On the 10th Day of Pudbudder, we’re eating quiche!

All photos on this post by Words Etc.

On the tenth day of Christmas your true love may be giving you 10 Lords a Leaping so why not have a quiche ready for them to gobble up? After all, it has been proven that real men do eat quiche!

Such a pretty addition to your table!

Quiche is a beautiful addition to any holiday table.  The creamy custard filling blends well with a wide variety of vegetables or other fillings. Serve with salad for a light lunch or dinner.  It also makes a delightful appetizer when cut in smaller slices.  Last year my vegetarian daughter inspired me to prepare this for her, and I did asparagus and red pepper for the traditional colors.  This year I used the same color combo with spinach and red peppers, adding mushrooms.

Quiche is one of those things you can prepare ahead of time during the busy days leading up to the holiday and either serve while still warm or keep for the next day to either serve cold or reheated. It makes a wonderful Christmas morning breakfast.

For my vegan friends,make it crustless or use a crust made from vegetable shortening and soy cheese. You can substitute silken tofu, soy milk and soy cheese for the egg/cheese mixture. Although I’ve never tried these recipes I found a variety of them online.   Find a sample recipe here but you’ll have to substitute for the Parmesan in this recipe to create a vegan variety, but if you’re vegan you already know that!

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Here’s my version of A Christmas Quiche

Crust:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

6 tbsp. cold butter

¼ shredded cheddar cheese

5 – 6 tsp. iced water

Using a pastry blender combine butter and flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.  Stir in the cheese.  Sprinkle water over the flour mixture a teaspoon at a time mixing with a fork just until the dough balls together. You will need to work it with your hands at this point until you have a nice smooth ball of dough. Wrap in waxed paper and chill for 30 – 60 minutes.

Roll out the dough between two sheets of waxed paper. You will need to work quickly as the dough will soften very fast making it sticky. Remove wax paper and place the dough in a 9 inch quiche or pie pan, patting into place where necessary.  Prick generously with a fork.

Bake at 375◦ for 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before filling.

Now this dough is a little tricky to work with so if you are a novice at pie crusts, you may want to use a pre-made crust or stick with a more traditional pie crust. I offer a great recipe in my “apple pie” post that you will find here. You will still need to prebake the crust for 10 minutes no matter which you choose to use.

Now for the filling!

½ cup chopped yellow or white onion

1 cup of fresh mushrooms, chopped or sliced

½ cup chopped sweet red pepper

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 ½ cups chopped fresh spinach

1 ¼ cup shredded Swiss cheese (use part Gruyere if you like)

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

Olive oil

3 eggs

½ cup half and half

In a medium fry pan (I use a stainless steel one for this – not nonstick), saute onion in butter until the onion is nicely caramelized. This makes for great flavor!

Add garlic, mushrooms and peppers and continue cooking until veggies are tender.  Add spinach and cover pan to steam just until the spinach has wilted.  Remove the pan from heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.

Spread vegetable mixture in the cooled prebaked crust.

Mix eggs and cream together, blending well. Add cheese, salt and a fresh cracked pepper to your taste.

Pour egg/cheese mixture over vegetables.

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes at 400◦ until crust is golden and a knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. A quiche reheats well and is also delicious cold!

If you venture into quiche, let me know your favorite veggie/meat combinations.  Happy 10th Day!!!

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On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me……

It’s Day 2 of Pudbudder’s 12 Days of Food.

Today’s gift is a very simple side dish that you can make with collards, cabbage,, spinach, kale or swiss chard or something new I tried in my garden this year – collard cabbage  – a newer variety of greens. It’s quick, easy and versatile as you can add whatever flavors strike your fancy. I start with garlic and olive oil adding a little butter and lemon juice towards the end of cooking time. It’s a great side dish. And the green color is perfect for the season!
If you’re lucky enough to live in a temperate climate like Florida, this is a great winter garden choice. And of course you can grow in the spring just about anywhere. I usually grow broccoli in the winter, but wanted to try something different so added collard cabbage to my winter garden as well.

Collard cabbage and broccoli thrive in northeast Florida.
Photo credit: Words Etc.

These cabbage collards that I am harvesting from my garden are also a great touch to homemade soups and stews. They maintain a nice bright green color when cooked and add both flavor and texture. You can always find collards at the grocery or farmer’s market if you can’t grow your own, so enjoy this recipe even if you don’t grow your own greens!

Christine’s Sauteed Greens

1 large bunch of collard cabbage or greens of choice

1 – 2 tbsp. olive or grape seed oil

2 cloves of garlic, chopped or sliced

Sea salt

Optional: water, butter, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, finely chopped dried hot peppers

Rinse greens thoroughly. Chop into 1 inch wide strips, discarding tough ends.

Heat oil in saucepan. Add chopped garlic, and peppers if desired, sautéing for a few minutes.  Be careful that garlic doesn’t burn. Lower heat and

Add greens to pan after sauteeing garlic and peppers.
photo credit: Words Etc.

add greens to pan and cover.  Continue cooking about 5 minutes. Check pan and add a tbsp. or two or water if desired to allow the greens to steam. Stir mixture and continue cooking on a low heat until the greens are tender to your desired degree of doneness.  Add coarse ground sea salt, lemon juice and/or butter if desired.Serve!

See you tomorrow for Day 3 of Pudbudder’s Holiday Recipe Collection!!

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Eating out of the garden all winter long….

For all of you avid herb gardeners out there,

you know that your basil plants are just about done.  If you’re in a warmer climate, like I am, they are still thriving, but  not looking as lush as they did in the heat of the summer.  They love warm nights, but as the nights cool, the plants start to wind down.  This is a perfect time to harvest the extra leaves and create a wonderful pesto to enjoy with pasta on bread or in other creative ways. Pesto comes from the verb pestare which means “to pound or grind.”  If you want to recreate the method of the old Italian cooks, use a  mortar and pestle.  But with today’s food processors, the process is much easier.  And you can freeze the extras so you’ll have it on hand this winter.

You can use either a full size food processor or if you do small batches, like I do, a mini-food processors works great. I prefer walnuts over the pine nuts due to cost difference.  I’ve also used unsalted pistachios.  They’re all delicious and lend their own unique taste to the finished product. Try toasting the nuts in a 350 degree oven for 5 – 10 minutes to enrich their flavor.

Christine’s Basil Pesto

• 2 large cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp grated Asiago parmesan cheese
• 3 tbsp pine nuts or walnuts
• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves with stems removed
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Process the garlic, cheese, nuts and basil until finely minced

Add the olive oil and process for a 15 – 20 seconds more until blended well.

That’s it!  Place in either a glass custard dish or in a plastic resealable container with a layer of waxed paper directly on the top surface.  This helps preserve the bright green color.  Store in the refrigerator and use within a day or two.

This freezes beautifully.  Some cooks use an ice cube tray to freeze cubes of pesto.  They defrost quickly this way and are very easy to use.  I like to use empty plastic containers that I’ve recycled from either 4 oz yogurt or applesauce portions. I then place each container in a ziplock bag.  If you use ice cube trays, pop out of the trays when frozen and store in a large ziplock bag.  Either way, the pesto is always readily available until next Spring’s crop is ready. You can use it soups, stews and other cooked dishes, but add at the end of the cooking process as the heat will reduce the intensity of the flavors.

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Christine’s Notes:

This weekend we created a delicious sandwich by spreading my homemade pesto on one side of a ciabatta roll, then topping with ham, cheese, a sweet pickle sandwich stuffer, shredded lettuce, tomato and French’s Honey Dijon mustard.  Delicious!

You can also create wonderful pestos with other herbs and leafy plants. Arugula blends beautifully with walnuts, Parmesan, garlic and, of course, olive oil. Try some of these combos or come up with your own matings, adding your choice of nuts, Parmesan cheeses and enough oil to bring to the desired consistency.

• oregano, flat-leaf parsley (Italian) and spinach
• cilantro and flat-leaf parsley
• chives, flat-leaf parsley and spinach

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

It’s Cinco de Mayo and that means, music, celebration and, of course, food and drink.  In spite of all of the ideas spinning around in my head about what I should be blogging about – like converting a resume to plain text or discussing  different writing styles –  the tastes of the day keep permeating my imagination.  As one who has been working hard on losing a few pounds, those blasted “caloric counts” are always on my mind.  Now I’m doing good in the weight-loss department with the assistance of MyFitnessPal  – a great app to help you count calories and exercise.  I am pleased to report that I have 15 lb less body fat surrounding my middle than I had just  7 1/2 weeks ago.  It’s been a pretty easy ride with the help of MFP.  I’ve become so much aware of every bite I put in my mouth and what it’s worth.  I don’t feel deprived; I just count everything I eat.  So that means today, a Margarita or a Corona Light is not out of the question — as long as I count it! But do I really want to waste all those calories on one little drink.   Hmm, have to think about that one.  I’d much rather enjoy good, fresh goodies from my kitchen.

Those of you that follow me know that I communicate with my readers on all levels – and that includes food and eating.  So on on a lighter eating note, today I communicate with you through my Black Bean and Mango Salad or call it a salsa.  I made this with fresh jalapeno and cilantro from the garden — some of this year’s first spring bounty. And at only 53 calories per half cup, it’s pretty guilt-free, so enjoy!

Black Bean and Mango Salsa

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups chopped mango

1 cup diced sweet red pepper

1 jalapeno – seeded and chopped fine

½ cup diced red onion

¼ fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

¼ cup fresh lime juice

1 tbsp extra virgin oil oil

Coarsely ground salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mixing well.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  Serve with pita chips.

Black bean & mango salsa
Photo credit: Words Etc.

If you have the time to make your own pita chips, they are well-worth the effort, especially when still warm from the oven.  Here’s my version – short and simple.

The Best Homemade Pita Chips

Whole wheat pitas

Coarse sea salt

Extra-virgin olive oil

Prepare baking pan by drizzling lightly with olive oil, using a pastry brush to spread evenly if necessary. Cut each pita in half and then into triangles, separating each triangle into 2 pieces. Place triangles on pan in a single layer.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.  Bake at 350 for 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Watch carefully as they can brown quickly.

Enjoy with Black Bean and Mango Salsa.

See you next time!!

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