Friday, December 30, 2011

Spaetzle with truffle butter

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Spaetzle with truffle butter (photo: Lynne Hemer)
I put fresh spaetzle on my Trufflepalooza 2011 menu last summer with some reservations. 

Truffles pair well with pasta, but I'd already done spaghetti with truffles (2009) and truffled mac and cheese (2010). Spaetzle, a simple pasta-like egg dumpling, seemed like a good next step. My Hungarian mother-in-law makes spaetzle often and my husband loves it. I even own a spaetzle maker.

Why the concern, then? Superstition. Twenty-plus years ago a longtime friend flunked her final exam at a prestigious culinary institute because of spaetzle. It was the last thing she was asked to make, and she blanked. She's over it by now, but clearly I'm not.

I sucked it up and made the spaetzle, and I'm glad. The homemade spaetzle with truffle butter were a huge hit at Trufflepalooza. The chewy little dumplings are boiled first to cook them through, then tossed in a hot saute pan with truffle butter to crisp the edges and get that musky truffle flavor into all the little crevices.I served the spaetzle on their own, but they'd make a great side dish paired with steak, roast chicken or any other simply prepared protein.

You can make your own truffle butter or buy it at a gourmet market (I like Sabatino brand truffle butter). You don't need to buy the most expensive truffles to make truffle butter - canned or frozen truffles work fine if the fresh ones are out of reach.


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Spaetzle with truffle butter
Fresh egg dumplings dressed with truffle butter make an elegant side dish. If you don't have a spaetzle maker, use a potato ricer with a large-hole insert or a colander.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 4 Tbsp truffle butter
  • 1 fresh white or black truffle (optional)
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.While the water is boiling, whisk together the flour, eggs, milk, salt and pepper. You'll end up with a batter that's somewhere between pancake and muffin batter in thickness.Turn the flame down so the water is simmering. Put a dollop of batter in the holder of the spaetzle maker and run it back and forth over the holes. Bits of batter will drop through into the boiling water. This part takes some practice (or a lot practice if you're a spaetzle dunce like me). If you're using a colander, use a spoon to push the batter through the holes. Use the spoon to scrape the outside of the colander to get all the batter off. The spaetzle will be knobby and irregular. Simmer the spaetzle about 3 minutes; they don't take long at all. Fish the first batch out of the pot with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl. Add a little olive oil and toss to keep the spaetzle from sticking together. Cook the rest of the spaetzle in batches, adding more oil as necessary.When all the spaetzle has been boiled, heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the truffle butter and the cooked spaetzle and toss gently until the spaetzle is crisp along the edges. Serve immediately, grating fresh truffle over the top if you've got one.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8-10 servings (as side dish)

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Cheesy rice casserole

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I do not like to see food go to waste. If there's a scrap of cheese, a cup of dried-out rice, a wilting vegetable, I'll find a way to turn it into dinner.

Some people call me the Queen of Leftovers.

That's how this cheesy rice casserole was born. There's nothing magical about it. It's a simple formula. Look in your refrigerator for stragglers in these categories:
  • Grain (e.g. rice, pasta, quinoa)
  • Cheese (any kind will do, or mix several kinds)
  • Vegetable (e.g. zucchini, carrots, cooked mushrooms, cooked greens)
  • Strong herbs (e.g. parsley, chives, green onions)

Mix them together. Add a little liquid - chicken or vegetable stock, leftover cream of anything soup, canned cream of mushroom soup if that sort of thing doesn't bother you. And bake. What you get is much more than the sum of its parts: a warm, cheesy, comforting casserole with enough vegetables to make you feel virtuous.



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Cheesy rice casserole
Bake leftover rice, shredded veggies, grated cheese and herbs together and you end up with a warm, cheesy casserole that's way more than the sum of its parts. Use the same formula (grain, cheese, vegetable, herbs) with whatever ingredients happen to be left over in your own refrigerator.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups leftover cooked rice (white or brown)
  • 2 cups raw zucchini or carrot, grated (substitute cooked mushrooms, cooked greens, etc.)
  • 1 cup grated cheese (any variety)
  • 1 cup green onions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. Turn the mixture into the casserole dish and smooth the top. Bake about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Serve immediately.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8 servings

Friday, December 23, 2011

Postcard from Santa Monica: Supplies at The Gourmandise School

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Freezer - mostly butter, puff pastry and nuts
Refrigerator - look at all those eggs!


I thought you'd enjoy this peek inside the refrigerator and freezer at The Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories in Santa Monica, California. Co-owner Clemence Gossett says the school goes through four cases of eggs (that's 60 dozen) and 60 to 90 pounds of butter each week. And no wonder - the most popular classes involve homemade croissants, brioche and French macarons. When the croissant class is at capacity, the 10 students use a total of 72 pounds of butter.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Quiche with chanterelles

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In the fall and winter, you'll find huge golden chanterelle mushrooms at farmers' markets throughout southern California. Cantharellus californicus, a variety all our own. It grows happily at the base of California oak trees. The more rain we get, the bigger the chanterelles grow. I've seen golden chanterelles as big as dinner plates, I kid you not.


The last time my mother came to visit from New York I took her to my local farmers' market. When I started piling beautiful golden chanterelles into a bag, she protested. "They're $15 a pound!" she said with a touch of outrage. "You're going to pay that much for mushrooms?" For the first chanterelles of the season, it didn't seem like a lot. It occurred to me that while I spend very little on clothes, shoes, electronics and lipstick, I spend quite a lot on local, seasonal produce. Which, in my book, is the way it should be.

The simpler the better when it comes to golden chanterelles. I give them a quick rinse - I know people always say to brush mushrooms with a paper towel to get the dirt off, but I just can't get them clean enough without water. I saute them in butter or roast them in a hot oven. Then I add them to pasta, risotto or even pizza.

We get in a quiche mood now and again, and the last time it hit I had a big bag of fresh chanterelles. Golden chunks of mushroom in a custard studded with bits of salty bacon, all captured in a crumbly crust - now that's a meal.



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Quiche with golden chanterelles and bacon
Chunks of golden chanterelle mushrooms and crumbled bacon suspended in a creamy custard, baked up in a flaky tart crust.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt, divided
  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • scant 1/3 cup milk
  • 4 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
  • 1/2 pound golden chanterelle mushrooms (substitute any fresh wild mushrooms), cleaned and chopped
  • 4 ounces fresh goat cheese (chevre)
  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup half-and-half
  • 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
  • freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Make the crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and 1/4 tsp salt. In a measuring cup, lightly mix the olive oil and milk. Pour the olive oil mixture into the flour mixture and stir the dough together with a fork. When it comes together, use one hand to turn it over on itself in the bowl, kneading lightly, about 6 times. Turn the dough into a pie plate and press it up the sides and over the bottom of the baking dish, making sure there are no cracks visible. Put the unbaked crust in the refrigerator while you make the filling.Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon until crisp. Take the bacon pieces out of the skillet and drain them on a plate lined with several layers of paper towel. Pour most of the bacon fat out of the pan, leaving just enough to saute the mushrooms. Add the chopped chanterelles to the pan and saute over medium-high heat about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms have given off their liquid and most of the moisture has boiled off. Remove the pan from the heat. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.Take the pie plate out of the refrigerator and crumble the goat cheese over the bottom crust. Scatter the green onions over the cheese, then pour in the bacon and mushrooms. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, dry mustard powder, remaining 1/4 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the stuff in the unbaked crust. Line a baking sheet with foil to catch any drips and put the pie plate on top of the foil. Bake the quiche about 45 minutes, until the middle is set, the top is lightly browned and the crust is golden brown. Let cool at least 30 minutes so the quiche has time to set up - otherwise it will fall apart when you cut it. Serve at room temperature.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8 servings

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Buddha's Hand infused vodka

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Vodka infused with Buddha's Hand citron

I love giving hand-made gifts. I knit hats and scarves and lace table runners. I bake bread or cookies or cake. I make chocolate truffles or fruit-studded bark. I put them in boxes, wrap them with colorful tissue paper, tie them with ribbons.

Not this year.

I do all those things when I'm organized and plan ahead and leave myself enough time. Which is not the case this year. This year I have done none of the above. And I'm not likely to have time for any of it until the 2011 holidays are dead and buried. Anyone else in the same boat? I'd like to believe I'm not the only complete loser out there.

Luckily, I got a few spectacular Buddha's Hand citrons from Melissa's World Variety Produce last month. They look like something a Martian would leave behind. They smell like a cross between lemons and roses. They're skin and pith, no flesh, no juice.


I used some of my Buddha's Hands to make delicious lemony shortbread cookies. But the rest went to (some would say) a better and higher use. I cut off the "fingers" and stuck them into small, decorative bottles. Then I poured vodka over them and closed the bottles. Holiday gifts for certain cocktail lovers now done.

I've seen other people add sugar to their infused vodkas. I'm not interested. This is about the alcohol and the flavor of the Buddha's Hand. The other great thing about these Buddha's Hand fingers is that they don't need to be strained - no little pieces floating around.

If you don't have a Buddha's Hand, try infusing vodka with berries, other citrus fruit, herbs, spices, cucumbers, jalapenos...pretty much anything you'd want to taste in a cocktail. Those you'll want to strain or filter out before presenting the flavored vodka to your friends.

Here are a few other infused vodka recipes you might want to explore:

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Chilaquiles with steak

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My Saturday morning routine includes a trip to the Virginia Park farmers market. The famous Santa Monica farmers market is on Wednesday mornings, but my office is in the opposite direction, so I rarely get there. The Virginia Park market is smaller but feeds our family for the week just as nicely.

Most of the time Emery, my nearly teenage son, comes to the market with me. His reward for playing sherpa is a plate of steaming-hot chilaquiles from one of the market stalls. We sit in plastic chairs across a plastic table from each other with the plate in the middle and pick at it with compostable forks. Sometimes I pay, and sometimes my sweet boy buys me breakfast with his allowance.


When we miss the market, we still crave the chilaquiles. I once saw celebrity chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken make chilaquiles at Border Grill; they added a touch of heavy cream before adding the tortilla chips to the skillet. Sounds unorthodox, I know, but it works. The cream rounds the acidic edges and brings the dish together.

We used leftover steak, but feel free to use chicken or pork, or no meat at all.


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Chilaquiles with steak
In this traditional Mexican breakfast dish, tortilla chips are warmed and softened in a savory tomato sauce. A touch of cream brings the dish together.
Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 red or yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (substitute canned tomatoes)
  • 1/8 cup heavy cream
  • 4 cups tortilla chips
  • 1 cup cooked steak, diced (substitute chicken or pork)
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 cup shredded Monterey jack or Mexican blend cheese
  • 1 lime, cut in half
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook another 4-5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and start to come together into a cohesive sauce. Add the heavy cream and stir to combine.Tip the tortilla chips into the skillet, then the steak. Stir, coating the chips with the sauce and pressing them with a wooden spoon or spatula to break them up a bit. After a few minutes the chips will be soft but not mushy - that's what you're looking for. Add the cilantro or parsley and the cheese to the skillet, toss to combine, and pour the chilaquiles onto two plates. Squeeze the lime over the top and serve immediately.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 2 servings

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Parmesan smoked paprika crackers

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When I decided to host the Food Bloggers Los Angeles holiday cookie and cookbook swap, I forgot one key thing: I don't like baking cookies.

In fact, if you look at my recipe index, you'll notice that in three years I've posted only a dozen cookie recipes.

Which left me in a bind the night before the event. I couldn't get in the mood for sweets.

Luckily, I remembered the fabulously simple parmesan "cookies" on Inside the Kaganoff Kitchen, written by my friend and fellow Los Angeles food blogger Rachel Kaganoff Stern. I once stood at Rachel's kitchen counter and polished off a dozen without coming up for air. (Then Rachel told me how much butter was in them and common sense took over.)

Butter, cheese, flour: That's the base. Rachel makes hers plain. I added smoked paprika, my not-so-secret obsession. And I took a shortcut. Instead of taking the time to grate Parmigiano-Reggiano fresh, I used Costco's grated Grana Padano. It's real cheese, nothing like that fake grated dust in the green can in the grocery store. What's more, it's tastes and behaves like Parmigiano-Reggiano, but it's significantly less expensive. Costco's grated Grana Padano is one of my refrigerator staples. (And no, Costco is not paying me to say this. I buy it with my own hard-earned money.)

P.S. The rest of the Los Angeles food bloggers made sweet cookies, and they were extraordinary. See this post at Shockingly Delicious for photos. Links to the recipes appear below.


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Parmesan smoked paprika crackers
These savory cookies couldn't be easier to make. The gorgeous rust color comes from the smoked paprika. Use a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients for best results. Serve with white wine or Prosecco before dinner. Adapted from Inside the Kaganoff Kitchen.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
  • 1/2 pound parmesan, Romano or Grana Padano cheese, grated (about 1 1/4 cups)
  • 1/2 pound all-purpose flour (about 1 3/4 cups)
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.In a stand mixer, blend all the ingredients on low speed until they come together into a rough dough. Do not overmix - that will develop the gluten in the flour and make the crackers tough. You want the crackers to be short and crumbly, like shortbread.Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board or countertop and roll it out to about a quarter-inch thick. Using a small round cookie cutter (I used the top of an empty spice jar), cut rounds from the dough. Transfer the crackers to the baking sheet with a small offset spatula or butter knife. Re-roll the scraps and cut again, continuing until all the dough is used. You'll have to shape the last few crackers by hand.Bake about 15 minutes, until the crackers are lightly browned on the bottom. Cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: approximately 3 dozen 1.5-inch crackers

Friday, December 9, 2011

Pink mashed potatoes with beets and beet greens

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I am drawn to color. My shirts are lipstick red, royal blue, lime green. My laptop case is magenta. The winter coat I bought last year when I got a job that required me to travel to Minneapolis in January is bright purple. If you ever see me wearing a beige anything, either I inherited it from my mother or I got it as a gift from someone who didn't know me very well.

The house in which we've lived for the past 15 years has white walls. White, that is, except for one. I woke up one morning a few years ago and felt an overwhelming need for color. The white walls, the oak floors, the neutral shelves, the leather couch - something snapped and all of a sudden I felt as if I were living in a stranger's house.

I went to the paint store while Michael was at work, got a dozen tiny pots of paint, stood on a step-stool, and painted big vertical stripes on the header beam that separates the older part of our kitchen from the addition we put on a dozen years ago. Blue, green, purple, red, rust, yellow. I wanted an accent wall.

Michael walked in that evening and stopped short. "What...what is that?" he asked.

"We're painting the header and beam with an accent color," I said firmly.

Silence. Silence.

"Well," he said, "I guess we are now."

We picked (I picked) a brick-red, and I love it. Michael does not. It's been years and he's still not over it. I keep thinking that one day I'll come home from work and he will have made it white again. So far it hasn't happened...but you never know.

Does this explain the magenta mashed potatoes? I like food with color, too. I'm trying to bring more vegetable colors into my diet. Mashed potatoes on their own are good. But mashed potatoes with beets and sauteed beet greens are quite fabulous to the palate and the eye. And they're good for you, too.


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Pink mashed potatoes with beets and beet greens
Classic mashed potatoes mixed with creamy goat cheese, pureed beets and sauteed beet greens - tastes great, looks outrageous.
Ingredients
  • 2 large Idaho russet potatoes
  • 1 beet, any size
  • beet greens, from 1 bunch beets
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 4 ounces fresh goat cheese (chevre)
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Wash the potatoes and beet well and peel them with a vegetable peeler. Cut the potatoes into chunks, then cut the beets into pieces about half as small as the potatoes. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the vegetables about 20 minutes, until both the potatoes and beets are tender. While the potatoes and beets are boiling, wash the beet greens and slice them into thin ribbons. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the beet greens. Saute 3-4 minutes, until they are wilted but not cooked thoroughly. They should still be bright green.Use a slotted spoon to transfer the potato chunks to a large bowl, then put the cooked beets with a little of the cooking liquid into a blender or food processor and whizz until smooth. Add the pureed beets to the potatoes and mash together with a potato masher. Crumble in the goat cheese with your fingers and add the cream. Mix until everything is well blended, then fold in the sauteed beet greens. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 4 servings

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Orange chocolate chip muffins

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I'm always looking for new muffin recipes. I keep muffins in zip-top bags in the freezer and often stick them into the kids' lunchboxes (or mine). By midday they're defrosted and ready to go.

Please don't tell me that muffins are actually cake. If I thought I was giving my kids cake for lunch every day I'd feel guilty. Not cake. Muffins. Totally different. Because...because...just because.


A recipe for orange chocolate chip muffins on the King Arthur Flour blog caught my eye. My husband isn't a fan of citrus baked goods but talks occasionally about the orange chocolate chip milkshakes he used to get when he was a student at Cal (University of California, Berkeley), so I thought he might make an exception. I believe his exact words were "They're fine." Oh well. I liked them quite a lot.

I was lucky enough to get an inside look at the King Arthur Flour factory and bakery this summer during my annual pilgrimage to Vermont. Here's what I remember most: the smell (bread), the test kitchens (busy and full of brownies), the factory (humming), and the bakery floor (covered in flour). Here, take a look:

Baskets for rising loaves of bread in the King Arthur Flour bakery
Taste-testing in the staff kitchen
Random marzipan figures sitting on a counter in the test kitchen
A large and well-stocked pantry
Now that's an inspiring pantry. I wish mine were so well organized. Maybe if my pantry were the size of a small bedroom I'd be able to manage it. But even in its state of complete chaos, my pantry turned out some decent orange chocolate chip muffins. And yours will too.



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Orange chocolate chip muffins
Not too sweet, perfumed with orange zest and studded with dark chocolate, these muffins make a perfect lunchbox treat. Adapted from King Arthur Flour.
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup grapeseed or canola oil
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • grated rind of 1 large orange
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 3 Tbsp large-crystal raw sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder and salt.In another bowl, whisk together the egg, granulated sugar, oil, milk and orange zest. Dump in the dry ingredients and mix gently with a large spoon or spatula, just until everything is combined. Do not overmix; streaks of flour are fine. Mix in the chocolate chips.Divide the batter equally among the 12 muffins cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the raw sugar. Bake about 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean and the muffins are light golden brown. As soon as the muffins are cool enough to handle, take them out of the muffin tin and cool them on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 12 muffins

Monday, December 5, 2011

Watermelon radish chips

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I was telling a new friend the other night that even after 15 years in California, I'm still thrilled and amazed that food grows so easily on trees in people's backyards.

California produce amazes me in general, actually. An hour at my local farmers' market is a religious experience. The colors, the shapes, the anticipation of something wonderful and healthy on my dinner plate - I'm brought to my knees.


The watermelon radish is one of those vegetables I'd never seen before moving to southern California. It's light green on the outside, magenta inside, with the crisp bitter heat of its radish brethren. I've seen watermelon radishes smaller than golf balls and bigger than tennis balls. Just depends on how patient the grower is.


I've served watermelon radishes raw, sliced in thin disks or small batons for snacking. I've tossed grated watermelon radishes with lemon juice and olive oil for watermelon radish salad. I've even sauteed them in butter, which tames the heat and makes for a nice side dish.

I don't deep-fry often, but when I do it's to make small batches of chips. Watermelon radishes fry up crisp and gorgeous. As you can see, magenta is a hard color to kill, even with boiling oil.


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Watermelon radish chips
Thin slices of crisp radish deep-fried, then sprinkled with sea salt: There's no better snack. Look for exotic watermelon radishes at your local farmers' market or specialty grocer (you might have to ask).
Ingredients
  • 4-6 cups grapeseed or canola oil, for deep frying
  • 1 pound watermelon radishes, scrubbed well (do not peel)
  • sea salt
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, heat the oil to 325 degrees (a deep-fry thermometer clipped to the side of the pan is a helpful tool). You want the oil to be a few inches deep, with plenty of room for things to bubble up without spilling over as you drop in the chips.While the oil is heating, slice the watermelon radishes thinly. If your knife skills are good enough to do this by hand, congratulations. Mine are not, so I use a hand-held mandoline. Line a plate with several layers of paper towel.Test the temperature of the oil by adding one slice of radish to the pot. It should bubble aggressively and be golden brown in less than a minute. If this is the case, remove the test chip and flip it onto the paper towel to drain. Add a handful of chips, making sure to separate them as they go into the pot so they don't stick together. Turn them over as the edges brown, then take them out and drain them on the paper towel.Continue in a similar fashion until all the chips are used up. Sprinkle them with a tiny bit of salt every few batches, but be careful not to overdo it. You want to salt them when they're hot.Serve immediately.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 4 servings

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Quiche with kale and bacon

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I'm pretty sure that when my health coach Rachael Pontillo of Holistically Haute told me to try to eat more greens, she wasn't thinking about quiche. Especially not quiche with bacon.

That's okay. I didn't actually make this for myself. I live in a house with three real men. And they eat quiche. With gusto.

I first started making quiche using Mollie Katzen's recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook. Now I improvise, although the basic method is much the same. Pie crust. Cheese. Leftover cooked vegetables. Bacon, if it's for the men. A custard of eggs, milk or half-and-half or cream, a pinch of salt, lots of pepper. If I'm in a rush or feeling lazy, I use store-bought frozen pie crust. The men have never complained.




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Quiche with kale and bacon
I make quiche to use up leftover cooked vegetables. Use your favorite pie crust recipe, or buy a frozen or refrigerated crust if you're in a hurry. I use whatever cheese I have on hand, from brie to mozzarella to cheddar.
Ingredients
  • Dough for single-crust pie
  • 4 ounces grated cheese (try cheddar, Monterey Jack, mozzarella)
  • 1 cup cooked kale, cut into small pieces (steamed or sauteed)
  • 4 green onions, chopped
  • 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup half-and-half (whole milk works too)
  • 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Roll out the dough and lay it into a pie pan, crimping or trimming the edge all around. Set the pie pan on the baking sheet.Scatter the grated cheese on the bottom of the unbaked pie crust, then top with the cooked kale, chopped green onions and bacon.In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, dry mustard, salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the contents of the pie crust.Bake the quiche about 50 minutes, until the filling is set and the top of the quiche is lightly browned. You can tell when the filling is set by jiggling the pan; when the middle no longer looks liquid, it's done. It doesn't have to be completely solid, just past the liquid stage.Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting. Serve at room temperature.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8 servings