Zucchini Quiche

I processed a lot of zucchini this weekend because I wanted to make at least another batch of the zucchini taco shells and freeze them to see how they hold up.  If they do well, I will stock up for the winter.  They are so yummy. 

Of course, the trouble with processing a lot of zucchini (grated), is that you often end up with extra.  I froze several 1-cup portions to use during the winter, but saved a couple portions out thinking I would do something with it this week.  While I was looking for recipes, I realized that I needed to make another quiche for this week's breakfasts.  I also had thawed a package of imitation crab and thought that would be a nice combination.  The interesting thing about this quiche is that the texture turned out similar to a frittata made with pasta.  I was really surprised.

Zucchini and Crab Quiche

• 2 cups shredded zucchini*
• 8 oz imitation crab, shredded
• 1/2 cup asiago/fontina cheese, shredded
• 6 large eggs**
• 1 1/2 cups 1% milk
• 1/2 cup cheddar jack
• salt, pepper and dried basil, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix shredded zucchini, crab and asiago/fontina cheese in bottom of baking dish.  In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with milk and seasonings.  Pour over the fillings and then sprinkle with cheddar jack cheese.  Bake 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*farmers market ingredients
**CSA ingredients

Dutch Baby!

I bought some MI blueberries this week.  I wait for this every year because for 20 years, I couldn't get MI blueberries when I lived in VA.  There is no comparison for flavor, so I celebrate them every year!  I also have been craving a Dutch baby pancake.  So much so, I tried to talk John into going to The Pantry this weekend.  The problem with that place is that if you don't get there before church lets out, there's a 30-60 minute wait to get in.  So we settled for The Breakfast Club (which is just as good, but they don't make Dutch Babies).  So, today, I decided to make my own!  Blueberries are great for any type of pancake, so here's the recipe.

Blueberry Dutch Baby

• 4 eggs*
• 1 cup milk
• 1 scant tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 Tbsp butter
• Powder sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place a large cast iron skillet in the oven to warm while the oven is preheating.

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs.  Add the zest and vanilla and mix well.  Add the sugar and flour and continue whisking until well combined. Allow batter to rest while the oven preheats.

Carefully remove the skillet from the oven.  Add the 2 Tbsps of butter and swirl until the butter is melted and coats the pan.  Pour in the batter.  Then sprinkle with the blueberries.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until the pancake is puffed and the edges are brown.  Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.  Cut into slices and serve immediately.

*CSA ingredients

New house, new appliances!

It's been a while since I have done any real cooking and that's partially because I just got tired of being so cramped in my tiny little kitchen.  Well, my big news here is that I have purchased a new house with a bigger kitchen AND replaced all the appliances with bright, shiny new appliances.  Including a beautiful, new GE gas range with convection oven.  I have not done a lot of cooking yet because I am living between two places until the end of the month.  But this morning, I decided it was time to "break in" my range. 

I had a beautiful head of broccoli from the farmers market.  So I decided that a broccoli quiche was in order.  It's amazing how much of a difference a farm-fresh head of broccoli makes.  So much tastier than anything you can get from the grocery store.  And of course, I had farm-fresh eggs as well, which everyone knows makes all the difference in the world!

Broccoli Bacon Quiche

• 1 head broccoli*
• 6 thin slices bacon
• 1 cup sharp cheddar
• 5 farm-fresh eggs*
• 1 1/4 cups 2% milk
• salt, pepper, garlic powder, to taste

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cut broccoli into small florets.  Place in a microwave safe bowl with 2 Tbsp water.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes on HIGH.  Drain and place in prepared baking dish.  Cook the bacon and crumble.  Sprinkle bacon and cheese over broccoli.

Beat eggs with milk and seasonings.  Pour carefully over fillings.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*Farmers market ingredients.

A Little Southern Style Corn

Anybody who knows me knows that I lived in Virginia for 20 years and really did not enjoy living there.  It was too hot, too humid and people were too "in your face".  But I will admit that there are a few "guilty pleasures" that I still have to revisit when I have the ingredients to do so.  And it has been about 20 years since I've had today's recipe.  One of my favorite side dishes I discovered on a trip to Tangier Island.  Corn Pudding!  While there are many, many different versions of baked corn casseroles, there is nothing quite like real, good, old-fashioned, southern corn pudding.  Most corn casserole recipes are more like rich cornbread...many using Jiffy Corn Bread Mix.  Real corn pudding is more like a really rich quiche bursting with fresh corn cut form the cob.  It took me a while, but I figured out how to put together the real thing.

Corn Pudding

• 3 eggs*
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 cups milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 4 cups fresh corn*
• ½ stick butter
• 3 heaping tbsp. almond flour

Melt butter in 9x13” baking dish in 350° oven.  Combine eggs, flour and sugar; beat well.  Add milk, corn and salt.  Stir corn mixture to combine and add to melted butter in baking dish.  Bake for 45-60 minutes or until firm.

*CSA ingredients

Leeks and Beet Greens

I was looking through my stock of produce trying to figure out what use in this weeks quiche and realized that I had a few leeks and some more beet greens to use up.  Leeks are interesting to me because I am not much of an onion person and for years never wanted to even try them.  But then someone taught me the proper way to use them (may have been Alton Brown or some online cooking show, who knows?) and ever since then, I have bought them when they looked beautiful or taken advantage of them when available from the CSA.  The term I have often heard in conjunction with cooking leeks is "melting" and there is a reason they call it that.  These vegetables, which have a flavor reminiscent of garlic and chives, when cooked properly, do sort of "melt".  They become rather creamy and beautiful!

I decided that leeks and beet greens, with the contrast of garlic and chives and the sweetness of the beet greens would make a lovely combination for my quiche today.  Unfortunately, I was out of Swiss cheese, so I had to settle for sharp cheddar, but then I decided that sharpness would only add to the flavor profile.  Finally, I took some fresh basil from my garden and chiffonaded it and put it on top before baking the quiche.  There is a danger that the basil will turn blackish as it cooks (why you shouldn't add fresh basil to your tomato sauce until the very end), but I thought that the flavor would heighten the flavor profile.  And besides, when you have fresh basil available, why not use it?

Leek and Beet Green Quiche

• 3 small leeks*
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• 1 small bunch beet greens, stems removed*
• 1 cup sharp cheddar
• 5 farm fresh eggs*
• 1 1/4 cups 1/2% milk
• salt & pepper
• 6 basil leaves**

Cut leaves and roots off the leeks leaving only white and light green portions.  Slice leeks in half and rinse to remove sand; drain well.  Slice leeks to 1/4 inch slices; set aside.  Wash and drain the beet greens; set aside.  Wash and drain the basil leaves; set aside.

 Preheat oven to 350F.  Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat until the butter starts to bubble.  Add the leeks and saute, stirring frequently, until they start to "melt" (this is fairly easy to see as the texture seems to change).  Tear the beet greens into bite-sized pieces and add to skillet.  Cook until the greens wilt and most of the water is evaporated.  Place these vegetables into your prepared baking dish.

Beat eggs until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper, then add the milk and mix until completely smooth.  Pour eggs over the vegetables.  Sprinkle with shredded cheddar.  Roll the basil leaves and slice very thinly (known as chiffonade).  Sprinkle the chiffonaded basil over entire quiche.  Bake for 35 minutes or until knife, inserted into center, comes out clean.  Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*CSA ingredients
**Farmers market ingredients

Nutrition (1/8 quiche)
Calories        136
Fat                    9g
Cholesterol   131mg
Sodium         162mg
Potassium     159mg
Carbs                6g
Protein              8g

Fresh Michigan Asparagus!

Okay, I managed to procrastinate on the last quiche I made.  This one was so very different from the ramp and spinach one.  We have been able to get Michigan asparagus for a couple weeks at the farmers market, so I figured that a quiche with asparagus, caramelized onions and feta cheese might be good.  What I will say about this particular quiche is that I would change a couple things, but I am presenting the recipe as I made it.

Asparagus Feta Quiche

• 6 large farm-fresh eggs*
• 1 1/2 cups 1% milk
• 1 Tbsp salted butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin
• 1 bunch asparagus*, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried basil, to taste

Beat eggs and milk with seasonings until well blended; set aside.  Heat butter and olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat.  Add onions, stir to coat with butter/oil; cook until the onions begin to brown, stirring occassionally.  Turn heat down to low and continue to cook onions, stirring frequently, until onions are golden brown (caramelized); set aside.  Add asparagus to pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occassionally, until bright green.  Mix asparagus and onions in bottom of prepared 9" round baking pan.  Sprinkle with feta cheese.  Carefully pour eggs over filling.  Bake in preheated 350F oven for 40 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.  Allow to set 5 minutes before serving.

*CSA and Farmer's Market ingredients

Notes: There are two things I would change about this quiche.  1) I would use a whole onion.  While the onions were good, there weren't enough.  2) I would go back to steaming the asparagus before adding to the quiche.  There were some pieces of asparagus that were just a little crunchy for my taste.  It's not that they weren't cooked, they just were a little too al dente.

Ramp Quiche

Before my parents head to Minnesota for the weekend to attend my niece's graduation from St. Olaf College, it was time to make another quiche.  Last weekend, I actually was able to find ramps at the farmer's market and just knew that I needed to use them in a quiche.  We gathered other ingredients, including a caramelized onion cheddar I had purchased from Eastman Party Store, and I threw together the next variation.

Spinach Ramp Quiche

• bunch of ramps, leaves only
• small bunch of baby spinach
• 3 slices genoa salami
• 2 oz caramelized onion cheddar
• 2 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
• 5 large eggs*
• 1 1/4 cup 1/2% milk
• garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper, to taste

Remove leaves from ramps and save bulbs for other use.  Thoroughly wash ramp leaves and spinach.  Chop both leaves to bite-sized pieces.  Cut salami into bite-sized pieces.  Combine vegetables and salami in bottom of prepared 9-inch round baking pan.  Crumble the caramelized onion cheddar over these fillings and then sprinkle with sharp cheddar.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs.  Add seasonings; mix well.  Slowly add milk while continuing to beat eggs.  Pour carefully over the filling and bake quiche in a preheated 350F oven.  Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*CSA Ingredients

Squash Quiche

Mom and Dad have a busy weekend, so we decided to make another quiche (after all, when you have farm fresh eggs, you should use them, right?).  This time, Mom brought out a summer squash, bacon, bleu cheese and more mushrooms and onion.  Okay, challange accepted.  I decided to slice the squash very thin while Mom cooked up bacon, onion and mushroom.  Then I layered the squash with the sauteed items, sprinkled on the cheese and went from there.  Here's the recipe:

Bleu Squash Quiche

• 6 farm-fresh eggs* (note, several were smaller than normal, so I added one)
• 1 1/4 cups 1/2% milk
• 1 med yellow summer squash, thinly sliced
• 2 strips bacon, diced
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 cup mushroom, diced
• 1 cup sharp cheddar
• 1 oz Bleu cheese, crumbled
• salt and pepper

Sautee the bacon, onions and mushrooms over medium heat.  Layer the squash slices with the sauteed items.  Sprinkle cheddar and crumbled Bleu cheese over filling.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs, then add milk and beat until very smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour carefully over filling.  Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 35 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.  Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*CSA items

Broccoli Sausage Quiche

I am a little behind on posting recipes here.  Last week, when I returned from India, I needed to make some food for meals for the week.  I picked up a pack of al Fresco Maple Chicken Breakfast Sausage and some broccoli.  I have this passion for broccoli and eggs that started when I was working at Case Western Reserve University.  So, I figured that I would make a quiche (always good for a few days worth of breakfasts).  I had some sharp cheddar that I figured would be a good counterpoint to the "sweet" sausage.  Btw, if you haven't tried these sausages, you should.  They have small pieces of apple in them and the contrast of spice and sweet is lovely!

Broccoli, Sausage, Cheddar Quiche

• 2 cups broccoli
• 6 al Fresco Maple Chicken Breakfast Sausage, sliced
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup 1% milk
• Italian Seasoning
• salt & pepper to taste

Steam broccoli in microwave for 4 minutes.  Place in bottom of baking dish and mix in sausage (heated for 30 seconds in microwave).  Sprinkle with cheese.  Beat eggs with milk and seasonings.  Pour carefully over fillings. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes or until top is browned.

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.

Farmers' Market Finds

Mom and I went down to the Midland Farmers' Market this morning and I was surprised how the produce selection has expanded.  It took everything in me not to just buy all of the beautiful vegetables available this morning, but since I head out on Wednesday next week, I resisted.  But there was everything from beets to zucchini and yellow squash to eggplant to cucumbers to tomatoes and so on.  Yes, did you see that they had almost everything for ratatouille?  Oh, I so wanted to get everything and make a batch, but then I would have to leave it for Mom and Dad to eat and that wouldn't be fair.  I settled for beets with beautiful beet greens and blueberries.  Mom got tomatoes, pickle cukes, rhubarb and cherries.

When we got home, I quizzed them on whether they would like to try quiche with the beet greens.  Mom said she usually gave the greens to Lyn (she's actually never tried them before!).  They agreed to try it, so I cooked up the greens, cut up one of the riper tomatoes and then added ham and sharp cheddar.  They thoroughly enjoyed the quiche for lunch and we have leftovers for breakfasts.

Beet Green with Ham Quiche

• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 small bunch beet greens with stems*
• 1 medium tomato*
• 6 oz Michigan picnic ham
• 3 oz extra sharp cheddar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• salt, pepper, dried basil, garlic powder

Wash beet greens, dry and cut off stems.  Cut stems into thin slices; set aside.  Cut beet leaves into bite-sized pieces; set aside.  In a large skillet, heat oil.  Add stems and cook until they start to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add leaves and cook, stirring, until the leaves begin to wilt.  Cut tomato into thin wedges and arrange in bottom of prepared pan (I used a round cake pan this time).  Sprinkle greens evenly over the tomatoes.  Finely dice the ham and cheddar and sprinkle evenly over the vegetables.  In a medium bowl, whip eggs with milk and seasonings until smooth and slightly bubbly.  Pour over the fillings.  Bake in preheated 350F oven for approx 35 minutes, or until a knife, inserted into the center, comes out clean.  Allow to stand 5 minutes before serving.

*Farmers' Market ingredients

Almond Butter Brownies

I have a sweet tooth, I admit it. But I also no longer have the patience for laborious baking. While looking through Pinterest, I ran across a recipe for peanut butter brownies which are gluten-free and super-duper easy! I had to make some substitutes, though. First, I only have almond butter. Since the base of the brownies are Greek yogurt and oats, I figured this would be okay. The second problem was that I don't have baking powder. When I looked up substituting, I found that if you mix 2 parts cream of tartar with 1 part baking soda, it makes a pretty good substitute. So here is what I came up with:

 Almond Butter Brownies
 Adapted from: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/06/10/skinny-peanut-butter-swirl-brownies/

• 3/4 cup creamy almond butter 
• 6 oz. low fat vanilla greek yogurt 
• 1/4 cup 1% organic milk 
• 1 large egg*
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp homemade baking powder
• 1 cup maple syrup*
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats* (gluten free)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 7x10 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Place all of the ingredients except for the almond butter into a blender or food processor. (Yes, a blender!) For easier blending, place the liquid ingredients into the blender first. Blend until mix is smooth and oats are ground up. You will have to stop the blender and scrape down the sides a few times.
3. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Batter will be thin. Microwave peanut butter for about 30 seconds. Drop melted peanut butter by spoonfuls onto the batter, swirling gently with a knife to create a marbled effect. (Try not to overmix!)
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Brownies will be extra fudgy, so be sure to wait until COMPLETELY cooled - I stuck mine in the refrigerator for 2 hours, which allowed them to be cut very easily. Cut into 18 pieces and enjoy!

*CSA ingredients

I Love Quiche

This morning, after doing Zumba, I knew I wanted eggs for breakfast. With a very large batch of Mediterranean Spaghetti Squash in the refrigerator, I thought I would break from my quiche habit and try a frittata. However, when I looked up recipes, I realized why I prefer quiche. I am a custard girl through-and-through! I love the creamy texture of custard and when I looked at the frittata recipes, I realized that they are closer to omelets than quiche. So, quiche it is! The other nice thing about quiche is that it is so very versatile, so you can use up things in your refrigerator and it is almost always good!

 Mediterranean Spaghetti Squash Quiche

•  2 cups Mediterranean spaghetti Squash*
•  1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
•  5 large farm-fresh eggs*
•  1 cup 1% milk
•  salt and pepper

 Prepare a pie plate with cooking spray. Put spaghetti squash in bottom of pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese. Blend eggs, milk and seasonings until well blended. Pour over squash. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Rest 5 minutes before serving.

*CSA ingredients

Chicken Chard Quiche

Looking through my refrigerator, I find I have leftover chicken, ramps, bacon and Swiss chard. I thought that would make a very tasty quiche. If you've never had ramps, you are definitely missing out. The only thing that makes me sad about them is that they are only available a couple weeks a year. But I made pesto this year, so I will get to enjoy them longer. This quiche, however, uses the green leaves. I'll have to try it with the pesto sometime.

 Chicken Chard Quiche

•  1 cup cooked, leftover chicken*
•  4 slices thick-cut bacon*
•  1 small bunch Swiss chard
•  1 small bunch ramps leaves*
•  1 cup sharp cheddar
• 1/2 cup fresh shredded parmesan
•  5 eggs*
•  1 1/2 cup 1% milk
•  salt and pepper

 Wash Swiss chard and remove stems. Place chard and ramps in a microwave steamer with 1/4" water and cook on high for 2 minutes. Allow to steam while cooking bacon (1 minute per slice in microwave). Uncover vegetables and cool to handle.  Squeeze out moisture and chop into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle chicken, vegetables and bacon into pie plate. Sprinkle with cheeses. Whip eggs with milk and seasonings. Pour over fillings. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 35 minutes.

*CSA ingredients