Crustless Asparagus and Mushroom Quiche

 Every week, I make a crustless quiche to have for breakfasts for the week. What goes into it depends what I have on hand. When I went shopping this week, I found a beautiful bunch of asparagus. Today, I felt like asparagus, mushroom, roasted red pepper and bacon. I admit, I took the shortcut on the mushrooms, but you could easily use fresh mushrooms. If you do, I would saute them in butter to cook off as much water as you can (plus give it a really nice flavor). As for seasonings, I just add what sounds good to me.

Crustless Asparagus and Mushroom Quiche

1 lb asparagus, cut in 1" pieces

2 4oz cans mushroom pieces, drained

1 lg roasted red pepper, diced

2 cups low-fat cottage cheese

2 cups cheddar/parmesan blend, divided

8 slices cooked bacon, diced

12 large eggs

3 cups 2% milk

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mixed ground pepper

1 tbsp chives

1 tbsp dried basil (fresh is better)

1 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 375⁰ F.  Place asparagus in a microwaveable bowl with 2 tbsp water. Cook for 4 minutes. Set aside. If using canned mushrooms, drain. Chop pepper and bacon. In a prepared baking dish (I use a half chafing pan), spoon in cottage cheese, vegetables, bacon and 1 cup cheese. Lightly mix to distribute ingredients. 

In a large bowl, whisk eggs with seasonings until uniform color. Slowly whisk in the milk until mixture is a uniform lemon color. Pour over filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.   Bake for 40 minutes or until set in center. Allow to rest 10 minutes before serving.

Catching up - Eggplant day!

 I was just reminded by an old friend that there was a reason I started this blog.  While I am not subscribed to a CSA this summer, I am making regular trips to the farmers market and my garden is starting to produce.  So, today I have been cooking with eggplant all day.  So, first, here are some pictures of my garden this year;

I have a LOT of basil, but I truly believe you can never have enough basil!  

Today I picked my second Rosa Bianca Eggplant.  I turned the first one into eggplant pizza, but today I decided to make a lasagna.  Who knew a softball sized lasagna would make such a large lasagna!

Eggplant Lasagna

1 small Rosa Bianca (or globe) eggplant

salt

1 lb ground turkey

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small sweet onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

24 oz. spaghetti sauce (I used Classico roasted garlic sauce this time)

8 basil leaves, chiffonaded

16 oz whole milk ricotta

1 large egg

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups Mozzarella, shredded

Instructions:

1. Slice the eggplant lengthwise into 1/8 inch slices.  Lay slices on double layers of paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and allow to sit for 20 minutes until.  This is to remove the moisture from the eggplant.  Using another double layer of paper towels, sop up the moisture that results and brush excess salt off slices.  Set aside.

2. In a large skillet over med-high heat, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Cook the onions over med-high heat until they start to become translucent.  Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink.  Add garlic and cook and stir for about a minute more.  Drain this mixture.  

3. In a prepared casserole dish,, pour in about 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce. Pour remaining sauce into meat mixture and mix well.  Cook for about 2 minutes and then add basil and mix well.  Cook for about 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

4. Meanwhile, stir together ricotta, egg, and parmesan cheese until well mixed. 

5. To assemble, place about 6 slices of eggplant into casserole over sauce.  Spoon about half of the ricotta mixture over eggplant and spread evenly.  Spoon 1/3 of sauce over ricotta and sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella.  Repeat those layers once.  Then layer on remaining slices of eggplant and sauce and top with the remaining mozzarella.  Cover and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is browned.

Note: The eggplant was a bit al dente in this initial run.  I would suggest cooking the slices for a short while before layering them in the casserole.  Or you could increase the covered cooking time to 40 minutes.

Zucchini and Corn

I needed a recipe for my sister's picnic tomorrow and wanted a fresh side to take advantage of the fresh produce at the farmers market. Not sure exactly how I ended up looking at recipes with zucchini and corn, but I ran across this recipe with lime to brighten the flavors. And, I found some really pretty limes at the market this morning to keep it really fresh.

A good chef always tastes their recipes, right? I did, just to make sure the flavors balanced. I love this dish! I will have to file this recipe away! It ranks right up there with ratatouille in my book.

Parmesan Zucchini and Corn
Adapted from: http://damndelicious.net/2014/07/12/parmesan-zucchini-corn/?m

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic*, minced
8 medium zucchini*
2 cups fresh corn kernels*
1/2 tsp oregano, dried
1/2 tsp basil, dried
1/4 tsp thyme, dried
Salt and pepper, to taste
Juice of 2 limes
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan, or to taste

Chop the zucchini. Cut kernels from cobs. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for one minute or until fragrent. Add zucchini, corn, oregano, basil and thyme. Cook, stirring occassionally, until zucchini is tender and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in lime juice and cilantro. Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese.

Ramp Pesto

I ventured down to the farmers market this morning in 40-something weather.  Not my idea of great weather to be wandering around an outdoor farmers market.  However, it was WELL worth the trip!  At the second to last stand I stopped at, I found ramps!  Oh Yeah!  If you've been following me all these years, you know that I adore ramps.  And today, they put and extra bunch in my bag as I checked out.  So, I decided to make pesto with the extra batch.  I make basil pesto and garlic scape pesto every year, but I have never made it with ramps before because I generally only have enough to make whatever dish I planned.  Well, now that I've made a batch, I will probably make it every year now.  Out of the three versions, this ramp pesto is my favorite! 

Ramp Pesto

• 1 bunch of ramps* (leaves and stems only - about 10)
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
• 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice
• Extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Wash and dry ramps and baby spinach.  Cut ramp leaves and stems into 1-inch pieces.  Add ramps, spinach, parmesan and walnuts to food processor.  Plus until small pieces.  Switch to puree; add lemon juice and then slowly add olive oil until pesto is desired consistency.  Taste to adjust seasoning (you may add salt and pepper if you desire, or more lemon juice).  Store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days or freeze up to 30 days.  Best flavor if warmed.

*Farmers market ingredients

I Can't Believe It! Garlic Scapes!

I will admit that when this season started I thought I was going to miss out on all my favorite strange veggies.  Gotta hand it to the farmers at the Midland Farmers Market!  They have come through for me! This morning, I found garlic scapes!  It's been a couple years since I have had enough scapes to make pesto and I ran out of my stock about a year ago, so you can imagine that I am thrilled to have found these.  As with any recipe I make, what I put into it depends on what I have available.  Since I didn't buy anymore greens this week, I had to rely on what I have growing.  So, this pesto turned out a little less green than the batches I've made before.  What I had available was basil (which I have never included in my garlic scape pesto before) and burgundy Swiss chard. I have always used spinach in the past which kept the green theme going.  The burgundy chard did not change the color THAT much, but you can tell it's not the same.  I also didn't have pine nuts this time, so I decided to try almonds.  It definitely gives a different flavor to the mix.

Garlic Scape Pesto with Swiss Chard and Almonds

• 1 bunch garlic scapes**
• 5 leaves burgundy Swiss chard**
• 1/4 cup basil leaves**
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup roasted almonds
• Olive Oil

Wash the scapes, chard and basil leaves to remove grit.  Cut scapes into 2" pieces and add to the blender.  Break chard and basil leaves into bite-sized pieces and add to blender.  Add parmesan and lemon juice.  Place top on blender and process, on Puree, slowly adding olive oil until the mixture reaches the desired consistency.  Add the almonds and puree, adding more olive oil as needed, until smooth.  You may store in the refrigerator for up to a month or freeze.  I find it works very well to pour into ice cube trays to freeze as that size is about what you need for recipes.

**Farmers market ingredients

Fresh Michigan Produce: Beets, Greens and Asparagus!

I LOVE summer!  And I love being in Michigan in the summer.  This week's farmers market purchases included fresh Michigan asparagus and beets with beautiful greens!  I also found candy cane onions and garlic scapes.  But this post is about the first group of produce.  I needed to find a way to use those beet greens before I leave for my conference, so I took a look at what I could do with those and my CSA eggs.  What I found was a strata recipe that sounded very yummy.  I had pancetta in the freezer, so I thawed that to use for flavoring.  I also had a loaf of beautiful Italian sourdough that I really need to use before I go as well.  By combining these items with my CSA eggs and a queso quesadilla cheese, I came up with a beautiful strata.

The beets and the asparagus, I roasted.  I will put the directions for each further down in this post.  I just adore fresh summer vegetables and cannot wait to start receiving my Harvest Share the week after returning from my conference.  It will make teaching summer semester much more bearable ;).

Beet Green Strata

• 3 slices herb pancetta, diced
• 1 bunch beet greens**
• 1/2 loaf (about 3 cups) Italian Sourdough bread, broken into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 3 large farm fresh eggs*
• 1 cup queso quesadilla cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• salt & pepper, to taste

Wash beet greens by placing in a large bowl with water.  Change water several times to ensure removal of all grit.  Cut stems from leaves and cut into 1/2" pieces.  Layer the leaves and cut into 1/2" strips.  Set aside.  Heat large skillet over medium heat.  Add pancetta to pan and cook until browned.  Remove pancetta from pan and set aside.  Add beet green stems and mix with pancetta drippings. Cook about 4 minutes or until the are just starting to get tender.  Add the greens, a portion at a time, and cook until just wilted.  Add a splash of water, cover, and cook 2-3 more minutes or until stems are soft.  Add cooked pancetta, half the chees and bread cubes.  Mix well and then pour into a 13 x 9 baking pan.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs and milk with salt and pepper to taste, until custard consistency.  Sprinkle remaining cheeses over filling and then carefully pour egg mixture over the filling.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight.  In the morning, warm casserole to room temperature.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake strata for 40-45 minutes until the top is brown and bubbly. 

*Middleton Farms CSA ingredients
*Farmers market ingredients

Roasted Beets and Asparagus

• 1 bunch beets*
• 1 bunch Michigan asparagus*

Preheat oven to 400F.

Scrub beets and remove tops.  Place in a baking dish with a splash of water.  Roast, covered, for 45 minutes.  When beets are done, you should be able to pierce them with a knife without resistance.  Remove from dish and cool enough to handle.  Using a paper towel, slip the skins from the beets (they skins should just slide off).  Cut into wedges and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle with olive oil and basalmic vinegar; mix well.

Break woody ends off asparagus (hold at either end and bend.  The woody end should break off).  Place in a ziploc bag.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Shake bag to coat evenly.  Place asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast for 8 minutes.  Remove the pieces that area cooked (the thinner ones) and turn the remaining pieces.  Roast for another 5 minutes.  Check to see if the thickest pieces are cooked.  Remove to a plate and serve.

*Farmers market ingredients

Purple Kale

The problem with going to the farmers market is that I have this terrible problem with wanting to purchase any fresh produce that looks beautiful.  I cannot resist, even when I should!  And given the fact that I am leaving for a meeting in just over a week, I should resist.  This weekend, the produce that looked beautiful was purple kale and beets with beautiful greens.  Thankfully, my husband is here, so I can share my quiches with him today and then when I drive to Detroit for my flights.  So, today, I am making a quiche with the purple quiche and then later this week, I will make one with the beet greens (and even possibly the beets).

To round out the ingredients for today's quiche, I had purchased some pork breakfast sausage from my CSA provider Middleton Farms, LLC (http://www.middletonfarmcsa.com/).  I will use it for the next quiche as well and I must say that I tasted it and it is lovely.  When I arrived to pick up my eggs this week, they told me that they had read my blog.  I am so pleased that my blog is gaining interest in Midland.  I hope that I do am able to highlight their CSA as well as I was able to highlight Fresh Fork while I was with them.  I also used more of the sun-dried tomatoes that I purchased from Beyond Measure (http://beyondmeasurebulkfoods.com/), our local bulk foods store.  And my cheese of choice today was queso quesadilla.  Oh yes, I also used some fresh basil from my little garden. 

I do also want to mention that one of the vendors at the market had potted Swiss chard this week.  I adore fresh Swiss chard, so I purchased one.  It has three plants growing in it and I should be able to keep it in the pot as I use the leaves up.  I should have fresh greens all summer (not that I probably won't get as many as I want from my Harvest Share). 

Kale Sausage Quiche with Fresh Basil

• 1 bunch purple kale**
• 1 clove garlic
• 6 pork breakfast sausage links*
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes***
• 5 fresh basil leaves
• 5 farm fresh eggs*
• 1 cup queso quesadilla, shredded
• 2 Tbsp grated parmesan
• 1 1/4 cups 1/2% milk
•  salt and pepper to taste

Wash kale and remove stems.  Allow to drain.  Heat small skillet over medium heat.  Add sausage and cook until just about done.  Set aside.  Add kale and garlic to skillet and cover; cook for about 5 minutes or until the kale is wilted.  Cut sausage into 1/2 inch pieces and mix with kale in bottom of a prepared baking dish.  Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and basil.  Mix into the kale and sausage.  Sprinkle the cheeses over the filling.  In a medium bowl, beat the eggs.  Add salt and pepper and then beat in the milk until the mixture is smooth and uniform.  Pour carefully over fillings and bake in a 350F oven for 45 minutes or until a knife, inserted into the center, comes out clean.  Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*CSA ingredients from Middleton Farms, LLC (http://www.middletonfarmcsa.com/)
**Farmers market items from Shari at the Willard Hilton (http://www.shariatthewillardhillton.com/)
***Ingredients from Beyond Measure Bulk Foods (http://beyondmeasurebulkfoods.com/)

Strata time!

On Wednesday morning, I met with my orthopedic surgeon and scheduled my knee-replacement surgery.  Because I have not managed to lose any of the remaining weight, he would not agree to replace both knees at the same time.  He also said that he didn’t think the right knee necessarily needed replacement at this time.  I sure hope he’s right.  I will admit that I have been making every excuse in the world to not cook for myself lately.  I suppose the fact that people tend to feed you when there is a death in the family makes it easy for me to make excuses.  Whatever the reason, I really wanted something home-cooked this morning.  Since I don’t have to be anywhere until 11am this morning (when I will go for my personal training session), I decided to make breakfast.  I had a bunch of asparagus in the refrigerator and a few leftover biscuits.  While I normally make crustless quiches for breakfast, I decided to put those biscuits to use and make a strata instead.  This probably would have been better if I had decided to do this last night, however, stratas will work if you have a bit of time to let them sit before baking.  I am glad that I had asparagus because the warmer temperatures yesterday made me long for spring/summer.  I have signed up for my new CSA, but that program will not start until June.  I do, however, get to start getting farm-fresh eggs starting in May. 

Asparagus Biscuit Strata

• 3 buttermilk biscuits
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 cup Swiss cheese
• 5 extra-large eggs
• 1 ½ cups 1% milk
•  ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
• Italian seasoning, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350F.  Break up biscuits into a prepared casserole dish.  Cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces; steam in the microwave for 4 minutes.  Mix with biscuits in casserole.  Sprinkle cheese over fillings.  Beat eggs with milk, parmesan cheese, and seasonings.  Pour over fillings and allow to stand for at least 15 minutes (may make in advance and refrigerate overnight).  If made the day before, take casserole out of refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.  Bake for 35 minutes or until a knife, inserted in the center, comes out clean. 

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

Carbonara (Low-carb)

I know it's been a really long time since I posted a recipe. It's been a crazy few months! I haven't actually been doing much cooking. But now that my life is straightening out I'll try to get on here more often. Tonight, I needed to use a spaghetti squash (my now favorite pasta substitute). I was thinking tetrazzi but it took to long for me to figure out the recipe, so I settled for carbonara. (yeah, right, settled). I am a purist when it comes to carbonara. I does NOT have cream in it. It is a hunter's dish and dairy wouldn't survive hunts. So, be aware that it has slightly undercooked eggs in it and that is always a risk. (there's my disclaimer) But I've been making similar versions for decades and never had a problem. You may choose to cook it longer, but know it will resemble scrambled eggs if you do, instead of a nice creamed sauce.

 Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

•  4 slices thick-cut bacon*
•  8 oz sliced porcini mushrooms 
•  1 cup frozen peas
•  1 medium spaghetti squash*, cooked
•  1 medium onion*, diced
•  2 cloves garlic*, minced
• 3 eggs*
• salt and pepper
• 1/2cup parmesan, shredded

Cook bacon in skillet until crispy. Remove bacon, cool, and break into bite-sized pieces. Add mushrooms, onions and garlic to bacon fat. Cook until onions and mushrooms are soft. Add spaghetti squash and heat through. whip eggs with salt and pepper; add parmesan. Remove vegetables from burner. Pour eggs over vegetables and mix well. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, until parmesan is melted. Serve with additional parmesan.

*CSA ingredients 

Garlic Scapes!!!

One of the biggest perks of getting CSA shares is the variety of vegetables that you could receive.  This week we got garlic scapes, yet another first for me.  Garlic scapes are the green shoots that grown out of garlic cloves.  They are curly and may have flowers on them.  And there is a variety of things that you can make with them.  They can be sauteed and used in place of garlic and/or onions.  But what intrigued me most was the idea of making pesto with them.  This is where another first comes in.  I have never made pesto before.  Being a bit Italian, I love a good fresh pesto and this sounded like a great idea.  Besides, I picked up some pignolia when I was at the market earlier this week, so there's another reason to give it a try!

The batch of scapes we received was less than what was called for in any recipe that I looked at (I like to look at many recipes and then create my own).  I also got a nice bunch of fresh spinach in my package, so I decided to supplement the scapes with spinach.  Here's what I came up with:

Garlic Scape & Spinach Pesto

• 1 bunch of garlic scapes (about 1/4 lb)*
• 4 large leaves spinach (or 1 cup baby spinach)*
• 3/4 C grated parmesan
• 1/2 C fresh lemon juice
• Olive oil
• 1/3 C pine nuts

Wash scapes and spinach; dry.  Cut garlic scapes into 4" pieces (including flowers); place in blender.  Break spinach leaves up into bite-sized pieces; place in blender.  Add parmesan cheese and lemon juice and begin blending.  Slowly add olive oil while blending until all vegetables have been pureed.  Add pine nuts and continue blending and adding olive oil until pine nuts are pureed and the pesto is a good consistancy.  Serving size 1-2 Tbsp.  May be used as spread on sandwiches, on pasta, or as a dip.

* CSA ingredients


This pesto has quite a bite to it, so it will probably be best used as a condiment, but not a bad first try at all!  Maybe I can find a way to use it with the chicken that is thawing in my refrigerator right now!