Posts filed under 'Soup'
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
June 28th, 2011
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.
March 1st, 2010
Plan A was to stop at the butcher and buy some ground beef and throw burgers on the grill. This is a real treat, since we are not eating beef very often anymore but everyone loves it.
This morning I realized that the butcher is closed on Monday, so I had to go to Plan B for supper.
Actually, I had no Plan B (does anyone? ever?), so I had to make one up.
Looking at my “suppers for the week” list, I quickly decided upon chili and then decided to use my leftover roasted pork tenderloin from 2 days ago to make it a pork chili instead of turkey chili.
In spite of all of the planning I do, or maybe because of it, I love improvising. 
Here’s what I’ve got in the crockpot now, and let me tell you — It smells darn good.
6 Cans:
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can chicken broth
1 can tomato paste
1 can mild green enchilada sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with chilis (a.k.a. Ro-tel tomatoes)
3 fresh veggies:
1 large vidalia onion, diced
2 small zucchini, chopped finely in my chopper
2 cloves garlic, also chopped finely
plus some olive oil to saute them in
Also:
chopped leftover pork — this was already seasoned with a sweet and spicy rub
1 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper
Once I decided on using the pork, I went to the pantry to grab tomatoes and beans it was easy to choose the green chili enchilada sauce. (Which I’d bought for another purpose and never used — I thought it would go really well with the pork and give the chili a new and interesting flavor.)
Chili is simple to put together and I usually work on it while we are chowing on lunch, then clean everything up at once. It’s better when it has all day to cook, anyway.
First, I diced the onion, and threw that in the skillet with a couple Tablespoons of olive oil. While it sizzled, I peeled the zucchini, smashed the garlic, and gave them a zing in the chopper. Added it to the onion.
Next, opening the cans — beans, more beans, tomatoes, broth, enchilada sauce, then tomato paste. By the time all that was in, the onions and zucchini were done and I tossed them into the crockpot as well.
Finally, the spices. I took it easy on the chili powder, because I really want to taste the enchilada sauce. So I shook some salt and pepper in and then added just a teaspoon of chili powder. (Usually this would be about 2 Tablespoons)
This chili smells absolutely luscious and I’m looking forward to having an old favorite with a new twist. Of course, I will absolutely be making cornbread with this - not sure what my family would do to me if I didn’t!
August 10th, 2009
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