Ah, the much-maligned quiche. Is it macho? It makes no difference to me. It uses a lot of eggs, and that's what really matters. I'm a big fan of anything that uses lots of eggs. The only thing that keeps me from making quiche with any regularity is the crust. That's why I love the idea of a crustless quiche. Granted, a crustless quiche is very much like a breakfast casserole. I guess that's another win. This particular quiche is loaded with all sorts of veggies. So many, that I have dubbed it an "Uber-Quiche." I'd like to think that all the veggies cancel out the eggs and cheese. As far as I'm concerned, eating this is like eating celery. With cheese. And a bunch of eggs. Whatever. It's delicious and I plan on making it again. Feel free to mess with the veggies used. If you're making it a point to do exactly what I say every time, you're accepting a fair amount of risk. As always, any notes are in blue.
Vegetable Uber-Quiche
Ingredients
9 eggs
1 cup milk
1 heaping cup shredded cheddar-jack cheese
1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
8 ounces button mushrooms, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 cup kale, spines removed
1 lb potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon Greektown seasoning (available from The Spice House. If you don't have it available, it uses: salt, garlic powder, Tellicherry black pepper, onion powder, oregano and lemon peel)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375F (190C, Gasmark 5)
Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix all the vegetables to ensure an even distribution. Pour the vegetables into the baking dish and spread them in an even layer.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and cheese (make sure to take the eggs out of the shells. That's very important). Pour mixture over vegetables in baking dish.
It's always nice to find a flavor-packed recipe that comes together quick enough to use as a mid-week meal. This particular recipe was a fine way to use up a big pack of discounted chicken thighs that was taking up room in the freezer. You are welcome to use any cut of chicken you'd like. While the recipe comes together in less than an hour, it does qualify as a PITA, since it requires constant vigilance until you get to the simmering stage. It's worth it. We served it up with a side of Stir-Fried Green Cabbage with Fennel Seeds. This makes for a satisfying meal that's mercifully low on calories. As always, any notes or changes are in blue.
7 large cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped (we grated ours, since chopping ginger is more trouble than it's worth)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Generous pinch asafetida optional (this is a powder that's available at Indian grocers. Alternately, you can get it at The Spice House online.)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 inch stick cinnamon
6 cardamom pods (didn't have the pods on hand. I did have cardamom seeds. I used about a dozen)
5 whole cloves
3 dried, hot red chiles (I used my own dried cayenne)
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (don't be a wuss, use 1/4)
1-1/2 cup canned, chopped tomatoes (I used canned whole tomatoes. They'll break up during the cooking)
12 ounces potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks (I'm pretty sure we cut ours into 1/2 inch chunks because I don't read directions particularly well)
Directions
Sprinkle the chicken pieces lightly with salt and black pepper and set aside.
Put the garlic and ginger into a blender, along with 3 tablespoons water and blend into a paste.
Put the oil in a wide, nonstick pan and set over medium high heat (I used my enameled Dutch oven. I figured there's be a lot going on here and I didn't want everything spilling over the sides of my pan. The Wife will abide a small mess, but nothing extravagant). When the oil is hot, put in the asafetida if using. A few seconds later, put in the cumin seeds. Wait 10 seconds and put in the cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves and chiles. Stir for a few seconds until the large spices begin to turn darker. Add the garlic and ginger paste. Stir and fry it for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken, turmeric and cayenne. Stir and fry for another minute (nothing like dozens of tiny time constraints to make you want to order a pizza). Add the chopped tomatoes, potatoes, 1-1/4 cup water and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken and potatoes are tender (I'd be more concerned with the chicken being done. An undercooked potato won't kill you).
I'm pretty sure there's about 150,000 different slow-cooker Mexican style chicken recipes floating around the interwebz, so I figured why not add another? This particular recipe assembles quickly and makes for a fairly versatile meal. We served it over rice, in tortillas and as a nacho topping. Just make sure to drain off any excess liquid if you're using it in tortillas, tacos or nachos, otherwise everything will get soggy. This is very mild. I wound up adding habanero hot sauce to mine, but I really like the heat. As always, any notes are in blue.
Slow Cooker Margarita Chicken and Black Beans
Ingredients
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (any color is fine; we used red)
1 tablespoon pepper in adobo sauce (you can find these canned in the ethnic section of most grocery stores)
2 ounces tequila (optional if booze isn't your thing)
1 tablespoon lime juice (I used the stuff from the little plastic lime. I love that sort of thing)
for those who don't have access to the above seasoning, it includes: coarse Kosher flake salt, garlic & onion powders, Mexican oregano, Tellicherry black pepper, hot red pepper flakes.
Directions
Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker.
Unceremoniously dump all other ingredients on top of chicken.
Give a quick stir. Cook on LOW 6-8 hours.
Remove chicken from cooker, shred and return to cooker.
UPDATE: Now there's a YouTube video for this recipe!
I'm still on the fence about slow-cooker recipes that require you to do cooking outside of the slow-cooker. I just want to chuck everything in there and forget about it. I'll make exceptions for ground meat. Nobody wants slow cooked ground meat. That just sounds nasty. After this recipe, I'll also make an exception for couscous, because it takes almost no time to make. The Wife and I really enjoyed this recipe. We tinkered with the ingredients and came up with a winner. It was simple and with a switch to turkey, a healthy meal. As always, any notes and changes are in blue.
Slow Cooker Spanish-Style Couscous
via Crock-Pot Quick & Easy Recipes
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (we had a bunch of ground turkey patties in the freezer, so we used 1.5 pounds of those instead)
1 can (14 ounces) beef broth (I don't keep cans of broth on hand. I just filled an empty can with water and dissolved a beef bouillon cube in it)
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (you should know by now The Wife doesn't like green peppers, so we went with red instead)
1-1/3 cup water (this is for the couscous. DON'T put it in the slow cooker!)
1 cup uncooked couscous (we found a really good roasted garlic and olive oil couscous at ALDI)
Directions
Brown meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to break up meat (I've never seen a recipe tell you to break up the meat before. Are there people out there just chucking a big wad of meat in the pan and hoping for the best?) Drain fat.
Combine broth, bell pepper, olives, onion, garlic, cumin, thyme and meat in slow-cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 5 hours or until bell pepper is tender.
Bring water to a boil over high heat in a small saucepan. Stir in couscous. Cover; remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with fork (don't forget to take the cover off before fluffing or you may encounter some difficulties). Spoon couscous onto plates; top with beef mixture (use a slotted spoon for getting the beef mixture out. There's going to be a fair amount of liquid left in the slow cooker).
This recipe is a guest post from my lovely wife. It is one of my favorites. I turn things over to her.
I don’t do much cooking in my house.
It’s just easier to let my husband cook and tell him how good it
is. However, there are a few dishes he occasionally asks me to make.
A few nights ago, he had to stay late at work, so he requested I
throw together a tuna casserole for dinner. I guess his incessant
cooking has inspired me, because I decided my usual version needed
some tweaking. Notes are in blue:
Tuna Casserolevia The Wife
Ingredients
1-16oz. bag of egg noodles (This
was my first tweak. I’ve always used macaroni for my tuna
casseroles, but there was a bag of egg noodles in the cabinet – and
they were calling to me.)
2-5oz. cans of tuna in water (Use
more if you like a lot of tuna. This seemed to be the right amount
for our tastes.)
1-10.5oz can of cream of mushroom soup
(Of course…)
1 cup (4oz) shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup of peas
(Husband’s request)
1 small red pepper – chopped
1 small yellow pepper – chopped (We
had an overabundance of peppers, and not being a big fan of peas, I
decided peppers would both add color and lessen the pea flavor.)
Drain egg noodles and return to
pot. Add tuna, cream of mushroom soup, and cheese, and stir until
incorporated. (In my original version, the
shredded cheese was sprinkled over the top of the casserole.)
Mix in peas and red and yellow
pepper.
Add Lake Shore Drive Seasoning to
taste
Pour mixture into greased Pyrex and
top with crushed potato chips. (This may
surprise some of you, but I had never made a tuna casserole with
potato chips before. The inspiration came from a story my mother
likes to tell. My grandmother would always make her children their
favorite meals on their birthdays. My Uncle Steve’s favorite meal
was tuna casserole with crushed potato chips on top. My mother hated
it.)
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until
potato chips start to brown.
With winter around the corner, the slow cookers are seeing regular use. One of our standards is a soup for the week, the heartier, the better. We found this recipe in a cookbook we keep forgetting we own: Fix It and Forget It Lightly. This book is a treasure trove of healthier options for the slow cooker. We went with the Cream Cheese Potato Soup. It is a rich and satisfying soup, and with the substitution of neufchatel for cream cheese, fairly low in fat. As always, changes and notes are in blue.
I've been on quite a hot sauce kick this summer. Mostly this is due to the fact that making hot sauce is the most efficient way to use up lots of garden produce in one shot. This time I decided I was going to make my own hot sauce from scratch. I know that mango is a solid accompaniment to most hot peppers, so I used jalapenos and mangoes as the base. From there I just sort of went bat-shit crazy and started adding stuff. What I ended up with elicited tremendous positive response from the The Wife and our friend Dan. This sauce starts with a straight shot of jalapeno then opens up into a finish of fruit and a bite from the rum. We put the naming rights up for a vote on my Facebook page and the hands down winner came from The Wife. She knows that my favorite band is Jethro Tull. Most of the band members are huge pepper heads and really enjoy spicy foods. They make mention of hot foods more than once in their music. She suggested naming the sauce after one of their songs: "Hot Mango Flush." I know a winner when I hear one!
As always, any notes are in blue.
Hot Mango Flush
Ingredients
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and cubed
12 jalapenos stemmed and seeded (or leave the seeds in if you want more heat)
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup gold rum
1 teaspoon Ukrainian Village Seasoning from The Spice House(this seasoning is a blend of salt, garlic, onion, pepper, green onion, and red and green peppers)
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large, non-reactive pan. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Simmer for about 10-12 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft.
Load everything into a blender and pulse until smooth.
Looks like a sneeze gone wrong. I assure you it does not taste that way.
If you are using right away, just put in a container and refrigerate. If you plan on long term storage, this will yield a little over one pint of sauce. Load into two half pint jars and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes (As always, if you're not familiar with canning, refer to the National Center for Home Food Preparation to learn how not to accidentally poison your entire family)
