Quickie Quiche: Tomato, Spinach and Cheddar

 

Do you ever feel like every meal is running together? The same ingredients rearranged?  I know I do.  One night I decided to mix it up a little, and have some Quickie Quiche for dinner.  I know, Quickie Quiche is a really clever name....yet, I feel confident I am not the first to use it.  Oh, well! On to the quiche.

The great thing about quiche is that you can make it so many different ways, and eat it at any time of day.  Bacon and spinash.  Asparagus and cheese.  Mushroom and tomato.  You get the picture, eggs go great with everything.  You can make it heartier or lighter depending on what you add to the magical mix, not to mention it is a great way to pack a bunch of veggies into one meal.  Using store bought crush makes it a super-quickie quiche, but make your own if you prefer. I always make a pretty big one, it goes fast!

Tomato,Spinach and Cheese Quiche

1 pie crust
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 tomato, sliced thin
1/2 cup thawed (frozen) or wilted(fresh) spinach leaves
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake the crust alone for about 7 minutes, or until the surface is set and no longer moist to the touch.  Lower the oven to 375 degrees.
Beat the eggs and all the ingredients besides the sliced tomato.  Pour the mixture into the crust, and arrange the tomatoes on top.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and puffed.

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Sweet and Sour Chicken

Okay, so I have to start out by saying that I had no parts in coming up with this recipe.  I only succeeded in making it deliciously without many of the items on what I consider to be a sprawling ingredient list, and in a mere portion of the time.  It turned out to be a winner with lean protein, tons of veggies and a sweet but not overly sugary sauce that everyone pretty much loves.*Brushes sugar from shoulder* Now that I'm done bragging about my culinary prowess and chameleon like adaptability in the kitchen, let's move on to the method and ingredient list.

First of all, this recipe is actually for Sweet and Sour Pork (butt) which was changed to chicken. I nixed some of the fresh items like ginger, shortened the marinate time for the chicken and eliminated the deep frying in favor of a saute in a shallow pan of oil. I also omitted the celery because it just seemed wrong to me. Celery? In Sweet and Sour Chicken?


I ended up making substitutions for about half of the ingredients, and it was a smash hit with everyone around the dinner table.  To save money, I pulled two breasts from one whole chicken cut up.  As always I stashed the neck and back in the freezer for stock making, and made the other six pieces into Oven Fried Chicken for another night.  One chicken, two meals, happiness all around!  I will post the recipe with my changes since I think that the ingredients I used are more likely to be found in YOUR fridge/pantry today since you will be making this at your next meal immediately following a thorough reading, commentary and sharing of this post via all of the social networks you are a part of.  You will.  Trust me!

 Sweet and Sour Chicken
2/3 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 ground ginger
1/2 cup flour, separated in half
2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
Kosher salt and pepper
1 tb. oil , plus more for saute (canola, olive, whatever you like)
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 ounce honey
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 cup large diced onion
1/3 cup carrots sliced 1/4-inch thick, on a bias
1/3 cup large diced red bell pepper
1/3 cup large diced green bell pepper
1/2 can pineapple chunks

1. In a large non-reactive bowl, combine soy, garlic, ginger, and half the flour Season the pork generously with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the bowl and toss to cover. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hr.

2. Drain off any excess marinade and dredge the chicken in the remaining flour seasoned with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan heat enough oil to cover the pan to 350 degrees F. Fry the chicken in batches until golden brown, flipping each piece half way through. Drain on paper towels. Reserve on a warm plate.

3.In a separate bowl, combine the ketchup, sugar, vinegar, and honey. Whisk to blend.

4. In a small roasting pan heat the tablespoon of oil. Place the vegetables into the pan, allow them to soften for about 2 minutes then add the chicken pieces and cover with the ketchup mixture. Bring to a simmer and cook until the chicken is cooked through.

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How 'Bout Them Apples! 5 Uses for Homemade Applesauce

It's finally fall in North Carolina.  Granted, the calendar says November 2, but we haven't seen many consecutive cool days until the past week.  And now that the air is crisp and the leaves are so many shades of gold, red and brown it's prime time for apples!

Before a few weeks ago, I never ever had homemade applesauce.  All I ever has was the store bought variety, which I ate and sort of like.  But when I made my own from a bunch of honeycrisp and gala apples, I fell in love and so did Elias. He barely left any for the rest of us! All you do is get a large pot, fill it with your peeled and cored apples, and add enough water to cover.  Add sugar and cinnamon to taste (or maybe brown sugar, or fruit puree...), and cook until the apples reach the desired texture.  If you want some chunky and some a little smoother, remove part of the applesauce when it is chunky and allow the rest to continue to cook down.  I dare even call this a recipe...

Unless you have children, you might think that to make homemade applesauce is more trouble than its worth.  What will you do with such a large quantity? The best part of making things yourself is that you can control the outcome.  You can make your applesauce the texture and level of sweetness you would like, depending on what you will use it for.  I came up with these ways, but I'm sure you can get creative and come up with more of your own.  Comment and let me know what else you came up with!

1.  Yogurt-  Use chunky applesauce as a stir in for plan or vanilla flavored yogurt.  I buy a large container of Stonyfield Farm brand and add the applesauce to sweeten and flavor it.  You save a ton compared to buying the individual cups, especially for organic!

2. Oatmeal-  Add a couple spoonfuls of your chunky applesauce to a pot of oatmeal, or you can even add it to uncooked oats and water to microwave.  Quick, and lots more flavor than those little packets.

3. Fried Pies or apple dumplings-  For a quick fried pie add about 1 tablespoon of filling between two flattened crescent rolls or a rolled out flaky biscuit and fry in hot oil, or use the Pioneer Woman's Recipe for Apple Dumplings using the applesauce instead of sliced apples.  Believe me, you will make these again and again.

4.  Side Dish-  Cooked apples are a great side dish for dinner.  Do you have picky eaters? Sometimes when you can't get them to eat vegetables try a fruit at dinner instead!

5.  Dessert Topping-  Warm up some chunky applesauce with a little caramel and spoon over ice cream or cheesecake.  Then tell yourself it's a serving of dairy and fruit for the day :)

4 Ways to Avoid Kitchen Waste Altogether

Today I was roving the Internet for useful information to share, and came across this article on "Seven tasty ways to stop wasting food".  Living with Rhymes with Rasheed is the ULTIMATE lesson in not wasting food - you should see the emotional look he gets on his face when I just have to throw out an old tomato I find squished in the back of the fridge.  But I understand where he's coming from.  Anyone who can afford to forget about a tomato in their cooled storing device is lucky compared to the over 1 billion malnutritioned people in the world who do without basics everyday.  It is said that Prophet Muhammad (saw) could not go to bed if his neighbors were hungry, and in essence mitigating food waste is part of the modern day equivalent to ensuring that our neighbors aren't going to bed without.  While their list focuses on what to do with leftovers, mine is based on preventing the leftovers from even ending up in a sketch looking plastic bowl in the fridge :)

1.  BREAD - Of course there is French toast, bread pudding, croutons, bread crumbs and crisps that can be made from bread that is nearly stale.  But to prevent getting to the point where I have a pantry full of crumbs and croutons, I freeze loaves of bread.  It keeps bread fresh, and defrosts rather quickly and if you need a slice super fast you can toast it for about 30 seconds and you have fresh bread ready to go.  I buy name brand (like Arnold and Nature's Own) at my local Dollar Tree.  It is a dollar a loaf compared to $2.50+ at the grocery, and is usually about 2 days from expiration. This way you can use your bread on what you want to, not what you have to!

2.  PROPERLY STORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES- Do not wash vegetables before storing them, the added surface moisture will make them rot faster, and be sure to remove them from those little plastic produce bags, which can hold in gases released by fruits and veggies and speed up rot. Check this vegetable storage guide for specifics on veggie storage.Save peels, stems, pieces, etc. for stock by keeping a large zip-top bag in the door of your freezer where you can easily stash them as they come along.  Add soft veggies to dishes where they don't usually belong like sauces, chili, sloppy joes, or any other dish where they will go unnoticed by picky husbands, children, and friends. 

3. ORGANIZE YOUR FRIDGE- Once a week go through the fridge and put all of the items that are on their way out in the front.  This way they aren't forgotten and are easily accessible when dinner comes around. Also, keep a list on the front of the fridge door with available dairy and produce items that have a short shelf life so you remember them.

4. HAVE A LEFTOVER PARTY-  If you can't avoid excess leftovers, share your random leftovers with friends! Dress up leftover spaghetti as baked spaghetti, or make leftover mashed potatoes into potato cakes and host a pot luck so they can bring their weirdo leftovers too.  That's a meal you don't have to really prep for, and you don't let all your week's tasty bits and pieces go to waste. 

Panini Without A Press

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Panini

If you're following me on Twitter, then you are well aware that today is a "Reconstruction Day", i.e. we are restoring order to our home after ravaging it in a matter of a few days.  So we've been working hard since 6 am.  Fast forward to 12:30, and I ask Shaheid what he would like for lunch.  I know that you will think I'm kidding when I tell you what his response was, but I'm very much telling the truth.  Now you can have an idea of what my life is like.  His reply was as follows:

"Do we have a panini press?"

 And yes, he was serious.  So into the kitchen I went, and this is what transpired.

Ingredients (in this order)

 Bread- Garlic Parmesan Italian Loaf with Grey Poupon deli mustard

Cheese- Italian blend (provolone, mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, asiago)

Meat- beef salami

Veggies- tomato slices, spinach leaves, bread & butter pickles

Cheese- sharp cheddar

I heated my cast iron pan over medium-low heat and stacked my sandwich.  Then I drizzled olive oil, and added my sandwich then put a stock pot on it with two bags of rice in it for weight (hey, I was improvising!).  After the first side browned, I drizzled more oil and flipped the sandwich placing my "rice weight" back on top.  Then I gave myself a pat on the back for coming with with a pretty tasty panini  on command.

panini press out of a frying pan

Burnt panini ( I realize that it's REALLY burnt).

Now, that is how I would have done it had I not burned the first side of the sandwich.  Once that happened, I very gently cut off the burnt bottom and started over (I told you I was improvising!).  But all's well that ends in a panini, right?

The great thing about this sandwich is that it would be really great without the meat, which is perfect for next week since I'll be going meatless starting on Monday (stay tuned for that adventure) or with any of your favorite combinations of meats, cheeses and veggies.  The bread is what really made this panini great. It was flavored with garlic and parmesan, and it was just the right thickness to be pressed so that it was not too flat when the sandwich was cooked but not doughy either.  For $1.50 at Wal-Mart, it will DEFINITELY do.

A Stir Fry Education, A Little Too Late

Before the stir fry went awry...

Last week I made a mediocre stir fry. I hate to admit it, but I did. My mistakes were many and varied, as tends to happen when the spirit of "summer=no cooking" rears its ugly head. Everything started out well. I pulled out my big, stainless steel flat bottomed wok. I heated it until the pan was smoking hot (literally) and added some canola oil. I added my onions and yellow bell pepper. I removed them, added mushrooms and zucchini and put everything back in the fire. Then comes mistake number. I planned on fancying up a dried packet of stir-fry sauce. I read the directions, mixed 2 ts. of honey in place of the sugar suggested on the pack with 2 tb. of soy sauce and some water.....then, I neglected to add the actual seasoning pack. Then I cleared out the wok, let it heat up and added some chicken breast and shrimp and start to toss those suckers like there was no tomorrow. I mean, I swirled, swished and flipped it until the water from my slightly frozen shrimp and the juices from the chicken brought the whole high heat cooking thing to an abrupt close. The chicken and shrimp began to steam in the juices and shrimp water, and I knew then that my perfect stir fry was no longer. Still, I pushed on feeling the pressure of a hungry husband and child hovering from the living room. I continued to drain the juices and return the pan to the fire. Then I did it again, and then again. After all this, the condition of my stir fry still hadn't improved so I added in all the veggies and poured over the (incomplete) sauce and served it up. The facial expressions around the room were pained as we pushed it down, determined not to spend extra money on take out and to maintain the ability to count our calories as much as possible. Can we forget last Monday, please?

Today I opened my email to find a notification that my June-July 2010 issue of my digital subscription to Saveur magazine had arrived. I logged in, and flipped through and realized that I had not really been taking the time to read the previous issues. So I went to an old issue and found some real foodie treasures. A titalating article on macaroni and cheese, the timeless "bechemel vs. custard" debate (to be continued in another post), a revealing article on the food of Kenya, an informative expose on olive oil, and a "Stir Fry Education" on Page 104 of Saveur about traditional Asian stir-fry methods complete with photos and instructions. This was immediately followed by a short piece about adapting American electric stoves and flat bottomed woks to traditional Asian stir fry recipes.

Needless to say, I almost slapped myself silly after reading it. I started off the right way, but should have continued the process of quick cooking parts of the stir fry and setting them aside for later. And most importantly, I didn't think to put my chicken and fish in the wok and not touch them to allow them to sear, since as meat moves it loses juices into the pan. Duh. I say all of this to say, read the article, and don't make the same sad stir fry mistakes I made, and vow to never make again. So let's recap the basics:

1. Crank up your stove top to the max, and let it regain heat each time you add or remove an item.
2. Allow meats to sear before moving them to seal in juices.
3. It only takes about 30 seconds for everything to come together at the end. Thirty seconds and not a second more!

And thus will you be saved from a soggy stir-fry. Tonight I'll be trying another Asian inspired dish- Japanese tempura vegetables and shrimp. Look for that on another menu.

Summer = no cooking

It's official.....summer's humid days, thunderstorms and short nights have struck. What does this mean for me? I am losing my once insatiable desire to cook everyday. Why, you ask? Well, for a few reasons. 1. I, unfortunately, am apparently the last person on earth without central air, and these window units are no match for a hot oven and/or stove. 2. I, unfortunately, am the last person on earth who doesn't have a dishwasher, therefore creating a masterpiece of a meal loses it's luster when it is immediately followed by A LOT of time spent cleaning up the mess made when making aforementioned masterpiece. So today I present to you, the cheesesteak pita. It's quick, tasty, faintly culinary in nature and requires limited use of appliances (score!). It's available at many Greek-inspired restuarants and pizza joints, and this is my take on making it at home. It's full of tasty summer veggies, and relatively low in calories so it's pretty much a win-win around the Hasan house. It also has healthy Greek yogurt in it, which is becoming widely available due its increasing popularity. Try it out, and if you're not a fan of the Greek tzatzki sauce, just try it anyway. For me? Please? I swear you'll love it! Although I LOATHE yogurt, I LOVE this sauce.

Tzatzki Sauce
1 container (individual serving size) Greek style yogurt
1/2 of one large cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 clove minced garlic
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
squeeze of fresh lemon juice

For the Pitas:
1/2 pound shaved, lean beef or Steak-Umms
sliced cheese (the amount is up to you, but watch those calories!)
1 package whole wheat pitas
veggies to taste, see below

Add the cucumber and yogurt to a small bowl, add a squirt of lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for about thirty minutes before use. If you don't have fresh garlic (which you should) substitute a pinch or garlic powder. If you don't have a fresh lemon, use another citrus or just skip it.

Wrap a stack of whole wheat pitas in foil and put them in the oven on low (250 degrees) to warn while you get started. Then prepare your veggies for the pita. Chop lettuce, red onion, chopped cucumber, tomatoes and black olives then set them aside.To make the pitas, season your steak with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add to a hot pan and saute. Strain the meat and add it back to the pan. Allow the meat to crust in the pan, and add sliced cheese ( I prefer white American for this ) while everything is still hot. Stack the meat with the veggies and add the sauce, and voila!, you are in for something good (and fast too!)