Mother’s Day Quiches

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and although I couldn’t spend it with my own Mom (sad), I was able to spend it with Andrew’s Mom and family. One of our Mother’s Day gifts to Andrew’s Mom was making her brunch. Andrew offered for us to make half the brunch, which basically meant that I was making half of the brunch by myself (which I was more than happy to do). I ended up making two different types of quiche as my contribution. Dare I call them, a Duet of Quiche? I made up these recipes on a whim and they turned out great.

Each quiche requires the same basic steps: cook up the ingredients you want in them, add them to a base of eggs and cream, pour into a pie crust, and bake.

Asparagus, Shallot, and Shiitake Mushroom Quiche

asparagus, shallot, mushroom quiche

  • 1 small bunch asparagus, chopped into medium-sized pieces
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 1 package shiitake mushrooms, chopped
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 4 oz shredded Jarlsberg cheese
  • 3 oz shredded Mozzarella
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1 frozen pie crust in tin, defrosted
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add asparagus, shallots, and mushrooms. Saute until shallots are translucent and asparagus is a deep green. Turn off heat. Pour mixture onto plate and spread into a thin layer to allow to cool. This step is VERY important. If you add the mixture to the eggs and it’s too hot, it will start to cook the eggs. Not good.
  3. Scramble eggs in a bowl. Add cream. Add cheese. Add COOLED mixture from saucepan.
  4. Pour everything into pie crust.
  5. Bake for 45 minutes or until eggs are set. Cover the crust alone with tin foil if it begins to burn during cooking.

Bacon, Cheddar, and Spinach Quiche

bacon, cheddar, spinach quiche

  • 1/2 lb bacon
  • 6 oz cheddar cheese (whatever kind you like)
  • 1 package baby spinach
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1 frozen pie crust in tin, defrosted
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Heat saucepan on medium-high heat. Cook bacon in saucepan until crispy. Remove from pan, dry off, chop, set aside.
  3. Melt butter in saucepan over medium high heat. Add spinach. Cook spinach down until very dark green and wilty. It won’t look like much, but it’ll be enough. Lay out spinach in thin layer on a plate, and cool thoroughly. Same as above quiche.
  4. Scramble eggs in a bowl. Add cream. Add cheese. Add COOLED mixture from saucepan.
  5. Pour everything into pie crust.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes or until eggs are set. Cover the crust alone with tin foil if it begins to burn during cooking.

 

Clean the Fridge Pizza

Looking in my fridge, I realized I had some food items that were about to go bad, namely ground beef and shiitake mushrooms. So I put on my thinking cap and realized I had Trader Joe’s pizza dough (yum), Trader Joe’s light mozz cheese (double yum), and the best thing ever invented, a pizza stone, so I decided to make a pizza. Seems to be the obvious choice based on what I had. And we all know that everything’s good on pizza, so why not? If you don’t have a pizza stone, don’t worry – a baking sheet will work just fine. The pizza stone just gives the crust an extra crisp. I added a shallot and a touch of garlic and viola, yummy easy pizza. And I didn’t even have to throw away any groceries. It’s the small victories…

Clean the Fridge Pizza

  • 2 oz Trader Joe’s garlic and herb pizza dough
  • 2 oz Trader Joe’s light mozzarella cheese (which melts AMAZINGLY for a reduced-fat cheese)
  • 1 shallot, roughly chopped
  • A couple fresh shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 4 oz 93% lean ground beef
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped (or crushed garlic if you have that on hand)
  1. Preheat oven to 375. If you have a pizza stone, allow the stone to preheat in the oven.
  2. Heat a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat. Spray a touch of cooking spray or a spray of olive oil (if you have a Misto, like I do)
  3. Add shallots and mushrooms to skillet. Cook for one minute. Add ground beef. Cook until ground beef is no longer pink. Remove from heat.
  4. Roll out your pizza dough so it’s a thickness to your liking. (I prefer my pizza on the thinner side, but if you like yours thick, do your thing.)
  5. If you’re using a baking sheet, put the dough on the sheet, spread the garlic and olive oil on the dough and load it up with the ground beef mixture and cheese.
  6. If you’re using a pizza stone, place dough alone onto your pizza stone that’s in the oven. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the dough has taken just enough firmness to be handled.
  7. Slide dough out of the oven and place on cutting board. Spread the garlic and olive oil on the dough and load it up with the ground beef mixture and cheese. Put back into the oven.
  8. Bake for 7-10 minutes, until all your toppings are hot, your cheese is melted and your crust is the crispiness you like.

plus red pepper flakes. i like spicy.