Quiche Florentine

I first made this quiche months ago when I had some leftover spinach that I had to creatively use up so that John would eat it. I figured anything covered in cheese would do. It turned out SO good.. and pretty to boot!

Last weekend, I used the same recipe to create the mini quiches for Liz's baby shower. I just cut the pie crust with a little biscuit cutter and baked the quiches in mini muffin tins. Cute and portable!


Once again, I got the recipe from Tasty Kitchen.

The Best Quiche Ever!
Sprucehill

• 6 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Heavy Cream (I substitute skim milk and it is fine)
  
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ⅛ teaspoons Nutmeg
• 1 dash Cayenne Pepper
• 2 cups Grated Swiss Cheese (I've used cheddar)
  
• ¼ cups Chopped Onions
• 1 whole Pastry Pie Crust

**Feel free to add in veggies and meat! I've done both bacon and sausage as well as the spinach.

-Mix all the liquid ingredients and seasonings together in a bowl. Do not over mix it; I just whisk it together.

-Use your favorite pastry pie crust recipe. I do not have one that I love, so I usually use a pre-made crust (gasp). It is easy and quick and it saves me a lot of time. Pioneer Woman has a good crust recipe on her site.

-Place your grated cheese, onions and whatever filling you choose to put in your quiche in your pastry crust. Sprinkle it around and make sure it is all evenly distributed. Pour the egg mixture over the filling ingredients. You can add a bit more cheese on the top if you like.

-Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes or until it starts to get nice and brown on top. After it comes out of the oven, let it sit for about 10 minutes. It will make it easier to cut and serve.

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Stuffed Zucchini

This was delish. Even John didn't complain too much (which is AMAZING given the amount of veggies that this meal contained). I pretty much just used Annie's recipe. I used 97% fat free ground turkey in lieu of sausage. Also after I hollowed the zucchini, I sprinkled a little steak seasoning in the shell. I love some steak seasoning.


C&P from Annie's Eats:

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Ingredients:
1 zucchini, about 12 inches long (or 2 6-inch)
2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
½ cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup mushrooms, chopped
1 lb. turkey sausage or ground turkey
2 tbsp. dry white wine
2-3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper

Directions:
Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides, leaving a shell about ¼-inch thick. Reserve about half of the insides.

In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté the onion and garlic until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and reserved zucchini insides to the skillet and sauté another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble in the sausage or ground turkey and cook until lightly browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cooked onion and mushroom mixture. Add the wine to the pan along with the tomatoes, basil and rosemary. Cook for 1 more minute. Drain of any excess fat, remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 375° F. Once the turkey mixture has cooled a bit, mix in the Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper. Fill the zucchini shells with the mixture. Fill a baking dish with ¼-inch of water. Place the filled zucchini shells in the pan and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the zucchini from the pan and serve immediately.

Source: adapted from Simply Recipes

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Pizza Cup Things

This recipe was straight up made up. I derived it from a dip recipe of Rachael Ray's that I loved. We were going to a party, so I wanted something portable. Thus, the birth of the Pizza Cup Things.


Pizza Cup Things
Samantha @ The Long Haul

1 medium onion, chopped finely
1 lb bulk sweet Italian sausage
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 .5 bricks of cream cheese (12 oz?), room temperature (I used low-fat)
1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
3/4 cup of tomato sauce
2 cans of refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2- Saute the sausage over medium heat, breaking it up into pieces as it cooks. Once the sausage is no longer pink and there is a bit of fat in the pan, add the onions and garlic. Continue cooking, stirring periodically, until the onions are translucent.

3- While the meat combination is cooking, spray 2 (24 cup) mini-muffin tins w/baking spray. Pop the crescent rolls cans open and break off pieces of the dough. Press the dough into the muffin tins and push up the sides to make a cup. I found it easiest to roll the dough into a ball first, approximately 1 inch in diameter, before pushing it into the cups.

4- Put the muffin tins into the oven for 3 minutes. The dough should puff up, but not change colors.

5- When you take the tins out of the oven, immediately use your thumb (or a spoon if the dough is too hot) to press the puffed-up dough back into a cup, the put aside. This first bake helps them hold their shape.

6- Put the cream cheese into a large mixing bowl. Add the sausage mixture. Stir to combine well. Once thoroughly combined, add parmesan cheese and tomato sauce. Stir to combine.

7- Scoop the cream cheese mixture into the dough cups (still in the muffin pan). You can mound them a bit on the top, but make sure you have enough for all of the cups first.

8- Garnish each filled cup with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese.

9- Put the muffin tins back into the oven. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until the mozzarella on top gets melty and gooey.

10- Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Once they are cool to the touch, pull the Pizza Cup Things out of the tins. These taste equally delicious warm and room temperature.

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Salami-Asiago Beer Bread

I love making beer breads because there is no need to let the bread rise. You basically combine the dry ingredients and then dumb in a can of beer and you are good to go.

This bread was the perfect pairing for the sausage mac and cheese. The salami flavor was mild and didn't overpower the bread and cheese flavors. And, for two non-beer drinkers, we loved the very mild, background beer taste that came from our liquid ingredient!



Salami-Asiago Beer Bread
Adapted from Cooking Light

Yield: 16 servings @ 14 calories each

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
13.5 oz all-purpose flour (about 3 cups)
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
3/4 cup Asiago cheese, shredded
1 (12 oz) bottle of lager-style beer (I used a Bud Light)
2 oz finely chopped salami
2 tbsp melted butter, divided

1- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2- Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion to pan; cook 10 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in pepper and garlic; cook 1 minute.
3- Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add onion mixture, cheese, and beer to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
4- Spoon batter into a 9x5" loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Drizzle 1 tbsp butter over batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Drizzle remaining 1 tbsp butter over batter. Bake an additional 25 minutes of until deep golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Mine took about 15 minutes instead of 25.) Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

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Stovetop Sausage Mac n Cheese

This recipe comes complements of Cooking Light. I printed this off of their website and Sunday was the perfect time to use it. The sausage flavor gets spread throughout the cheese sauce since the milk/flour mixture basically de-glazes the pan. Yum!

I paired the mac n cheese with a Salami and cheese beer bread (recipe to follow!).


Stovetop Sausage Mac and Cheese
From Cooking Light

Yields- 4 servings @ 433 calories each

• 4 ounces chicken and sun-dried tomato sausage (such as Gerhard's), chopped
• 1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup (about 1 1/3 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 5 cups hot cooked elbow macaroni (about 8 ounces uncooked pasta)
• Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

-Heat a large nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat.
-Add sausage; sauté 4 minutes or until browned.
-Combine milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add milk mixture to pan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
-Reduce heat to medium.
-Stir in cheeses, onion powder, and garlic salt; cook 3 minutes or until cheeses melt, stirring constantly.
-Stir in pasta.
-Garnish with parsley, if desired. Serve immediately.

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Rachael Ray's Jambasta

I love Rachael Ray, I don't care what other people say. My loyalty may be due in part to the fact that she got her start on my local upstate NY TV channel!

On the menu this week for Wednesday night was Jambasta- Rachael's take on jambalaya.
I made some modifications to her recipe, so I will note them.

I really liked this meal, I prefer a thicker sauce, but the recipe was for a thin/soupy one. Next time I think that I will thicken it more, just so that it sticks to the noodles and isn't a "stewp".



Rachael Ray's Jambasta

• Salt
• 1 pound penne rigate, pasta with lines (I used rotini, because that's what I had)
  
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 pound andouille sausage, any brand, casing removed and diced (I used sweet Italian turkey sausage- I put the sausages on a cookie sheet, drizzled some olive oil on them and stuck them in the oven at 350 for maybe 10 minutes, so that they were "solid" enough that I could slice them)
  
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped or thinly sliced (1 large jalapeno my be substituted) (I substituted a green bell pepper- I married a guy afraid of spicy things)
  
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 ribs celery from the heart with greens, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup beer, 1/2 bottle (Omitted)
  
• 1 cup chicken stock (Added another cup to replace the beer that was omitted)
  
• 1 (14-ounce) can, crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce (recommended: Franks Red Hot or Tabasco) eyeball it (Omitted- see above)
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped (Omitted- I don't like thyme)
  
• 1/2 pound chicken breast, diced into small pieces (Omitted- I didn't want to add even more meat to the dish & increase its cost)
  
• 1/2 pound medium shrimp, cleaned and tails removed
• 1/4 cup heavy cream, eyeball it (I used a splash of skim milk)
  
• 2 scallions, sliced (Omitted)
  

Stick the sausages onto a cookie sheet, drizzle with EVOO (is IS a Rachael recipe!) and put in the oven at 350 for about 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and slice the sausages.

Heat a pot of water to a boil for pasta and add salt to it then pasta. Cook to al dente and drain.

While pasta works, heat a deep skillet over medium high heat.

Add extra-virgin olive oil, butter and andouille. Brown the sausage 2 to 3 minutes to render the fat. Remove with a slotted spoon.

Add garlic, peppers, celery and onions. Saute the veggies for 5 to 6minutes.

Season the mixture with salt and pepper and add flour to the pan.

Cook flour with veggies 2 minutes more then whisk in beer. Cook beer out, 2 minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, hot sauce and thyme.

Bring liquid to a bubble and add chicken and shrimp.

Cook 6 to 7 minutes until chicken is firm and shrimp are opaque and firm.

Stir to mix in cooking juices then add in cream.

Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Ladle up the jambasta and top with chopped scallions (I garnished instead with chives) and reserved crispy andouille.

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