Ingredients:
1 small box frozen spinach
1/8 pound butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced onions
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 pint heavy cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
1 can/jar artichoke hearts — coarsely chopped

Directions:
Thaw spinach; strain and squeeze water out. Must be very dry and set aside.

In heavy saucepan, melt butter. Then, add garlic and onions and saute for about 3-5 minutes. Add flour to make a roux. Stir and cook about 1 minute. Slowly add heavy cream, stirring with a whisk to prevent lumping. Mixture will thicken at the boiling point. When it thickens, add lemon juice, Tabasco, salt and Parmesan cheese. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.

Stir in sour cream. Fold in dry, chopped spinach, coarse chopped artichoke hearts and Monterey Jack cheese. Stir until cheese is melted.

Serve immediately. Serve with salsa, sour cream and tortilla chips or pita bread for dipping.

Share Your Recipes and Win a Cookbook!

I hope you are enjoying the recipes at Good Food Good Friends. I love cooking and sharing my recipes.  In fact I spend a great deal of time combing through cookbooks, magazines and the internet looking for great recipes and ideas. Blogging is lots of fun and a great way to share.  I’d like to invite you to contribute your own recipes to Good Food Good Friends.  Every month I will be giving away a free cookbook to the recipe that has has the most comments.  Use the link below to post your favorites. I look forward to your trying out all of your contributions!

Click here to get started.

These Grilled Prosciutto Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese are delicious and easy to make.  If you like you can prepare them ahead of time and just before your guest arrive grill them up.

Ingredients:
12 dates, seeds removed
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Crushed red pepper flakes
12 slices prosciutto
1/2 log goat cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
Preheat a large skillet.  Drizzle with olive oil.

Cut a pocket into each date.  Remove seed.  Fill each date with goat cheese. Sprinkle a couple flakes of crushed red pepper, on top of the goat cheese and wrap each date with a slice of prosciutto.

Put the dates in the skillet. The idea here is that we want to grill the dates gently to cook the dates all the way through but to still get the prosciutto brown and slightly crispy on the outside, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Remove the dates and place on a serving platter.  Add balsamic vinegar to the skillet and deglaze the pan.  Allow to simmer, reducing the vinegar .  Once the balsamic vinegar begins to thicken, remove from heat and drizzle over the dates.

I love this Steamed Wild Striped Bass with Ginger and Scallions recipe.  It’s so easy to prepare and full of flavor.  I first made this recipe adapted from Food & Wine magazine a year or so ago.  I like to add fresh vegetables such as asparagus and shiitake mushrooms to make this a a one skillet meal.  After over indulging over the holidays, this will be the perfect meal to get back on track.  Check out other great healthy recipes on foodandwine.com right now.  They have a wonderful 4 week diet plan that won’t leave you feeling like your on a diet.

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil, for frying
One 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks, plus 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon toasted-sesame oil
4 scallions, cut into 1/2-inch lengths
Four 6-ounce wild striped bass fillets, with skin
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
1 teaspoon Chinese fermented black beans, rinsed and minced
2 jalapeños, thinly sliced into rounds and seeded
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups shiitake mushrooms, trimmed
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions:
In a skillet, heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil. Add the ginger matchsticks and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden brown, 4 minutes. Transfer the ginger to paper towels to drain, leaving the oil in the skillet.

In a bowl, whisk the soy sauce with the rice wine, sugar and sesame oil. Set a bamboo steamer over a wok or an open steamer over a large, deep skillet. Add 2 inches of water to the wok and bring to a boil. Scatter the dark green parts of the scallions, aspragus and shiitake mushrooms on a heatproof plate that will fit inside the steamer. Set the fish on the plate, skin side up. Using a knife, make 3 shallow slashes in the skin of each fillet. Pour the soy mixture over the fish and rub it all over. Season the fish lightly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the black beans and minced ginger on top. Set the plate in the steamer. Cover and steam for 7 minutes, until the fish is just cooked.

Just before the fish is done, reheat the oil in the skillet. Add the remaining scallions and the jalapeños and cook over moderate heat for about 2 minutes. Transfer the fish, asparagus, mushrooms and its juices to shallow bowls. Top with the fried scallions, jalapeños and ginger matchsticks. Sprinkle with the cilantro and serve.

I have been making this Pan Roasted Filet Mignon Stuffed with English Stilton and Walnuts from Emeril’s TV Dinners: Kickin’ It Up a Notch with Recipes from Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril for many years.  It’s a Christmas Eve favorite!  Also perfect for New Year’s Eve.  I like to serve this with a nice spring mix salad with roased pears and blue cheese and roasted asparagus.  The meal comes together very fast, but looks like you spent hours in the kitchen allowing you to spend time with your family and friends.

Ingredients:
1 pound new or small red potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and cracked black peppercorns to taste
1 cup Veal Reduction (I use beef stock)
3 ounces sliced bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup walnut pieces
4 filet mignons (about 8 ounces each)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled Stilton cheese
1/2 cup port wine
1 cup vegetable oil
4 shallots, thinly sliced and separated into rings
1/4 cup bleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400?F.

In a medium-size mixing bowl, toss the potatoes with the thyme and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with salt and cracked peppercorns. Put the potatoes in a large ovenproof sautÈ pan. Roast until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer back to the mixing bowl.

Place the sautÈ pan over medium-high heat, add the veal reduction, and deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to get any browned bits. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 1 minute. Set aside and keep warm.

In a medium-size sautÈ pan over medium heat, fry the bacon until crispy, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the chopped shallots, garlic, and walnuts and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In the mixing bowl, toss the potatoes with the bacon mixture. Ser aside and keep warm.

Using a sharp knife, cut a pocket about 2 inches long along the side of each filet. Season the inside of the pocket with salt and pepper. Stuff each pocket with 2 tablespoons of the cheese. Season the filets with salt and more cracked pepper.

Heat the remaining tablespoon olive oil in a large ovenproof sautÈ pan over medium-high heat. Sear the filets for 2 minutes on each side. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 6 to 8 minutes for medium-rare, 130? to 140?F; 10 minutes for medium, 145? to 150?F; and 12 minutes for well done, 155? to 165?F. Remove the filets form the pan, set aside and keep warm.

Return the sautÈ pan to the stove over medium-high heat. Add the port and deglaze the pan, scraping the browned bits of the bottom. Reduce the wine by half, cooking about 5 minutes.

Pour the vegetable oil into a deep, heavy saucepan and heat to 360?F. Season the shallot rings with salt and pepper. Put the flour in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Dredge the shallot rings in the flour and coat evenly, tapping off any excess. Fry them until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then season with salt.

To serve, divide the potatoes into 4 equal portions and mound in the center of each plate. Lay a filet on top of the potatoes. Spoon the veal reduction over each filet. Drizzle each plate with the port wine reduction. Garnish with the remaining 1/2 cup Stilton cheese, the fried shallots, and the parsley.

Yield: 4 servings

These dreamy Bisquick cinnamon rolls are easy enough to make any day but special enough for Christmas morning.  Prepare them the day before so that you are sure not to miss a moment of Christmas morning.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups biscuit baking mix
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

For the glaze:
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk

Directions:
For Rolls:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Stir together 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon; reserve.

Stir Bisquick, milk and 2 tablespoons sugar until dough forms. If dough is too sticky, gradually mix in enough Bisquick (up to 1/4 cup) to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto surface well dusted with Bisquick; gently roll in Bisquick to coat.

Shape into ball; knead 10 times. Roll into rectangle, 15×9 inches; spread with butter. Sprinkle evenly with sugar mixture; sprinkle evenly with raisins. Roll up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side. Seal well by pinching edge of dough into roll. Cut into 1 1/4-inch slices; place cut sides down in pan.

Bake 23 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. Spread Glaze over warm rolls.

For Glaze: Stir together powdered sugar and milk until smooth.

Make ahead version:

To make these delicious cinnamon rolls the day before prepare them completely but do not bake them.  Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap.  In the morning place them on the counter while you preheat the oven.  They may need an additional 5 minutes baking time depending on your oven.  Prepare your glaze in the morning.