A Worthy Cause

Today I’m going to ask you a favor. There is a no-kill animal shelter in Tennessee called A Place to Bark that is in the running for a major grant that will allow them to build an enormous physical shelter for their gazillion animals. Bernie Berlin, who runs it, takes in all kinds of animals from area shelters that need care, that might be put down for no real reason but overcrowding, and tends to their medical needs, their physical needs, and works to get them adopted into loving homes. She’s an extraordinary woman who can handle both the joy and heartbreak that comes with a job like hers, and I only wish I could be the tiniest bit as giving of myself as she is. Anyway, she is competing against other (worthy) causes for this grant and her success depends on how many donations she gets. She needs to be in the top four, and right now she’s in spot 2 but she’s been all over the place the last few days. There’s only a day and a half left to donate, and I strongly encourage you to help A Place to Bark out.

Here’s their blog. You can click on a badge there to donate: http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com

Besides, who can say no to that face? That’s one of Bernie’s photos of the pups she helps out.

Spinach and Potato Gratin

Now after I posted my last entry I had very good intentions of posting lots more. Then my camera batteries (sniff) died. I was about to take a photo of something, something I can’t remember now. I was also going to photograph a dish I made called Buddha’s Delight, a “make your own take out” out of an old Cooking Light. It wasn’t happening. I was very sad.

But here we are! Today’s delectable dish is from another old Cooking Light. I tore this page out years ago and we’ve been making it, with some little modifications, ever since. It’s a gratin packed with potatoes, spinach, and ham. And cheese. So you can’t really go wrong.

The original recipe claims there’s eight servings, but I scoff at them. Eight servings for people with no appetite, maybe. I’ve gotten six out of it, and it’s great with a little salad. Maybe some crusty bread.

You’ll need:
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c shallots, diced, sliced, whatever. I’ve used onions, too, but cut them back to 1/3 c or so.
2 minced garlic cloves
1 c chopped ham. I’ve used deli on most occasions, or a ham steak. This time it’s leftover Christmas ham from the freezer. You’ll want between 4-5 ounces.
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed in some dishtowels to get the extra water out.
ground pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1.5 c 1% milk (skim might be too thin for this)
1/3 c all-purpose flour
3 yukon gold potatoes, sliced really thin. I use a mandolin for this. Watch your fingers.
3 ounces grated cheese. Today I’m using reduced-fat cheddar.

First, get everything ready. Potatoes sliced, ham diced, spinach squeezed, veg sliced. In a small skillet over medium-high, add 2 t olive oil and shallot and garlic. Saute a couple minutes until softened. Turn heat off, add spinach, ham, pepper, nutmeg. Stir, stir.

Combine milk, flour, and more pepper with a whisk.

In an 8″ or so baking dish, layer half the potatoes. Add spinach mixture. Add rest of potatoes. Pour milk over. Cover with aluminum foil and pop into a 375 degree oven for 1 hour, 15 minutes. In meantime, grate your cheese. Remove foil, add cheese, bake another 15 minutes. Pop on broiler and broil a few minutes until cheese is browned. Delectable!

There was supposed to be all this salt in the dish, but I find that with the ham there’s generally enough. 1/6 of the gratin as made clocks in at just over 200 calories, so you have plenty of room for everything else!

Having your cake and eating it, too.

Hello, everyone. I never intended to step away from Sweet Pea Cooks for so long! I never intended to step away at all, come to think of it. But 130 students meant I had 130 papers to grade, then 130 exams, and then it was Christmas, and then I had to still grade, and then I had to go to a conference, and by george, I’m back now. I had great intentions of sharing with you all the things I made for Christmas dinner, too, but alas, I didn’t. You know what they say about good intentions, after all.

Anyway, new year, new blogging, I say, and today I’m posting about a recipe I made in mid-December for a little holiday dinner party we through. A friend brought a tasty salad and I made linguine with a prosciutto-tomato sauce. We had a low-cal spinach dip for starters, too. At the end we had these little chocolate cupcakes. They’re from a recipe in Cooking Light, so you know you won’t feel too guilty about them unless you have, say, five. Or ten.

Cooking Light’s Double-Chocolate Cupcakes

1 c all-purpose flour
1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
2/3 c sugar
1/4 c softened butter
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 c milk (we always use 1%) plus 1 T white vinegar, or 1/2 c buttermilk
1 1/4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped (we bought some strong Ghiradelli)
2 T powdered sugar, for dusting.I’ll

Start by combining dry ingredients, whisking to break up any clumps. You could also sift them.

Cream sugar and butter together for 3 minutes; add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture, so that you start and end with flour. Fold in chocolate. Spoon into 12 lined muffin cups, and bake in a 350 oven for 18 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar when they’re cool. Yum!

Because my schedule will continue to be a little insane in the coming months, Sweet Pea is being pruned and pared back a bit. I’ll have four new apron patterns available shortly, and in the meantime, everything is on sale. Older patterns are now on sale for $18, and you won’t be seeing them again here, so now’s the time to pick one up if you’ve ever ogled them.