Creamy Crab Dip - Irish Pub style

Ingredients:

2 blocks of cream cheese, softened
about 1/2 cup mayo
about 1/4 cup sour cream
large splash of lemon juice
splash of worcestershire sauce
1 T prepared horseradish
1 T prepared mustard (dijon or stoneground preferred)

1/2 cup grated parmesan or romano, plus a few tablespoons more for sprinkling

1 can (16 oz) crab meat - claw meat is fine

Mix the ingredients above, then spread in a casserole dish.    Sprinkle w/ cheese, then bake at 350 until hot and bubbly - about 40 minutes.    (nothing raw, so you're just heating/melting - so oven temperature is flexible if you're also heating something else)

Homemade Cinnamon buns

These are SOOOO good, and they make your house smell like a Cinnabon while they are baking. (Cinnabon is, I'm quite certain, a registered trademark. I am not claiming these are the Cinnabon recipe. But two different people told me they were better)

In the bread machine, run these ingredients on the dough setting (the second time I made these, I actually set the dough cycle to run right before going to bed, and didn't die because there was milk in the recipe. On the other hand, we keep our house in the mid 50's overnight during the winter nights, so take that into consideration if you try it in the African heat):

1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 packed (2 1/2 tsp) yeast

When finished, punch dough down and transfer to board:

Very lightly flour, and roll/stretch out, then brush w/ 1/4 cup butter, melted (or spread if you thought ahead enough to have some very spreadable):

Combine 1 cup brown sugar with 1 Tablespoon cinnamon. (GOOD cinnamon. Not been in your cabinet since Reagan was president cinnamon) If the smell isn't incredible when you open the container, don't bother making this recipe)

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on all but the far edge (make sure to cover all the way to the edge of the other three sides):

Roll it up. To do this, start by turning the closest edge over once, then run your hands down to finish that "crease", stretching the dough to the sides a bit as you go, and keep rolling. Sprinkle a bit of water on the very edge to help the dough seal to dough to close the roll.

Cut into 12 pieces. I do this by cutting in half, then the half in half, then each quarter into three:

Place in a 13 x 9 pan, which you already greased. Turn the oven to 400 degrees. Cover the buns with a cloth just dampened with warm water, and allow them to rise, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another part of the kitchen, put 1/2 brick of cream cheese (4 oz) with half a stick of butter into the merry go round with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and some vanilla (I actually used vanilla paste):

Give'm a whirl!

Bake the buns for about 20 minutes - until they are light brown on top:

Immediately after removing from the oven, spread with the frosting, so it gets ooey gooey melty on top:

By the way - did you know sticky buns, a regional favorite in Philadelphia are made almost the same way, but omitting the cream cheese frosting? You would just put a brown sugar (1 cup)/butter (half stick)/pecan (1 cup, chopped) or raisins mixture on the BOTTOM of the pan before allowing the buns to rise. They come out of the oven, you immediately flip them out of the pan so the gooey mixture on the bottom becomes the topping. If I was making sticky buns I would have used two 9" cake pans instead of one 13x9, for easier flipping.

Chicken w/ creamed spinach, artichoke and peppers

Last night's dinner (this is a rather inprecise recipe, but I don't think the exact quanitities will matter much):

~ 1.5 pounds boneless chicken breasts
~ 12 oz fresh spinach
~ one slightly mushy green pepper, bad bits removed (if you only have a fresh one, I suppose it will do)
~ 1.5 cups chopped artichoke (frozen, fresh or from a jar)
~ one large onion, chopped
~ garlic - fresh minced, from a jar, or frozen minced cubes from Trader Joes
~ 8oz. block cream cheese
~ a few tablespoons of pesto, homemade or from a jar
~ olive oil
~ salt & pepper
~ romano, parmesan or a similar flavorful hard cheese

Sautee spinach in a bit of olive oil until fully wilted - turn a few times while cooking:


















Set aside the surprisingly small quantity of spinach which results. In the same pan, sautee the onion, and when that is almost cooked (translucent) add the chopped pepper and garlic. Once the vegetables are soft, turn the heat down to medium, and add the cream cheese. WATCH THIS CAREFULLY, stirring frequently until completely melted. Add a few tablespoons of pesto, and some romano cheese. Stir the wilted spinach back in, as well as the artichoke hearts. Turn to low, stirring occasionally.

















Meanwhile, cut the boneless chicken breast into quarter size pieces. Cook in a separate pan in a bit of olive oil. Add salt and pepper.

Once the chicken is cooked, pour the contents of the pan into the vegetable mixture, including the (cooked) juice from the chicken.

Serve with french bread to be able to eat all the yummy sauce!

The Southern Resident specifically told me to tell all of you that this was VERY good - that's a first!