Company Coming!

Or company came, rather. This past week I hosted some friends for breakfast and then my dearest friend came to stay with her adorable daughter. It was busy and fun. But honestly, the breakfast was fun because it was no work. I know what you're thinking. You clearly see a picture of baked something or other up there (strata, if you must know) and you are wondering how exactly this was no work unless I purchased it. I didn't purchase it. And still, I maintain it was no work. Also, really delicious. Want to have this delicious eggy cheesey browned breakfast goodness? Read on. The recipe is from this gem of an inn in Maryland. If the idea of even this no effort breakfast is stressing you out, it might be best if you just go get it from the source.

STRATA
adapted from The Brampton Inn - Chestertown, Maryland. Seriously, check out their website, gorgeous, no?

INGREDIENTS:
8 1/2" slices of crusty French bread, buttered on one side
5 eggs
3 C whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 C shredded sharp cheddar (I used a mix of cheddar and asiago)
6 oz crumbled breakfast sausage, cooked and drained
(optional - a few teaspoons of hot sauce)

DIRECTIONS:
1.Butter an 8" square ovenproof dish
2. Arrange bread slices in two rows, buttered side down
3. Whisk eggs in large bowl
4. Add milk, salt and pepper and hot sauce
5. Pour egg mixture over bread
7. Sprinkle with sausage and cheese
8. Cover and refrigerate overnight

Then the morning of:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Uncover and bake for 50-60 minutes (mine took 65), until puffed and no longer liquid in the middle and golden on top.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

See? Almost no work.

Quick - A Quiche!

Maybe it was the delicious lunch my grandmother and I had at The Tea Shoppe or maybe it was reading a book that's set in Paris (disclosure, there is no quiche in that book, crepes, mais oui, but not a quiche. I can't make crepes though, so you're stuck with the quiche). Either way, I found myself desperately wanting quiche. Usually a summer staple of mine, I can't even think of the last time I made one. Luckily I consider quiche fairly easy to throw together (hence it being a summer staple). This one is vegetarian because I resisted the urge to throw in bacon. Believe me, I had the urge but reason won out. Which is okay, because it was completely delicious without. I won't tell if you add it though.

QUICHE, NO BACON

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 recipe dough (I make a full recipe and freeze the other half for later!)
1 T extra virgin olive oil
3 C sliced mushrooms
1/4 C well minced yellow onion
2-3 C washed, dried, stem removed, fresh baby spinach
3-4 sprigs of thyme (leaves only)
1 C gruyere cheese
1 1/2 C milk
4 eggs
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 450 while you make the dough. Then place the dough in a 9" pie plate. Cover it with foil and your pie weights, pennies or dried beans, whatever you use for blind baking. Bake for 8 minutes, then remove weights and foil. Prick the bottom all over with a fork and return to the oven for 4-5 more minutes. When you remove it lower your oven to 325 F.

While the pie is baking, get your fillings going. In a large pan, pour your tablespoon of olive oil. Add the mushrooms and onions, a pinch of salt and a healthy grating of pepper. Cook for 6 minutes on medium high (you don't want crispy, you want soft and tasty). Add your thyme and spinach and cook for 3 minutes more.

In a separate bowl, give the eggs a nice little beating and then pour in the milk and mix well. Add a pinch of salt and some pepper and then the gruyere. Give it another stir or two.

When the crust is ready, put the mushroom/onion/spinach mixture in the bottom of the crust. Then pour over the egg/milk/cheese mixture. Pop it in the oven (now reduced to 325 F) for 40-45 minutes or until it has set up (meaning a knife is pretty clean when you stick it in the middle). Allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting in.

'Tis the Season...For Deviled Eggs

We are currently at a crossroads - smack in between Easter and Mother's Day. Whether you have some left over hard boileds that you're dreading facing or are organizing your brunch menu for next Sunday, it is critical that you be able to devil. Besides shower season is upon us and whether they be bridal showers or baby showers, deviled eggs are always a hit. Even when your tray of them has slid off the seat during a particularly violent braking at a stoplight.* Trust me, a bit of paprika, some cosmetic work with a spoon and paper towel, no one will be the wiser.

*Amazingly enough, while I was involved with the repair work, I was not responsible for the egg accident. I will never reveal the name of Melanie the person who was.

DEVILED EGGS

INGREDIENTS:
6 hard-boiled eggs
4 T plus 1 t mayonnaise (Hellman's is GF)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dijon mustard (Maille is GF)
black pepper to taste
paprika

DIRECTIONS:
Carefully peel the eggs. Slice each egg in half and with a spoon coax out the yolk into a small bowl. When you've gathered all the yolks add the mayonnaise and mustard and mix well. I usually break up the mixture with the tines of a fork, but people who like it smoother may prefer to something else. Sprinkle in the salt and add the pepper to taste. You can pipe the filling in with a piping bag or by filling a plastic ziploc with eggy goodness, chopping off a corner of the ziploc and squeezing it through. I am usually too lazy for these and instead use a spoon to heap the mixture back into the holes. Sprinkle the tops with paprika.

Less Than Eloquent

About 12 hours ago, I left my house to go to work. I've spent about an hour and a half driving today (hey, that's my commute) and had over an hour of physical therapy. I sat down about 10 minutes ago. I am exhausted and my verbal abilities are currently at the fbbbt, fbbbt, fbbbt level. I fully intend to be asleep within the next two hours. Lest you think I'm superwoman and somehow managed to whip up this quiche in the midst of all that, allow me to disillusion you. I did not. This is something I made last week. Back when I had time to myself and energy and eloquence.

SAUSAGE AND BLUE CHEESE QUICHE

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 C thinly sliced sweet (Vidalia) onions
1 T extra virgin olive oil
3 links of sausage, casings removed (for me this was between a 1/2 and 3/4 of a pound)
1-2 oz blue cheese (get what you like) crumbled
1 half recipe dough
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 C egg beaters + 1 egg (alternately, 3 eggs)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 400 F.
Place the thinly sliced onions in a pan with the tablespoon of olive oil. Cook on low heat, watching closely to make sure they don't burn. Cook for 15-20 minutes until they are soft and sweet. In the meantime, remove the casings from your sausage and add to another pan. Cook over medium heat using a spoon or spatula to break the sausage up into crumbles. They should be done in about 10 minutes. Drain and set on a paper towel covered plate to dry a bit. Roll out your dough and place it in a 9" pie plate. Place foil over the dough and then fill with pie weights. Bake for 8-9 minutes then remove the foil and weight, prick the dough with a fork and bake for 2 more minutes. Remove and let cool for a few minutes while you whip up the custard. In a large bowl, combine the milk and eggs and whip until frothy. In another bowl, mix together the sausages, the onions and the blue cheese. Evenly distribute the sausage mixture in the bottom of your pie crust. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the top. Bake at 375 F for 25-30 minutes or until the center is set. Let rest for 10 minutes before eating.

Getting Over Brunch

I hate going out to brunch. It's sort of awful, because it seems once you are an adult, you are expected to do this type of thing in order to socialize. I realize many people did this in college, but everyone I knew in college understood that one does NOT eat in the morning after a long night of going out. Anyone civilized slept late and ate later. My main problem with brunch is public eggs. I feel ridiculous even typing it, but there it is. I can't eat public eggs. Eggs at home? Certainly. Eggs at a friend's house? Why not? Eggs out? No thank you. I have tried, but it makes me invariably queasy. So brunch invitations often fill me with dread (unless I'm with my closest friends who know I'll order a grilled cheese from any diner at any hour of the morning rather than eat eggs out). So why not pancakes, you ask, they make them with chocolate chips now...? Or caramelized french toast? Or waffles? Because these are not breakfast foods, not really. THEY ARE DESSERT, masquerading as breakfast. And I simply can't get down that much sugar in the morning. Blame my mother and her rule about no cereal with sugar higher than the third ingredient, but sweet and breakfast do not work for me. So there it is. Happy social gathering, fraught with anxiety. And of course, later, when I get home, there's always that feeling of having missed out on ordering something wonderful. So, after my latest brunch outing, I decided to cheer myself up with a homemade quiche. This one is quite filling (I did make it for dinner) and very delicious.

BROCCOLI AND CHICKEN QUICHE
Better Homes and Gardens (I think?) by way of my friend Laurie

INGREDIENTS:
1 half recipe dough
1 1/2 C milk or cream (I used half milk and half cream - a do it yourself half and half)
4 eggs
1/4 C chopped onion (the onion cooks pretty well in the quiche, but if you are very sensitive to onion you may want to precook them)
3/4 C chopped cooked broccoli
3/4 C-1 C cooked chicken (you could chop it, I pulled mine apart into bite sized pieces)
1 1/2 C grated cheddar cheese
1 T flour

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Put the dough in a 9" pie plate. I used an 8.5" tart pan with removable ring. Such a HUGE error in judgment. It was not quite big enough, and the removable ring aspect meant that the eggy part leaked and seeped and went everywhere. Cover the the dough with foil and weigh it down with pie weights. Put it in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove the foil, prick the bottom and return to the oven for 4-5 more minutes until browned and dry. Lower the oven temp to 325 F.

Beat the 4 eggs and add the milk. Then add the broccoli, onion and chicken. Toss the cheddar with the flour, until the cheese is coated. This will keep it from sticking and clumping in your quiche. Add the cheese to the egg and filling mixture. Mix well. Pour into the cooked shell. Bake at 325 F for 40-45 minutes. (Mine definitely took on the longer side). A knife inserted near the middle will come out clean when it's done. Remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes before serving.

New Year's (Game) Day Brunch

Look people, this is no time for sleeping in. Oh no. There are bowl games to be watched. Specifically, there is the Northwestern vs. Auburn Outback Bowl. We've been following Northwestern all season via the Big Ten Channel. For anyone else who has had the Big Ten channel experience, you must be familiar with the 8 BILLION ADS FOR QUESO.* These ads remind us that without queso, we will not be able to get our game day started. Every week this is a concern for Ryan. He wants Northwestern to win** and therefore wants our game day started, however he's pretty scared of the idea of microwaving Ro*tel and Velveeta for 5 minutes. Having a mother born in Georgia, I share none of these fears and would be up for the queso challenge. Though I think we both agree though that today's 11am kickoff is a bit early for queso***. So I've promised brunch. I'm making a strata from my brand-new Bon Appetit cookbook.
It's got cheese and jalapenos, so I'm hoping it will be a suitable substitute.

*yes, I'm aware that true queso is made with real cheeses and purportedly delicious. That's not what we're discussing here.
**clearly there is no link between our personal consumption of Rotel/Velveeta queso and Northwestern's performance if they made it to a bowl game.
***if Northwestern loses today, it is possible it will be blamed on the lack of queso.

GAME DAY CHEESE STRATA

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup milk
2 eggs
salt and pepper (maybe 1 t salt and 1 t pepper?)
1 C grated Monterey Jack cheese tightly packed (I used a few T of cheddar in there, I would have used more but we're almost out of cheddar)
3 T sliced green onion (I used 2 scallions)
2 t chopped jalapenos
2 cups white bread, cubed (about 3 slices) - I couldn't get real bread from the bakery last night because they were closed, and rather than use regular white bread I bought Pepperidge Farms dinner rolls. I used three, first cut them in half and then in smaller cubes. I hope they're dense enough to not become total mush.

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 400F. Lightly butter a 9" pie plate. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, milk and salt and pepper. Add the cheese, onion and jalapeno and and stir well. Toss the bread cubes into the mixture and and when they are coated, transfer to your pie dish. Make sure everything is evenly distributed and then press gently on the bread to help it absorb the custard. Let it sit a few minutes, pressing down again if necessary to help the bread soak up the liquid. When you feel the bread has soaked up what it can (maybe 3-5 minutes) put it into the hot oven and bake for 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean and the top is crusty. Slice and serve with salsa. It is very floppy coming out of the pan, so a sturdy spatula would be helpful.

Where there's smoke, there's bacon.

If my senior year in college had been a soap opera it surely would have been entitled As the Smoke Detector Bleeps, because really, it was the soundtrack of our life. In the fall, the six of us girls quickly learned that the seemingly innocuous act of showering triggered the smoke alarm, bringing to our house a full complement of the city's finest firemen. All the while, we stood on the lawn in rather indecent states of undress waiting for the all clear. After a few weeks, the city doubtless informed the university that despite the increased job satisfaction ratings among fire fighters, they needed to fix the alarm. And so, by winter, we could shower without incident, but the smoke detectors would not be deterred. They went off frequently, interrupting all manner of hijinx, (most of which are best left to the imagination), but most importantly, they signaled the cooking of bacon. Remember that commercial for Beggin' Strips? The one where the dog runs around the house shouting, "bacon. BACON! BACONBACONBACON!!!" Oh, but we were not so very different. Cooking bacon meant that doors would slam, footsteps would echo down the hall, and all housemates would appear in the kitchen wiping drool and trying to look casual, like maybe they'd been on the way to the kitchen anyway. Bascially, all you really needed to make a meal in college was bacon. Tonight, in the spirit of a true college cook, I made quiche. With bacon. I know, I know, it doesn't sound collegiate, but truly, it is. College dinners tended to consist of anything you could scrounge up out of the fridge. Plus bacon. A quiche is no different. Gather leftover ingredients. Saute. Dump in crust. Cover with milk and eggs, and ooh, everyone thinks you're all gourmet. They don't need know that you're really the kind of person who has left the house on a crisp October morning in nothing but a towel.

QUICHE (with bacon)
all measurements are based on what I had in the house, not necessarily what I would have done, had I stocked pantry

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 recipe dough
2-4 pieces of bacon, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1/2 can of artichokes, drained, squeezed and diced
1/2-3/4 C gruyere cheese
3 eggs
1 C milk
fresh thyme
salt, pepper, nutmeg


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375.
Make the dough and set it in the fridge. Saute up the bacon in a medium fry pan. Fend off any scavengers. Take it out and set aside (watch the bowl carefully). Reserve some of the grease. Saute up the onion along with the thyme. Allow the onions to get soft and sweet. Set aside. Saute up the artichokes. Set aside. Roll out the dough, and put in a pie plate. Grate the cheese and spread across the bottom of the dough. Add the artichokes, bacon and onion, spreading them out to cover. Mix up the eggs, milk, salt pepper and pinch of nutmeg. Pour this over the rest. Pop in the oven and cook for 35-40 minutes. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting in.
Depending on the appetites of your husband/roommates/children/local fire company, this recipe can serve quite a few, or two. Consider making additional foods to supplement. At all costs, make sure the bacon makes it past the initial cooking phase.

Always take a picture.

Generally, this is my motto. Food is more interesting and engaging when you can look at it. Also, I don't often know in advance what I'm going to tell you about. So I take the picture before we eat and decide what to do later. Sometimes, though, something comes up. Tonight something turned out to be me barehanding the handle of a pan that had just come out of a 350 degree oven. The time I normally would spend arranging food and taking pictures was filled with ice and soft whimpering. And of course, as life would have it, dinner was delicious. And I have nothing to show for it.

I adapted a recipe for a Tortilla, which incidently is just about the same thing as a frittata - who knew?, and made a bread salad to go with it.

SPANISH TORTILLA AND MUSHROOM SALAD
adapted from my new toy, Best of the Best
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 C olive oil
2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut in a 1/4 inch dice
1 small onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
7-8 eggs
1/3 c shredded gruyere cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
Pour the olive oil in a ovenproof non-stick skillet. Allow the oil to get hot. Add the potatoes and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste, add onion and garlic and cook another until onion is translucent.

Whisk the eggs together with a pinch of salt and then add the shredded gruyere. Pour into the skillet over the potatoes just until the bottom begins to set, then use the spatula to pull back the egg and tip the skillet to let the raw egg fill in the empty spaces. Allow to cook about 3 minutes until it's set.

Pop the pan in the oven and cook for 7 minutes at 350.

MUSHROOM SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
oil
1 package of white mushrooms, sliced
2 T vermouth or dry white wine
1 T butter
2-3 t fresh thyme
salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Add the butter and a smidge of oil to the pan. Add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are tender. Add salt and pepper and the vermouth. Cook for a minute and let the alcohol burn off. Add the thyme and then serve over the tortilla.