Goat Cheese and Kale Quiches

This was an interesting dish, and I'm still working on the tweaks to it. I'm not a huge fan of the texture of the recipe as written. I think there was far too much kale and onion, and not nearly enough egg, so my recommended changes are as below. But feel free to adjust the proportions to your taste.

The actual ingredients were interesting. I liked the caramelized onion, and the ricotta added a nice creaminess to the quiche itself, while the goat cheese added that final hit of tang. And of course, any way I can get my greens in, I'll take. I'm actually finding that many dishes that I previously shied away from are much better if you make them yourself and by hand. More on that to come.

This is served with a simple salad that I will include in a separate (future) post.

Goat Cheese and Kale Quiches
Originally found at Blue Apron

3 eggs
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
Olive oil
1 small sweet onion, sliced thinly
1 small bunch kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
1 large pie crust (for a regular sized pie)
Water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Scramble the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Add the ricotta cheese and 2 Tbsp water. Set aside.

In a large pan, heat 2 tsp olive oil on medium-high heat until hot. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp water and continue to cook 2-4 additional minutes, until onion is soft and tender. Add garlic, kale, and additional 2 tbsp of water, scraping the bottom of the pan frequently. Cook 2-3 minutes, until kale is wilted and garlic is fragrant.

Allow vegetable mixture to cool slightly, then stir small portion of vegetables into egg mixture. Stir well, then add the rest of the vegetables.

Place pie crust into pie pan and place on a sheet pan. Pour in the egg mixture. Top with crumbled goat cheese. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until the crusts have browned and the filling is cooked through and lightly browned on top. Remove from oven and allow to rest at least 5 minutes before serving.

My Notes:
From personal experience, the smaller you can chop the kale the better. It's rather annoying to try to cut or bit into a piece of the quiche and have it completely fall apart because your kale is particularly large and going through multiple parts of the quiche.

You want to add a bit of the vegetables to the egg mixture to prevent the eggs from cooking as soon as you add your vegetables. This should be pretty minimal given the ricotta cheese, but better safe than have a weird texture in your quiche.

I also get a lot of garlic with these recipes, so always end up using way more than they tell me to in the recipe, but I'm a huge fan of garlic, so you can increase or decrease to your liking.

Squash Crusted Quiche

Image Pending

Squash Crusted Quiche
Inspired by Tasty Kitchen and adapted from All Recipes

1 small spaghetti squash
olive oil
4 eggs
1/2 small onion
dash red pepper flakes
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then place cut side down on cooking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, until flesh is tender. Allow to cool, then scoop flesh out and set aside.

Heat a small amount of oil in a pan, then add onion. Saute until onion becomes translucent, then add broccoli. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook until broccoli becomes slightly tender. Allow to cool slightly. In a small bowl, beat eggs, then stir in cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Stir in cooled broccoli mixture.

Press squash to sides of a pie tin. Press 1/4 cup cheese into 'crust'. Bake at 350 until cheese melts slightly; this will remove some of the excess moisture in the squash. Remove from oven and pour in egg mixture. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, until egg mixture is set and cheese browns slightly. Allow to cool and serve either slightly warm or at room temperature.

My Notes:
So, my squash was really wet when it went into the oven, and I didn't use a pie tin, I used a springform pan. So about halfway through cooking, it started leaking out the bottom of the pan. I was really worried it was going to be super soggy when it finally came out, but it wasn't too bad. It wasn't crispy, by any stretch of the imagination, but it held together well and was a nice functional crust.

And I got a ton of compliments on it. I brought it to a pie contest (I decided on a very liberal definition of 'pie'), and while it did not win, I did have multiple people come up to me and tell me how good it was, and a couple people asked for the recipe. And, bonus, it's gluten free, so some of my celiac friends can eat it too! Regretfully, since it disappeared so quickly, I didn't get a good picture of it. Sorry folks.

Granola, Take 2

Picture coming.

Granola
Originally found at Food Network

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine honey and oil. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color. Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add fruit and mix until evenly distributed.

My Notes:
Yes, I know I've done Granola before, but I was less than impressed with the final result, and decided to try a different recipe. I love Alton Brown, and found this recipe, and decided to give it a try.

The result? I love it. It's so much crunchier, and actually clumps together. Plus, it's pareve.

Stuffed French Toast

Stuffed French Toast
Semi-original recipe

2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
8 slices bread
4 oz (half-block) cream cheese
4 Tbsp strawberry preserves*

Whisk together the eggs, milk, and cinnamon. Spread 1 oz of cream cheese on each 4 slices of bread, and spread 1 Tbsp of preserves on the other 4 slices of bread. Make a sandwich using one cream cheese slice and one preserves slice, then coat in the egg-milk mixture. Put on a griddle on med-high heat (or 350 degrees, if you have an electric skillet) and cook until browned on each side (3-4 minutes per side). Serve with syrup, if desired.

My Notes:

*There are a variety of variations on this. You can used flavored cream cheese, or jam or jelly, of any flavor you desire.

My mom's friend made this for me ages ago, though she used strawberry cream cheese instead of regular. The older sister loved this, but the baby hated it. Go figure. I wasn't feeling great, so I didn't try it, but I do like it with the strawberry cream cheese.

Crepes

Crepes
Originally found at in 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes

Crepes:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Filling:
8 oz (1 block) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
sliced strawberries

Beat all crepe ingredients together until smooth (batter will be thin). Spray a small skillet (or 8-inch crepe pan) with cooking spray and heat over medium heat until hot. Pour 1/4 cup batter into the pan, tilting to coat the bottom evenly with batter. cook over medium heat until browned on bottom, 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the other side, 2-3 minutes.

Mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth. This is best done with an electric mixer. Put a dollop of cream cheese mixture in the center of the crepe and spread in a line down the middle. Place strawberries on top, then fold over the sides (burrito style).

My Notes:

These are incredibly sweet thanks to the cream cheese mixture, so you probably shouldn't try to have more than 2 in one sitting. They're nice for a dessert, or for a quick breakfast. I loved them.

I had crepes nearly every day while I was in Germany last year, because they had an awesome stand. Their crepes were considerably larger than these, but same concept. For some variations in the filling, try...
-Nutella +fruit (apples, bananas, etc)
-pie fillings (ala cherry, apple, etc)

Just have fun with it!

Caramel Pecan Monkey Bread

Carmel Pecan Monkey Bread
Original Recipe

3 7.5 oz cans of refrigerator biscuits
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375F. In a small bowl, melt butter. Mix in brown sugar until dissolved. Cut biscuits into quarters. Spray a casserole dish (or bunt cake pan, or a loaf pan) with non-stick spray. Dip each biscuit quarter into butter-brown sugar mixture, then place in pan. After you have one layer in the pan, dust with sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle on a layer of pecans. Repeat until you fill the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool slightly, then turn out onto a separate dish and serve.

My Notes:

I'm a big fan of monkey bread, though I usually stick with the cinnamon and sugar recipe. My last attempt at that didn't turn out so well, so I decided to do something a little different. I read a recipe for cinnamon raisin monkey bread (with walnuts) that used this technique of layering. I also found a recipe for pecan rolls, and started craving them something fierce, but I lacked the patience to make the cinnamon rolls themselves.

I originally baked this at 400 for about 20 minutes, and the edges were starting to burn while the inside was still raw, so I think cooking it a little longer at a lower temp will take care of that problem. My sisters attacked this once I took it out of the oven, so I guess it's pretty good :)

Another side note... I think I need to somehow put more caramel in the middle. The edges were nice and pretty and yummy and full of flavor, but the inside was rather bland and just biscuity. Maybe I'll make some wells and pour some extra caramel sauce down them next time I make it.

Granola

Granola
Original recipe found at A Year of Slow Cooking

5 cups oats
1/2 cup honey*
1/2 cup melted margarine*
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dried fruit (I used raisins)

Put all the dry ingredients into your crockpot. You'll need at least a 4 quart. Melt the butter in the microwave, and add. Add the honey. Toss well. Cover, but vent with a chopstick. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, stirring every so often. If you can smell the granola cooking, go stir. It will burn if you don't keep an eye on it. But it won't burn as quickly as it does in the oven! Dump out on some parchment paper and let cool. Eat with milk like cereal, warmed with milk like oatmeal, or as is. Seal well in an air-tight container or in a ziplock. Granola freezes well.

*note: if you add this amount of honey and margarine, the granola will be cereal-like, and not trail-mix like. If you'd rather the granola clump together in pieces, you'll need to add more honey.

My Notes:

So, I made this recipe a few months ago, and I wasn't a huge fan of it. But, my sister requested that I make it again (she's about as picky as me, so when she really likes something, I take note), and this time, I think it's better. Still need to make a few adjustments, but it's good. I personally made this with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, so it is technically a dairy dish, but I haven't found a non-dairy margarine that I like yet.

I personally like my granola to clump more, but I didn't have enough honey in the house this time to add enough to make it clump. We'll see what happens next time I make it.

And since I'm on a granola kick today, I'll be posting another recipe with it: Granola bars! Yay.