Clean Out The Fridge Quiche

I know I've posted about quiche before, but I had a different take on it today.  Sometimes quiche is such a great thing to make with leftovers.  In the fridge we had some leftover ham, a few green onions, and a small piece of cheddar cheese.  Making a quiche came to mind as a good way to use up these items in a different form other than an omelet, which was my initial thought. 

The pie crust I used this time was so fantastic.  As I have mentioned too many times before, pie crusts and I are not friends.  When I put this quiche together, I think we begrudgingly came to at least a cease fire.  I used a recipe in the Fanny Farmer Cookbook.  Plain and simple. I used butter, though shortening is acceptable.  I just prefer the taste of a butter crust.  After a 15 minute sit in the freezer, it rolled out perfectly.  It made me happy.

Fannie Farmer's Basic Pie Crust
(makes crust for one 9" pie)

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening (butter or Crisco) well chilled and cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp salt
4-5 Tbsp. ice water

Place flour and salt in food processor and give it a few pulses.  Add butter and pulse 10-15 times until mixture resembles small peas.  Add 3-4 Tbsp. water. Pulse until mixture comes together in a loose ball.  Add more water if needed.  Dump out onto plastic wrap and form into a disc.  Wrap well and place in freezer for 15 min.  Roll out into diameter, approximately 1/2 inch greater than pie dish.  Gently place into pie dish without stretching dough.  Cut off any excess around the edges and crimp as desired.

Quiche Recipe

Please refer to my recipe found here for the basics and add your own combinations of fillings or cheeses.  Be Creative!

Easter Eggs

Eggs are cheap, cheap, cheap (that's said in a chicken's voice) right now.  Easter brings dozens of eggs to the grocery store and coupons in the paper to buy them so I can't resist purchasing a couple of dozen.  Using all of these eggs for two can be difficult.  Hard boil a few for egg salad sandwiches or deviled eggs, scramble a few for Sunday breakfast, and then what? 

Dessert!!  Custards, creme brulees, or this new favorite, flan.  Flan is a Spanish custard dish and it is very similar to the egg custard I usually make.  The difference is that it is cooked very slowly and in a water bath so it's texture is so smooth and delicate. Quite amazing.  What I love about this particular recipe is that there is no stove top cooking first.  Other custard recipes have required heating the milk first and separating eggs, risking curdling of the hot egg mixture.  This one is easy and quick and the results are spectacular. The most recent April edition Bon Appetit magazine is the source of this recipe and as usual, it's a good one.

FLAN
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Six 4-ounce ramekins
Preheat oven to 325°. Stir 1/4 cup sugar and 2 Tbsp. water in a medium heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until caramel is medium-dark amber, 5–6 minutes. Working quickly, divide caramel among ramekins, coating bottoms evenly. Let cool until hard.

Gently whisk remaining 1/3 cup sugar and eggs in a medium bowl. Add cream, half-and-half, and vanilla; gently whisk to combine (do not aerate). Let sit until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve set over a medium pitcher to eliminate air pockets.

Place ramekins in a roasting pan lined with a kitchen towel; place pan on a large rimmed baking sheet. Divide custard among ramekins. Pour hot water into roasting pan to reach a little more than halfway up sides of ramekins. Cover pan with foil, crimping to seal. Carefully transfer to oven; cook for 25 minutes. Rotate pan. Cook until custard is set but center still jiggles when dish is nudged, 20–25 minutes longer.

Uncover roasting pan. Let flan cool in pan for 30 minutes. Remove ramekins and let cool completely. Cover with plastic; chill overnight.

Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving. Unmold flans onto plates.

Tastes Of The Past

As a teenager, my younger sister Peggy, my best friends Patti, Debbie and I would often scrape our money together and go to the neighborhood Chinese restaurant for a delicious meal.  This restaurant was the quintessential Chinese restaurant with red leather banquette seats, Chinese lantern lights hanging from the ceiling and painted rural Chinese scenes on the walls.  It was on the same block in town as the bakery, five and dime store and the hardware store. 

I can only remember two things for certain that we would consistently order and that was the delicious barbequed pork egg foo yung and egg rolls.   The egg foo yung would arrive with three overstuffed patties filled with bean sprouts, onion and slivers of overly pink pork all encased in fluffy scrambled egg with a dark sauce-like gravy to put over the top. 

In all the years since, I have never tasted egg foo yung quite as good as that.  I thought that perhaps I could make my own and see if I could come anywhere close to those delectable eggy patties.  I think I came pretty darn close on my first attempt.  I actually bought some BBQ pork from a Chinese restaurant then went to the local Asian store to buy some sprouts and water chestnuts. 

This is a fairly simple recipe to make and much of the chopping can be done ahead of time.  When I make this again, I think I will try pouring the egg mixture into a round 4" ring mold to cook so the patties are a little more uniform in appearance.  Serve with white or fried rice and a green veggie such as broccoli or beans and you have a great dinner.

Barbequed Pork Egg Foo Yung

8 oz. bean sprouts, washed and drained
1 cup finely diced Chinese style barbequed pork
8 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup diced canned water chestnuts
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Gravy

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water.

Stir bean sprouts, water chestnuts, pork, eggs, green onions and salt together just to blend.  Heat oil in large frying pan over medium high.  Pour 1/2 cup egg mixture into pan.  Push cooked egg up over pork/veggies with broad spatula to form a patty.  Fry patty until set and golden brown, turning once about 4 minutes.  Repeat with remaining egg mixture, adding more oil as needed.  Keep patties warm in a 300 degree oven.

Heat chicken broth, soy sauce, salt and pepper to boiling.  Mix cornstarch and water; stir into broth mixture.  Cook and stir until thickened, about 10 seconds.  Serve with Egg Foo Yung patties.  (Makes 5-6 patties)

Meringues

I posted about custard not long ago and discussed how I was looking for recipes to use all the fresh farm eggs I have on hand. Since custard uses more yolks than whites, I decided to make some little bite size meringue cookies with the leftover whites. These are so simple to make and best of all, low in cholesterol (to make up for the rich custard!!)

These can be simply spooned onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet or as I did, pipe them decoratively onto the sheet. I learned by watching Martha Stewart that the easiest way to fill a big pastry bag is to put it into a large glass and fill it up. This keeps the bag stable and there isn't filling all over the place. It's a great tip.Another good thing to do with meringue is to pipe it into the shape of a round hollowed out shell and when done, fill the shell with fresh berries and a dollop of whipped cream. This is an elegant, yet easy dessert too.

Meringue Cookies

4 egg whites at room temperature

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

pinch of kosher salt

1 cup superfine granulated sugar, divided

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200 deg F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt on high speed until frothy. Add 2/3 cup of sugar and continue beating on high speed until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully, by hand, fold the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar into the meringue. With a large star-shaped pastry tip, pipe approximately 2 inch cookies onto prepared cookie sheet.Bake for 2 hours or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight. Store in an airtight container.

Baked Caramel Egg Custard

I've been obsessed lately with recipes utilizing the wonderful eggs my co-worker has been bringing in by the DOZENS. His hens, eight of them, are laying an egg a day. Some he claims are laying two a day. They must be very happy chickens.

Today's recipe is an old fashioned baked caramel custard. It is sublime. Eggy, creamy, sweet with a light caramel sauce on the bottom and fairly easy to make. The secret to a very creamy custard is to cook it in a bain marie, or water bath. This just means to put the cooking vessel, in my case a casserole dish, in a larger pan and surround the casserole dish with water about half way up. This is then baked at a low temperature so as not to curdle the delicate mixture.

After it is thoroughly cooled, you just scoop out the custard into individual serving dishes and then spoon the wonderful, caramel syrup over the custard. Enjoy!

Baked Caramel Egg Custard
3 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups very hot milk
1/2 cup sugar for caramel

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a heavy frying pan put 1/2 cup sugar over medium high and swirl sugar around until it turns liquid. Watch very carefully and swirl often or the caramel will burn and be bitter and unusable. Pour this caramel sauce into the bottom of a 3 quart casserole dish sprayed with vegetable spray and set aside. The caramel will harden but that's okay, after baking it turns liquid again. Heat the milk in a saucepan until very hot but not boiling. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and salt together until combined. Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, until combined then add vanilla. Pour the custard mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Place the dish into a larger pan, put in oven then pour hot water around the casserole to fill up to half the sides of the dish. Cook for 50 minutes until custard is totally set but still somewhat jiggly. Take out of bain marie and set aside to cool for an hour then put in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.

Hit and Miss

Sometimes I make something that sounds so delicious and I think it will be something both The Husband I will like and, alas, it doesn't turn out to be so. This is one of those dishes. We both love Chile Rellenos and often order them when we go out for Mexican food. I actually had never even thought to order such a think prior to tasting it when The Husband ordered it once.

There is a restaurant in Corvallis, Oregon called Bombs Away Cafe where they make the most wonderful Chile Rellenos I have ever had. They use these fresh, big chilies and stuff them with cheese and then bake them and serve them with a choice of red or green sauce. They are really to die for. Well worth the 40 mile round trip!

Anyway back to this recipe. It's a Chile Relleno Souffle and it looked like it combined all the components of a good Chile Relleno without having to do all that frying. I did learn a new cooking technique I had never tried before which was charing the peppers in order to get the skins off and it worked very well. The bottom line is this; I loved this dish and The Husband, not so much. He didn't like "all the peppers" which is ironic, don't you think? If you're a fan of Chile Rellenos I would highly suggest trying this recipe.Chile Relleno Souffle

1 1/2 lbs. whole green chilies (Anaheim or New Mexico)

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tsp. salt

4 corn tortillas (6 inches each) cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 lb. Monterey jack cheese (I used a Mexican cheese blend of shredded cheeses)

4 large eggs, separated

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Hot sauce and/or salsa and sour cream to serve on the side

Preheat broiler. Arrange chilies on a baking sheet in a single layer and broil on all sides until charred. Wrap in foil and let sit 15 minutes. Remove charred skin, stems and seeds, then chop chilies into small pieces and set aside.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat, add onion and 1 tsp. salt and saute until onions are soft. Add the tortillas and stir to coat. Transfer this mixture into a greased 8 x 8 baking pan. Sprinkle half the chopped chilies and half the cheese on top.

In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks with the flour. In a large clean bowl, beat egg whites and remaining 1 tsp. of salt until soft peaks form. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites and mix until combined. With a spatula, spread half the egg mixture on the casserole. Sprinkle remaining chilies on top then cover with rest of egg mixture and sprinkle top with remaining cheese. Bake until golden and puffy, 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve with hot sauce or salsa. Serves 4 generously.

Cosmopolitan Quiche

When I was a fresh out of college, a month didn't go by when I didn't purchase a copy of the latest Cosmopolitan magazine. I read it cover to cover hoping Helen Gurley Brown and her staff could teach me the secrets of being a successful single gal in the 80's. They tried to teach me how to wear fashionable clothes, put on my makeup the right way, how to accessorize and most importantly, how to turn my man on so no other girl would steal him away.

Alas, none of these lessons really took with me at the time. But one very invaluable lesson I learned from my Cosmopolitan magazines was how to make the most fabulous quiche ever. I think quiche is one of those dishes that comes in and out of favor and whenever I make one I think to myself "why don't I make this more often?" It covers so many yummy food bases: eggs, bacon, veggies, cheese, half and half and it is very easy to make if you go with the pre-made pie crust. So with that, I share with you my all time favorite quiche recipe.

Cosmopolitan Quiche

1 9 inch deep dish frozen pie crust (Prebake for 10 minutes at 375 deg)

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups half and half

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

8 slices bacon

1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese

1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and wrung out of extra moisture

1/4 cup finely diced onion

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fry bacon, drain and crumble. Saute onion until lightly browned.

Beat eggs, half and half and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. After pie crust is pre-baked, put bacon and onions on bottom of crust, then spinach, then grated cheese. Carefully pour egg/cream mixture over the top. Place unbaked quiche on a cookie sheet (in case of spills) and bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

A Culinary Eggs-Periment

I've never made, nor for that matter, have I ever eaten a souffle. Reading various recipes over the years, they always seemed doomed for disaster. Have we all not heard of the harried cook making a special supper of a souffle for his/her company and it falling before it ever reaches the table? Additionally, it is something that has to be timed so that your guests are seated and ready when the main event comes out of the oven. A souffle awaits no one.

Since one of my goals of this cooking blog is to venture out and try new (and sometimes scary) recipes, now is as good a time as any to try my hand at the classic cheese souffle. I searched through a few of my cookbooks and have decided to go for the recipe included in Julia Child's very complete and thorough The Way To Cook cookbook. Since Julia's recipe is so detailed and there are so many souffle recipes available, I am not going to write out this recipe today.

One of the things I like about the idea of a cheese souffle is that the ingredients are so very simple: eggs, milk, cheese, butter, a few seasonings, lots of air and voila, an impressive dish. I was able to obtain local eggs, milk and wonderful Tillamook extra sharp cheddar cheese, thus practicing my utilization of local products for the majority of this recipe.

In reading this particular recipe, the process seems quite simple. I made a bechamel sauce and when thickened, added the seasonings then the 4 egg yolks after the sauce had cooled a few minutes. I whisked each one individually until well incorporated.

This stood for a few minutes while I got out the much beloved Kitchenaide mixer (Thanks my darling man, The Husband, for the best gift you ever gave me) and beat 5 egg whites until stiff, shiny peaks formed. In everything I've read about souffles, this is a key step. Apparently if the whites are overbeaten, it will result in a dry, tough souffle. The next step was to fold the sauce mixture into the whites. I took a large dollop of the whites and stirred them into the sauce to lighten the mixture, then gently folded the sauce into the rest of the whites using the classic folding method of cutting through the mixture in the middle, going down to the bottom and repeating until everything was well incorporated. The grated cheese was also folded in a handful at a time. The key to this process is to not overfold and deflate the volume of the whites.

This mixture was poured into my prepared dish which I buttered and dusted with 2 Tbsp of parmesan cheese. I then attached a greased aluminum foil collar around the dish using straight pins in order to create a method for the souffle to rise above the top of the dish without collapsing on itself.

The oven was preheated to 400 degrees and when I put the souffle in, I turned it down to 375 degrees where it baked for 25 minutes. Accoring to the instructions, it is imperative that the oven door is not open during the first 20 minutes of cooking or the souffle will deflate like a man in a cold shower.

The souffle actually needed 30 minutes in my oven but it turned out just fine. It was very tasty, airy, perfectly seasoned and most cheesy. It was served with asparagus, tomatoes dressed with a touch of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, crusty french bread and a glass of sauvignon blanc. Though it was a fine dinner, it may be awhile before I attempt again, as it was a lot of work and, call me a redneck if you will, scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese are just as good with far less effort. I'm glad I gave it a whirl and now I can check that off my list of things to do before I die!