Quiche

Quiche is a simple dish, great for any meal.

Our favorite is green chilies and cheddar.

Growing up, my mom usually made broccoli and jack cheese quiche. But there are so many combinations possible.

This quiche here, is the first one I made with meat. I used breakfast sausage and jalapenos.

Preheat the oven 425 degrees.

First make a pie crust:

1- 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of shortening (or butter)
2-4 Tbl water.

Cut the flour and butter together. Be careful not to over work it with your fingers. If it is a hot day, freeze the flour and butter a little while at this point to chill it. Add 2 Tbl of cold water and stir to pull the mixture together. Add more water if it doesn't form a powdery ball.

Roll out the crust between two pieces of wax paper until it is a large circle. (I use a silicone baking mat in the image) Remove the top piece, slide your hand under the bottom and invert onto a pie plate. Cut the edge which hangs over. Put it into the freezer while you work on the filling.

First chop about 1/4-1/2 cup of onion and place into the bottom of the pie crust. Then add up to a cup of your favorite cheese or cheese blend. Then your main filling: sausage, canned chillies, asparagus, etc.

In a blender place 5 eggs, a little garlic, paprika, salt and pepper and 2 cups of cream. Since I rarely have heavy cream on hand, I often substitute yogurt or sour cream (or a mixture) for the heavy cream. They both give a unique twist. Yogurt makes a very light quiche. Blend, pour over the filling.

Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Reduce the oven to 300 degrees and bake about 45 minutes longer or until the egg puffs a little and is browned. Watch the last 20 minutes as you may need to cover it with foil to prevent burning.

Cast Iron Stuffing

I forgot to write this recipe down last Thanksgiving and this year I had to make it twice to get it right. So now I am writing it here so I can look it up next year. This stuffing is great because you don't cook it in the bird (for all the nervous salmonella people.) Brown one 8 oz package of breakfast sausage. (Do not use any flavored sausage like apple or maple. Our favorite is the Farmer John links.) Chop the sausage coarsely and place them in a large bowl. Add 6 cups of cubed sourdough 2 cups of sliced mushrooms the inner stalks of a celery head with the leaves (about 4-5) one large chopped onion 2-4 cloves minced garlic a handful of fresh chopped sage (in Idaho I still have sage in the garden during November) Drizzle 1/4 cup of melted butter over the top Mix in one beaten egg add salt and pepper Place the mixture in a large cast iron skillet coated lightly with olive oil. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 375 degrees for 60 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until browned.

Holiday Cinnamon Rolls

These take time. Makes about 12.

2 cups buttermilk
1 Tbl. yeast
¼ raw honey
½ cup sunflower oil (or any light flavored oil, butter is great too but for economical reasons I use oil.)
5 cups unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1 cup white sugar mixed with 1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar or raw sugar
1 Tbl. vanilla

Heat 1-1/2 cups buttermilk in a glass dish in the microwave for 2 minutes. It will curdle and separate. Remove and add 1/2 cup cold buttermilk.

Place yeast and honey into a large bowl. Pour a little buttermilk over the mixture and stir. Stir in all the buttermilk, 2 cups of white flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk mixture until smooth. (Don't use an electric beater.)

Let mixture sit 30 minutes. (I have left it longer.) It should rise up the side of the bowl.
Add the oil and 3 remaining cups of flour. Knead until smooth. The dough should be sticky, add a little flour if necessary to make the dough smooth.

Let rise 1-1/2 to 2 hours in a greased bowl.

Punch dough down and roll it out into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick. I think about 24 x 12 inches. Spread cinnamon and sugar over the top and roll up. Cut ends off.

Cut into 12 slices and place in a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch casserole dish. Melt butter and brown sugar in the microwave till melted and a little bubbly. Add the vanilla and pour over the rolls evenly.

Rise overnight in the fridge or about 1-1/2 hours. Bake 375-degree oven 30-40 minutes. Don't let them get too brown. Invert on a platter and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

These are nice because they rise overnight and all of the work is done the next morning when you pop them in the oven.

I have adapted this recipe from several others, taking what I liked best. They aren't too sweet, as some cinnamon rolls can be. They have a light caramel glaze on top after you invert them and the dough is soft and tasty.

Five minute fudge

There are many fudge recipes out there. Fudge is not my favorite candy but this version is so easy to make and the walnuts offset the richness enough so that most non-fudge people still like it.




Butter an 8X8 pan.

Place 12 oz of dark chocolate chips, 8 oz of butterscotch chips and one 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high about 2 minutes, stiring every 20 seconds.

When all the chips are melted, add a bag of miniture marshmellos and 1 cup of raw walnuts.

Mix throughly and pour into pan. Let sit until firm and cut.

Today we made caramels, toffee and fudge. I don't really know what I was thinking since we are going to a cookie exchange tomorrow.

However, we wrapped half if everything and put it in the freezer for New Years' company.

Convenient Food 2, Enchiladas

Another way I use the freezer is to make frozen burritos with leftovers.

Take all of the mixin's from burrito night: cheese, meat, beans, even sour cream and leftover salsa, (hold the lettuce) and fold together.

Wrap the filling into tortillas and fold. Place them flat on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once they have frozen hard, transfer them to a ziplock bag.

Now the kids can use them as a quick microwavable snack or you can use them as a fast food dinner.

I have had luck pulling these out, setting them in a lightly greased dish to defrost awhile, then pouring a can of enchilada sauce over them before I bake them.

If you don't have a can of enchilada sauce here is a recipe:

Boil 2 cups of any broth with 1/2 onion, a clove of garlic, a pinch of oregano, one bay leaf, 1 tsp cayenne and 4 Tbl. Chili powder. Reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf, blend.

Now be careful, I use a hand held kitchenaid mixer. If you put it in your blender hot -- you might decorate the ceiling.

Pour over your burritos, top with cheese and bake till bubbly.

Convenient Food

The freezer is my favorite time saver. I am including my favorite modified cookie recipe.

This time, after I made the basic batch, I separated it into three sections, added nuts to one and dried cranberries to another. This way, every time I pull a cookie log out of the freezer I have a variation.

Chocolate Chip Cookies:
2 cups butter (sometimes I substitute butter crisco, this makes a softer cookie and is cheaper)
1- 1/2 cup each brown sugar and white sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Cream together. Then add:

2 eggs
4- 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Mix well, then fold in up to 2 bags of chocolate chips. 1 bag of milk chocolate and one bag of dark. (Sometimes I use 3/4 of each bag.)

Separate the dough into piles and roll into logs. Wrap each log in plastic and freeze well. Slice into 1/2 disks and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven approximately 12 minutes.

Preserving Herbs

Home grown herbs are so much more flavorful than store bought herbs it makes me wonder just how old some of them are.

My favorite way to dry herbs is to group the herb in three bundles. Make one slightly larger than the other two. Tie the larger one on one end, another one on the opposite end and one slightly offset from the center.

Then hang the herbs. I use my laundry room because the dryer keeps it warm. Just throw the large bundle over a bar. You can also use a closet rack or place the string on a hanger and put it pretty much anywhere.

For something like dill, I prefer to just lay it flat to dry. It is too delicate to handle dry.

Once they are thoroughly dry, snip the string and crush the herbs. Store them in a left over jam or mustard jars. Some jars are so pretty and after you have enjoyed the condiment you bought, it is nice to find a use for the jar.

Another option to save the flavor of summer is to blend the herbs in butter and scrape the mixture into ice cube trays. Freeze and keep them stored in any freezer proof bag or container.

Then when you want to make rye-dill bread: just pop out a cube and use it for the fat in your recipe. You can also use it to bake fish or melt over a steak. It is a quick dress-up for plain noodles as well.

If you want the butter a little more spreadable, you can blend equal parts butter and vegetable or olive oil, a little fresh garlic and your herb. This is economical too, butter can be expensive. It has the same amount of fat but less cholesterol -- whatever that is. It makes a great spread for garlic bread too. Spread it on the bread, sprinkle a little Parmesan and broil.

I once read that basil does not store well, it looses its flavor. But I go through my herbs in one year and I have never found any store bought basil to rival my own dried.