San Diego food blogger Whitney Bond talks about how she started out making recipes and her inspiration behind creating dishes. She also shared her cheesy mushroom spinach puff pastry recipe with In the Kitchen.
Cheesy Mushroom Spinach Puff Pastry
What's the story behind this dish? It’s a vegetarian baked puff pastry dish filled with sautéed mushrooms, spinach and herb cheddar cheese. It can easily be served as an appetizer or entree. What's the key component to this dish? The mushrooms. You're a huge fan of mushrooms, when did you realize your love for mushrooms? I can’t remember a specific moment, but it’s really been over the last couple of years that I started to love mushrooms and incorporate them into a ton of recipes, from Slow Cooker Mushroom Ragu to Veggie Fajita Rice Bowls they add a delicious meatiness to vegetarian dishes and great texture to any recipe! Describe the taste to someone who haven't had this dish? As you bite into it, you first taste the flakey, buttery puff pastry crust, then you hit the creamy garlic and herb cheddar, right before you bite into the meaty mushrooms and savory spinach.
Watch as San Diego food blogger Whitney Bond create this delicious puff pastry dish, Cheesy Mushroom Spinach Puff Pastry.
What's a good beer, cocktail or wine that pairs well with this dish? I would pair a Stone Arrogant Bastard or Pinot Noir with the dish, either drink would stand up well to the strong flavor of the mushrooms. About Whitney Bond
Are you from San Diego? I’m originally from Oklahoma, but I’ve been lucky enough to call San Diego home for the last 13 years! When did you realize that making recipes would be your passion? I started blogging for fun, then decided to throw some recipes on the blog. As the blog grew, so did my passion for creating new recipes. I’m passionate about providing delicious recipes that will become household favorites across the country and even around the globe! What motivates you as a chef? I’m motivated by those that follow the blog, whenever someone leaves a positive comment on recipes, or on social media, it motivates me to keep making new recipes they’ll love! What do you feel is the biggest challenge when it comes to creating new recipes? What inspires you to create new recipes? While I have a list of over a hundred recipe ideas in my phone at all times, sometimes I’m just not excited about any of them at that moment, so I go back to the drawing board and start brainstorming more new ideas. New recipe inspiration comes from a lot of different places, sometimes it’s just a random idea that comes out of thin air, sometimes it’s a suggestion from my boyfriend, a friend or a family member, and sometimes it’s inspired by a favorite restaurant dish. What are some of your favorite places to dine in San Diego? Bottega Americano, OB Noodle House, Cowboy Star, Hodad’s, Sovereign, Taste of the Himalayas, Isola, Puesto, Coffee Cup, just to name a few! What's next for you? Continuing to share delicious new recipes and grow the blog, while producing more video content with the goal of hosting my own show down the road! There are so many food bloggers in San Diego, when did you realize that you could make this your career? After about a year and a half of blogging, I began talks with my publisher about a cookbook deal, Huffington Post began linking to recipes on my site and my traffic started to significantly grow thanks to the launch of Pinterest. I knew with the quality of content on my site and the traffic I was generating, I could begin approaching brands about paid sponsored posts and start generating an income from the blog, shortly after, I quit my part-time job in social media management and took on food blogging as my full-time career. What one piece of advice would you give people wanting to start out as a blogger? The more you can learn before you get started, the less time you’ll waste down the road. I had to learn a lot of things “the hard way” on my blogging journey, but now, there are so many resources out there for bloggers. I would recommend doing a month of research before you start your blog. A few hours of research in the beginning could save you days down the road trying to go back and fix things you didn’t know to begin with.
When you're not coming up with delicious recipes, what do you enjoy doing in your spare time? I’m a sports girl at heart, so I love attending live sporting events and watching games on TV. I’m always down for a great hike or a run around the bay to take in the beautiful San Diego scenery! I travel often, both for fun and for work, and I always enjoy checking out what other cities have to offer in the way of culinary adventures!
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