quiche

My fiance and I have a special food relationship.  We fell in love over food.  Breakfast first-date at IHOP, me cooking him dinner in the first week of us dating, him cooking me dinner (his famous shepard's pie, and his soooo good steak)

 I do believe that good food can sway a persons feelings.  Isn't is easier to love a good cook?  I have many recipes that he goes nuts for such as: pumpkin pie (I will post it closer to thanksgiving) banana bread, and newly added quiche.

  

Quiche

4 eggs

2 cups milk

Salt and pepper

4 ounces shredded cheddar

2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell

1/2 lb asparagus (cut to 1/2 inch)

1/2 lb bacon

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Cook bacon until crispy, preferably in an iron skillet.  Remove the bacon saving the grease in the pan, and cooking the asparagus in it.
3. Whisk together eggs and milk. Add seasonings. Add crumbled bacon and asparagus and mix. 
4. Place shredded cheddar and mozzarella in the pie shell. Pour egg mixture over cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F baking for 25 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling is set. Allow to set 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

enjoy!

mulled wine

Happy Friday!

To celebrate the weekend I thought a recipe for Mulled Wine would be appropriate. 

Mulled Wine is great for parties, I like to think of it at Winter Sangria.  Most people are iffy on it, "Hot wine?"  "Mold wine?"- some comments at our last function.  But once they take a swig, it's only minutes, and a cup later, before they are serving themselves another drink.

For a basic Mulled Wine use this recipe.

I wanted to experiment a little bit to make more of  a Mulled Wine/Winter Sangria hybrid.  Here's what I came up with.

 

Ingredients

• 2 bottles dry red wine
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 12 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 tangerines, zested and then juiced
• 1/2 a red grapefruit cut into half circle slices
• 1 plum cubed
• 1 apple cubed

Directions

Combine ingredients in a large pot until. Do not allow mixture to boil, this will cook away your buzz!  For informal events I would keep in pot. If need be, pour into a heat resistant punch bowl.

*For the party I used a crock pot set to warm, and doubled the ingredients.

pita chips

I love pita chips, and they are so easy to make.  Wonderful crumbled into soups, or served on the side to dip into hummus, these are a party staple.

Ingredients

• 3 Soft whole wheat tortilla wraps
• e.v.o.o.
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika or Cayenne
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Cumin
• Preheated oven to 375F

1. Cut tortilla into strips of your desired size.
2. Put in baking pan spread out, you may need two pans.
3. Drizzle olive oil evenly and shake pan to coat.
4. Season to liking.
5. Bake for 5-10 minutes checking often as to not burn them  Depending on the types of tortillas and type of pan, cook time may change. 
   
   * I know these are not real pita chips, but this recipe may be used with soft pitas too, I just like the tortillas to serve in soups.

italian wedding soup

This soup is from my Italian side of the family.  I make it garlic strong, with meaty escarole.  Best served with polenta, but maybe next time.  Hands down, it's one of my (and anyone who has it) favorites.

I use this recipe, but usually will substitute the ground pork/beef mixture for 16 oz ground turkey (I don't know why, but ground pork sceeves me out) for a low(er) fat option.

I love to crumble pita chips into this soup, coming soon! 

cheesy herb biscuits

To complement all of our soups, especially the New England Clam Chowder, I made cheesy herb biscuits basing it on this and this recipe, making a wonderful mix of the two.  I do urge you to try them separately as well.

Here's my final version.

Ingredients

• 4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 tbs baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1tbs fresh sage
• 1tbs fresh rosemary
• 1tbs fresh chives

Butter mixture for brushing

• 4 tbs melted butter
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• dash of salt

1. Preheat oven to 475F.  Use an insulated (such as an airbake ) cookie sheet, if you don't have one use a double cookie sheet, these will burn if you are not careful.  Lightly oil the cookie sheet with e.v.o.o.
2. Add flour, baking powder, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, herbs and cheese in a bowl and blend.
3. Add milk and olive oil.
4. Stir together and use an ice cream scoop to form biscuits.
5. Bake in total for 10-12 minutes, mid way brush on butter mixture, keep an eye on them in the end.
6. Serve warm, after they cool they are delicious crumbled in your soup.

new england clam chowder



You're not cooking if you're not a little messy.



A couple of weeks ago my fiance and I went to a local pub called The Hungry Peddler.  It was homey with it's random instruments and old pictures hanging from everywhere, the Octoberfest beer was the ideal temperature, but oh the New England clam chowder.

Ever since that cup before my steak came out, I have been dreaming of it.  Most people dream about money, I dream about food... a lot, and what I want to make next.  No joke, I really daydream about food.





After finding this recipe I decided to alter it, of course, but only slightly*.

*Instead of using (2) 10 oz cans of chopped clams in juice (I couldn't find 10 oz cans) I used (4) 6.5 oz cans for a stronger taste.  I also used a potato smasher after the potatoes were soft to give the soup a creamy texture.

drunken stew

This is my first attempt at making a stew.  And I must say I am happy with the result.   That's a lot for me to say coming from a long line of great stew cooks (and just cooks in general). My Mom makes the best stew known to mankind.  It's a maelstrom of flavor, chock full of veggies, slow cooked into tender morsels.  It's been years since I've had it, but can still smell it.

My Grandma makes a Brisket, cooked for 8 hours, tender, flavorful explosion in your mouth that always makes the Jewish Holidays, well, feel like a Jewish Holiday.

Needless to say I have high expectations.

I started out with this basic recipe.  But ended up making a mix of all three.  NOTE: You don't need  a slow cooker for this recipe, I used an iron skillet to brown the beef, and then a dutch oven to cook the stew overnight on the lowest oven setting.  But if you have a slow cooker, it is more energy efficient than running an oven on low for10 hours... sorry mother nature.  I call it drunken stew because I marinate the beef in red wine over night, but use beer in the broth, and a few more beers to drink while I cook.

Over Night Marinade for London Broil

•  1 cup add more if needed...red, red, wine. (I had too)
• Seasoning (cumin, jane's krazy salt, paprika, black pepper, onion powder)
• 1 TBS olive oil

1. Sprinkle all your seasonings on both sides of the meat.
2. Add wine and olive oil and let sit over night, or while you're at work.  Approx 8 hours.
3. Discard marinade.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef ( I used London broil)
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 TBS unsalted butter
• 2 TS Janes Krazy salt
• 3/4 TS black pepper
• 1 TS dried leaf thyme
• 1 TS dried ground marjoram
• 1 TS dried l fresh garden basil
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 5 garlic cloves in food processor
• 12oz chicken broth (get the one with NO MSG!)
• 1 can or bottle (12 ounce) beer ( I used Sierra Nevada with a strong hops taste)
• 4 medium carrots, chopped in 1-inch pieces
• 4 medium to large potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 
  

  1 large onion in food processor
• *1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• *1/4 cup cold water

Preparation:

1. Remove meat from marinade and cut into 1 inch cubes.
2. Add the onions, oil, butter, garlic, and meat and brown.
3. Add the beer to the skillet and reduce heat.
4. Add the broth, vegetables, and all the seasonings.  If you are working with dried seasonings I would recommend using a Mortar & Pestle (I have small wooden one) it releases the flavors.
5. Add the browned meat to the dutch oven, cook at 350F for 90 minutes.
6. Reduce the oven temperature to 200F over night.
7. In the morning you will have delicious stew.
8. * If you want a thicker stew in a small bowl or cup mix the flour and cold water until smooth; stir into the stew until hot and thickened (I didn't feel the need to do this step.)

Serves 6 generously.