The World's Best Spinach Artichoke Dip

A friend was coming over to my house for a day of hanging out, playing cards, laughing, and of course, eating.  I had decided rather than going out, I’d cook something for us.  The something I decided on was spinach artichoke dip.  Who doesn’t love that, right?  Well, little did I know, when I was throwing the ingredients into the bowl, just how fabulous it would be.  Oh my… there are no words for the delight of that gooey, cheesy, goodness.  The first bite was to die for, and yet somehow, it just got better from there.  If you follow this recipe to the letter, I guarantee it will be the best spinach artichoke dip you have ever tasted. 

Here’s what you’ll need:  (Oops… mayo isn’t in the picture)

1 package of cream cheese, softened
¼ cup mayo
1 ½ cups smoked cheddar
¾ cup Parmigiano Reggiano (not that stuff in a green can)
3 cups baby spinach
3 artichoke bottoms
3 – 4 green onions

I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again anyway.  Please, please, PLEASE buy good cheese for something like this.  Yeah, you’re going to have to pay more for it, but it makes all the difference in the world. 

Alright, let’s get started, shall we? 

Let’s talk artichokes first.  Artichokes are one thing I do tend to use from a can.  The truth is I'm just too lazy to go to all the work it takes to get an artichoke to this point.  I didn’t have a can for the picture because I was using the second half of a can I’d already opened a few days before.  You should be able to get them in your grocery store with the rest of the canned artichokes.  I prefer the bottoms over the hearts.  Three of them will be plenty here.  This is what they look like when they come out of the can. 

Dice them fairly small, followed by the green onions, and set them aside. 

Next comes the spinach.  We need to get rid of some of its water before we throw it in with the cheese.  I think the easiest way is to just throw it into a pan over medium heat and stir it around until it’s wilted.

It’ll shrink down a lot as it wilts. 

When it looks like this, scoop it out of the pan, chop it roughly.

Set it aside with the other veg and we’ll start on the cheese.  Oh, this is also a good time to preheat your oven to 350° 

If you haven’t grated your cheese yet, go ahead and do it now, setting aside ¼ cup of each of them.  Drop the cream cheese into a mixing bowl, and beat it until it’s smooth.  Add the mayo and cream them together. 

Add the cheeses (not the ¼ cups you set aside) along with some salt and pepper and stir.

Next comes the veg. 

When everything is combined nicely, spread the mixture into a small casserole dish or other oven safe dish. 

Sprinkle with reserved cheese and pop it into the oven for about 25 minutes. 

It will look mouthwatering and golden around the edges when you pull it out. 

It’ll be really hard to do, but allow it to cool for at least five minutes before serving.  When you can wait no longer, scoop more than you’d ever think a normal person could eat into a dish (you’ll still want more, even though it won’t possibly fit in your stomach) and serve it with a sliced baguette.  

  
You'll never want the crap from (insert chain restaurant here) again.   

Limeys and Gingers

Yikes! I'm late!

My laptop cord was shooting sparks at me last night, and the battery in this thing has nearly no juice. So after I recovered from total panic at not being able to get access to my life, I found one of those awesome little computer places. You know the ones: they have a bare minimum store front in a light industrial area, and there's virtually nothing in there but a counter, some computer guts, and a couple of geeks. I love these geeks. They are gods of hardware, and now I am no longer waiting 5 - 7 business days for a part, I have one plugged in and charging my dried up old hag of a battery.

And that means that I can not only do schoolwork and maintain contact with the other humans, I can post recipes!

And since I was so late for this very important date, I'm offering up treats for tea.

"Tea" is an actual meal in some areas of the world, a light-ish lunch in the late afternoon that could be baked beans on toast, or fried eggs with chips. Me, I prefer the version that includes sweets and baked goods. Though, I do crave beans on toast, and egg and chips sometimes. My mom's family was from England, my step-dad is also from the UK, so to me things like Spotted Dick are perfectly normal.

And one of my favourite cooking shows will always be "Two Fat Ladies." Their regular calls for moah buttah, and moah crrrream (that's a rolled r, btw) are regularly repeated in my kitchen. Though it was amusing when I had to translate their pronunciation of "scones" to RecipeGuy, who, despite being somewhat gingery, is not a Limey.

Ginger Lime Scones

(totally forgot the pic of all the ingredients together, you'll have to use your imagination for the moment)

1/2 C. butter, cold
2 1/2 C. whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. candied ginger**, diced into 1/4″ pieces
1 tbsp lime zest
3/4 C. (6 oz.) plain yogurt
1 large egg

**you can get this in the bulk area of the grocery store, or make it yourself! I'll post the recipe soon.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until it looks like fine crumbs.

There should be no large chunks of butter, and if you squeeze and handful it should hold it’s shape, kinda like wet sand, but fall apart if you poke it.

Add candied ginger pieces, sugar and lime zest to the bowl and give it a stir.

Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the yogurt/egg stuff that you’ve already mixed together... didn’t I mention that?

Oh, well, mix the egg and yogurt together (if you combine it in the measuring cup, you’ll have one less bowl to wash).

Gradually stir the flour/butter/ginger into the yogurt/egg. A soft sticky dough will eventually form.

Turn the dough out onto a floured counter, and sprinkle a little flour on top. DO NOT KNEAD. You’re making pastry, not dough. If you knead it, it will get tough. All you have to do is pat it. It’s a nice kitty... nice kitty... Pat the flour into the dough so you can work it, and pat the dough into a somewhat symmetrical shape.

Cut the shape in half.

Take half and pat it gently into a nice little disc about 6 inches in diameter and one inch thick.

Cut the disk into 6 wedges.

Do the same with the other half so you have 12 wedges.

Do your best to get them all onto one cookie sheet so you only have to bake one batch/wash one pan. If you hate washing pans, line the sheet with parchment.

If you don’t plan on icing or glazing them, now is when you should brush them with an egg wash (one egg and about a tablespoon of milk, beaten together) or with milk, and then sprinkle on a bit of sugar. I totally forgot to do this so I’m going to glaze them. Yeah, bummer, I have to put icing on something.

Bake them at 350 for about 20 minutes. The bottoms and sides should be golden, but not brown. These are delicate lady-like things. Just like me. Stop laughing.

Transfer them to a rack to cool before glazing. Yup, that’s an oven rack. My oven’s so small I can barely fit a cookie sheet in there, I have no idea why anyone thinks I’d need two racks, so I repurposed the second one for cooling.

And because I'm impatient (a very lady-like trait) I ate one.

So, for the glaze, I’m going to suggest you juice that lime you zested, and mix the juice with icing sugar until you’re happy with the consistency.

I’m not fond of pouring glaze and letting it run over the sides. It makes a mess (though, that piece of parchment you baked the scones on is handy for this) and then it never seems to set enough. And since these are going to be wrapped individually and frozen for breakfast and snacks for the next two weeks, I’m going with the glob and spread approach.

And since school is everpresent, tea time for me includes various and assorted kinds of math. Actually, most meals do. Too bad my calculator never picks up the tab. Sure would make it a better dinner date.