Category Archives: eggs

Bacon and Broccoli Mini Quiches

Posted on January 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

Mini quiches are a classic part food. They are quintessentially French and really easy to eat. They can be made ahead and reheated quickly on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees. Though it would be very easy to buy these in the freezer section, when you make them yourself they are truly exceptionally. These were a huge hit with the father to be.

Bacon and Broccoli Mini Quiches

Crust:
3 cups flour
2 sticks of butter, slightly cooler than room temperature
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup water

In a large metal bowl, mix all ingredients, except the water with a fork or pastry cutter. The goal is to incorporate the butter until it is the texture of course meal. Slowly sprinkle in the water and quickly mix. Making sure not to put in too much water, briefly kneed the pastry so that it forms a cohesive ball. Pull out about 1 tablespoon of dough and flatten into a round, place it into a mini-muffin pan to form a miniature pie shell.

Filling:
6 eggs
¾ cup milk
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 8 oz package shredded cheddar cheese
½ lb thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
10 oz bag broccoli, defrosted, drained and chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrease. Beat the eggs, milk, mustard and seasonings with a whisk until well combined.

Fill half of the pastry with broccoli and the other half with cheese. For the broccoli quiches, top them with a bit of the cheese. For the cheese quiches, top them with a bit of the bacon bits. Slowly fill the mini pies with the egg mixture until you can see the egg peaking out of the filling.

Place the molds on top of a baking sheet and bake the pans for 30 minutes or until the tops turn golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.

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Posted in bacon, broccoli, cheddar cheese, crust, eggs, French, mini, quiche

The Incredible, Envious Egg

Posted on July 16, 2008 | Leave a comment

WholeFoods has installed an exotic egg bar at the Bowrey location. I’m obsessed with the ostrich eggs. They are beautiful orbs that unfortunately sell for $39.99. They look like they would hold about a ½ dozen regular eggs. I want to buy one and turn it into a beautiful chocolate mousse, served in the shell. I can’t justify the expense, so I used my own half a dozen eggs ($2.00) and made a quiche out of the leftover broccoli gratin.

Broccoli and Bacon Quiche

Crust:
1 ½ cups flour
1 stick of butter, slightly cooler than room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar
¼ cup water

2 cups broccoli florets, cooked
1 pound bacon, chopped
1/2 pound shredded cheddar
6 eggs
½ cup cream
2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence
salt and pepper

Mix the flour, butter, salt and sugar in a mental bowl with a fork. Mash in the butter until it forms course meal. Gradually add in the water, you may not need all of it. Mix the dough together till it forms a ball. Divide the mixture in half, save one half for another project. Roll out the other half of the dough and place it in a pie pan. Crimp the edges and trim any excess.

Cook the bacon in a pan until crisp, drain and discard the fat. Pre heat the over to 350 degrees. Fill the pastry with a layer of broccoli, then a layer of bacon and top it with the cheese. Beat the eggs, cream herbs and salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly pour it over the quiche. The eggs should come to the top of the cheese, but not over flow. If necessary, beat another egg with more cream, or milk, the herbs and salt and pepper and pour into the quiche.

Bake the quiche, uncovered for 1 hour until the top is golden brown.

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Posted in bacon, broccoli, eggs, quiche

Latin Lover

Posted on May 12, 2008 | Leave a comment

I have lots of friends that are Latin here at school. And I’ve been bragging for the past year about the Tres Leches Cake I used to make for Jules. Once Alex donated a bottle of cajeta to the cause, I finally lived up to my big mouth. Everyone was on a sugar high for days!

Tres Leches Cake

Cake:
3 large eggs, separated
1 cups granulated sugar
1 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Milk topping:
1 5-ounce can evaporated milk
1/2 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy cream

Filling:
1 23-ounce bottle of cajeta (optional)

Icing:
3 tablespoons water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large egg whites
or
1 ½ cubs of heavy cream
½ cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 10-inch round cake pan.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the egg whites on low speed until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually with the mixer running and peak to stiff peaks. Add the egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after the addition of each.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and add to the egg mixture, alternating with the milk. (Do this quickly so the batter does not lose volume.) Add the vanilla. Bake until golden, 25 minutes.

To make the milk topping: In a blender, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream and blend on high speed.

Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack. After about 15 minutes, run a knife around the outside of the cake to loosen it. Invert it onto the wrack and let cool further. Once the cake is cooled to room temperature, using a serrated knife, cut the cake into two even rounds. Place one cake half back into the baking pan. Place the other into a 10-nch round spring form pan. Pour half of the milk mixture over each half. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours.

After 4 hours, squeeze the cajeta over the cake half that is in the spring form pan. The cajeta should make an even level and cover all of the exposed cake. Quickly invert the other cake half over top of the cajeta. If it breaks, pat it back together. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

To make the icing: Once the cake is completely chilled, in a saucepan combine the water and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Cook until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage, 235 to 240 degrees F. Remove from the heat. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. While beating, add the hot syrup in a stream. Beat until all the syrup has been added, the mixture cools, and a glossy icing forms. If this is too complicated, you can beat the whipped cream with the sugar and use it in place of the meringue icing. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and spread the icing evenly across the top.

Just before serving, un-mold the cake from the spring form pan. Serve with fresh fruit if desired.

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Posted in cajeta, condensed milk, cream, eggs, evaporated milk, tres leches cake

Bacon, Eggs and Cheese for Dinner?

Posted on April 8, 2008 | Leave a comment

Sometimes the simplest foods are the best foods. This recipe is yet one more way to use that big block of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Also I get to continue my obsession with Italian food. A perfect easy Sunday dinner.

Pasta alla Carbonara

½ pound fresh linguine
1 teaspoon olive oil
about 4 ounces diced pancetta
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg
½ grated Parmesan
salt and pepper
¼ cup diced fresh flat leaf parsley
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese curls

Fill a pot with water and set to boil. Heat a different pot on medium high and add the oil and pancetta. Stir the pancetta so that it browns evenly. While the pancetta is browning, hopefully the water has reached a boil. Add salt and the pasta, cook according to package directions. Add the minced garlic. When the garlic softens, turn off the heat. Beat the egg with the grated Parmesan. Drain the cooked pasta, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid and immediately add the wet pasta to the pancetta. Stir in the egg mixture, the parsley and salt and pepper. Toss till the sauce thickens. Add some of the pasta water if necessary if the egg mixture gets too thick.

Serve the pasta in a bowl with the Parmigiano curls.

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Posted in eggs, pancetta, parmesan cheese, parsley, pasta

Luxury, First Thing in the Morning

Posted on March 2, 2008 | Leave a comment

Ok I’m working my butt off. Non-stop papers, contract design work and of course my love of volunteering to make wedding invites. I’m over committed. But sometimes I have fleeting moments to catch my breath. Enjoying a gourmet breakfast, made in just a few seconds, is the best example. If you transfer the finished omelet to a nice place, garnish with a sprig of chives and fresh fruit, eating this in bed is just like a weekend at the Ritz.

Roasted Chicken and Goat Cheese Omelet

½ cup pulled roasted chicken (leftovers from a rotisserie chicken)
3 eggs
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard soy mayo
½ tablespoon chopped chives (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons herbed goat cheese

In a microwave safe plastic bowl (I like to use those black rectangle take out container bottoms), heat the chicken in the microwave for 1 minute.

Add the eggs, mayo, chives and salt and pepper and beat with a fork, folding to coat each piece of chicken. Crumble the cheese over the top of the egg mixture. Microwave between 4 and minutes, oh high, checking to make sure that the center is set but not over cooked.

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Posted in chicken, eggs, goat cheese, omelet

Luscious, Light and Elegant

Posted on February 2, 2008 | Leave a comment

Cheesecake is one of the easiest desserts to make. As long as you have enough time to cook it and cool it, it requires hardly any effort.

Lemon Cheesecake

1 cup roasted ground hazelnuts
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
16 oz sour cream
3 – 8oz packages of cream cheese
2 cups sugar
juice and rind of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons lemon extract
5 eggs

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the hazelnuts, graham cracker, powdered sugar and butter in the bottom of a 10-inch spring form pan. Once it is all combined so that the butter is evenly distributed, press it into an even layer at the bottom of the ban and about ¼ to ½ inch up the side of the pan.

In a large stand mixer, beat the sour cream. By starting with the sour cream, the cream cheese will not stick. Add in the cream cheese, starting on low then moving til hi till the dairy products are lighter and fluffier and not lumpy. Add the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and lemon extract. Keep beating until it is as smooth as possible. Turn off the beater and add in the eggs. Turn the mixer on to medium and beat just long enough to combine. It is important to only mix the eggs a minimal amount so that the cheesecake won’t crack when baking.

Place the cheesecake in the oven for 1 hour, until the top is lightly brown and the cake is puffy. Chill the cake on a rack to room temperature then in the refrigerator over night.

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Posted in cheesecake, cream cheese, eggs, lemon, sugar

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Posted on January 26, 2008 | Leave a comment

I’ve always loved quiche. It’s the perfect breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or late night snack. You can practically make anything into a quiche: salmon and asparagus, mushrooms and goat cheese, sausage and peppers.

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

¾ cup flour
½ stick butter
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 cold water
1/2 package bacon, I prefer the thick slab kind
frozen spinach, drained
shredded cheddar cheese
9 eggs
½ cup milk
salt
pepper

Mix the flour, butter and salt in a metal mixing bowl until the butter is 100% incorporated and the mixture resembles course meal. Slowly add in the water, a little bit at a time and pull the dough tougher, being careful that it isn’t too wet. Roll it out so that it fills a 10-inch pie pan. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the bacon into chunks and cook in a pan on medium, till crispy and brown. Drain on a paper towel. Layer the pastry first with the spinach, then the bacon and then the cheese.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, milk and salt and pepper till it is smooth. Pour the eggs, gently, over the filling. It should be just at the top of the filling.

Bake the quiche for 1 to 1.5 hours until it is golden brown and puffed up. Let it cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

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Posted in bacon, cheddar cheese, eggs, quiche, spinach