quiche your heart out

ok, so here is the quiche i made last week for a potluck in the park.


i altered the recipe to fit with the ingredients i had. i got the main recipe from baking illustrated and here it is:

8 ounces bacon (about 8 slices) cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
pinch fresh grated nutmeg
4 ounces Gruyère cheese , grated (1/2 cup)
1 9- inch partially baked pie shell (warm), baked until light golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Fry bacon in skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer with slotted spoon to paper towel–lined plate. Meanwhile, whisk all remaining ingredients except cheese in medium bowl.

2. Spread cheese and bacon evenly over bottom of warm pie shell and set shell on oven rack. Pour in custard mixture to 1/2-inch below crust rim. Bake until lightly golden brown and a knife blade inserted about one inch from the edge comes out clean, and center feels set but soft like gelatin, 32 to 35 minutes. Transfer quiche to rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(so, instead of bacon, i browned some red and yellow peppers with red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and some ham. also, i didn't have any cream, so i just used regular 1% milk. and my friend sara who was in town picked up some brie, so i sliced that up and put that on the bottom.)

and i used a pie crust recipe that had butter in it, which i never do for normal pies, but thought it would work perfect for the crust. so, just basically insert your favorite pie crust here...

so, that's the quiche. my first one ever. it's a lot easier than i thought it would be.

let me know if anyone has any other ingredients they like using in a quiche, i'd love to try some other fillers.

knitting factory

these are like two of my favorite worlds colliding. i'm gonna have to try this. now i will have to learn how to make pies and be a "fly girl" at the same time.

big timer

whatup party people, i am going to upstate new york tonight for a photoshoot and won't be back till thursday night. but, i will post about the quiche i made today when i get back.

holler atchour girl...

ck

sunday baking extravaganza: part three

ok, so as part of my sunday bake-fest, i made these:



pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. i found them in a neighborhood cookbook that my sister, kristin, organized. i would have never thought of putting in oats on my own, but they add a very nice texture and density to an otherwise very airy cookie. they are best before you have to store them in tupperware or otherwise, because they lose their amazing crisp but soft on the inside texture. after covering them, they just become soft. anyway, these are my favorite pumpkin cookies of all time.

1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. old fashioned oats
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (i don't have this so i make it up using cloves, ginger and cinnamon - with a touch of nutmeg)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
chocolate chips

beat together butter and sugars til creamy. add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla; beat well. add combined oats, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt; mix well. stir in chocolate chips.

drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet (or i love, love, love my silpats). bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

i rarely follow a recipe exactly and usually add a little secret ingredient of my own to change things up. the recipe says to cook it longer than 10 minutes, but i find that cooking it more can make them too dry. even if they look undercooked, 10 minutes seems about right, once the cookies have cooled.

let me know if you try any of these recipes and how they turn out. i'd love to hear!

working the corner

julia and i have been obsessed with brownies, and more particularly corner pieces of brownies since we can remember. we always thought of making a pan that would make it possible. looks like someone beat us to the punch.


in my future bakery i plan to have a plentiful supply of corner piece brownies.

anyone need to get me a late birthday present??

pleasantville

my friend, emily, sent me these.



i think they would really help me be inspired to bake even more. the bib ava one is my favorite!

"cornbread! ain't nothin wrong with that..."

so, sunday was sort of a cooking rampage, i made regular bread, cornbread and cookies. the cornbread and cookies were for my good friend, carter hilton's going away party. moving to BRUSSELS of all places. where they most likely won't have this:


mom's cornbread. i've never had a recipe that i liked more than this old fashioned, delicious corn bread. chris rock was right. "ain't nothin wrong with that."

ok, as requested, here is the recipe. super easy.

1/2 c. butter
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 c. yellow corn meal
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. flour
1/2 t. salt

melt butter in large saucepan, remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add eggs, beat well. combine buttermilk with soda and stir into mixture. add corn meal, flour and salt. stir until well blended. pour into greased 8x8 inch pan. bake approx. 30 minutes at 375°.

i love to eat this with butter and honey or homemade freezer jam.

my first post: sunday morning bread

one of my favorite things to do on sunday mornings is to make homemade bread.

this is my mom's half white/half wheat bread. (keeping things multi-cultural.)

growing up, i don't really remember having any store-bought bread in our house. my mom was always churning out loaves of bread that she would either feed to us or sell to a few neighbors and friends. and since i aspire to be my mother's daughter, i love to make homemade bread. you can't beat the smell or taste of fresh bread. it's a tough thing to master and while i haven't quite gotten there, i think i'm getting better. hope mama is proud.