Mini Quiches for Quick Breakfast

School has started and the need for quick breakfasts is upon us again. I made these mini quiches from 30DayGourmet in muffin tins the other day and they were a big hit. The first time they stuck pretty badly to my muffin tins. I'd used shortening to grease the tins but evidently not quite enough!

This morning I sprayed the tins with Pam, a bit more than I might have normally, and they came out great. I let them cool a few minutes after baking as they're to likely to fall apart otherwise.

Mine took a few minutes longer to cook than the recipe and it definitely fills 12 muffins tins completely. I left out the onions and used about half the amount of bacon called for. I haven't frozen mine yet but assume that would work great, as 30DayGourmet is a freezer cooking site. If you have any interest in cooking ahead, their book is one of the best I've found and the recipes are all scaled as you see on this one so it's easy to try out a recipe in a small batch before fixing up too much.

Nearly Effortless Homemade Bread

Really. I got this recipe from More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen. The batch I made today was not GREAT bread but it was GOOD bread. It rose a bit too much I think, so was a bit spongy in the middle, but the texture overall was quite good and it was totally easy.

Start the night before you want bread for dinner. I mixed this up in my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook. You could just as easily mix it together by hand, then knead.

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup wheat germ
6 cups white flour
1 Tbs salt
1/2 tsp yeast
3 cups tepid water

Grind the oatmeal in your blender. (I used the Magic Bullet thingy and it worked great!)

Mix together the oatmeal, wheat germ, flour, salt, yeast, and water in a large bowl. Knead on your breadboard with some flour. Then put it back in your large bowl. Mine was quite moist, batter-like even so I added some extra flour. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and go to bed.

The next morning, punch the dough down and divide it into two bread pans that you've buttered a bit. Cover with the tea towel again.

After work, heat the oven to 400, brush the tops of the bread with a bit of milk, then pop them into the oven for 40 minutes. Colwin said to turn once halfway through but I forgot that part. The dough rose very well, perhaps a bit too much. The loaves were rectangular rather than with the classic curved top.

But the taste was great! Sliced and toasted it was fantastic! Total active time invested: 15 minutes. I tried a "one hour" bread from Mark Bittman and this is sort of the opposite approach. His idea was do a quick rise then bake. This has two really long rises. I like this better, but you do have to think a day ahead.

Kitchen Confidential

Periodically publishers send me cookbooks to review. I love that! Sometimes, I get food to review as well. A month or so ago someone sent me the DVD set of Kitchen Confidential. I hadn't read the book and probably should, now that I've enjoyed 4 episodes of the series and can't wait to find time to watch the other 9. It's hilarious! According to Wikipedia it was cancelled due to flat ratings. What a pity. Amazon still has the book and the DVD, Kitchen Confidential - The Complete Series for sale though.

The series start with a former rising star chef working for his girlfriend in a chain restaurant, his creativity stifled. She submits his resume and he gets hired to be the chef in a new restaurant--opening in 48 hours. He assembles a crew of old coworkers and pulls it off, despite serving a severed finger to an ex-girlfriend who showed up to review the opening night. Black market food exchanges, sex, humor--it's got it all. Actually, there hasn't been much actual sex in the first four episodes but it's still there permeating the edges of the story.

The DVD set includes 13 episodes, although apparently only 4 showed in the US before it got cancelled. What a pity--but a treat for those who pick up the DVD.

Another Succotash

A while back I admitted to making my first succotash and it was a big hit. Why is that lima beans sends a chill up most people's backs? I made it again tonight.

One of the comments on my first post suggested adding a bit of cumin to the mix. Laurie Colwin suggested nutmeg as a common addition, but in her version which adds okra, which I didn't have around, she adds ground ginger, which I did. I think I might have liked the cumin better, but to each their own.

The other difference was that Colwin has you saute diced onion, garlic, and red pepper in a bit of olive oil before adding the corn and lima beans (and okra, if you have some).

Many roads lead to a good ending. When I was first cooking I was nervous about not following a recipe exactly. Now I've learned I can leave some things out, add other things, choose between this or that... and with some experience it all starts coming out good, meaning you have endless variations on a theme available even from the simplest recipe.

Tomato Pie

Last year I made a tomato pie and decided to repeat it again this summer, as tomatoes are in full bloom right now. I couldn't remember which recipe I followed last year so opted for Laurie Colwin's version out of More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen this time. I loved it. The kids were so-so. They LOVED the crust though. They would have opted for BLT's instead, given a choice I'm sure. ;) But for a grown up kind of easy supper, this is fantastic. I served it with some succotash on the side.

Crust:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup milk

Mix the flour, butter, and baking soda together in a food processor. Then add the milk and blend. This is a wet crust. Divide it in half and roll out on waxed paper with some flour on top and bottom so it won't stick to your rolling pin. Lay one crust in a 9" pie pan.


2 pounds fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced
fresh basil to taste, sliced or chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (divided)
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs lemon juice

Heat the oven to 400.

Lay the sliced tomatoes in the crust, salt and pepper as desired, sprinkle with the basil and 1 cup of the cheese. Thin the mayonnaise a bit with the lemon juice and spread over the tomatoes. Sprinkle the other 1/2 cup of the cheese on top.

Roll out the rest of the pie crust and put on top, tucking the edges under the bottom layer and then pinching together between your thumb and the knuckle of your forefinger as you circle around the pie. Cut a few slits in the top crust.

Bake the tomato pie for 25 minutes at 400. If you like, Laurie Colwin suggests you can do this in the morning and then reheat at 350 just until the cheese is melted at dinner time. I personally rarely think that far ahead so just baked it at dinner time.

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As an aside, if you have like cooking and food and have never read Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen or More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen go buy one today. Follow these links and I'll make 5o cents or so, but that's not the important part. Just keep your eyes open for these books. They're fantastic! Lovely writing, real cooking, real family life. Just lovely.

Yummy Coleslaw with Red and Green Peppers

Here's a delicious non-mayonnaise based slaw. The original recipe called for the addition of 1/4 cup diced jalapeno but that's a bit spicy for my tastes so I left it out. I served this with barbecued hamburgers and it was fantastic!

6 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 cup thinly sliced red pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced green pepper
3 green onions, sliced

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tbs lime juice
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp canola oil
salt and pepper to taste

Toss the vegetables together in a large bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small one and pour over the vegetables, then toss some more.