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Hearty Mushroom Quiche

13 Tuesday Mar 2012

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Hearty Mushroom Quiche

Another savory pie in the countdown to Pi Day. Quiche is like the risotto of pie crust: once you get the basic formula down, you can put almost anything in it and something wonderful will come out of the oven!

Most quiche recipes call for a significant amount of milk or cream mixed with the egg to form custard. I don’t do a lot of milk so I just increased the number of eggs and the result was great – less on the fluffy side, more on the hearty side. Perfect for dinner.

Hearty Mushroom Quiche Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 1 9” pie crust
  • 2 cups sliced mushrooms – I used baby Portobello
  • .5 cups finely chopped onion – I had a couple small scallions and some green onions left over so in went a blend of those
  • .5 cups diced red bell pepper
  • 3 cloves finely chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme
  • .5 tsp fresh ground black pepper + more to taste
  • .5 tsp kosher or Celtic sea salt + more to taste
  • 1 tbsp grape seed oil
  • .5 cups shredded Parmigiano Reggiano
  • 5 eggs, lightly beaten with a tablespoon of water

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° and prebake the pie crust for 10-15 minutes while the oven heats up.
  2. In a pan over medium heat, sauté the garlic and thyme, salt and pepper for 3 minutes. Add the onion for 2 minutes, then the pepper for another 2. Finally, add the mushroom and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring consistently so that the juices can reduce as much as possible.
  3. Put the mushroom mixture in the crust, top evenly with the cheese, then pour the egg on top.
  4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

So yum. If you have a favorite quiche filling, please share!

Savory Squash Pie

12 Monday Mar 2012

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Savory Squash Pie

As the countdown to Pi(e) Day continues, I’ve made a couple of savory pies for dinners. The first is an adaptation of this recipe that I substituted in several places with what I had on hand. Turned out great, and will be a general formula for future savory pies for sure!

Ingredients:

  • 1 9” pie crust
  • 2 acorn squash (or 1 butternut squash) , seeds removed and meat cut into chunks an inch or less
  • 1 onion, diced
  • .25 cups grape seed oil
  • .25 cups dry white wine
  • .25 tsp salt + more to taste
  • .25 tsp fresh ground black pepper + more to taste
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
  • .5 cups walnuts, chopped
  • .5 cups shredded Parmigiano Reggiano

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° and toss the squash chunks in half of the oil plus the salt and pepper. Roast the squash on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes until golden. You can simultaneously prebake your pie crust for 10-15 minutes if you like.
  2. In the meantime, sauté the onion over medium heat in the other half of the oil. After 5 minutes, add the white wine and cook it down for another 5 minutes or so.
  3. If you’re making homemade bread crumbs, toast 2 to 3 pieces of bread until they are dry, break them into chunks and toss in a food processor. You can also add the walnuts and cheese as these three together will make the crumb mix.
  4. When everything is done, mix the roasted squash, sautéed onions, lightly beaten egg, and half of the bread crumb mix together in a big bowl.
  5. Scoop filling into the crust, sprinkle remaining bread crumb mix on top, and bake for 30-40 minutes until the crust is golden. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

Make sure to also: wash those squash seeds, toss them in oil, salt and pepper and roast them on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Yum!!

“Cold” Spaghetti

11 Sunday Mar 2012

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Cold Spaghetti

The pasta itself is warm – it’s the sauce that’s cold. And it’s the perfect dish for spring and summer – fresh and beautiful.

I’ve had, and loved, this recipe for years. It came from my childhood bestie’s family and I’ve been making and adapting it since I was in high school. In other words, it’s easy and never gets boring – because it’s incredibly flexible.

Cold Spaghetti Ingredients

Here’s the basic recipe, followed by some of the ingredients that you can add to customize it:

  • 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes – I recommend roma or cherry
  • .25 cups chopped green onions
  • .25 cups minced parsley
  • 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped – less if you aren’t in love with garlic like we are
  • .25 cups extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp dried oregano or mixed Italian herbs
  • 1 tsp kosher or sea salt plus more for pasta
  • 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper plus more for pasta
  • .25 cups shredded Parmigiano Reggiano plus more for garnish

Some additional ingredients – I usually add at least one of these to make the flavor more complex:

  • Olives, diced – I prefer black pearl olives for this as kalamata or green could overwhelm in my opinion
  • Artichoke hearts, chopped
  • Sundried tomatoes, chopped
  • Flavored oil such as basil or garlic
  • Red pepper flakes (start small!)

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl. Taste as you go and adjust to your preferences. Refrigerate for at least two hours so the flavors can marry. Serve over hot spaghetti or angel hair pasta that has been tossed in more oil, salt and pepper. Garnish with additional cheese.

Enjoy!

Creamy Tahini Dressing (vegan)

08 Thursday Mar 2012

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Creamy Tahini Dressing Ingredients

This dressing is similar to the Annie’s Goddess dressing that’s so popular and delicious. It’s creamy enough that you do not miss having feta or goat cheese in a salad. I recommend it on a spinach salad with cucumbers, garbanzo beans and sunflower seeds…or on pretty much anything else, it’s that delicious.

This recipe yields a fairly thick dressing, so if you prefer something thinner you can add more lemon juice or even a little water.

Put the following in a blender until the garlic has been fully incorporated:

  • .5 cups tahini
  • .5 cups extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice from 2 large or 3 small lemons
  • 2 tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp fresh ground pepper or more to taste

Note: If you don’t have red wine vinegar on hand, I suspect that apple cider vinegar would be a good substitute and contribute a little different but comparable brightness.

Blackberry & Apple Tart (or is it a pie?)

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

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Blackberry and Apple Tart

Probably a pie, since I used a pie crust – even though I made it in a tart pan and arranged the ingredients like a tart.

But the distinguishing characteristic of this recipe is its tart flavor – by which I mean a distinct zippiness and pucker. So if you’re tired of too-sweet pies, here’s the antidote.

Blackberry and Apple Tart Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 1 pie crust
  • .5 cups butter
  • .75 cups brown sugar
  • .5 tsp cinnamon powder
  • .25 tsp lemon zest (adjust for desired pucker)
  • .25 inch slice of ginger root, peeled
  • .5 cups water
  • 4 cups baking apples, peeled and cored and cut as you like
  • 2 cups blackberries, rinsed and patted dry

Instructions:

  1. In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat and then stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon and ginger
  2. Mix in the apples and water and simmer for 10 minutes – use only enough water to come less than half way up the apples
  3. Add the blackberries and cook for 1 more minute
  4. Remove from heat and allow to cool to handling temperature
  5. In the meantime, roll out your pie dough and place in a 9” pie dish or 10” tart dish
  6. Add the filling by scooping into the crust with a slotted spoon so you can easily control the amount of liquid – be sure to find that chunk of ginger and pull it out!
  7. Any leftover filling and liquid can be blended to make a syrupy topping – also, I drizzled a bit on half way through baking for color and texture
  8. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350°, remove and allow to stand before serving

I bet this would also be wonderful with pears instead of apples, in which case I might leave out the lemon zest altogether and emphasize the ginger.

Basic Homemade Pie Crust

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

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Basic Homemade Pie Crust

I’m not much of a baker, but with Pi Day in a week I’m occupied with…bad puns, evidently. But also pies!

And while I may still be refining my technique for perfectly flaky crusts, I do have the theory down. The way to a flaky crust is to allow pockets of air to form in the dough while it bakes. This happens when small pieces of butter melt and the 20% of butter that’s actually water forms steam.

So to get flakiness you need chunks of butter, not a dough where the butter is fully incorporated. And two things support this: how much you mix it (or how little, as the case may be) and maintaining a cold temperature so the butter stays hard.

This basic recipe will yield enough for one pie with a top and bottom crust, or two pies with open tops.

Basic Pie Crust Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cups flour
  • 1 cup butter, cubed and chilled
  • 1 tsp salt
  • .5 cups ice water

Instructions:

  1. Mix the flour and salt
  2. Slice in the butter – some people use knives or pastry blenders, some use food processors – the trick is to stop when you have tiny butter balls coated with flour
  3. Add the ice water (not the ice…) 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together when you pinch it
  4. Shape the dough into 2 balls, wrap in plastic and let sit in your refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days
  5. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour and use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a 12” circle

Note: I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1.5 cups unbleached white flour – probably a better choice for the crust of savory pies than for sweet pies.

Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa

20 Monday Feb 2012

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Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa

I almost never buy salsa anymore, not since I got a food processor last year, because fresh homemade salsa is super easy and delicious. Here’s one of our favorite recipes.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • .5 tsp chili powder
  • .5 tsp chipotle powder
  • .5 tsp salt
  • .5 cups onion
  • 3-4 garlic cloves
  • 1-2 tsp fresh jalapeno (optional per your heat preference)
  • 1 cup cilantro
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 3-4 tomatillos, papery wrappers removed and rinsed
  • 1-2 tomatoes

Salsa Ingredients

Instructions:

  1. Pulse the spices, salt, onion and garlic until finely chopped (here’s where jalapeno would go in)
  2. Add cilantro and lime juice, pulse several times
  3. Add tomatillos and tomatoes, pulse until they are the texture you prefer
  4. Between each step make sure to scrape the sides of the food processor with a spatula so all the ingredients get incorporated evenly

I like to separate the chunky part and use the juices to season my Spanish rice, etc.

One other note: this is a great way to use the cilantro stems since they are getting finely chopped anyway, so you can use the pretty top leaves for garnish.

Risotto with Beet Greens

20 Monday Feb 2012

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Risotto with Beet Greens

Risotto is such a treat – plus it’s easy to make and extremely flexible. The one consideration with risotto is that you do need to stir it pretty constantly, so plan to spend 30-40 minutes by the stove (aka, pour yourself a glass of wine and relax). With a basic technique in mind, you can vary the recipe for whatever you have on hand or find fresh at the local farmer’s market. It also satisfies that pasta craving for my gluten-free friends.

I had some beet greens that I needed to use, so that’s what last night’s risotto featured. I balanced the greens with lemon juice for brightness and red pepper flakes for a little kick of flavor.

Ingredients:

  • .25 cups olive oil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • .25 tsp red pepper flakes (up to this amount, adjust down for less heat)
  • .25 tsp ground black pepper
  • .25 tsp thyme (optional)
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • Greens from 3-6 beets – stems removed and chopped, leaves chopped
  • 1 cup Arborio rice
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • Juice from 1 lemon
  • .25 cups pine nuts
  • 4 cups vegetable broth – heated in separate pot on stove ready to ladle in
  • 2 tbsp butter (optional)
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

  1. In a large high-edged pan heat the oil over medium heat and season with the bay leaves, pepper, red pepper (this is when to add the thyme if you use it)
  2. Add the onions and stir until they begin to turn translucent, then stir in the garlic and beet stems
  3. Add Arborio rice and stir in so that it absorbs any oil and cooking juices
  4. Add wine and stir until absorbed
  5. Add pine nuts and lemon juice and stir until absorbed
  6. Add broth one ladle at a time until absorbed – you may not use all 4 cups, judge how much the rice will take and adjust to your liking
  7. Stir in parmesan cheese (and butter if you use)
  8. Fold in beet greens until they wilt down and start to incorporate, but still have good color
  9. Garnish with additional parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, drizzle of olive oil

You can also substitute pearl barley for the Arborio rice, for a high-fiber version!

Chia Seed Tea

18 Saturday Feb 2012

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Chia Seed Tea

Yep, chia seeds as in ch-ch-ch-chia pets. They are incredibly nutritious…and oddly delightful. My friend Kipp encouraged me to post this recipe – it’s so simple that I hadn’t even considered sharing it. But if you’re not familiar with chia seed, this is a great way to get started with them.

Some things you might like to know about chia seeds:

They were a staple of the Aztec and Mayan diets and even had ceremonial significance, so when the Spanish arrived on the scene they banned chia plants as one way to control the indigenous peoples.

One tablespoon is only 60 calories and contains 16% of your daily fiber. It also has 150% of your Omega-3 and is higher in antioxidant activity than blueberries. (Nutrition facts from Spectrum brand – the one I recommend and you can find at Whole Foods for $6 to $8 per bag.)

Chia seeds are about the same size as poppy seeds and have the wonderfully weird property of absorbing liquid into little bubbles surrounding them, turning into tapioca-like balls. They don’t have much flavor on their own, a little bit nutty.

They will absorb most liquids (for some reason not the coconut water I tried last week…?) so you can make puddings with them, for example. They serve as a thickening agent in this wonderful vegan gravy. And you can sometimes find them in kombucha, etc.

But this tea is the way I use them most often because it’s so easy. Here’s the recipe:

  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1 cup freshly brewed tea, any flavor you like

Let the tea cool so it’s not super-hot, and it’s best to whisk in the chia seeds for a minute so they don’t clump together but get evenly distributed.

This ratio of 1 tbsp to 1 cup yields a pretty thick viscosity, so adjust to your liking. I drink 2 cups for breakfast most morning, which is fairly filling. I’ll make a couple days’ worth at a time and refrigerate.

That’s it! Hope you enjoy, and please share any chia recipes you love so I can try new ways to use these crazy little seeds!

Cioppino

17 Friday Feb 2012

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This delicious fish stew originated in the Italian-American fishing community in San Francisco. Fresh ingredients (or fresh-caught flash-frozen if you must) are paramount to the success of this dish. Because all the ingredients get chopped up (ciuppin means “to chop”), this is the perfect way to maximize the catch of the day – use tail pieces of halibut, for example, which are very tasty and much less expensive than big fillets that you’ll cut up anyway.

You’ll find Cioppino recipes with all different combinations of seafood and you should feel free to pick your favorites, or buy what’s on special at the fish market today. Substitute clams for mussels, or do both. Add squid if you like. Just be thoughtful about timing so that each type is cooked appropriately – add crab legs early and scallops late, etc.

Also, cooking shellfish in the shells will enhance flavor – and the eating experience. But if you don’t want that authentic roll-up-your-sleeves dining, you can remove shells prior to cooking for a lazy man’s version.

One other note: you can make the base (everything up to adding seafood) ahead of time, so it can come together quickly when you’re ready to eat. As a potlatch approach (this dish can be expensive!), assign friends different seafood to bring to the party.

Buon Appetito!

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Cook in a large pot over medium heat:

  • .25 cups olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 2 medium onions, finely chipped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1.5 tsp salt
  • .5 tsp black pepper

When onions are soft, stir to incorporate:

  • 2 tbsp tomato paste

Add and boil uncovered for 5 minutes:

  • 1.5 cups dry white wine, should reduce by half in this time

Add and simmer for 30 minutes covered:

  • 28 ozs (2 cans) diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup clam juice
  • 1 cup vegetable broth

Add:

  • 1 lb crab legs (thawed if frozen) cracked open and cut into 3” pieces
  • 18 mussels, scrubbed – cook these for 5 minutes and removed as they open for up to 10 minutes – discard any that do not open after 10 minutes (same if using clams)

When mussels are removed, add and simmer for 5 minutes or until just cooked:

  • .5 lbs halibut cut into chunks
  • 18 large shrimp, deveined (use their color to help gauge timing)
  • .5 lbs sea scallops, whole if medium-sized or chunked if large
  • 2 cups chopped baby Portobello mushrooms

Finish by:

  • Adding mussels back into dish to reheat briefly
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with:

  • Chopped fresh parsley
  • Chopped fresh basil
  • Parmesan cheese

Serve:

  • In large flat bowls
  • With crab fork and cracker if you make it “authentic”
  • Accompany with sourdough bread
  • With a spare bowl for shells on the table