Spinach and Feta Pie

My mum asked me what I wanted for my 'birthday dinner' while I was home and I asked for an old favourite - Spinach and Feta Pie. I have the recipe out of my Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Collection cookbook which is honestly the best cookbook I've ever bought - I've never been disappointed by any recipe I've tried out of it. If you are ever in the market for a vegetarian cookbook, I really recommend it (my mum liked mine so much she bought herself a copy as well).

I found this version of the recipe on the Canadian Living website, as my copy of the cookbook is currently in a box in the basement of a house in Kimberley, BC, Canada, but it should be the same.

Spinach and Feta Pie

The key to this rustic vegetarian pie filled with classic Greek flavours is the pastry: it's made with extra-virgin olive oil. You can make the pie up to five days ahead and serve it warm or at room temperature (its also quite good cold).

Ingredients

1-3/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
1/3 cup (75 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup (75 mL) milk
1 egg

Filling:
2 tbsp (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
5 green onions, chopped
3 bags (eah 10 oz/284 g) fresh spinach, trimmed
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) crumbled feta cheese
3/4 cup (175 mL) shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped mint
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped dill
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped parsley
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) pepper
1 pinch ground cloves

Preparation

In large bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. In separate bowl, whisk together oil, milk and egg; pour over dry ingredients. Using wooden spoon, stir to form fairly smooth dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, about 2 minutes. Press into disc; wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 5 days.)

Filling: Meanwhile, in skillet, heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the oil over medium heat; cook sweet and green onions, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Transfer to large bowl.

In batches, place spinach in large pot with just the water clinging to leaves; cover and cook over medium-high heat, stirring once, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer to sieve; press to remove moisture. Add to onions along with feta and mozzarella cheeses, eggs, mint, dill, parsley, salt, pepper and cloves; mix well.

On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 16-inch (40 cm) circle. Loosely roll around rolling pin; unroll onto 9-inch (23 cm) cast-iron skillet or baking dish, letting dough hang over edge. Mound filling in centre; lift pastry up over filling, letting pastry fall naturally into folds and leaving 5-inch (12 cm) opening in centre. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.)

Bake in bottom third of 375°F (190°C) oven until pastry is golden and filling is steaming, about 45 minutes. (Make-ahead: Let cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until cold. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Reheat in 375°F/190°C oven for 30 minutes.)

Transfer to cutting board or serving plate if desired. Let stand for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges.

Delicious! Also, I love the way you can see the steam rising off the pie in these pictures - yummy!

Snickerdoodles

While Snickerdoodles certainly aren't my all-time favourite cookie, they probably have my favourite name (also, not a thing here - I had a fun time explaining them to people - in particular, to those with nut allergies, that no, they did not have Snickers bars or nuts in them). I found this recipe online, having never made it before, and was thus participating in the proud Jones family tradition of experimenting with new foods when feeding other people. Luckily, it pretty much always works out for us. 

Snickerdoodles

3 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 c. unsalted butter

1 1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp cinnamon 

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar. Mix butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup of the white sugar until fluffy. Beat eggs and vanilla extract into sugar mix. Add flour until just mixed. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar in bowl. Form the dough into balls (aprox the size of a level tbsp). Roll balls in cinnamon/sugar mix, place 2" apart on parchment lined baking sheet, bake until edges are golden in 375F oven, 12-14 min. Cool. 

I wasn't timing it because my oven seems to run very hot, so baking takes about half the time it does on the recipe, but I estimate I was baking them for about 6 min.

I had a lot of other things to do while I was baking these, so while they were in the oven, I was editing the slides for our presentation the next day, as I had volunteered to format and proof the slides (which I spent about three hours doing this day, and three a previous day, so I was kind of regretting volunteering for that particular task).

This recipe makes a TON of cookies, so if you're not making them for other people or to freeze, you may want to half it.

Luckily, I have loads of friends who are always willing to eat my cookies :)

Cookies!

Tuesdays are a bit of a mid-week lull for me this semester, coming after the busyness of Monday afternoons and before the hectic chaos of Wednesdays. While I spent a large portion of my day reading, I also made some cookies for my group tomorrow, as they have all been working hard, and have done an exceptional amount of work in a short period of time (plus, y'know, I just like making cookies for people). About half of the cookies came out a bit too dark, thanks to the fact that I am still getting used to this oven (the recipe has a new penciled-in note on the back indicating the perfect cook time and shelf height for this oven, so future batches will come out better, hopefully).

The recipe I used came to me from my mum's friend and our former next door neighbour from when we lived in Whitecourt, Tania Doepker. Her and mum used to exchange plates of cookies back and forth the way neighbours sometimes do (y'know, oh she gave me cookies on a plate, I have to return the plate, but I can't return it empty, so I will make her cookies... and thus a never ending cookie spiral is born). Not that Logan and I ever complained. 

I made these cookies quite a few times last year, both for my knitting group and for my coworkers, and no matter what, everyone loves them. However, if you are looking for a "healthy" cookies, these are NOT the way to go.

We lack mixing bowls in my flat. 

Mars Bar Cookies

1 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
3-4 Mars bars

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix flour, coca, and baking soda. Combine both mixes. Chill until firm. Place 1 tbsp. dough on palm and form a cup. Place bar inside and surround with cookie dough (I cut regular sized mars bars into about 6-8 pieces).

Bake at 350 for 12 min (or, if you are in the UK, about 177 degrees).

I had to run down to the grocery store for the Mars bars and cocoa powder... I definitely went through the self checkout. Last time I made these cookies, I told the cashier I was making cookies when she gave me a judgemental look, and she didn't believe me... but the machines don't judge, so self-checkout it was :P

The best ones are packed up for me to take to my group tomorrow, while the... crunchier... ones will be shared with my roommates :)

They're so *photogenic*

In other news, French is crazy...

(To my great relief, Alix assures me that "c'est quoi?", which is what I learned to say for "what is it?" is more common and is totally acceptable).

... and I am cute.

Hope y'all are having nice Wednesdays :) Enjoy the middle of your week!