Strata

Last night, as I was trying to decide what to do with a bag of frozen broccoli florets, I came across a strata recipe.  I had a half a loaf of Spatz bread that I needed to use up and some chicken sausage links.  I decided to adapt the recipe and make a Broccoli Sausage strata.  Of course, because of the size, much of it will travel with me to Troy tomorrow for my husband to enjoy.  But I get to enjoy some myself!

Broccoli Sausage Strata
Adapted from: http://culinarilycourtney.blogspot.com/2012/01/broccoli-and-bacon-strata.html

• 6 slices dry Spatz bread 
• 1 16-oz bag frozen broccoli florets
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup colby jack cheese
• 3 links chicken sausage (I used Aidells Roasted garlic & Gruyere cheese smoked chicken sausage)
• 7 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups 1% milk
• salt, garlic powder, onion powder and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Grease a small roasting pan (or 9" x 13" x 2" pan).  Place broccoli florets in a steamer and steam in microwave for 6 minutes.  Drain broccoli and set aside.

Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and place in pan.  Sprinkle with half the cheeses.  Cut sausage links into 1/4-inch rounds; sprinkle sausage and broccoli florets over bread. 

Whip eggs with milk and seasonings.  Pour over fillings; sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours (or overnight).

Allow pan to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Bake at 350F for 50-55 minutes, until a knife inserted near center comes out clean.

First Chili of the Season

It has been somewhere between 13 and 25 degrees for the past couple days, so I got a taste for chili.  I had to sing this morning at church and then we had our last class for our India students, so I wasn't able to make it until after I got done with all of that.  On the way home from school, I stopped at Jack's and picked up a sweet onion and 2 lbs of ground round.  From that, I used what I had in my pantry and put together a 2-bean chili.  Since I roasted a spaghetti squash last night, I decided to serve it Cincinnati-style in the only way that I can eat it these days (pasta and I are not friends anymore).

2-Bean "Cincinnati" Chili

• 2 lbs ground round
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cans Rotel tomatoes with chiles
• 1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups fresh sweet corn
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
• Roasted spaghetti squash
• cheddar cheese

 Heat EVOO in a heavy Dutch oven.  Add onions and saute until they start turning translucent; add ground round and cook until meat is no longer pink.  Add next 9 ingredients, bring to a boil.  cover and lower heat until simmering.  Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Heat squash, spoon chili over squash and sprinkle with cheese.

Kheer

For this final meeting before our study abroad to India, we are going to treat our students to dessert.  Kaustav started this trend at the first meeting by suggesting we bring different foods for our students to try before they are immersed in it in India.  It took us all week to make a plan because this was the last week of regular classes AND it's Christmas party time.  But we finally figured it out and I decided to give Kheer a try.  If you don't know what Kheer is, it is Indian rice pudding.  It is made with basmati rice and flavored with cardamom.  I thought it interesting that Rama said she doesn't really like cardamom.  I love it, especially in kheer and tea.  Here is the recipe that I used:

Kheer

• 1/2 cup Basmati rice
• 6 cups whole milk
• 1 Tbsp ghee
• 10 Tbsp sugar
• Pinch saffron
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds + extra for garnish

Soak rice in water about 1 1/2 inches above rice for 30 minutes.  Drain rice thoroughly.  Heat ghee in large skillet.  Add rice and saute until translucent.  Add milk and simmer until milk is reduced by half (about 30 minutes on my stove), stirring frequently to prevent burning.  Add sugar and saffron; cook until sugar is dissolved.  Add cardamom and 1/2 cup almonds. Simmer for a few minutes.  Remove from heat and cool.  Pudding will thicken as it cools.  Garnish with additional slivered almonds.

Baby greens

I found a bag of baby spinach, kale and chard at Kroger and needed to use some of it up.  I cooked some bacon, cut up some artichoke hearts and used a mix of goat cheese and Italian cheese and, voila, quiche!  This one is not only pretty,  but tasty.

Baby Greens Quiche

• 1/2 bag baby greens (spinach, kale, chard)
• 4 slices thick-cut bacon
• 6 artichoke hearts, quartered
• 4 oz 6-cheese Italian blend
• 2 oz crumbled goat cheese
• 5 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• sea salt
• Italian seasoning

Wash greens and dry between paper towels.  Cook bacon in microwave oven (1 minute per slice); cool.  Quarter the artichoke hearts.  Place greens, crumbled bacon and artichokes in bottom of casserole.  Sprinkle with cheese.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs with milk.  Season to taste.  Pour carefully over the fillings.  Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 35 minutes or until knife inserted into the center comes out clean and top is browned.