Fennel Quiche

During the early days of Covid, I made a lot of quiches. I have just a few recipes that were real keeps. Last Saturday, Jeremiah and I were debating whether to buy fennel or leeks. I pulled up Pinterest and had a lot more options for fennel. Jeremiah made us a delicious sausage, fennel, parmesan, and orzo dish for dinner last week. Since we had time this morning, I made us quiche with fennel, onion, apple, cheddar, and ham. We are adding this recipe to the keeper pile. I think it would be a great brunch host recipe with a little side salad and fresh fruit.

Since we belong to two wine clubs, we had more wine that spots to hold it in the wine rack & fridge. During the resent snow storm, we did some sampling to get rid of ones we did not like and make room. I noticed a bottle of prosecco so we used it today to make a fabulous mimosa. We also used a little white wine from the fridge to help sauté the hearty ingredients.

I hope you enjoy this – clean out the fridge recipe.

Fennel, Onion, Apple, Cheddar, Ham, and Sage Quiche by Mini Avocado Blog

Pie crust
Butter
½ yellow onion
1 stalk fennel
½ honey crisp apple (but you can use a green apple too)
1 c. diced ham
2 c. four cheese cheddar
3 eggs
1 c. milk
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. sage
½ tsp. pink Himalayan salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of thyme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Follow directions for pie crust and place in a 9 in pie plate. In melted butter, sauté onion and fennel. Once browned, add apple and ham to sauté for another 5 minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes then pour into pie crust. Top with a cup of cheese. Beat together eggs, milk, and seasoning in a bowl. Pour into pie crust. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 50 minutes.

Neighborly Love

When I was a kid, we knew our neighbors. I grew up in a town of 1,100 people. My sister’s oldest friend was our neighbor Julie. Their house was unlocked and my sister just walked in without knocking. We created games like moving a cotton ball on a spoon without dropping it for a yellow fuzzy bear topped pen from Marlene’s store. I remember feeding the Colligan’s fish and cats when they went on vacation. The older sons boys even had a nickname for me and would put me on their shoulders to play basketball.

It wasn’t just the Colligans. My sister babysat they Borgelt kids every Tuesday and Thursday night as their mom got her Masters degree. In my neighborhood, you could go for a bike ride or walk to the swimming pool by just leaving a note on the piano lamp. Erika and I rode sleds down the hill behind her house long before we were college roommates. I’ll never forget the day the horses got out up the block and walked down to our house eating clover outside my bedroom window. My sister will never forget the time Kim kicked me in the head while swinging and I landed on broken glass. When she took me to the porch to tell my mom, I stood at the picture window with my light blonde hair covered in blood from the head injury. Dad came home from the station early to drive me to the hospital while mom applied pressure to the wound. We were to late to get stiches but I’m obviously still alive. It is a combo of time (1980s) and growing up in a small community.

When Jeremiah and I went to buy a house, we ended up in a smaller part of the city. You don’t drive down our street without coming to see someone on our block. Like my childhood home, you can walk to the neighborhood elementary school. And the kids in our neighborhood play with each other, even when their ages are years apart.

Jeremiah and I make it policy to always take holiday treats to the houses on either side of us and the lovely retired teachers across the street. Our neighbors have helped us out with letting us borrow a ladder to break in our home when garage door keypad wouldn’t let us in after a walk and I had bacon in the over. They have plowed our driveway. They have helped us carry heavy patio furniture. And most importantly, helped Cooper get home when he was a puppy and got out of our yard.

I used to bake treats but Covid changed that. This year, Jeremiah said we should do mini bread loaves. Inspired by our tour of The Roasterie factory and new found love of their Classic Cup blend, we also included a bag of freshly ground coffee. This is one of the breads we shared with our neighbors this year.

Wild Blackberry Bread by Cookin’ Captain
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 c. blackberries
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. melted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 T. lemon juice

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Toss blackberries the flour mixture. In a medium bowl, whisk remaining wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir until mixed. Pour into four mini or one full size sprayed bread pan. If full sized, back for 1 hour 10 minutes at 350 degrees. If four mini loaves, cook for about 30-35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

National Lasagna Day

Friday, July 29th is National Lasagna Day. You can celebrate by visiting your local Carrabba’s restaurant. For every lasagna sold, they will donate 10% of sales to Lasagna Love. Additionally, customers can donate directly to Lasagna Love from July 25-31. Did I mention they also have been so kind as to provide pre-made lasagnas to local chapters to fill outstanding requests? As someone who had their rehearsal dinner at Carrabba’s and attended many wine dinners at the restaurant, that makes my heart happy as a Lasagna Love volunteer.

If you aren’t familiar with Lasagna Love, it is a really cool nonprofit started out of the pandemic. Basically, it matches people who need a little help with a volunteer in their community willing to prepare a lasagna for them. You don’t have to offer just lasagna to families. I’ve made hamburger casserole, cheesy potato soup, and other pasta dishes too. You don’t have to do anything besides the lasagna but I normally add salad, bread, and dessert.

If you aren’t afraid to crank up your oven and cook your own lasagna to celebrate National Lasagna Day, here is an easy recipe I made this past weekend.

Chicken Spinach Alfredo
1 lb. rotisserie chicken chopped (aka – those Sam’s Club pre-cooked chickens)
2 packages of ravioli (frozen or refrigerated)
2 jars of Alfredo sauce
Frozen spinach, thawed and moisture removed (if your ravioli doesn’t have spinach in it)
Mozzarella cheese

Pre-heat over to 350 degrees and spray a pan with non-stick spray. Warm up sauce and add any seasonings you want. In the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan, put a few spoonfuls of sauce. Then, layer with a single layer of ravioli. Top with 1/2 of chicken and spinach. Top with 1/3 of layer of sauce. Top with a second layer of ravioli. Repeat with the other half of chicken and spinach. Top with another 1/3 of sauce. Put the final layer of ravioli and top with remaining sauce. Then, top with cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Notes:

• I sautéed some onion, zucchini, and garlic. Then, I added sauce to the pan to warm up.
• Some seasonings that I included: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, pepper, salt, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, garam masala, ginger, basil, oregano, and parsley.
• I add the spinach to the sauce and melted it in. It feels a little like a spinach alfredo dip. I think I might add some artichoke hearts sometime.
• You can also put the chicken in with the sauce if you’d like.

Zucchini Brownies

Zucchini is growing like crazy in our garden. In fact, we have one that grew as big as Coops. Here is a tasty recipe I got from a fellow foodie for brownies made with zucchini. You can’t taste it but theses are definitely eat with a fork sort of treats.

Brownies by Crazy for Crust
2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. shredded zucchini
1-5 T. water

Frosting
3 T. cocoa powder
1/4 c. melted butter
2 c. powder sugar
1/4 c. milk
1 T. vanilla
Pinch of salt

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. In your mixer, put oil, sugar, and vanilla. Blend to mix. Slowly add dry ingredients. Then, add zucchini and let it sit a few minutes. Then, mix together. If it is dry, add water a tablespoon at a time so it is just wet enough to coat everything. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Once cooled, beat together frosting ingredients. Pour over brownies. Place in the fridge for a few minutes to set.

Hash Brown Breakfast

I think Jeremiah and I may have watched about every cooking show out there. We watched Baker’ Dozen featuring co-host Tamera Mowry and former White House Chef Bill Yosses. Although she touts cooking it is her twin sister who has made a few cookbooks. This one comes from “The Quick Fix Kitchen.” The cookbook didn’t have enough quality recipes for me to purchase it but this recipe was  definitely a keeper. It works well for our Mediterranean diet. Plus, it used up our leftovers in our fridge and freezer.

Crispy Parmesan Hash Browns by Tia Mowry

2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 package frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
1 tsp. salt
½ black pepper
4 eggs
¼ c. grated parmesan
fresh parsley

Place a bag of frozen hash browns in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a cast iron skillet on medium and coat with oil. Cook onion, peppers, and zucchini about 5 minutes or until soft. Season potatoes and add to veggies, increasing the heat to medium high. Stir about every minute until potatoes are cooked. Create four round wells and break an egg into them. Bake for five minutes or until eggs are done. Remove from oven and garnish with shredded cheese and parsley.

Notes:

• We halved the veggie/hash brown part of the recipe. I had to transfer to a Rachael Ray Bubble & Brown dish to bake as I think it would have burned in my giant cast iron skillet. I did still top with four eggs and with ¼ c. of cheese.
• I used a mix of red, orange, and green diced peppers from our garden that were frozen.
• We added diced garlic to veggie about 30 seconds before adding hash browns.
• We added some Mrs. Dash Salt-free Garlic & Herb to the hash brown mixture.
• Break eggs individually into a tiny bowl and pour into hash browns to prevent yourself from getting shell into your dish.
• We topped the eggs with a little black pepper, smoked paprika, and cumin.
• I baked it for 15 minutes to fully cook the eggs. If you want runny yokes, check at 8-10 minutes.

Mini Quiches

I think my husband and I checked out every book on the Mediterranean Diet from the library. We are trying to eat healthier. I’m not going to say I’m as good as him at doing this but I’m trying. We made quite a few recipes but this one from the Eating Well website was probably one of our favorites. We’ve made it several times. The Mediterranean diet has lot of veggies – which have mostly a water taste. The combo of peppers and sweet potatoes works really well in this dish. I also appreciate that it has a touch of meat, cheese, and milk. (Ground lamb and feta get old fast.) We make them in silicon muffin cups so they pop right out. I hope you enjoy this recipe if you are trying to eat a little healthier.

Mini Quiches with Sweet Potato Crust by EatingWell

1 1/2 c. shredded sweet potato
1 T. avocado oil
1/2 c. diced ham
1/2 c. diced red pepper
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1/2 c. skim milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix potato and oil in a bowl. Spoon into muffin cups. Top with pepper and ham, followed by cheese. Mix eggs, milk and seasoning together. Pour into cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Buttered Chicken

Here is an easy but so tasty chicken recipe.

Picture from The Mom 100 Blog by Katie Workman

Buttered Chicken
3 chicken thighs
1 tsp. paprika
4 T. melted butter
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 T. fresh parsley
2 cloves of garlic
salt & pepper
2 T. Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and paprika. In a small bowl, mix butter, Italian seasoning, parsley, and garlic. Heat oil in oven safe skillet. Sear chicken until golden. Pour garlic butter over chicken and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes.

Cranberry Pancakes

Here is a recipe I made to use up some leftover cranberry sauce from Christmas.

Cranberry Orange Pancakes by Nancy Zimmerman (via Taste of Home website)

Syrup
1/2 c. cranberries (or cranberry sauce)
1/3 c. orange juice
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 T. maple syrup

Pancakes
1 c. Bisquick
1 T. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 mini can of evaporated milk
1 T. orange juice
1/4 c. cranberries (cranberry sauce)
Orange zest

In a sauce pan, bring cranberries, orange juice, and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add maple syrup.

Whisk all pancake ingredients but cranberries. Fold in cranberries. Cook in pancake maker or on griddle until they are done.

Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins

These are the best blueberry muffins I’ve ever eaten.

Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins by Bunny’s Warm Oven Blog
4 eggs
1 1/4 c. white sugar
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
3 c. fresh blueberries (save 1/2 c. for top of muffins)
1 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. sour cream

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Line two muffin tins with paper liners. In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugars, oil, vanilla, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda. Pour half of dry ingredients into wet mixture and combine. Fold in remain dry ingredients. Fold in 2 1/2 c. of blueberries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and top with 3-4 remaining blueberries. Bake for 20 minutes.

Spicy Shrimp

It has been awhile since I posted. Tonight, we made a pretty simple delicious dish for two. It has the word spicy but don’t let that scare you. The way we made it wasn’t spicy at all. You can add a spicier pepper or more seasoning if you want to kick it up a notch. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Spicy Shrimp modified from Homemade in the Kitchen
1 T. olive oil
1 T. butter
1/2 c. onion
1/4 c. sweet red and green pepper
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 T. tomato paste
2/3 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. sweet Thai chili sauce
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
a pinch of red chili flakes
salt and pepper
1 lb. shrimp (season as you like – we did a Mango Lime seasoning)
1 T. lime juice
1 T. cilantro
1 1/2 c. cilantro lime rice

Cook rice according to package. (We cooked ours in the Instapot.) When finished, added 2 T. lime juice and 1 T. cilantro.

Meanwhile, heat pan with oil. Sautee onion, pepper, and butter. When soft and onion is translucent, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Then, add sweet Thai chili sauce, broth, and seasonings. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes to thicken. Add shrimp and cook until no longer pink (about 4 minutes on each side). Serve on a bed of cilantro lime rice. Garnish with cilantro.