2 cups of our homemade chicken stock and 2 cups of water. He did reserve some extra chopped carrot, parsnip and tomato to add later so that there would be some "less cooked" veggies in there too. Then he put in 2 cans of whole clams and 1 can of chopped clams and the liquid, reserving a tiny bit for the cats who'd become his best friends when he opened the cans. That all simmered for a while longer, then I added the rest of the chopped veggies about a half hour before we were ready to eat.
After putting the rest of the veggies in, I started on the Spinach Salad. After thoroughly cleaning the beautiful fresh spinach we got in our Orlando Organics delivery, I took some of the leftover bacon drippings, 2 T or so, and heated that in the top of my double boiler. (You don't have to do it in a double boiler, but Mike mentioned that's how the restaurant he worked in had heated up their dressing, so I thought I'd give it a try, and it worked well.)
While that was heating, I mixed together 1 T of flour and 2 T of sugar, and separately mixed together 1/4 c. cider vinegar and 1 c. water. Then I added the flour mixture to the hot bacon fat and whisked it for a minute to make a light roux. Still whisking, very slowly add the water/cider mix in small batches, only adding more when it looked like it was thickening up nicely. Next time, I think I'll add the vinegar and water separately so I can control the thickness and amount of each a little better, but this time it still tasted great.
While that was keeping warm, I put a small skillet with about 1 1/2 inches of water on the burner and added about 1 T of white vinegar to it. While that was heating, I tore up some spinach and put it in salad bowls. Then I thinnly sliced some red onion and added them and some chopped pecans to each salad, along with the remaining crumbled bacon.
Now the water was about to boil, so I turned it down a little to just about a simmer. Break each egg into a small bowl and then carefully add it to the simmering water. Do this one at a time! One egg in the bowl at a time, into the water. Let them simmer for 3 minutes, slightly less for a softer egg, longer for a harder cooked egg. While they're cooking, spoon some of the dressing on the spinach salad and toss to coat. Add a little more as you go if you'd like. When the eggs are done to your liking, fish them out with a slotted spoon and let them drain off all the water for a few seconds, or hold them over a towel for a few seconds. Place them on the salad, and season with a little pepper.
Serve along with the clam chowder and enjoy a reduced carb dinner!
-J

Spinach Sausage Mushroom Frittata

Ah, now THIS is what 2DG's all about!

This Spinach Sausage Mushroom Frittata was made from the leftover Spinach/Sausage/Mushroom mix I had leftover from the Deep Dish Pizza I made two nights ago. I just warmed the leftover mixture in a small skillet, beat 3 eggs with a little bit of milk, salt and pepper and poured that over the warmed filling. Be sure to lift the filling some to allow the beaten egg to get underneath. Let that cook for a few minutes til the eggs are set, then sprinkle on some leftover mozzarella cheese, and put the whole thing under the broiler for a minute or two.

Enjoy with your morning coffee...or drink of choice...

Success be yours in the New Year!

-J