Family Chow Hall

Divisive Dishes - Quiche

Good heavens, I really love Quiche! My husband calls it “one of those divisive foods”. I guess that means it falls into the same category as sauerkraut, brussels sprouts, and bleu cheese… foods that wars are fought over. Some folks are ga-ga over it, others gag. Very few people fall into the middle ground on foods like these. It seems like a lot of men think quiche is “gay” and are afraid that eating it will severely lower their manliness. (Wow! I hope their manliness is not that fragile!) Ladies seem to often think that it is just the ideal thing when eating together, say, for tea — especially if the quiches are very tiny and you can pop them individually into your mouth. I have no idea why - maybe we think it increases our femininity.

I made quiche for dinner last night. Normal-sized, not mouth-pop-able. To be safe, I also made French Onion soup and garlic toast, hoping there would be something on the table to please everyone. It was the first time I made quiche without a recipe - just “winging it”. I do have an old favorite of crustless spinach quiche which I got from an ancient cookbook in the early years of my marriage, but it has never gone over really well and instead of trying to improve on it, I just made this up as I went along.

The quiche I made last night, thankfully, turned out yummier than I expected. I just enjoyed it again for lunch. It’s crustless, but with a crunchy crouton topping. Here’s the recipe:

Spinach Quiche

6 slices of bacon

1 bag fresh spinach leaves
3 cloves fresh garlic
2 T. olive oil

5 eggs
3/4 c. milk or soymilk
1 1/2 c. shredded monterey jack cheese
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

croutons, crushed

Start by frying up the bacon as you usually would. I like thick sliced bacon - it’s what I always use. If you are using the thin stuff, consider increasing the amount to 8 slices. Drain the bacon on a paper towel and set aside. Discard the bacon fat and clean your skillet or switch to a large, clean skillet.

Next, crush and dice the garlic and put it into a large skillet with your olive oil. Set the heat to medium, and while it warms up, chop the spinach up into bite-sized pieces. Often, frozen spinach is recommended for quiches and other spinach recipes, but I say “the fresher, the better!” Add the spinach to your now-hot oil and garlic. Stir and fry for a few moments until the spinach is wilted. That’s all it needs. Then remove from the heat and set aside. (You now have both the bacon and the garlic-spinach combo waiting on the sidelines.)

In a large bowl, break all five eggs and whip them up with the milk, salt, and pepper. Use a spatula to add the cheeses, then the spinach. Finally, cut up the bacon with your kitchen scissors and add that, too! Grease a regular 9 or 10 inch pie pan and pour your quiche mixture into it.

This needs to go into a 350 - 375 degree oven for 45-55 minutes. For the last 10 minutes, sprinkle the crushed croutons on top and return to the oven. You know it’s done when the middle doesn’t jiggle and you poke a knife into the center and can see cooked instead of runny eggs.

ENJOY!

I’ll be honest about the thumbs up count: There are 7 in our family. 1 was not home, 1 did not even eat the quiche, 2 (the little guys) were forced to eat the quiche. My husband ate a little but LOVES French Onion soup, so he focused on that. Really, only 2 of us dug into this quiche and really enjoyed it. Divisive foods. Ugh.

Signing off now–
the chow hall chef

Add comment June 28th, 2011

Squash and Pork Stew aka Calabacitas con Carne

This is another recipe I got from the Texas Cowboy Cookbook. A delicious way to incorporate some squash into your diet.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo starts tomorrow, so I’m posting another “cowboy” recipe that I tried recently. Here it is, folks…. I made a couple of minor changes to suit my pantry, but this is basically the same thing from the cookbook:

Calabacitas con Carne

2 T. olive oil
2 lbs. pork loin chops, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes with chiles
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 c. diced onion
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. ground cumin
2 c. frozen corn
2 summer squash, either yellow or green, peeled and cubed
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 t. dried Mexican oregano

This can be done as a skillet supper or in the crock pot. The day I cooked this, I needed to put it in the crock pot so I could have my afternoon free.

Heat the oil in a large skillet, add the pork and cook until brown. Transfer the pork to the crock pot and then put the onions, bell pepper, and garlic in the skillet. When soft, add the all of the remaining ingredients. Cook and stir in the skillet until heated through, then pour it all into the crock pot.

I cooked this for about 6 hours on low. Right before serving, stir hard with a wooden spoon to break up the squash. By this time, it is so soft that it breaks apart easily and serves as a thickener for the stew.

If you are using the skillet method, you would cook the pork, then add the tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, garlic and cumin. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, until the pork is tender. Then add the corn, squash, salt, pepper, and oregano. Cover the pan again and cook for 45 minutes on low, until the squash is soft enough to break apart.

Serve this with tortillas, cheese, and sour cream.

Add comment March 1st, 2010

Pesto Ham Sandwich

This is a really simple, but great sandwich…

All I did was get two pieces of bread, or a tortilla. Put some mesquite ham on, I prefer it to be thinly sliced. Then one or two pieces of provolone cheese onto it, and then spread a thick layer of pesto onto the bread. I think the mesquite ham goes really well with the pesto, but if you like a different type of ham, that’s fine too.

(posted by my daughter Sarah, who thinks that I don’t post often enough.)

We bought the pesto from Sam’s club instead of making it ourselves. The basic ingredients are: fresh basil, pine nuts, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. Apparently, I haven’t posted a recipe for pesto - ever - I should get on that for all of you who want to try making it yourselves!

Add comment January 9th, 2010