Saturday, September 18, 2010

Catching up w/Quiche!

Most of my life, I've had a weird love/hate relationship w/eggs. When I was little, Mom used to scramble them, then COVER them w/cheese & serve them w/toast, in order for me to eat them.

I'm okay if they're in food (I LOVE mayonnaise, to the disgust of my sister, who's also egg-phobic!), but I'm pretty particular about heavily eggy dishes. For instance, I love egg salad sandwiches, but only if I make them myself, & without any funny business, such as relish, or olives, etc. Hard-boiled eggs, mayo/Vegenaise, mustard, S & P. That's it! Crepes are pretty much a "no", although Coral got me to eat some wheat-y, strawberry crepes at the slumber party. :)

I've made plenty of quiche in my time, for a couple of jobs---a café & also at the preschool I worked at---but I always steered clear, myself. Too eggy & wiggly for me! Now I'm feeling like I've missed out on a lot of good food, simply from imagining (wrongly) what it must taste like.

Finally, before our TLC work retreat, we enjoyed a catered breakfast from a nearby café. They had an amazing spread of fruit, baked goods, home fries, & three quiches. I asked my friend, Joey, if I could try a bite of his. It. Was. Amazing. So rich & delicate! I've learned my lesson. Be adventurous! Try new things! (As long as they're vegetarian, ha ha.)

When my mom & brother were here last time, I cracked open my new favorite cookbook, The Grand Central Baking Book, & found a recipe for quiche. It had bacon in it, plus a few ingredients I didn't have on hand, so I improvised. It paid off & I was rewarded with one of the tastiest things I've ever made. Please keep an open mind & try foods you might not otherwise eat. Since I've been a cook all my life, I thought I could imagine what quiche would taste like, but I was wrong! If you don't like something, you can always spit it out & chug some juice or something, holding your nose all the while (which is a great tip that got me through childhood). :) Here's my version of delicious quiche:

Spinach, Onion & Cheese Quiche
  • 1 pre-baked pie shell
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 large onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • handful of frozen spinach (about 1/2 a bag)
  • salt & pepper
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 cup half & half
  • 3 ounces grated Asiago
  • 3 ounces grated Double Gloucester w/chives & onions
Preheat oven to 325*F. In a large pan over medium heat, sauté the onion & garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add spinach & cook until defrosted & no longer watery. Season well with salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Whisk together the eggs & half & half, with another good pinch of salt & pepper. Place the veggie mixture into the bottom of the pre-baked pie crust & spread evenly. Top with grated cheeses & then carefully pour the egg mixture over the top.


Slowly walk to the oven & place the quiche inside. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until the center is set.


Let cool a bit before digging in!


I wanted to show you what happens if you get impatient & don't let your pie crust rest before baking.

Before:


After:


D'oh! A lot of the pretty details get garbled & it shrinks inward a bit. Oh well! It was tasty & we were too hungry to wait any longer. Next time I'll begin earlier...

In other news, I rescued this plant from the dumpster area out back, after Ethan told me about seeing it. It's cool, though I'm not sure what it is yet.


I brought it in the house when it started raining, then checked the soil a few days later. What the hell?! I took it back outside to photograph these tiny, neon yellow, penis-shrooms!


Yeah, there's tons of dog hair in there too. I ended up scraping out the first couple inches of soil because I think it was full of mold, fungus & dog hair, then topped it off with fresh potting soil. It seems happier already! Who knows what kind of mushrooms those were...

I also disassembled a rainbow wool sweater that I got from Ara @ the clothes swap/bbq that her & Drew hosted. The sweater wasn't flattering on me (too short & wide, plus chunky yarn=not the best look), but I LOVE the colorway. I think I'll make a few kinds of hats & maybe some headbands or something. It took quite a few episodes of The X-Files to get through it (we're re-watching them & are almost done w/Season Two!), but I'm excited for all the possibilities.


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