Crustless Swiss Quiche with Bacon & Spinach

"A quiche is basically a frittata poured into a pastry shell." ... or not. Today we enjoyed a crustless version so, by definition, did that make it a frittata instead of a quiche? I don't know, don't really care, since the quiche pan held a deliciously loaded custardy something we both enjoyed. Filled with bacon, swiss cheese, spinach and green onions, it was a well-received taste treat. Who says real men don't eat quiche? RL loved it.

Quiche Lorraine was the darling of the menu for ladies-who-lunched in the 60's; a light but rich, sparsely filled, one crust custardlike pie. Over time I recall it morphing into a dense, custardy casserole filled with unusual ingredients and baked in a soggy crust. Not an improvement. Thus my preference for crustless quiches, or it might be my utter lack of the pie-crust baking gene.

We enjoyed half of this quiche/frittata served warm at lunch, and some remaining wedges served chilled the next day. Maybe next time I'll play with a pie crust... or not. 
      

Crustless Swiss Quiche with Bacon & Spinach

8 luncheon servings, 4 main dish

6 strips streaky bacon, diced
4 green onions, sliced
1 bunch spinach, rough chopped
1 generous cup swiss cheese, shredded (or cut in smallish chunks)
5 large eggs
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Salt & white pepper, to taste

Prehea the oven to 375 degrees F.

Use a large skillet and cook the bacon until done, but not super crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked bacon to an 8 or 9-inch quiche pan. Remove all but 1 Tablespoon of bacon fat from the skillet. Add the onions and spinach to the skillet and heat until wilted. Layer evenly on top of the cooked bacon. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of the spinach.

Whisk together the eggs, dairy, & seasonings. Carefully pour the egg mixture over the layered fillings. Place in the center of the preheated oven. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 and cook 15 to 20 minutes longer or until the center is just set. Remove from the oven, let cool for several minutes to firm up; cut and serve warm. 

Zucchini Lemon Muffins with Ginger & Nuts

Zucchini is in season somewhere this month, so why wait for summer to stock up on new zucchini recipes. It's barely time to set out plants so, yes, I know I know, I'm rushing our local season by several months. The payoff will come later when facing an overabundance of zucchini, I'll be ready. 

During the past several weeks I've been playing with stuffed zucchini recipes, changing up ingredients and seasonings in pursuit of optimum flavor in addition to scads of health benefits. (posts may or may not follow) All good... until suddenly I couldn't face one more healthy zucchini entree. Okay then, how about a dessert? Zucchini quickbread is an old standby, zucchini-pineapple cake is another tasty treat, but savory zucchini muffins have become our latest favorite. Moist and tangy, lemony and not overly sweet, these little gems are delicious! A bonus feature is they freeze well if we grow tired of them after a few days.

A standard recipe from King Arthur Flour provided the base zucchini muffin recipe, but I didn't stop there. Oh no: swap currants for the required raisins, add some powdered ginger and crystallized ginger, double the lemon impact with more fresh zest and a teaspoon of powdered lemon zest, and then bake in different sizes of muffin tins. All good - so good that the mini muffins disappeared before their photo op. The "regular" size muffins were popular at breakfast and during mid-morning breaks. The larger muffins, baked in a cast iron cornbread pan, were strangely less popular. Commitment issues, perhaps? Evidently it was easier to enjoy several small muffins rather than commit to finishing one larger one. Go figure.

Zucchini Lemon Muffins with Ginger & Nuts

adapted from a classic recipe at King Arthur Flour

Makes 12+ muffins, depending on size of muffin tin used

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups All-Purpose flour
scant 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 TBS baking powder
1 tsp salt
grated peel of 1 medium lemon
1 tsp powdered lemon peel
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1 generous cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried currants
1/4 cup sweet crystallized ginger bits

Wet Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/3 cup canola oil


Plus:
1 cup (packed) shredded zucchini (not drained or squeezed dry)
optional granulated sugar to sprinkle on top before baking

To Prepare:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Grease or spray a 12-muffin tin (or equivalent). Assemble the ingredients.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients.

Use a small bowl and whisk together the wet ingredients. 

Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients. Use a large spoon and stir to just combine (don't overmix!). Gently fold in the shredded zucchini.

Using a cookie scoop or ladle, add the batter to the prepared muffin tin, filling each opening about 3/4 full. If desired, light sprinkle the top of each muffin with sugar.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes until lightly browned, or the muffins spring back to the touch. (note: times can vary by 5 minutes or more with different size muffins) Remove muffin tins from the oven and rest for 5 minutes on a baking rack. Gently remove from baking tin and serve warm or cool completely before storing, covered or well-wrapped, for up to 3 days at room temperature. Freeze for longer storage.

Sweet Potato - Fully Loaded

Inspired by a photo in Diana Henry's cookbook Simple, one lone sweet potato hanging out in the crisper became 'Breakfast for Dinner'. Containers of caramelized mushrooms and braised kale already lurked in the fridge along with several links of chorizo sausage, making this a quick cook. The recipe called for an accompaniment of baby spinach leaves, but the earthy bite of braised kale better balanced the potato's sweetness and the mushrooms' savory umami. Topped with a soft-yolk cooked egg, each bite was an ooey-gooey, savory-sweet delight.

This deceptively simple, boldly flavored dish was nearly effortless to construct, reflective of Henry's desire to offer a book of low-effort food ideas.

"What we mostly lack are ideas. That's what I tried to give... here. You don't have to be a chef. I'm not. You just need some inspiration to help you turn the ordinary--the building blocks of meals--into something special."

Simple inspiration comes through text and photos, most of Henry's recipes offering suggestions of alternate ingredients, plating notions or food pairings. So far I have played with recipes in chapters on Toast, Pasta & Grains, and Vegetables, adapting each to suit our palate and available ingredients. 

Loaded potatoes are nothing new, but this loaded sweet potato was indeed 'something special', perfect for any time of the day, even Breakfast for Dinner.

Cooking notes (suggestions rather than a recipe)

Bake or microwave a sweet potato in your regular manner. Split lengthwise and squish slightly to open up the inside (I sliced lengthwise into halves for 2 portions). Place on serving dish.

While the sweet potato is cooking, or ahead of time:

 - Heat butter and/or olive oil in a saute pan; add mushrooms (cut into thin wedges or slices) and cook until they give up their juices; continue cooking until liquid evaporates.   

 - Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat; add 3 cloves of garlic and 1/4 cup diced onion and cook until soft. Add 1/2 bunch of destemmed lacinato kale, coarsely chopped and 1/2 cup stock or water. Toss to coat greens, then cover and cook until softened and wilted, about 5 minutes. Remove cover and cook until liquid evaporates. Toss with a heavy splash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. 

Top the cooked sweet potato with a generous amount of the mushrooms and kale.

Add cooked coins of chorizo, or your favorite spicy sausage. 

Top with an egg or two, cooked with the yolk left soft and runny. This egg was fried...

...and this egg was poached. Mmmmm, good either way.

Aebleskivers

Two Aebleskiver pans take up precious drawer space under the cooktop, squeezed into a rear corner and crowded against a stack of frequently-used skillets. These specialty items have been there so long that I can't remember their purchase date, the suppliers, or the reason why I thought each pan was essential. Evidently they have hidden out in plain sight for a very long time.

One pan is heavy cast aluminum with five cups, the other, a seven-hole pan, is made of heftier cast iron. A bakeoff comparison sounded like a fun activity and the perfect excuse to eat pancakes on a cool, foggy morning. First-batch issues with both pans frustrated the cook, but my taste-tester RL declared those first misshapen, lumpy pancake balls were delicious. It must have been the cardamom. 

Thinner/looser batter, cooler cooktop temperatures, turning method adjustments and more patience from the cook made a measurable difference in the subsequent batches. Next I tried adding a dollop of jam to each ball - messy, but tasty. Then I ran out of patience and finished off the batter with one fluffy pancake and two thin crepes. YUM! 

Thin batter and a lower temperature allows the uncooked batter to flow more readily as the aebleskiver is turned again and again. A crisp, browned crust with a dry, hollow center is the goal. Less-than-perfect pancake balls won't win points for beauty, but they are still delicious. I'll keep practicing with these iconic pans, but am tempted to experiment with the waffle iron as well. Hmmmm, sourdough aebleskivers sound interesting.... Tomorrow?  

Aebleskivers: Dry ingredients, wet ingredients and a bit of melted butter.

Bubbles rise in the batter in cast iron aebleskiver pan

Pancake balls ready for the first turn in aluminum aebleskiver pan.

The batter is a bit too thick or overcooked to flow easily.

Aebleskivers brown slowly as the centers finish cooking.

Aebleskivers with a teaspoon of jam added just before the first flip. Alas, the jam ran out during the turns.

Crepes and pancakes using the same cardamom-flavored batter are delicious... and take less time and patience.

Aebleskivers - Danish Pancake Balls

Dry Ingredients
1 1/4 cup AP flour (use less than 1 1/4 cup or increase the milk)
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cardamom

Wet Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 large egg
3 Tablespoons melted butter, plus more for oiling the cooking pan

jam and powdered sugar, optional

Directions
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
In a 2-cup measure or small bowl, whisk the wet ingredients to blend thoroughly.
Add the wet mix to the dry mix and whisk until evenly moistened.

Use a heavy aebleskiver pan (cast iron preferred) and preheat on the stovetop over medium to medium-low heat. When heated, brush each cup lightly with melted butter immediately prior to filling. Add batter to fill each cup about 3/4 full.

A crust will form on the bottom of each cup while the centers remain quite wet. Use a wooden skewer or fork to gently rotate each ball so the bottom crust rotates to become a more vertical side while uncooked batter flows down into the cup. Repeat when a crust forms again on the bottom. Repeat again, rotating the ball so a seam or ridge is on top. Continue cooking, turning occasionally until the balls are evenly browned and the centers are dry. (This took roughly 8 minutes on my cooktop, depending on burner temperature setting and which pan I used.) Lower the heat if the centers are still raw when the exteriors are quite brown.

Remove from the pan and serve immediately sprinkled with powdered sugar and accompanied with jam and butter. (or keep warm in the oven at a very low heat setting).

Re-butter each cup and repeat with the remaining batter.

Notes:
1. Thinner batter and medium-low heat worked better for subsequent batches; cook a test ball and adjust your batter and burner temperature as needed.

2. These were cute little treats to serve the family, but even with two pans would be a challenge to prepare for a crowd. However, using the same batter, flat pancakes and crepes were delicious!

3. The cups on my aebleskiver pans hold different amounts of batter; I used a 1 Tablespoon measure for the smaller cups and just poured the batter into the medium-sized cups. This recipe yielded 2 dozen aebleskiver balls, 1 fluffy pancake and 2 very thin crepes.

Crispy Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp is such a homey dessert, a comfort-food Autumn classic ubiquitous throughout apple country. Of course variations abound, but essentially Apple Crisp refers to chopped or sliced, cinnamon-flavored apples that are baked with a streusel topping or crust.

Generations of cooks have produced tasty versions without ever opening a cookbook, but here's a streusel topping twist I found in Greg Atkinson's 2008 West Coast Cooking: pour melted butter over the topping instead of working it into the flour/oats/sugar mixture. Shazam! the streusel topping baked up nicely crispy-crunchy and the excess butter flowed to the bottom to mingle with the apple juices and create a lovely sauce. 

Apples. Sugar. Butter. Really, what's not to like? We ate half of the pan warm for an evening dessert, and the remainder warmed in the microwave at breakfast the next morning. Ahem! that doesn't account for the missing spoonfuls that somehow disappeared between dessert and breakfast.
   
What's your favorite apple dessert?

Apple Crisp, an Old-Fashioned Treat

Recipe based on Greg Atkinson's West Coast Cooking 

Serves 4-8

Topping

1/2 cup AP flour

1 cup rolled oats (not steel cut or instant)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg, beaten

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, melted, plus extra to coat the baking dish.

Filling

4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & sliced

1/2 cup sugar

1 generous Tablespoon cornstarch

1 generous teaspoon Apple Pie spice (or substitute ground cinnamon)

Optional Toppings
Heavy cream or Greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 375 F; butter an 8-inch square baking dish.

Mix the topping:
Use a food processor and pulse several times to combine the flour, oats, brown sugar & baking powder. Use a fork to gradually incorporate the beaten egg into the oatmeal mix.

Prepare the filling:
Pile the apple slices into the baking dish and toss with the sugar, cornstarch and Apple Pie spice.

Scatter the oat mixture evenly over the top of the fruit. Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top.

Bake about 45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown. Serve warm with optional toppings of heavy cream or Greek yogurt.

Blueberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping

Don't you hate it when there's not enough streusel on top of your piece of coffeecake? or when all of the fruit or filling in the cake sinks to the too-soggy bottom? or the leftovers are too dry to enjoy on day two? Well, none of those concerns were a problem with this breakfast treat. This recipe is a keeper!

Once all of the ingredients were assembled the batter and streusel topping went together quickly. Frozen blueberries tossed with a few tablespoons of flour kept the fruit nicely distributed throughout the cake, avoiding the bottom-hugging issue. My oven must run a little cool so it took an additional 8 minutes to bake, but using a cake tester handled the baking timing question. Anticipation grew as a heavenly aroma filled the kitchen and wafted up the stairs as the cake baked. Tummy rumbles and the cook's impatience led to sampling before the cake cooled for the suggested 15 minutes. Oh - my - goodness, that was some good cake. 

Three of us enjoyed more than half that morning, and late-night snacks accounted for several more pieces. And yes, two squares did make it through the night for breakfast treats the next morning; still moist, still tasty, and prompting requests for more blueberry coffeecake with streusel topping, please.

Blueberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping

For the Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup granulaed sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup AP flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

For the Cake:

1/4 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg (at room temperature)

2 cups AP flour

2 ½ tsp baking powder

1 Tbs cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (tossed with 2 tablespoons flour)

Step 1 

1. Place the dry streusel ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Drop in the butter, and pulse until small crumbs form. (I used a pastry blender) Set aside.

Step 2

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil or butter a 9x9" or 8x8x2" square cake pan. (I used cooking spray + flour)

Step 3 

Use a stand mixer to cream the softened butter in a large bowl; add sugar in several additions and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well.

Step 4

Use a small bowl and sift together the flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. In a measuring cup or another small bowl, add the vanilla extract to the milk. Set the mixer on low speed and add small additions of the sifted flour mixture, alternating with the vanilla/milk mixture into the butter mixture. Do this in two or three additions. Gently stir the flour-dusted blueberries into the batter by hand. 

Step 5

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Place in preheated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until cake tests done in the center. Let cake cool for 15 minutes, then cut and serve warm.

Mixed Fruit Breakfast Parfaits

On cool and rainy, lazy, really don't-want-to-get-out-of-bed mornings I usually go for colorful, easy and tasty breakfasts. Today's choice was a breakfast parfait with Greek yogurt, fresh strawberries, blueberries and nutty granola. The fruit provided color, fresh berries and honey-flavored yogurt added sweet flavor, and the granola and almonds brought some crunch. Fresh ingredients and the total lack of cooking handled the easy requirement.

This layered parfait looked temptingly fancy in a glass goblet and kept me satisfied for hours. RL went for seconds; always a good sign.

Yesterday's puff pastry tart with carmelized apples was delicious, but took too much time and effort to repeat this morning. Today's parfait was just as satisfying and undoubtedly healthier. What do you choose for breakfast when you are in a hurry? 

Cheery Cherry Poppy Seed Muffins

...perfect for a leisurely winter morning

I love the peaceful quiet of a morning when I'm the first one awake and out of bed. There's a typical pattern to this solitary start: 

• gaze south down the lake to see if The Mountain is visible, 
• head downstairs to check out the action at the feeders and enjoy the comings and goings of the early arrivals - busy hummingbirds and songbirds, flickers and downy woodpeckers and two annoying, pesky bandit squirrels,
• load the coffeepot for RL and settle in to savor my own cup of Irish Breakfast tea,
• read or knit or just quietly enjoy the colors of a sunrise as it develops over Mercer Island.

This morning was perfect for all of that, but I fired up the oven instead. My stomach was growly and a baking project sounded appealing, something sweet but not too time-consuming or overly complicated. It was early, after all.

What do you bake when you crave a sweet bite in the morning but don't want to mess with the lengthy process of a yeasted dough? An quick bread or coffeecake would do, but this morning Cheery Cherry Poppy Seed Muffins sounded more appealing. These fruit-filled beauties are delicious with the added bonus of speed - they take less than an hour from start to finish.

We have enjoyed various versions of this Tyler Florence recipe; swapping dried cranberries for dried cherries, adding nuts, changing up the choice of citrus, substituting rosemary or lavender for the poppy seeds, etc. Today's version was a winner, a two-thumbs-up hit due to the addition of the frozen cherries. The whole cherries (defrosted frozen sour cherries) gave the muffins a surprising flavor boost and textural pop. 

Better than an alarm clock, the aroma of baking muffins wafted upstairs and roused RL. Fresh coffee and warm muffins created a perfect start to the day. Sweet and moist, the muffins were scrumptious without butter or jam. This recipe is a winner for family breakfasts, impromptu guests, or as part of a brunch menu. Yum!  

Cheery Cherry Poppy Seed Muffins

adapted from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

makes 12 regular or 9 Texas-sized muffins

2 cups AP flour
1 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup melted butter
1 Tablespoon poppy Seeds
Finely grated citrus zest (1 orange or 2 lemons, etc.)

1 cup dried cherries (tossed with a bit of flour)
1 cup frozen sour cherries, (defrosted, drained well & tossed with a bit of sugar and flour)optional 
Sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray or grease muffin tins (9 Texas-size or 12 regular size cups).
2. Use a large bowl and mix the dry ingredients until evenly combined.
3. In a second bowl whisk the milk and eggs together; add the melted butter, poppy seeds and citrus zest.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together until just combined. 
5. Add the dried cherries (tossed with flour to avoid sinking to the bottom) and fold to distribute evenly throughout the batter.
6. Ladle the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling only two-thirds full. Top each muffin with defrosted frozen cherries and press gently into the batter. Dust the surface with a sprinkle of sugar.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or just until a wooden tester comes out clean when inserted uno the center. Be careful not to overtake!
8. Cool for 10-15 minutes in the muffin tins set on a baking rack. Enjoy warm or store cooled muffins in a covered container for a day or two, but fresh, warm muffins are always best, just sayin'.