goat cheese and spinach quiche with fresh dill

A few weeks ago, my neighbor quite suddenly called me and asked if I could make a few quiches for a gathering she was having.  I was stunned.  I suddenly realized I hadn't made a quiche in years.  Of course I said yes ( I do like a challenge) and immediately googled quiche, just to jiggle my brain. I knew the basics, but had forgotten the amounts.  In the end, the quiches were partly Julia and my memories of the amounts I'd used in the past - and the temperature, which I always keep on the low side, since we're talking cream and eggs.  The first quiche was traditional, but with Westphalian ham instead of bacon, and a fairly tasteless gruyere, which was all I could find in our rural area.  The second was much more fun , with shredded spinach, a heaping cup of crumbled goat cheese, nutmeg, and freshly minced dill.  Because I only had a day or two to prepare, I used a frozen pie crust, which was fine with me, as my pie crusts usually look...well...extremely rustic, even on the best of days:)  It came out looking as pretty as can be - and my neighbor sent me a thank you note for a quiche that was delicate, but creamy;  instead of rubbery and tough.

There are a few tedious parts to this recipe: washing the spinach, spinning it dry, destemming it, and blanching it briefly, then squeezing out the liquid and slicing it into thick ribbons.  To crumble the goat cheese, use a fork and pull out the cheese gently, so you don't have huge chunks.  Try to use everything as close to room temperature as you can, as that affects the baking.

Goat Cheese and Spinach quiche:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

1 frozen pie crust
2 T. soft unsalted butter
Spread the butter on the bottom of the crust, then pre-bake for 10 minutes in the upper third of your oven.  Remove and cool.

The quiche:

1 1/2 cups half and half
4 extra large eggs
good pinch of nutmeg, or several scrapings with a grater
1 heaping cup of crumbled goat cheese
2 T. minced fresh dill
1 T. minced fresh parsley
pinch kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 T. scallion (green onion ) tops, green part only, sliced
1 8 oz package mature spinach ( not baby spinach) washed, spun dry, de-stemmed, and sliced, then blanched (see below)  Or use 2 cups packed spinach prepared as above.

For the spinach:
Briefly blanch the prepared raw spinach in boiling water (5 minutes), strain, let cool, then squeeze out any remaining liquid.  Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk the half and half, the eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper, dill, parsley, and the goat cheese until combined.  Add the squeezed spinach and whisk in with a fork, then add the scallion tops.

Pour into the pre-baked pie crust, and bake in upper third of oven for 45 minutes.  The quiche may puff up a bit, the center should be softly solid when you press it gently.  It will continue to bake as it cools.

Cool at least 15 minutes before cutting into wedges.

It has been cold, rainy, and windy here, after a few gorgeous sunny and warm days - too cold to plant the tomato seedlings, but the lilacs have stayed beautifully full and colorful, and so has the lady's mantle.  The radishes and sugar snap peas are poking through, but everything else is waiting for warmer weather.  May your forecast be sunny and warm!

crustless spinach and parsley quiche with four cheeses

It's amazing how quickly our food tastes change with the weather. A few cold nights and I'm making quiches and soups and browsing through bread recipes . I love the scents of Autumn, including this fragrant crustless quiche loaded with my favorite vegetable ( spinach), a handful of parsley, and all my favorite cheeses, including a few tablespoons of an herby goat cheese I found recently. It's remarkable that that little bit of goat cheese can boost the flavor so much! Of course, if you can skip it if you don't care for goat cheese, maybe adding a little swiss or gruyere to the cheddar, parmesan, and mozzarella mix I use. I don't make a traditional quiche with a piecrust, mainly because I realized I never ate the crust, and neither did anyone else.

To make:

5 extra large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

a few scrapings of nutmeg, or a hefty pinch

lots of freshly ground black pepper

kosher salt to taste

3 white mushrooms, wiped and sliced

2 cups packed sliced spinach, with a little parsley tossed in

about 2 cups of shredded cheese:

I use half cheddar and a mix of grated parmesan, mozzarella, and the goat cheese.

Preheat oven to 325F. Butter a 9" glass pie plate.

Beat the eggs briefly with the nutmeg and pepper and salt, then add the cream and milk and mix well.

Add in the spinach and parsley and the raw mushrooms, then the shredded cheeses.

Scrape into a buttered glass pie pan and cook for 50 minutes. The quiche should be firm in the middle - not watery. Remember it will keep cooking after you remove it from the oven.

Let the quiche set and cool before slicing - about 20 minutes.

I like to pair this with chunky Tomato soup and a fluffy green salad.

Enjoy the colors of the season!

tomato pie and sweet potatoes with rosemary

Pardon the long delay between posts - somehow I wrenched my back on Thursday, and it's been, well, a wee bit uncomfortable to sit at the computer. I pray tomorrow the orthopedist can figure out what went wrong and wave her magic wand. I wouldn't say I'm wussy about pain, but these last few days have been a challenge. (UNDERSTATEMENT)

This morning, I celebrated being able to stand by making a lovely tomato pie with spinach and basil for brunch, along with some sauteed sweet potatoes with sweet onions, bacon (optional), and fresh rosemary . Call it a getting-to-the-end-of-fresh-herb-season celebration! I know fresh herbs are available pretty much year round now in the supermarkets - but I swear they taste five times better straight out of the herb garden, don't they?

I suppose you could call the pie a quiche, but it's 1) crustless, and 2) has half the cheese I would put in a quiche, so voila! Tomato pie it is.

I used a 12" metal tart pan for this, but you could use a glass pie plate if you don't have a large tart pan.

To make:

Preheat oven to 330F. ( 325 is a little low for my oven, and 350 too high)

Butter or grease the pie pan you're using.

1 large tomato, sliced

1/2 large sweet onion, sliced

1 cup fresh spinach, destemmed and very thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

1 cup grated sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese - I use Cabot.

1/2 cup heavy cream

6 extra large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

salt and pepper to taste

Arrange the onion and tomato slices in the bottom of the pie pan.

Mix the eggs, milk, cream and salt and pepper together well.

Add the cheddar, spinach , and basil in and mix well, again.

Pour into the pie pan and bake for around 50 minutes, or until the mixture is slightly puffed and firm in the very center.

Remove pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

Sweet Potatoes with rosemary, onion, and bacon

2 T. olive oil

1 T. unsalted butter (optional)

4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into uniform chunks.

2 T. fresh rosemary leaves

1/2 sweet onion, large dice

salt and pepper

1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon

Heat the oil and optional butter in a skillet. Add the sweet potatoes, onion, rosemary, bacon, and salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for ten minutes.

Turn heat to low, cover, and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender.

Serve and enjoy!

unexpected company: spinach quiche with onion jam

An unexpected call from my daughter saying they were coming for brunch - and had invited a few friends who were painting down the road from my house. Quick! Make the quiche, start the onion jam, race through the freezer, pull out the just frozen congo bars with cranberries, the odd assortment of mineral waters, run to the garden and pick the few cherry tomatoes bravely ripening after a month of rain, cut up the watermelon and strawberries, top with fresh mint - and put out a new tablecloth. Oops - coffee! And why not make a batch of blueberry muffins with pecans? Stir the onion jam again....

It was all pulled together in an hour, and we were all happy to have a final meal before the roundabout of preschool, jobs, and preparing for the autumn.

Here's my favorite spinach quiche, which is crustless, since none of us eat it:

Butter a pie pan and preheat oven to 340F.

Mix together in mixer bowl:

4 extra large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

1/4 t. fresh nutmeg

1 1/2 cups good swiss cheese, grated

2 cups spinach, sliced thinly

lots of pepper

Pour into pie pan and cook about 40 minutes, or until quiche is solid in the middle. Remove and cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

I like to serve onion jam with many foods - chicken, meats, and even this quiche. It has a rich, buttery, robust taste, and it's incredibly easy to make.

Onion jam

Peel 3 medium white onions very, very thinly.

Melt 3 T. unsalted butter in a skillet.

Melt the butter and add the onions.

Saute on medium for 10 minutes, stirring quite a bit, then lower the heat to very low and put a lid over the onions. let them cook for at least another 20 minutes, stirring now and then and checking to make sure they don't burn. I like to add a pinch of thyme to mine.

Serve in a small pot, or spoon over or next to the quiche.