Very Evil Spinach

Living in wonderful Wisconsin, I am treated to very bipolar weather. Monday I was outside in a swimsuit, whistling while washing windows (alliteration anyone?), got a painful sunburn, and well today.....it is frikkin' cold as hell out where I have the heat turned on waiting for tomorrow's supposed snow. When it's cold out, I crave comfort food. This recipe for creamed spinach is essentially healthy spinach parading around in a devil's costume, because it's not good for you at all. It is delicious and it should be because the amount of butter and carbs in here make it SOOOOOOOOO good.

Creamed Spinach

1 stick butter
8 TBL Flour
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups milk
salt & pepper to taste
1 pinch ground nutmeg
ANOTHER 3 TBL butter....lord help me
24 ounces of leaf spinach

Melt 1 stick butter in a pot. Sprinkle flour in there and cook over medium heat until it turns to a roux that is light golden brown. Chuck that onion and garlic into the mix and cook for another minute. Pour in milk, whisking all the while, and cook for another five minutes.

While that is cooking, you need to cook the spinach. In a separate pan, melt the 3 TBL of glorious butter and add the spinach in increments until incorporated and cook until wilted but NOT soggy (approx. 4 minutes).

Season the cream sauce with the salt/pepper/nutmeg. Add spinach to the cream sauce and stir gently.

Flick that angel sitting on your shoulder, and ask the little diablo on the other side if you can borrow his pitchfork so you can dig into some buttery, creamy, spinach awesomeness.

Oh yeah, this probably should be served as a side to a nice steak, but I've heard that some people make this as their meal and eat it all alone. Gotta go....I've just been told I've got something green in between my teeth.

Fu Manchu Bunny

Hope everyone's Easter holidays were incredible and full of delicious food. I know that I usually have tons of leftovers and I also have a terrible disease that only allows me to eat leftovers once afterwards. Nope, cannot force myself to eat the same food more than that without trying to re-invent it.

I colored eggs with my kiddo twice this holiday season, and what do I get? A ton of pastel colored eggs which will most likely end up in the trash if one doesn't get creative with these suckers. I came across this recipe last year, and it's a WINNER: Asian inspired deviled eggs.

Asian Deviled Eggs
12 servings
1 dozen hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (with 2 teaspoons reserved)
1 teaspoon wasabi powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 to 2 scallions, sliced

In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, mayonnaise, sesame oil, and sesame seeds (excluding the reserved 2 teaspoons), wasabi powder, salt and black pepper; mix well. Fill egg white halves with yolk mixture and place on a platter. Top each egg with sliced scallion and sprinkle with reserved sesame seeds. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

PREPARATION TIP: Place egg mixture in a resealable plastic storage bag, seal, and cut tip off one corner of bag. Pipe egg mixture into egg white halves.

Even if you don't have extra eggs to utilize this recipe, I suggest you keep this one in your back pocket as a great appetizer for when folks come over. It's always fun to throw a curve ball when it comes to a well established recipe.

Let me know if you have any great re-invention recipes for the holidays!