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cooking

Paula Deen Saved the Day: Mini Quiches

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The holidays are usually a time when people drop by our house. There are some family birthdays this time of year as well as people just popping by to say hello. Personally, I love when people stop by (yay adult interaction), but sometimes I feel like a little treat or snack is always nice to serve our guests especially if they are bearing gifts. Also, I figure if someone stops over, a little bribe of food so they don’t tell everyone there are toys all over our house never hurts, right?
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A nice cheese and some crackers with a bit of fruit was always nice with a beer or a glass of wine, but honestly it was getting a little blah, and sometimes we have visitors in the middle of the day who aren’t up for a cocktail.

So, I began the search for something I could serve in the evening with cocktails or in the afternoon with tea. It had to be easy and something that contains ingredients I always have in the house. So, I searched and who came to the rescue?

Paula Deen (of course) and her amazing mini quiches.

 

Who doesn’t have crackers, eggs, milk, butter, and cheese in the house (especially this time of year with all the baking)? Also, this recipe is very versatile as you can put just about any combination of cheese or herbs. Also, while they are in the oven, you can straighten in the house!

Paula Deen Mini Onion Quiches (I made a few changes but for the original recipe click here)

3/4 cup Saltine crackers crushed (I used Club crackers because that is what I had on hand)
1/2 stick of butter melted
Nonstick Cooking Spray
1 cup green onions chopped including green tops (you could sub. chives or any herb)
2 Tbs butter
2 large or 3 small eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup Swiss cheese grated (you could sub cheddar, gruyere, or any other cheese too)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray mini muffin pan with non stick cooking spray.

Combine cracker crumbs and melted butter. Divide this mixture among mini muffin cups and pat down with you fingers or with the bottom of a shot glass (not just for cocktails anymore).

 

Divide onions or herbs among muffin cups reserving a tiny bit for garnish. Then, in a bowl with a spout, beat eggs with milk, salt and pepper until well combined. Pour this mixture into muffin cups about 1/2 to 3/4 full (don’t over fill or they will run over when baking). Then sprinkle the tops with cheese. Put muffin tin on top of larger cookie sheet in case of run over and place in oven.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and cool slightly before removing from pan. Use a small pairing knife run around the edge of the quiche for any that stick to the pan. Garnish with remaining onions or herbs.

These can be served immediately or put in the refrigerator and reheated the next day.

 

What combination of herbs and cheese will you use?

The REAL Debate: Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie?

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In the wake of last night’s presidential debate I thought I would make a controversial dish around here. For dinner, I made Rachael Ray’s Smokey Turkey Shepherd’s Pie. There has been some speculation, however, if it technically shepherd’s pie or is it cottage pie.

According to Food.com, Shepherd’s Pie is an English dish that is typically made with a layer of minced lamb, vegetables, and gravy and then topped with mashed potatoes sometimes topped with cheese. Cottage Pie is made the same way, but with minced beef. So, now that you have the facts, technically a “pie” made with ground turkey is neither. I thought it might be fun to call it Fowl Pie, but that doesn’t sound good at all. So, for now I will refer to it as Turkey Pie.

 

This is another Rachael Ray recipe that is an Autumn staple in our home. The kids like the mashed potato top, and Brian likes everything else. The only change I have made is that I added a little shredded cheese to the top of the mashed potatoes because my kids love cheese.

Here is the recipe I retyped from the Food Network Website.

 

  • 3 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • Coarse salt
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/3 pound ground turkey breast
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, available in small cans on spice aisle of market
  • Coarse black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons, 5 or 6 sprigs, fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 3 ribs celery from the heart, chopped
  • 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup sour cream, divided
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 10 to 12 blades fresh chives, chopped or snipped
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the potatoes until tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
Heat a deep, large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then add ground turkey to the pan and break it up. Season the turkey with smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and thyme. When turkey browns up, add: onions, carrots, celery. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, then add red pepper and peas cook another 2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook flour 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and combine. Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and combine. Simmer mixture over low heat.
Preheat your broiler to high.
When potatoes are tender, add a ladle of cooking water to the egg. Drain potatoes and return to the warm pot to dry them out a little. Add remaining 1/2 cup sour cream, butter, half of the chives, and salt and pepper. Smash and mash the potatoes, mashing in the beaten, tempered egg. If the potatoes are too tight, mix in a splash of milk.
Pour turkey mixture into a medium casserole dish. Top turkey with an even layer of smashed potatoes and place casserole 5 inches from hot broiler. Broil the potatoes until golden at edges and remove the casserole from the oven. Garnish the casserole with the remaining chives and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.
I hope you enjoy it no matter what you call it.

Working Late: Cheater Lasagna

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Brian had to work a little later than normal one night this week, so I decided to bring him and a coworker dinner at work. Coco offered to help, if you call playing on her Magna Doodle, eating popcorn and drinking juice helping.

 

 

We(?) made what I call Cheater Lasagna. It is fast, easy, and compared to making most other lasagnas with bechamel sauce and home made tomato sauce, it is much less time consuming. I call this Cheater Lasagna because I use jarred sauce (gasp!) which, even Giada DeLaurentiis herself has been known to use jarred sauce, and no boil noodles. This helps cut down on a few steps and makes homemade lasagna on a weeknight a possibility.

 

Cheater Lasagna
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
48 oz of your favorite jarred tomato sauce
1 15 oz container of ricotta cheese
1 egg beaten
1 Tbs Italian seasoning
10 slices mozzarella cheese
2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
1-9 oz box of Barilla No Boil lasagna noodles
Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot over medium heat add olive oil and ground turkey. Season with salt and pepper, and then breaking apart with a spatula, cook ground turkey until cooked through (no longer pink) about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add sauce and stir occasionally until heated through 5-7 minutes then remove from heat.

While sauce heats through, in a large bowl add ricotta cheese, egg, and Italian seasoning, and mix until well combined and set aside.

In a greased 9 x 13 baking dish start layering:

1/2 cup of tomato sauce mixture spread around dish
4 or 5 noodles
2 cups of sauce mixture
5 slices of mozzarella cheese
1/2 ricotta mixture
4 or 5 noodles
2 cups of sauce mixture
5 slices of mozzarella cheese
1/2 of ricotta mixture
4 or 5 noodles
remaining sauce mixture
2 cups of shredded Italian cheese blend sprinkled over top

 

Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Brian and his coworker were thankful! Coco was even more thankful for the leftovers (you know, because she was such a good helper).

Newlywed Dinner: Quick Chicken and Dumplings

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When Brian and I were first married, I so enjoyed having my own kitchen to cook and bake and make messes in (Brian can attest I used to be a very messy cook). I had lived with my Mom prior to getting married, and while I did plenty of cooking, it still wasn’t MY kitchen. I also did a lot of experimenting in those early days, and they weren’t all winners.

One of Brian’s absolute favorite meals when we were first married was Rachael Ray’s Chicken and Dumplings. It is something that remains in our dinner rotation, and it is usually the first thing he asks for as the weather turns colder. Since fall is on the way, I thought I would share with you the recipe. It is simple, everything cooks in one pot (easy clean up), only takes about 30 minutes, is great leftover,  and is a true comfort food

 

The only difference between cooking then and now is all the helpers I have in the kitchen now.

 

 

 

 

Six Week Round Up: Busy Busy

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Monday marked the start of my 6th week blogging, and I have to say I am enjoying it way more than I ever thought. It is definitely a way for me to “talk” to adults as well as showcase some of the things we do with the kids, our home, and in the kitchen.

Thank you so much to those of you that read. I have only received positive feedback, and I totally appreciate it. It makes me want to share more with you. So stay tuned for more kids crazy antics, home projects, and cooking adventures. Please keep reading because my to do list is forever long, and your reading gives me the motivation to keep going.

Blogging also has the added bonus of being a scrapbook for us to look back. So, here is a round up of our last six weeks. Crazy huh?
We have definitely been enjoying summer with the kids and getting to try some new things in our neighborhood like the fishing derby, soccer camp, and the new gelato place.
We’ve also been enjoying some relaxing time at home enjoying some impromptu play time or the fake Olympics.
Let’s not forget time spent with family.
And the projects Brian and I have been working on around here like our vegetable garden that I talked about here and here.
Not to mention the painting projects that I’m constantly doing in Brian’s parking spot of the garage. So far, I’ve fixed up our mailbox, refinished some chairs, painted an old bookshelf, and painted some nightstands. By the looks of things around here, maybe I should open a furniture refinishing shop.
There have been some smaller projects we’ve tackled like the kids’ art display, my ticket stub art, or replacing the kitchen light fixture as well as the HUGE project of hosting a garage sale.
But let us not forget la piece de resistance, the gorgeous plank table Brian built and I stained.
So far this summer too, I’ve been cooking and baking up a storm (too bad it isn’t storming for real around here; the drought has wrecked havoc on my garden). Here are links to all the amazing recipes that I’ve tried. Luckily, they all have been winners, but trust me I’m sure there are several mishaps to come, and I can share those too.
As you can see we are busy around here. Thank you again for reading and the positive feedback! It really does brighten a gal’s day.

Minestrone Soup: It Can Cure Anything

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So, I have a summer cold. A bad one. Sicker than a dog. Thought it was allergies, but yesterday I realized allergies don’t come with a fever.

Brian’s working long hours, so I have had to rely on the kids to help out a little more around here, and well you can imagine how that is going.

After sitting on the couch for many hours reading books with the kids and watching shows and offering to be the judge for their own version of the Olympic games while sneaking in a snooze or two, I finally felt like maybe I should eat something.

I scrounged around the house, and I had everything to make Minestrone Soup. I don’t know if it is a true Minestrone Soup, but that is what I call it. I made up this recipe last Winter when we were all suffering from various illnesses, and after the soup we were all feeling a little better. It has become a Top 5 Go To Dinner around here.

Basically, it is a bunch of veggies, and this:

 

This broth is already infused with a ton of flavor.

So here is the recipe. Bear with me on measurements as A.) I’m still not feeling 100% and B.) It is  hard to mess this recipe up

Erin’s Minestrone Soup (weird having an Irish name in front of Minestrone, oh well)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 medium onion chopped
3 or 4 carrots chopped
2 or 3 celery stalks chopped
1 medium zucchini chopped
1 large potato or several small potatoes chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 32 oz box Progresso Tuscany Chicken Broth (if you cannot find it, add any of your favorite herbs to the soup)
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes drained
1 14 oz can of cannellini beans drained and rinsed
1 cup of cooked short cut pasta (this is optional, I didn’t have any yesterday)
Salt and Pepper to taste

 

In a large soup pot over medium to medium high heat add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted add onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, zucchini, and garlic cook stirring occasionally until vegetables are just tender. This should take about 7-10 minutes. (This is when you can season the soup, go easy on the salt unless you are using a low sodium broth).
Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Lower heat, and then add tomatoes, beans, and pasta and cook until heated through, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately.
Above is a picture of the “sick tray.” This is the tray I use to bring to bedrooms when kids are sick around here. Soup, french bread, green tea, and lemon. Once the kids were in bed, I grabbed my tray, turned on crummy TV shows, and snuggled on the couch.
I’m feeling a little better.