Crustless Quiche

During phase one of South Beach, I was on a carb and sugar ban. Thus, a lot - and I do mean A LOT - of eggs for breakfast. To help this along (because eggs can get old real fast), I turned to a lovely crustless quiche. I found this recipe online, and have made it twice to incredible success. It couldn’t be easier, and I really do mean that.

The ingredients: Aside from the obvious need for eggs and milk, this is really the epitome of “whatever you got in the fridge” cooking. Any veggies that you have lying around that you think would make for a tasty combination, pull ‘em out and get ‘em ready. My first stab at this had me using asparaus, red pepper, green pepper, onion, garlic, and zucchini. The second time around, I went with onions and spinach. In all cases, I used the low fat cheddar that I had in the fridge.

The cooking: First things first - sautee up those veggies. You want ‘em soft enough that it wouldn’t be gross to bite into them while ensconced in egg. When they’re done, you can put them into a pie plate - just spread ‘em around the bottom. In another bowl, I beat 5 eggs and eye balled a cup of milk. I also added some grated cheese to this, maybe some pepper, and some hot sauce. Stir, and then pour over the veggies. If you’re using a standard nine-inch pie plate, this should be enough to cover all the veggies reasonably well. For luck, I threw just a bit more cheese on top. With the oven set at 350, pop it in for about 35 minutes - you know your own oven well enough to know when to check. When it’s browned nicely on top and cooked through the middle, it’s done.

The eating: Since I made this twice, I think we can safely say it was a success. It stored nicely in the fridge and packed exceptionally well for take away breakfasts. I could just reheat it at work, or eat it cold if I weren’t inclined to head to the lunch room. Sure, we all would like the crust, but if you’re trying to watch out for those damned carbs, this was a great way to cut them out. This past week, I was able to enjoy it with a piece of South Beach approved bread, and that was just fine to me.

I could not be more thrilled for that recipe - thanks, food blogger’s mom!  I’ve you’ve never made a quiche before, this is a great and easy first go at it.

 

Cucumber & Feta Salsa

While still South Beach-ing, I’ve been trolling the ‘nets for new and interesting recipes. Natch, I’m finding a tonne I’d like to make but can’t. However, every once and a while something pops up that I can eat. Thus, the cucumber & feta salsa. To give a bit of background - the Red Librarian has a balcony, and since spring is here in full …. swing, we decided it was necessary to break it in with some afternoon brewskis and grilled meats. Except of course that we don’t have a grill and I can’t drink beer (damn you, South Beach!). We improvised, and came up with me drinking ice tea out of a beer glass, and baked sausages, his on a bun, mine without. Since I though there might be some dressing up to do to that naked link, I made this salsa. Which I then proceeded to not eat on the sausage, but with a spoon. SO GOOD. And so…

The ingredients: Cucumber and red onion, I always gots. Feta cheese too, though this depleted my supply. Lemon juice, also on hand, pepper obviously, and dried dill I do have. I bought some fresh mint for the occassion, and I guess I’ll find something else to do with it … like more salsa!

The cooking: Here is a real simple one, kids, to wow people with at parties. It couldn’t be easier. I halved the recipe, since I didn’t think we needed that much. Though I would have eaten it all, but that’s not necessary. Anyways, mash up cheese, pepper, and lemon juice. Peel and then seed the cucumber, and cut it into bity bites. Same with red onion. I probably used less than what the recipe called for, and it was fine. Dill, sprinkle it in. Mint - chop roughly what you think it right and add it too. Stir together and enjoy. It smells and tastes a lot like the smell of stuffed grape leaves, if that helps. The original recipe I found this with called for pita chips, which I would agree to be fabulous. Perhaps in the future.

The eating: Ya, I ate it with a spoon. The end.

Impress the pants off your friends with this allegedly Egyptian treat. It’s pretty standard Middle Eastern / Greek / You Know, That Part of the World taste going on. Which I love. LOVE.

 

Stuffed Tomatoes

When I was last home, I was able to squeeze in some FoodTV time. Oh, how I miss it! I was watching French Food at Home, which I love for its Halifax-ness, and saw Laura make this delicious dish - stuffed tomatoes. This is another retroactive recipe, which I’ve also just finished making for the second time. Highly enjoyable, and really easy too.

The ingredients: The theme of the show this recipe came from was family dinners for the end of summer break. As such, nothing too fancy to be found in this. Tomatoes - easy enough. I like the size on the ones that come on the vine, and I think they’re so pretty to boot. I love love love ground beef, so both times I’ve made this recipe, I’ve used that. Onions, shallots, garlic, dijon, and parm cheese - all in the house. Herbs de Provence I had to buy, but they’re delicious and I was happy to do so. You could use the subsitute options if you’re so inclined. A note on the bread - the first time I made this, I only had whole wheat in the house, so I used that and it was fine. Currently, I’m South Beach-ing (which is sucking my will to live, slowly but surely), so I omited the bread altogether. That also worked, though the mixture in the end was less thick.

The cooking: So, from the top - scoop out those tomatoes. You can whip up a cream of tomato soup with the goopy stuff left over, so virtually the only part of the tomato you’re not using is the stem. I’d do that. I did salt and let the tomatoes sit, especially since they’re not doing anything else while I cook the filling. That part is so straightforward and simple. I would say that you can drain the meat when it’s cooked, and you’d probably want to, since there’s no need to keep that fat in the pan. Wetting the bread and wringing it out sounds and looks gross, but it’s quite easy to just smoosh it into the meat filling. Again, I left it out this time, and it tasted fine. You can go a little buck wild with the mustard, parm, and herbs. Since the meat is cooked through, you can taste it and see if you need more. Easy peasy. By the time this is done, you can stuff the tomatoes and put them in the oven. One final note: both times I’ve made this dish, I’ve only made four tomatoes. I just cut the ingredients list roughly into thirds, and it was fine.

The eating: I love it. To me, a baked tomato is really worth the price of admission. I love the dijon in the meat filling, too. It really has a nice comfy home food feel to it, and since I could make it without any bread products, was just fine by me for this South Beach business. You could serve it with anything, I’m sure. A potato of some type would be nice.

It takes about an hour start to finish to get this show on the road, but I think you’ll find it quite satisfying in the end. I wouldn’t say it’s a dinner party star, but for a perfectly serviceable Sunday night meal with leftovers for Monday, it’s totally worth it.

 

Brie with Sweet and Nutty Topping

Hey everyone! It’s been so long! I’m going to do some retroactive recipe blogging… if I can think of what I’ve made that was worth writing about. I’m going to start with this Brie with Sweet and Nutty Topping. I made this Saturday night for Red Librarian’s birthday, and it was beyond delicious. Be.Yond.

The ingredients: Pretty straighforward here. I had some pecans kicking around the house from a past trip to my most favourite store in the whole wide world, Bulk Barn. Raisins, I always have on hand. I used golden raisins, since they’re my fave. I obviously didn’t have a spare wheel of brie kicking around, so I that I needed to buy. The recipe calls for the smaller size brie wheel, but I opted for the large size, and then just doubled everything. Brown sugar, check. And finally, the whisky. Since I think whisky tastes like burning, I don’t regularly keep any in the house. As such, I picked up the “sneak it into a wedding” sized bottle from the cash registers at LCBO. I bought something cheap, since I figured the rest would be left at RL’s house anyways, and since it was being cooked. I don’t rememebr what brand I bought, and it was cheap. RL said it tasted a little butterscotch-y, which probably helped.

The cooking: To make sure that things didn’t get too gritty, I mixed the sugar and the whisky together first. Once the sugar was pretty much dissolved, I added the raisins and the pecans. Mixy mixy. I cut the top off the brie, and put it on top of some tin foil on the baking sheet. Brie tends to get messy, in my experience, so this is a lot neater. Finally, I dumped the mix on top and popped it in the oven. I a little lost track of time, so make sure to keep an eye on it - 13 minutes = the cheese runneth over.

The eating: Mmmmm. Despite the over running cheese, it was so good. Like, So. It was salty, and sweet, and warm and yummy. I can’t say enough. I served it up with baguette, but honestly, you could eat it with a spoon.

Make this for your next party. This isn’t a suggestion, it’s an order.

 

Meatloaf (The Entree, Not the Singer)

Yes, it’s been that long. I honestly haven’t made anything worth writing about since June. June! All work no play makes Jenifesto something something. Anyways, what better way to ease myself back into the cooking realm than with the good ol’ American white trash favourite, the meatloaf. I saw this recipe for meatloaf in this month’s Everyday Food, and thought I may as well give it a whirl. The result is me being completely and utterly in love with this loaf. And I mean *love*. What’s so good about it, you ask? I don’t know. It’s better than my mom’s (which isn’t saying much), but I’d go out on a limb here and say it’s the best I’ve ever had. If you’re looking for comfort food, this is most decidedly it.

The ingredients: All pretty standard fare. I decided to go with straight on beef, though I imagine the part ground pork would be quite nice. The recipe also calls for homemade bread crumbs. Let’s just say, I’m lazy. I used storebought, and to be the real hell-raiser I am, I used skim milk instead of whole. Otherwise, I went with everything else on the list.

The cooking: Seeing as though I figured I couldn’t screw this up too badly, I just kind of threw everything together. One thing I can make pretty well is meatballs, so I knew about 1) the not overworking the meat, and 2) the letting the breadcrumbs soak in milk. I did both, but otherwise just got in there with my hands and gave her a go. At first, I thought what I’m sure passed through many of your minds - that much ketchup? Gross? But I went with it, figuring that since I normally put ketchup on the finished product, this might not be so bad. I basted once after 15 minutes, then again after another 15 minutes, and then let it cook for a final 15. It was done at that point, so I let it rest while I mashed up some potatoes to go with.

The eating: Oh wow. I couldn’t wait to get it on my plate, to be honest. It was very moist and not tough at all. The ketchup ended up being more sweet than ketchup-y tasting. And the grated onions were terrific. I didn’t realize it, but that’s actually one of the things I hate about my mother’s meatloaf, so I would heartily suggest grating the onion for whatever recipe you use. I used less meat than they suggested in the recipe (let’s say about half a kilo), but I’d say it made enough for four people with big servings. When cooking, since it was on a baking sheet and not in pan, the fat from the meat just sort of flowed out around it. I used an extra-lean, and there wasn’t much. If you’re using a fattier meat, I would consider using a baking sheet with a good sized rim so that you don’t have a mess everywhere.

In the edition of EF that I got this out of there, there were some tips for meatloaf making, as well as some variations you can make to this recipe. I intend on working my way towards Heart Attack City by trying all three at some point. My old stand-by assertion that bacon makes everything better will certainly be put to the test with this.

In conclusion - yes yes yes for the days when a meatloaf as comfort food is just what is needed. I know it’s an old standby, but it’s probably something where you need a good recipe to start with, and I’d totally recommend this one.