Bacon and Spinach Breakfast Quiche with a Potato Crust

I love quiche recipes.  This is a new one for me to try.
I found this one on Facebook from Bobby Parrish 

Ingredients:

1.5 lb small potatoes

Salt & Pepper

6 strips bacon

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

8-10 oz frozen spinach (thawed and liquid squeezed out)

6 eggs 

1/2 cup whole milk

Parmesan, grated finely

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Add the potatoes to a pot of boiling water and add a generous pinch of salt. Let it cook for 10-12 minutes. Then take a spring form pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and drizzle some olive oil on the bottom then spread that around. Take the potatoes and dump them into the pan. Then take a small cup and gently press down on the potatoes to smash them. Creating one even layer of potatoes all around the bottom and about 1-1.5 inches up the side forming a ‘crust’. 

Drizzle some olive oil over top, add some salt and pepper, then put it in the oven to crisp up for 15 minutes. 

Next chop the bacon and add it to a lightly oiled ceramic pan on medium heat. Slow cook it until it’s cooked through, then remove it from the pan, saving about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat in the pan. 

Dice the onion and finely chop the garlic cloves, then add that to the ceramic pan with the bacon grease, add a pinch of salt and cook it for about 6 minutes. When it has a nice golden color, add the thawed and drained spinach then add another pinch of salt and cook it for another 2 minutes or until the spinach is warmed through. Remove from heat and set aside. 

In a medium bowl, crack in the eggs, add the milk, and grate over some Parmesan (as much as you like), whisk to combine, then add in the bacon, onions, garlic, and spinach and give it another whisk up. 

Pour the egg mixture into the potato crust, and bake it in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the center is set and not jiggly. 

Let it cool for about 5 minutes before you run a knife around the edge and release the spring form. 

Slice in to cut your perfect piece and enjoy!

Basic Crustless Quiche & Garden Quiche

 Basic Crustless Quiche

This recipe is from “The Frugal Gourmet” by Jeff Smith @1984. Serves 8 - 10. I usually make half for Mike and I and a few guests. This is one of my favorites.

½ cup (¼ pound butter)

10 eggs

½ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 pound large curd cottage cheese

1 pound jack cheese, shredded (I use whatever cheese I have on hand and usually a combination of different cheeses.

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter. Whip the eggs until fluffy, and add the flour, baking powder, salt, cheese, melted butter, and half of the cheese. (At this point I add the ingredients from the Garden Quiche, Crustless recipe, see below.)

Place the mixture in a greased 9 by 13 inch baking dish. (When I half the recipe I use an 8 X 8 baking dish.)  Top with the remaining cheese, Make at 400° for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350° and continue to bake for 35 minutes to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. 

Cool, and cut into squares for serving.

Garden Quiche, Crustless

Use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Add some oregano to give some Italian flavor.

2 yellow onions, peeled and chopped

Butter

8 green onions chopped or sliced leeks

Mushrooms (optional)

4 small zucchini, sliced

½ cup parsley, chopped

3 tomatoes, sliced very thin

DIRECTIONS

Sauté the yellow onions and mushrooms in butter. Add to the crustless quiche filling along with the green onions, zucchini and parsley. Top with the remaining jack cheese and then the tomato slices. Bake as per Crustless Quiche recipe.

Eggs in the cloud

https://www.facebook.com/pat.zook.54/posts/593279660812740

Quiche Lorraine

Rules for a good Quiche from Jeff Smith (1984). The Frugal Gourmet. p.102

March 16, 2014

1. Always precook the pastry shell a bit - prevents soggy bottom.
2. Saute the vegetables a bit before adding them to the egg mixture to remove  unnecessary moisture.
3. Have your eggs at room temp for easier blending.
4. Use a wider pie plate or better yet a quiche pan. A simple pie plate will result in a rather thick quiche.

I want to jazz up Quiche Lorraine with some extra vegetables. Saute any combination you like: mushrooms, onions, zucchini. I tired a leek, mushroom and asparagus combo.  Next time I need to cut the asparagus and leeks into smaller, bite size pieces.

Line a quiche pan with pastry, prick with a fork, line with aluminum foil and pie weights or beans and cook for about 12 minutes at 400 degrees.

Fill half full with alternating layers of chopped boiled ham or crisp bacon, veggie mixture and Swiss cheese (can use any type of cheese) about a pound of each.

Beat and pour over: 5 eggs, 1 cup light cream or milk & 1/2 t. salt.

Top with thinly sliced tomatoes, optional.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until brown and firm on top.

This recipe can be frozen before cooking & saved for weeks before using. Thaw and cook as directed below.

This Quiche Lorraine version comes from Ruth Reichl, "The Gourmet Cookbook." @2004

In this recipe there is no cheese which is the true French approach

Basic Pastry Dough for single crust
1/2 # bacon (8 slices) cut crosswise into 1/2 inch wide pieces
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 t. salt
1/8 t. fresh ground nutmeg

Prepare the pastry dough and then refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and weight and bake shell until golden brown, about 10 minutes more, Transfer to a rack to cool

Meanwhile, cook the bacon until crisp, about 8 minutes.  Transfer to a paper towel to drain

Whisk together eggs, cream,, and milk in a large bowl, then whisk in salt and nutmeg.  Pour into baked pir shell and sprinkle with bacon.

Bake quiche until brown and puffed, 35 - 40 minutes (center will still be slightly wobbly but not liquid.)

Serve warm or at room temp.

Kale Smoothie

Continuing on my quest to incorporate kale into my diet.
This recipe comes from 40 Days of Green Smoothies by Becky Striepe

1 banana or avocado
2 T chia or flax seeds
1/4 cup frozen raspberries
1- 2 kale leaves with rib removed
1 cup almond milk
5 - 6 ice cubes

Granola

This is great for breakfast or for a snack. Adapt to your individual taste.  I have tried a few different recipes and this one is a little less sweet and sticky.  Yields 8 cups.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup vegetable oil. Could also use butter.
1/2 pure maple sugar.  You can use honey or a combination of honey and brown sugar.
1 t. salt
1 T pure vanilla extract
2 cups coarsely chopped nuts.  Use any combination of almonds, walnuts, cashews and or hazelnuts.
6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds.  I don;t always include these.  it depends on if I have them on hand.
2 T of brown sesame seeds.  I usually use white.
1/4 t. cinnamon (I like to include this but it is optional)
1 cup flaked coconut (I like to include this but it is optional)
You could include dried fruit at this point or add it when you serve the granola

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small sauce pan on low heat, warm the oil, syrup, and salt. Stir in vanilla.
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, nuts, seeds, cinnamon, and any other ingredients.  Gradually add the warm liquid stirring as you go until all the ingredient are evenly coated.
3. Spread the granola on an un-oiled baking pan.  Place in a pre-heated 325 degree oven fpr 30 minutes, stir after 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and to prevent clumping, stir every 10 minutes or so, until cooled.  Store in a closed container at room temperature.

How to Make Better Scrambled Eggs

I had never done this before today.  Delicious! how-to-make-better-scrambled-eggs by Ruth Riechl

Below is the information:

I learned how to make this kind of scrambled eggs from The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book, and Alice learned to make them from the painter, Francis Picabia, who understood that scrambled eggs should not be fluffy curds, but a dense, almost custardy concoction that you eat with great joy and concentration. To achieve that, Mr. Picabia had five rules:

1. Cook them in a saucepan, not a frying pan.
2. Cook them over very low heat.
3. Stir them constantly; he used a fork, but I prefer a heatproof rubber spatula.
4. Keep adding butter as you cook them. Mr. Picabia preferred 2 tablespoons of butter per egg - which comes out to a stick of butter for every 4 eggs that you’re cooking.  “More,” he counseled, “if you can bring yourself to it.” I don’t mind counseling the opposite; it’s really the slow cooking that makes these eggs, not the butter.
5. Don’t rush; Mr. Picabia says to take half an hour to prepare the eggs. That, I’ll admit, also seems slightly excessive to me. I think you can turn the heat up slightly and do it in about 15 minutes.

Below is the recipe verbatim from The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book. Feel free to adjust it as I have, but as long as you keep the heat low and your hand moving until they’re creamy but nearly set, you’ll end up with the most luscious eggs of your life

Eggs Francis Picabia

Break 8 eggs into a bowl and mix them well with a fork, adding salt but no pepper. Pour them into a saucepan - yes a saucepan, not a frying pan. Put the saucepan over a very, very low flame, and keep turning them with a fork while very slowly adding in very small quantities ½ lb. butter - not a speck less, more if you can bring yourself to it. It should take ½ hour to prepare this dish. The eggs of course are not scrambled, but with the butter, no substitute admitted, produce a suave consistency that only gourmets will appreciate.

Sumptuous Egg Casserole

This is a great dish to serve for breakfast with guests. 

It is easy to make and delicious. 

Serve with yummy bread and fresh fruit and juice.

3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
1 cup lean ham, cubed
7 large eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup flour
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tablespoon seasoned salt (Lawry's)

• Wipe mushrooms, slice then saute in a skillet with butter and onions over medium heat. Cook until moisture from mushrooms and onions evaporates. NOTE: This is an important step. If moisture is allowed to remain, the resulting dish will be watery.

• Put 1/2 of cheese on bottom of greased 9X13 inch glass dish. Distribute mushrooms & onions evenly over the cheese. Top with ham and remaining cheese.

• Refrigerate until ready to bake, up to 24 hours in advance.

• When ready to bake the casserole, break eggs into;blender and add milk, flour, parsley, and seasoned salt. Blend 30 seconds. Pour over casserole.

• Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 8 to 16 servings

from Elaine's Recipe Box

BREAKFAST - French Pancakes

Recipe by Elaine Moran’s recipe box

Heat together in saucepan

• One cup milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter

Cool slightly - beat in

• Two eggs, beaten
• ½ cup sifted flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt

Beat until smooth. 

Makes 30 3 inch pancakes.  I use a 10" skillet and make six pancakes.

First made on February 05, 2006. Claire and Mike love these thin pancakes!!

I think this is the recipe that my dad would refer to when he would say “Your mom had this great recipe for thin pancakes." I think I found it. I usually add fresh blueberries to the pancake batter once I place the batter in the pan.

Add Syrup and YUM