Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year: Week 16

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In celebration of the end of our siblings first spring semester of college, our typical Sunday dinner transformed into a Saturday night cookout. True to usual form, many among the group sampled and rated this week’s Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip (p.139) and Cherry Almond Crisp (p.279) from cooking through Magnolia Table in a year. On the whole, these recipes were very well received and quite loved! While the Eggs Benedict Casserole (p.35) did not make an appearance at the cookout, it certainly could have fed the entire crowd, as it is stated to serve 12 to 14 people. Needless to say, Charlie and I have had several meals of this dish during this week’s culinary adventures and unfortunately, it has not been quite as loved as the previous two recipes.

Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip

Unlike some recipes, I have been so excited to try this Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip and wow, it truly lived up to everything I was hoping for. I personally love dips and snack/appetizer foods, so this recipe was right up my alley. Rich, creamy and with a wonderful mix of flavors, the Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip is definitely a crowd pleaser, as Joanna even mentions in her description. Despite the large amount of spinach and artichokes, the flavors seem very balanced and even those who typically don’t like a tremendous number of artichokes, really enjoyed the dip. Likewise, I had been a little surprised by the addition of dill and while I was slightly afraid the dip would end up tasting like a dill pickle, the dill flavor was only a note in the background and did not command a large amount of flavorful attention.

Crowd Average Rating:

With 4 out of the 6 ratings given being a 10, this Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip gained an average rating of a 9! This dish was most definitely loved by all willing to try it. It does help the average in that those who didn’t like artichokes didn’t try it and therefore did not provide any low ratings, however even still, the recipe was very well received by those who wanted to try it out. It certainly will be a dish that makes an appearance around our table again! While the dip is very simple to make (I even was able to make it the day before our cookout and just keep in the fridge uncooked), I did have a bit more of an adventure with the garlic toasts. Due to the fluctuations of the supply chain, I could not come by focaccia bread. Seeing this, I decided to make focaccia bread myself, to use for the garlic toast crisps. While this worked and was still delicious, it was more labor intensive, so when I make the recipe in the future, I likely will just serve the dip with pita chips, tortilla chips or some other cracker, just to make the process a bit simpler.

Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year: Week 16 - Baked Spinach Artichoke Bruschetta

Eggs Benedict Casserole

As a twist on a traditional favorite breakfast recipe, I was very interested to see how this Eggs Benedict Casserole would go! Using 12 English Muffins, 2 dozen eggs, Canadian bacon (or ham) and heavy cream, this dish certainly could feed a small army. Despite the large portions, it was only Charlie and I rating this dish, so indeed we have had quite our fill of Eggs Benedict Casserole. Very moist and full of protein, this recipe is very hearty and will stay with you for quite some time which is definitely a benefit for breakfast. While not providing the usual variety of textures, this casserole does have the typical mix of flavors present in an eggs benedict dish.

Crowd Average Rating:

While perhaps a slight misrepresentation of this dish, the average rating of the Eggs Benedict Casserole was a 4.5. As it was only Charlie and I rating this recipe, my low rating pulled down the average dramatically. Unfortunately, I tend to have textural issues with super moist/soggy bread, so the way that the English muffins absorbed the egg mixture did not sit well with me.

Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year: Week 16 - Eggs Benedict Casserole

Despite trying on numerous occasions to finish my portion (because of the large amount of ingredients within the dish!), I never could make it through an entire piece. Flavor wise, I likely would give this dish a 6, however, for me, texturally, it was a 0. Due to this, I will not be bringing this recipe back to our table, but certainly if you love eggs benedict and don’t have issues with textures, try this recipe and perhaps, like Chip Gaines, it will become one of your favorites!

Cherry Almond Crisp

Easy and quick to bring together, this Cherry Almond Crisp was definitely a winner! As I did not have 6 oven safe ramekins to make each crisp individually, I made this recipe within one singular pie dish before serving in smaller bowls, and it turned out quite well. A beautiful mix of flavors and textures, this dessert is just as beautiful as it is delicious. Likewise, as it is naturally gluten free, it would be a wonderful dessert to serve if you have members of your party who are gluten sensitive.

Crowd Average Rating:

With a range of ratings including a 6 to a 10, this Cherry Almond Crisp gained an average of an 8! Even those within our party that typically do not enjoy cherries, said that they were pleasantly surprised with how much they enjoyed this dessert. As I mentioned above, I did divert from the recipe regarding the cooking dishes, but I did not feel this hindered the final result at all! I added on about 5 minutes to the cooking time, but otherwise made exactly as directed.

Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year: Week 16 - Cherry Almond Crisp

Looking Ahead – Week Seventeen

Week 17 Shopping List Includes:

All-purpose flour
Sugar
Ground aniseed
Cinnamon
Salt
Eggs
Walnuts

Pecans
Butter
Milk
Active dry yeast
Vanilla extract
Pillsbury grands
Half and half

Chicken legs
Black pepper
Onion
Carrots
Celery
Parsley
Bay leaf

Looking at week 17 within our Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year Guide, this upcoming week will showcase Syrian Donuts (p.45), Chicken & Dumplings (p.215) and Homemade Chicken Broth (p.216). Likely, from the last couple of weeks, you will be able to use any remaining parsley (from the Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip), onion, active dry yeast (from the well loved Cinnamon Squares in Week 15) etc. As I typically resort to the small chicken bullion cubes when needing chicken broth, I definitely have never made chicken broth before and am very excited to see how it goes!

Final Thoughts

While this week ranged in ratings from a 4.5 to a 9, it certainly did not disappoint with fun cooking adventures! Only our 4^th average rating of a 9 (with 2 of the 4 coming in the past two weeks!), I am quite amazed that the Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip gained such praise. I am pretty sure that the 9 rating from the Cinnamon Squares last week brought a few new people around our table for the cookout, so hopefully the 9 this week will have them coming back in the future. If you tried these recipes, or have in the past, I would love to know your thoughts in the comment section below!

Happy cooking!