Spinach Rice Casserole; It’s a Big Ol’ Goofy Dish
I decided to hit the Southern Foodways Aliiance Community Cookbook this week for a good “healthy” recipe since last week we went down sugar lane – twice. I landed on an insane Greek-style spinach rice casserole and after 3 days of chipping away at the 12-serving yield, I tell you what —it is a WINNER. I’ve eaten it with breakfast, tossed it in a tortilla and warmed it up with a pork chop. It aims to please.
The Spinach Rice Casserole recipe comes from Jimmy and Nicky Koikos’s Bright Star restaurant in Bessemer, Alabama. According to the cookbook, there is “a standing list of customers who expect to be notified” when it is served for lunch. This is a familiar story. A local bar and grill, owned by a Greek family, used to serve Pastitcio on Thursdays for lunch. The matriarch (grandma) was in the kitchen all day and when it was gone, it was gone. Tears were shed if you missed out.
There is an appeal to scarcity.
Take a chance on cheese…
The recipe calls for frozen chopped spinach, but fortunately I had a nice pile of fresh, greenhouse-grown spinach from my local CSA box. I cruised through the market quickly after a bluebird ski day and picked up feta cheese, parmesan and green onions. Feta isn’t cheap, so I’m always a little nervous when I make a new dish that calls for pricey goods. I had a throwback moment of learning to make a famous candy recipe from my ex mother-in-law. The tears shed over the small fortune in unsalted butter and failed attempts at almond toffee are still enough to give me the shakes.
But onward…
I did have to bake the thing for about twice the time called for.
Hmm.. Water in the spinach? Oven being a liar about temperature? Too much apres’ ski tequila and a complete misinterpretation of liquid measurements?
I’ll never know. I just kept baking until it was bubbly and brown-ish.
It’s about a 2.5 cocktail baking time, give or take.
OPA!
The recipe had no mention of salt of pepper, so I improvised and did a shake here and a fresh grind there. No harm done.
When it came out of the oven after what seemed like a year to this hungry skier, I knew it was worth the wait.
A big ol’ goofy world; John Prine makes it all better
Around midnight, I sat down after the marathon baking and kitchen clean-up session and picked out John Prine’s iconic song on the guitar. “Big Old Goofy World” is a simple I,IV,V and works in any key that you can sing. There was something about the day of skiing, the spinach adventure, and my need for both after a shit-show workweek that made this the best song to hang out with. Stress-free; with the added bonus of sensing John’s genuine grin and sparkle looking over my shoulder and saying “naww.. it’s not any big deal if you mess up. I messed it up all the time”
and he takes a long drag on a fragrant cigar before shuffling off to an all-star jam.
That’s the truth.
*James “Jimmy” Koikos of the Bright Star Restaurant, passed away in November of 2019. I’m sure John welcomed him with open arms.
Next week, we’ll dig up something good from “All the Thyme in the World”. I’m loving any recipe that involves a glug of Coke, Mountain Dew, Cheerwine ..or Bourbon.
Check out the links below for information on both cookbooks. Thanks for reading!
All the Thyme in the World – a collection of recipes from the grounded music industry. https://www.allthethymeintheworldcookbook.com/