I Didn't Know That!
When Mary and I first met I had no idea that she liked to cook but over the year of dating, I found out she is quite accomplished. Put an idea in front of her and voila, it takes wings.
Did You Know? - Paul is the Sous Chef. A sous-chef de cuisine, or simply sous-chef, (French: "under-chief of the kitchen") is a chef who is "the second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef."
Consequently, the sous-chef holds much responsibility in the kitchen, which can eventually lead to promotion to becoming the head chef. A sous-chef is employed by an institution that uses a commercial-grade kitchen, such as a restaurant, hotel, or Mary's kitchen!
(Translation: Paul cleans the food, chops, dices, preps equipment and stands back while Mary does the magic! Then he does the cleanup!) Fair trade!
Paul is always there to help and kibitz!!
"And under the foil we have Mary's Surprise!"
We now cook all the time so the following pages will be us sharing our insane activities in the kitchen.
Cooking Runs In The Family
Mary's daughter, Mary Esther, has a blog and it contained the following receipe:
Mom's Spinach Casserole: My most favorite meal my Mom would make us when we were growing up was this spinach casserole. I have to admit, at first, I thought it was a super gross pile of green mess.
Sorry Mom. Once I got over the fact that this dish was called a casserole (which in my kid mind meant goopy mess) and that it was green (my how times have changed), I realized that it was really tasty and couldn't get enough of it. As in… if Mom didn't hurry, she wasn't getting more than a spoonful or two with all of us kids going to town.
Mom almost always made baked potatoes to accompany this dish topped with butter, sour cream, salt and pepper. This casserole hails from a church cookbook called 53 Sabbath Menus, written in 1969. Oldie, but goodie.
To update this recipe a bit, I slightly reduced the amount of butter (it could probably be reduced to 2 tablespoons even), upped the amount of spinach to one pound, used nonfat cottage cheese and whole wheat flour.
With six ingredients you probably have on hand, you too can enjoy this high protein, low carb deliciousness that reminds me of my childhood. You literally mix all the ingredients and bake. That's it.
I have even tried freezing the recipe with pretty good results. I would definitely prefer to eat it right out of the oven, but freezing does work. It can also be made a day ahead of time if you're in a pinch and reheated in the microwave.
Also, I haven't ever tested it out, but have been thinking about adding brown rice or quinoa to incorporate some whole grains to round out the micro-nutrients. This casserole is best served out of an authentic 1970's casserole dish, but any kind will do.
