Crustless Spinach Quiche

Photo Credit: Jay Eads

Last month, my dearest Oma passed away.  She came into my life when I met Carsten, and she adopted me as another one of her granddaughters when Carsten and I were married.  Every minute I had with her over the last seven years was treasured.  There was more love and selfless generosity, more adventurous spirit and zest for life packed into that one tiny lady than I'm likely to find in another person in this lifetime.

On Easter weekend, every single family member joined together to celebrate her life, and the moments we were blessed enough to share with her.  Many emotional tears were shed, and laughs were expelled as we reminisced over our memories.  The morning of the memorial service, everyone gathered at Uncle Gregg's house for a family breakfast.  This recipe I discovered there, and I've slightly adapted it (adding spinach), just to fit my personal taste.  But this quiche will always remind me of that family gathering.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp salt
5 eggs
6 oz cream cheese (low fat works just fine!)
6 oz Jarlsberg or Emmental cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 10oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove all moisture

Procedure 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth, then gradually add the milk while continuing to whisk. Bring up to medium heat, and continue to stir.  When it begins to bubble, continue to cook for 2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from the heat and let cool for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the cottage cheese, baking powder, mustard and salt. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat eggs. Slowly beat in the cream cheese, then cottage cheese mixture and roux (butter/flour/milk mixture) until well combined. Fold in the Jarlsberg and Parmesan, then the spinach.

Pour into a greased 9 inch pie pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Serve warm.



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Pecan Pie Coffe Cake

I'm literally eating the last piece of cake as I write.  I just returned home from Church, Carsten is sleeping after a 30 hour call at the hospital, and I decided to relax in the living room with the last slice.  A perfect Sunday afternoon.  After two bites I remembered I hadn't taken any pictures, so I got out the camera and snapped a few.

I found this recipe over at bake or break about a week ago, and have had it up on my computer screen ever since, just waiting for a good day to bake it.  I love baking anything sweet, but if I don't have people to share it with I'll eat it all by myself - not only dangerous, but less fulfilling.  So when I got a text from friends inviting me over to have a Christmas tree bonfire, I got right to baking :)

Perfectly moist, not too sweet, and the pecan pie topping added just the right amount of interest.  It's always a gamble letting your friends try a first time recipe, but I shouldn't have worried.  The cake was a hit.  And I will forever associate it with an evening around the bonfire, laughing and drinking wine with friends, new and old.

Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbs unsalted butter, softened
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

For the Topping:
1/3 cup corn syrup (the recipe called for light, but I only had dark, so that's what I used)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1/3 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
pinch of salt

Procedure
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and generously grease a 9-inch cake pan.  I used a spring-form pan, which made it just a little easier to serve.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.  Using an electric mixer, whip together the sugar, butter, and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  (If your butter and cream cheese aren't quite softened, just wait ten minutes or so, and beat them a little extra, until everything is smooth and fluffy.  DON'T rush the process but putting them in the microwave!  It will ruin the texture of your cake)  Add the whole egg, and then the egg white, whipping between each addition.  Stir in the vanilla.  Reduce the mixer to low and add the flour mixture in three portions, alternating with buttermilk in between (flour - buttermilk - flour - buttermilk - flour).  Mix until just combined.  Pour the batter into your prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Set the pan on a wire rack, and reduce the oven to 325 degrees.
In a small sauce pan, combine the corn syrup, brown sugar, and butter over medium heat.  Stir and heat just until the butter melts.  Remove from heat, and stir in pecans, egg, and salt.  Using a wooden skewer, (a toothpick is too small - I used a chopstick ;) ) poke holes all over your cake.  This will let the gooey topping soak into the cake.  Carefully pour the topping over the cake, making sure to cover every bit of it.  Feel free to spread the pecans around evenly.  Return the cake to the oven for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and let cool completely (on a wire rack) before serving.

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Fluffy Pancakes

Carsten made me breakfast this morning.  Delicious fluffy pancakes that made the house smell wonderful all morning.  They were extra fluffy due to whipped egg whites, and even more decadent thanks to the chocolate chips he sprinkled in mine :)  Definitely a recipe to save!  Sorry I didn't think to take any pictures...

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups whole milk
4 large eggs, separated
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbs sugar

Procedure

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl and whisk to blend. In a separate medium bowl, whisk milk and egg yolks together. Whisk milk mixture into dry ingredients. Add melted butter and whisk until batter is smooth.

In a separate bowl, or in the bowl of a standing mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter in 2 additions. Here, you can add any optional mix-ins (chocolate chips, blueberries, walnuts, etc). Heat nonstick griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush generously with butter. For each pancake, fill 1/4 cup measuring cup half full and drop batter onto griddle. Cook pancakes until bottoms are brown, about 3 minutes. Using spatula, turn pancakes over and cook until bottoms are brown and pancakes are cooked through, about 2 minutes.

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English Muffins

 
Summer is finally here, I've returned from Berkeley, and now I've got time to cook and bake again!  Carsten requested a "gourmet sandwich" for dinner the other night, with homemade bread.  With only half a day to work with, I decided not to try and bake a real loaf of bread.  Good bread requires a bit more time.  Instead, I decided to try my hand at these English muffins I'd been eying for quite some time.  Back in college, Carsten and I found this cookbook, which we referred to often for our Sunday brunches.  But we never got around to trying out this particular recipe.  They turned out super delicious!  A little sweeter and slightly more biscuit-like than store bought muffins, but I think I prefer them this way!

I ended up serving them for dinner with fresh mozzarella, arugula, tomatoes, and a balsamic reduction.  It was delicious, however I still preferred them the simple way: toasted with butter (and maybe some of the chai infused honey I just bought up in San Francisco!).

Dathan, who is the master of Eggs Benedict, will be staying with us for the month of August!  He is doing a rotation out here at Loma Linda, and we're so excited to have him.  We'll have to make these again when he comes, so he can dazzle us with his egg poaching skills :)

 I apologize for the horrible pictures... I only had my phone around :/

Be warned though, while this cook book has many good ideas, I'm pretty sure the portion sizes are all wrong -- not just on this particular recipe.  For example, this recipe says "Yield: 8 muffins"  However, following the recipe exactly, we made 16!!  I should have guessed when I read "8 cups of flour..."

Ingredients
make about 16 muffins
1 Tbs yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup powdered sugar
8 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

Procedure
In a medium mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and milk.  Let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy.  Add the melted butter, eggs, and powdered sugar, and mix well.  In a separate large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt.  Slowly add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, and mix well with your hands.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead for 4 to 6 minutes.

Gently pat the dough down until about 1/2 inch thick.  Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut as many muffins as you can.  Combine the scraps, and continue to cut more muffin rounds until there is no more dough.  Sprinkle your surface with cornmeal, and set muffins about 1 inch apart.  Let rise for 1 hour.

Heat a greased skillet over low to medium low heat.  (I have a gas stove, and had to have mine as low as possible.  I also had two skillets going at once, to speed up the process).  Cook the muffins about 7 minutes per side, until golden brown.  If your muffins are turning deep golden brown before 7 minutes, try lowering the heat.  Let muffins cool on a wire wrack.

To serve, split muffins with a fork, or with your hands (this will give that classic muffin texture, which cannot be achieved by slicing with a knife!) and toast in the toaster.

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Delicious Orange Currant Oat Scones

Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup turbinado (raw) sugar, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
2 cups rolled oats
zest of 1 orange
1 cup buttermilk (substitute: 1 Tbs lemon juice and enough milk to make 1 cup)
2/3 cup dried currants

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup turbinado sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the butter, and cut in with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oats and orange zest. Add buttermilk and currants, stirring until just combined (do not over-mix!) Dump dough onto parchment lined baking sheet, and gently press dough together. Pat into an 8 inch disk, and cut into 8 slices. Spread the slices out slightly, so there is some room between each scone. Sprinkle the tops with 1/4 cup turbinado sugar and bake until slightly golden and firm to the touch, anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes.

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this 101 Cookbooks recipe can be found here.

Basic Biscuits

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
5 cups flour
1 Tbs salt
10 Tbs or 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs chilled butter
2 cups buttermilk or 2 Tbs lemon juice and enough milk to make 2 cups

Procedure
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in the butter and mix in with your fingers until dough resembles coarse sand. Add buttermilk or milk lemon juice mixture. Mix until combined. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Roll out dough to 3/4 inch thickness; stamp out biscuit sized rounds and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes.

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Recipe care of here.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cups butter
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
5 Tbs boiling water
3 eggs
6 bananas mashed
1 banana chopped
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups oats
4 Tbs cinnamon
1 1/2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, cut in the smallest pieces as you can manage
1 Tbs vanilla

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl cream together sugar butter and salt. Add eggs and mix. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water and add to bowl. Stir in bananas. Stir in flour. Add oats, chocolate chips, chopped chocolate, and cinnamon. Spoon into greased muffin pan, bake until toothpick comes out clean and edges brown.

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Healthful Apple Berry Breakfast Pie

Ingredients

For Crust
3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup canola or soy oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water, ice cold

For Filling
10-12 oz berries, frozen or otherwise
2 apples, chopped and cored
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon


Procedure
Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Set bowl in freezer to chill for at least an hour; letting it chill overnight works quite well. Likewise put the oil in a mug or cup and chill along side the flour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together ice cold oil, water, and flour mixture. Press dough into pre-greased pie or tart pan. Bake for 5 min. While crust is baking, mix together berries, apples, flour, cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Remove crust from oven and scoop berry mixture into crust. Even out with a spoon. Bake for 30-40 min or until crust reaches desired texture.

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Healthful Walnut Bran Muffins

Ingredients

3/4 cups whole wheat flour1/2 cup wheat bran

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbs milled flax seed

1/4 cup applesauce

1 egg

1 large banana, sliced

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup honey

zest of one orange

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Procedure

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium bowl whisk egg. Add milk, applesauce, orange zest, vanilla. Stir well. Mix in dry ingredients. Add raisins, w

alnuts, honey, and banana. Mix lightly until just uniformly combined. Bake in greased muffin tin for 15-20 min.

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Recipe from here.

Biscotti: Three ways

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
4 Tbs butter or margarine (1/2 stick)
2 tsp vanilla extract

for Chocolate Almond Biscotti add:
3 Tbs cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 large handful almonds, coarsely chopped

for Orange Chocolate Biscotti add:
1 1/2 tsp orange extract
1 cup chocolate chips

for Pisachio Raisin Biscotti add:
2/3 cup pistachio nuts
2/3 cup raisins

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugar until uniform consistency. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and any other extracts. Add flours and salt, and mix until everything comes together. Stir in any nuts, dried fruits, or chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half, forming each half into a log (about 10 inches long). Lay each log on a greased cookie sheet, and press to flatten each log to 1 inch thick. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. While cooling, turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Cut each half diagonally, into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay each slice, cut side down, onto the baking sheet, and bake (at 325 degrees) for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and turn each slice over, bake for another 10 minutes. Biscotti should be lightly browned, and hard on the edges. Centers will harden as biscotti cools. Cool on a wire rack.

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Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.

Oatmeal Walnut Scones with Maple Glaze

For Scones

1 1/2 cups rolled or quick oats

3/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

1/4 milk

1/4 cup cream

1.4 cup maple syrup

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

10 Tbs cold butter, diced

For Glaze

3 Tbs maple syrup

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread oats and walnuts out onto a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for about 8 minutes, or until visibly browned. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Increase oven to 450 degrees F.

In a small mixing bowl whisk together milk, cream, syrup and egg. Put flour, baking powder, and salt in the workbowl of a food processor and mix just enough to mix up the dry ingredients evenly. Add butter to food processor and mix until the consistency reaches that of coarse sand. Transfer the mixture into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add in room temperature oats and walnuts. Fold in wet ingredients. Gently mix and knead to evenly incorporate all ingredients. Turn out onto lightly floured surface, and form desired scone shapes. Place scones on greased baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes.

Once finished scones cool, whisk together maple syrup and powdered sugar and dizzle over scones. Let set for a minutes or so before serving.

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Adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe.

Strawberry Lemon Scones

For Scones

4 plus 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbs baking powder

2 tsp salt

1 Tbs lemon zest

1 1/2 cups butter

4 eggs

1 cup cream

1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries

For Egg Wash

1 egg whisked with 2 Tbs water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In large mixing bowl mix 4 cups flour with sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Cut in cold butter. In a separate bowl combine eggs, and cream. Mix briefly. Slowly pour into flour butter mixture until just blended. In a separate bowl mix together 1/4 cup flour and strawberries. Add to batter. Mix briefly.

On a lightly floured surface knead dough for 1-2 minutes before forming a circle one inch high. Cut out desired shapes and place on a greased baking sheet. Brush with egg wash. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.

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Adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe.

Chocolate Brioches

Ingredients

For dough:
1 tsp yeast
3 cups flour
1 1/2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs honey
2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
7 egg yolks
1/4 cups water
1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into small cubes

For Chocolate Truffles:
3/4 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup buttermilk*
2 Tbs sweet and condensed milk*
1 Tbs butter
*If you don't have buttermilk and sweet and condensed milk, substitute 1/3 cup heavy cream.

First Day: In a mixer, using the dough hook, combine yeast, flour, sugar, vanilla and salt. add the yolks and the butter and mix until elastic and quite sticky, about 15 minutes. If dough looks dry while mixing, add the 1/4 cup water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight.

To make the truffles: heat buttermilk and sweet and condensed milk (or cream) over medium heat until hot. Add chocolate and butter, and stir until melted and smooth. If you like, transfer it to a bowl, and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Make 12 truffles using spoons, cover, and freeze until use.

Next Day: Take the dough out of the bowl and knead a little on a floured surface. Divide dough into 13 balls. Flatten 12 of the balls, making the center the thinnest part. Place a chocolate truffle in the center, and bring the sides up around the chocolate to completely conceal it. Pinch seems together so the chocolate won't leak out too much while baking. Place each ball in a well greased muffin tin. Divide the 13th ball of dough into 12 little balls, placing one on top of each filled ball. Let rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350degrees. Bake about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Best served in day of baking.

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adapted from a Baking For the Cure recipe.

Pumpkin Scones

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Cut in butter until dough resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in raisins and chocolate chips. In a separate bowl mix together buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until the dough comes together. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead gently four or five times. Form a 1 1/2 inch high disc, divide in two, and divide each half into thirds. Bake on a greased baking sheet for approximately 20 min

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Sour Cream Berry Coffee Cake

Ingredients
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream (light)
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

1 – 2 cups berries (frozen or fresh blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc)

Topping
3 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Cream butter, gradually add sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. On lowest mixer speed, fold in sour cream, and then flour mixture, and last the berries. Put half of the batter into greased and floured angel food cake pan. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon mixture. Spread the rest of batter into pan and sprinkle with remaining topping.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (may take up to 10 minutes longer). Cool completely before taking out of pan to avoid falling apart.

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Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Ingredients
1 pkg (2 1/2 tsp) yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups warm milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp salt
5 cup flour
2 cups raisins
1 Tbs cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon
1 Tbs water

In mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, 1/3 cup sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups flour. beat until smooth. Add raisins, 1 Tbs cinnamon, and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (7-9 minutes). Put into greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 1 1/4 hours). On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and roll each portion into rectangles (about 9"x13"). Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbs cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over dough. Sprinkle with water. Roll each portion, starting from the shorter ends. Gently seal ends, and place seam side down into greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise about 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

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Granola

Dry ingredients
3 1/2 cups old-fashioned (not quick) oats
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup almonds

Wet ingredients
1/4 cup water
2 Tbs vanilla
>1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup honey
4 Tbs peanut butter

Fruit & nuts
2 cups mixed dried fruit & nuts. (i.e. dried banana chips, macadamia nuts, raisins, craisins, dried cherries, dried pineapple, dried papaya, cashews)
1/2 cup applesauce


Preheat oven to 330 degrees F. In large bowl mix together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix well. Put into large baking pan(s). Glass pans work well. The thinner you can spread it out the faster it will bake. Place into the oven, stirring every 5 to 7 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan each time to prevent burning. After 20 to 30 minutes (when granola feels about halfway done), mix applesauce and dried fruit and nuts in a bowl, then stir it into the granola. Continue to bake in 5 to 7 minute intervals, stirring between each interval. Granola is done when it browns slightly, begins to stick together a little bit, and is slightly crunchier to the touch.

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