THE Spinach Quiche

This is a combination of a few of my favorite quiche recipes. I love the ease of the Gourmet Cookbook's use of puff pastry and creme fraiche.

THE Spinach Quiche
Emily Clyde Curtis

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
6 large eggs
2 (10-oz) containers creme fraiche This can be pricey, so I make my own. 4 T buttermilk added to heavy cream so it equals 2 cups total in a mason jar, mix well. Leave the jar at room temperature for 24 hours. Then, refrigerate and use within 10 days.1/2 t salt
1/8 t freshly grated nutmeg
10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed with excess water removed I put mine in dishtowel and wring out the spinach1 c grated Gruyere cheese

Preheat oven to 375.

Roll out puff pastry and trim it to fit in quiche pan (I just use a regular pie dish).

Whisk eggs, creme fraiche, salt and nutmeg until smooth. Add spinach and gruyere until all combined.

Bake for an hour. The quiche is usually getting brown on top but hasn't quite set yet. Cover with tinfoil when the crust and top are golden and continue to bake until the quiche doesn't jiggle (much) when you shake the pan.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pinterest

I'm afraid I do most of my recipe experiments on Pinterest now. It's so easy to pin a recipe, try it, and then, put my notes in the comment field.

If you'd like to see them, my favorites are here. And, the recipes I want to try are here (I work really hard to keep those under 300 pins--like I'll have time to make 250 new recipes, but it makes me feel a bit more organized.).

Massaged Kale Salad: 3 Ways

I've been obsessed with massaged kale salads this season and bring you the best of the best recipes I've found. Kale is full of calcium and I find it to be one of the more palatable winter greens. Get lacinato kale (with the broad flat leaves as opposed to the more common curly kale). My kids and I like that texture best.

Salt or lemon juice massaged into the kale takes the raw taste of kale from these salads while still leaving the leaves crisp and fresh tasting.

And, I can't seem to do a massaged kale salad without a bit of sweetness.

Massaged Kale and Craisin Salad with Feta Cheese

If you have a lemon flavored olive oil, use it. You won't be sorry.

Raw Kale Salad with Lentils and Sweet Apricot Vinaigrette

I used quinoa instead of lentils. Quicker to cook and I thought it absorbed more dressing.

Hearty Kale Salad with Squash, Pomegranate Seeds, and Toasted Hazelnuts
I used butternut squash, but other than that, I think this recipe is my favorite. Perfect for a Thanksgiving side.

Chocolate Sponge Cake Roll with Peppermint Whip Cream

Ever since blogger upgraded their site, I've had a hard time blogging--it's pretty different from the old format. That, coupled with Pinterest, has left me pinning favorite recipes and putting my changes in the comment field rather than updating everything here. And, the ease of finding new recipes and pinning them for later means that I'll never try all my "Recipes to try" pins, but if you do, could you let me know how they turn out?

This is my favorite holiday dish. I posted that I was making it on Facebook and had a few people ask for the recipe. It's light, delicious, and the presentation is easy and festive. A small Christmas miracle?

Chocolate Sponge Cake Roll
Mary Clyde

4 eggs, separated
1 c sugar
1 t vanilla
3 T water
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3/4 c flour
1/3 c cocoa
1/2 c (approx) powdered sugar

2 c whipping cream
1 c crushed candy canes or peppermints (you want these pretty fine with a lot of candy cane dust because that will help sweeten the whip cream)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line parchment or wax paper on a 10-15 inch cookie sheet with a 1-inch ridge (also known as a jelly roll pan) and lightly grease

Blend egg yolks and vanilla in electric mixer at high speed until yolks are thick and lemon colored. Add water and mix. Set aside.

In another bowl, stir together baking powder, salt, cocoa, and flour. Add half of mixture with yolks and mix. Set aside.

In another bowl using clean dry beaters blend egg whites until soft peaks form gradually blending in the sugar until glossy peaks form. Fold in yolk mixture and flour mixture just until blended.

Pour onto cookie sheet, making batter even and smooth.

Bake for 10-20 minutes or until top springs back when gently touched.

Sprinkle top with powdered sugar. Remove wax paper and gently roll cake into a loose cylinder. Cover rolled up cake with clean dish towel and let cool (approximately 2-3 hours).

Whip whipping cream to desired consistency (I like it a little firmer than usual because it can ooze out of the cake if it isn't). Add crushed candy canes. Taste whip cream--sometimes, I find I need to add 1-2 T powdered sugar.

Unroll cake, spread with filling, then reroll cake in plastic wrap. The directions say to refrigerate overnight. I've gotten away with refrigrating for a couple hours. The key is to cut slices with a knife warmed in really hot water. Take the knife out of the water, wipe it dry, cut a slice. Repeat (you should have about 12 slices).

To be extra fancy make a chocolate ganache to drizzle over the cake.

Nate's burger tips

The nice thing about being married to Nate is that he only has a handful of recipes, but he thoroughly researchs them to find out how to make things really well.

Here are some of his burger tips:

2. DON'T OVERWORK. Ground beef is not Play-Doh. The more you handle it, the denser and more rubbery it will become when cooked. After you've seasoned the meat, divide it into individual portions and, with lightly cupped hands, shape into patties. As soon as the patties hold together, stop!

3. DON'T PRESS. Flip the burgers just once-after they've developed deep brown grill marks-and don't be tempted to press on them. Pressing down on the burgers as they cook squeezes out the flavorful juices, which end up in your grill (causing flare-ups) instead of in your burgers.

BURGER BULGE

Making a shallow indentation in the center of the patty is the first step toward a great burger.

The collagen, or connective tissue, in ground meat shrinks when heated. This causes the bottom and sides of the meat to tighten like a belt, which forces the surface of the burger to expand. To prevent a bubble burger, press a 1/4-inch divot, or indentation, in the center of each patty. The collagen will still tighten, but the indented meat won't bulge.

Flat Patties

If you start with a flat burger patty...

Bulging Burgers

...you'll end up with a bulging burger like this one.

Divoted Patties

Pressing a small divot into the center of each patty...

Flat Burgers

...keeps the burgers from bulging. The result? Perfect burgers.

KEEPING BURGERS FROM STICKING TO THE GRILL

Scrape Clean

Heat your grill up before cleaning it with a sturdy grill brush. Any residual debris will come off hot grates much easier than cool ones.

Slick Down and Build Up Seasoning

Grab a wad of paper towels with a pair of long-handled tongs and dip them in a bowl of vegetable oil. When the towels have absorbed the oil, run them over the cleaned grill grate. The oil will burn off at first. Continue to dip the towels into oil and slick down the grate; it will become "nonstick." When the grate turns black and glossy, your grill is good to go.

Southern Cast Iron Biscuits

by Nate

A recipe from an old woman who grew up in Mulberry, Florida.  She learned cooking from her mother, grandmother, and her “nanny” which was a term used for black housekeepers who lived with rich white families and worked for room & board.  According to Sister Johns, this was a common practice for older black women who had no family to take care of them.  I asked her once if nannies were slaves, she just chuckled at me and tactfully changed the topic.

Sister Johns would cook for the missionaries once a week even though she must have been in her late 70s.  

Her cooking was the stuff of legends in the mission.  These biscuits were a staple at her table.  Apparently, Sister Johns passed away several years ago. I got the recipe from a sister missionary that was in my zone at the same time who admitted to modernizing the recipe (added microwave steps where you are supposed to set everything out hours ahead of time so it gets room temperature). 

Makes 15-18, cooked in 2 or 3 batches

Dry Ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 /12 teaspoons sugar

Wet Ingredients

• Two blocks of butter (softened, 16 oz)
• Approximately 1.5 cups of whole milk
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)

Directions

·         Dry ingredients in a bowl.
·         Soften butter in microwave, but not completely melted.
·         Set aside 2 tablespoons of softened butter
·         Mix remaining softened butter into dry ingredients until the mixture is small crumbles.
·         Warm milk slightly in the microwave to prevent butter from going hard.
·         Make a well with flour mixture and slowly add milk into the middle. While kneading the dough with your fingers.  
·         Add milk until dough barely pulls away from your fingers and the sides of the bowl without leaving residue.
·         Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll or pat to approximately ¾ inch thickness.  Thickness will increase 100-200% while cooking. 
·         Cut with either a 2 inch or 3 inch round cookie cutter depending on desired size of biscuits.
·         Using a pastry brush, paint both sides of cut biscuits with remaining butter.
·         Heat cast-iron skillet or dutch oven to medium heat. 
·         Place biscuits in pan with a hair of space between each biscuit.

Nate’s notes:

·         Cook covered until golden brown on the bottom and turn once (think pancakes).
·         When done, biscuits will form a natural break in the middle where the cooked dough is weakest.
·         There is no need to grease the skillet.

Variations:

Cheese Biscuits – Cube 4 oz of a hard cheese, or strong flavor cheese into buckshot size cubes (approximately ¼ inch cubes), and mix into dough before rolling it out.

Fruit Cobbler Topper:

·         double the sugar,
·         add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to dry mix,
·         roll dough to ½ inch thickness,
·         cook biscuits on one side only
·         place the biscuits raw-side up on the cobbler before baking and press gently into the cobbler.
·         Sprinkle the uncooked tops of the biscuits with a light coating of cinnamon and sugar.

Left Over Pot Roast Tacos

We never finish a pot roast in one sitting, and I didn't really know what to do with it for another meal. Tonight, I made this taco filling (though it says it's for chimichangas). Easy, quick and tasty.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1726,146176-227196,00.html