Not So Impossible Quiche

“Quiche” sounds complicated, but it is easy to make and inexpensive. Great for dinner or Sunday brunch.

You will need:
1 Pillsbury pie crust
14 oz. frozen loose chopped spinach
4 sliced mushrooms
½ cup chopped onion (1 medium)
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup shredded Cheddar Jack cheese
¼ cup imitation bacon bits*
2 cups (16 oz.) Eggbeaters (aprox.)
Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place the spinach in a colander (strainer) and thaw by running warm water over it. Press to remove excess water, let dry.
Let the pie crust come to room temperature and remove from package. Place in 9” pie tin and crimp using your thumbs and forefingers.
Fill crust with spinach, mushrooms, onion, garlic powder and cheese. Pour in enough Eggbeaters to fill the crust.
Add bacon bits. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top, covering the other fillings.
Bake until eggs are solid and crust starts to brown, aprox. 40-45 minutes. Serve warm.
I just served this to my vegetarian 17 year-old and she "inhaled it".
Hints: I cover a cookie sheet with tin foil to catch any spills.
You can also make two at a time, freezing one for another meal. For individual microwaveable servings: let cool, slice and wrap servings separately in plastic wrap before freezing.
*Substitute: chopped bacon or ham

Tis the Season

If you ask a gardener in this zone 5/6 area when the growing season starts, they will probably answer Memorial Day Weekend. This is generally considered to be the time of year that is safe from frost.
If you ask a die-hard gardener, they might answer March. That is the earliest you can plant snow peas around here; that is if your garden isn’t covered in the white stuff. (I probably shouldn’t admit this, but there was a time I would shovel the snow off an area large enough to plant the snow peas. I have since recovered from that urge.)
If you ask a gardening addict when the season starts, they will answer November. This is the time of year that seed catalogs begin to arrive. Oh, the excitement of opening your mailbox and finding the first of the season, much like eating your first homegrown tomato each summer. Some days I get as many as three!
I love looking at seed catalogs. Some are beautifully illustrated. All offer the biggest, best, and most abundant. I especially look forward to the new hybrids of the season. Bizarre and beautiful are the pictures of these vegetables, enticing me to try something new.
Look out stomach…this year I’m planting Burning Bush ™ Hybrid Peppers!

King Crab Bisque

Here is another Cafe Wrold menu item that my husband has been making for years. This was one of the favorites at our restaurant, and so easy even I can cook it.
Ingredients:
3 (6 oz.) cans Chicken of the Sea crabmeat
1 slice bacon (I prefer Hatfield)
3 Tbs. butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped onions
2 cups diced potatoes
1 quart cream
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp. Thyme
salt & pepper to taste

Saute bacon in butter slowly over low heat in a soup pot, about 10 minutes. Add onion, potatoes, bay leaf, Old Bay and thyme. Continue sauteing for 20 minutes. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. Cook over low heat an additional 15 minutes. Add the crab and cream. Slowly bring the temperature up to just below a simmer and cook for 5 minutes to blend the flavors. You now have a delicous crab soup and can stop right here.
To make a bisque, let the soup cool and run through your blender or food processor till smooth. Reheat. Enjoy!
Serves 10
Here is the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I8Vwx9Ynkk

Triple Berry Cheescake

Ever since I saw the Triple Berry Cheesecake on Cafe' World I've been wanting some. This is an easy recipe and the result is to die for.

1 Keebler Brand Ready Made Crust, Chocolate
2 pkg.(8 oz. each) reduced fat Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 egg beaters (or 2 eggs)

Heat oven to 325°F
Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add egg substitute, (if using real eggs, beat in one at a time) mixing until blended. Pour into crust.
Bake 25min. (ovens vary) or until the top is just about dry. Refrigerate 1 1/2 hours or until chilled.
Topping:
1 cup each blueberries, strawberries (sliced) and raspberries
1/4 cup Maple Grove Farms Strawberry Syrup
I used frozen berries, thawed. Simply mix together.
Drizzle with Hershey's Double Chocolate Sundae Syrup.
Serves 8 (or 2 women 4 times)
To view the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnP9Yk6VjTE

Baked French Onion Soup

3 oz. butter
5 large onions, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 cups beef broth*
3 cups chicken broth
1 Tbs. white wine
Peel onions, cut in half and thinly slice into semi-circles. Sauté onions and garlic in butter over medium-low heat. The onions need to cook slowly, as they turn brownish their sugars will naturally be released and add a vast amount of flavor. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a slow boil.
Ladle carefully into oven safe crocks. Top with croutons, Swiss cheese and parmesan cheese. Bake in 350F/177C degree oven for 10 minutes. Nice served with toasted French bread.
Makes about 8 serving depending on the capacity of the crocks.
*Vegetarian substitute 6 cups vegetable broth
*You can also use all beef broth, substitute port wine

Digging Holes

A WWII Vet I know grows great vegetables. Really really great vegetables. His wife told me their secret: in the fall he digs holes around the vegetable bed. Then, instead of using a fancy-schmancy composter, they simply put their kitchen scraps etc. into the holes. Until the ground freezes they cover them up with dirt. Come Spring they lightly till in the compost.
Now I know this goes against the recommended method of composting: layering the right balance of brown and green materials and turning regularly to aid the breakdown. I'm not saying I'm not going to continue to do this method over the winter.
But for today, I'm also digging holes.

Planting Garlic

I know, I'm late. Garlic is supposed to be planted by Columbus Day in this area. I have put it in as late as December and still harvested a good crop. So it's better late than never again! This year I am also planting some in containers to see how that compares to in-ground grown. I know enough to keep the planters close to the house so they get sufficient water during the growing season. I think I'll also make another garden at the front of the house...yeah, why not? Maybe it will end up as a huge garlic bed! After all, you can never have too much garlic, right? Then again, I use to think the same thing about chocolate.

Vegetable Pot Pie

A homemade pot pie is nothing like the ones you buy in the grocer’s freezer section. Fresh from the oven they are really delicious. This is an easy and tasty meal. You can adapt it by adding your favorite cooked meat, and use regular gravy (making it even easier).

For Vegetarian Gravy

1 stick butter

Flour

(1) 14 1/2 oz can Vegetable Broth

Make roux: Melt butter in saucepan. Add enough flower to make it pull from the sides of the pan. Remove from pan, set aside.

Pour broth into saucepan. Slowly whisk in enough roux until you have the consistency of cream. You will have some leftover, just refrigerate it, it holds a long time. Simmer to thicken.

For filling:

2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

Olive oil

Your favorite veggies, fresh or frozen

In a skillet, saute’ the garlic in a little olive oil.

For fresh veggies I added chopped onions (1 large), chopped carrots (3), Chopped celery (3 stalks), rutabaga (1 small), kohlrabi (1). Add a little water and simmer until tender.

I then added 1/2 bag of mixed silician style veggies and 1/2 bag of broccoli. Simmer until thawed. Mix with gravy.

Shell:

You can use premade pie dough or make your own*. I used 2 packages (4 ct. total) to make 4 small double crusted pies.

I varied the pies by adding to different shells: chopped seasoned tofu, rinsed black beans, chopped buffalo “chicken” (morning star) and chopped “beef” (morning star)

Top with remaing pie dough, crimp. Bake at 350 degrees F. until shell is lightly brown. For the small pies this took 18 minutes.

Enjoy!

*My husband and I used to own a restaurant and I did a lot of baking. One week I made a total of 80 pies! I haven’t made one pie crust from scratch since we got out of the business 13 years ago!

Gardening Tips

~The best way to plant peppers is too close together
~My favorite plants are always the ones that nature grows herself.
~Don’t handle Beans when they are wet.
~The peak time to pick Herbs is first thing in the morning.
~The best way to eat Cherry Tomatoes is straight from the garden while they are still warm. Yum! However, never eat any vegetable before washing it first, even organically grown veggies can have dangerous unseen critters lurking about.
~One of the best tips I’ve heard was about staking Tomatoes. Whereas wire can burn the stems, and twine can also cause damage, using pieces of old pantyhose is ideal. The hose ‘gives’ with the plant just enough, and heck the price is right! I have also tried it on pole beans and cucumbers and it works well there too.
~Ever hear of the Three Sisters of the fields? They are corn, squash and beans growing together. The beans grow up the corn and the squash grows at the base of the corn, providing each other with necessary nutrients as well as discouraging little varmints (raccoons in particular) from nibblin’ the corn.
~Basil plants do well when planted among tomatoes. They are slower to bolt because the tomatoes give them some shade, and the basil adds a nice flavor to the tomatoes..
~Think twice before planting…or plant out of the way of the rest of your garden: Horseradish, Mint (any kind), Oregano/Sweet Marjoram. I have them all and I love them, but I have them contained so as not to take over the rest of the garden. Also consider where you want Chives, Strawberries, Jerusalem Artichokes and Asparagus.
~Got Seeds? If you have them left over from last year you can still use them. Seeds do lose some of their potency over time, so the germination rate will drop a bit, but toss ‘em in anyway. You may be surprised at the results!
~Compost: The ultimate recycling! Don’t throw any meat products into your compost, and Heaven forbid! don’t throw in any Horseradish, Mint (any kind) or Oregano/Sweet Marjoram seeds, leaves or especially roots. Also, when adding food waste to the pile, be sure to cover it with ‘Green Manure’ (leaves/grass/etc.) and turn frequently. Otherwise you may be attracting flies and a few of the local wildlife.
Do throw a few earthworms into your compost heap every so often. They love it and you will benefit. We use the lucky few that survive our fishing excursions.
~I see my hints are all about vegetable gardening and I should probably say something about flowers for those of you so inclined. A few flowers in the vegetable garden helps attract bees which promote fertilization of your plants (hehe). Nasturtiums are especially good for attracting bees, plus they are edible. They are really cool (no pun intended) frozen in ice cubes and tossed in a punch or glass of lemonade.
~If you wish to go the other way, and plant a few vegetables in the flower garden, I’d recommend squashes and gourds. This family of vegetables gets beautiful flowers (mostly also edible) and is comparatively easy to grow. There are also some peas and beans that do well and are quite pretty when trellised, Purple Bean Hyacinth comes to mind, though I don’t think it is edible. Scarlet Runner Bean has pretty red flowers.
~The well-rounded garden will want to sport at least a showing of herbs. Lavender and Sage are easy to contain perennials and quite prolific… Chamomile and Dill are tall, delicate annuals with nice fragrances…for those that like cooking, Sage and Oregano are very easy to grow…there are as many suggestions as there are garden personalities. Just be careful, they ‘grow like weeds’.