Recipes

Quiche

Thaw a Trader Joe's frozen pie crust overnight.

Prepare the veggies that you would like to include by chopping and sautéing (onion) or blanching until slightly cooked.

Preheat oven to 375

Line a 9" springform pan with the pie crust, pressing it into the bottom and all of the way up the sides. (I have been experimenting with pre-baking the crust for about 10 minutes before filling. It seems to make a tastier crust on the bottom.)

Basic recipe- combine and mix thoroughly:

8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup cheese
S & P and a dash of hot sauce- tabasco chulula or valentine... (this is the secret "je ne sais quois!")

To this basic mixture you may add:

1/2 onion, sauteed
1 to 1 1/2 cups (chopped, parboiled and drained) broccoli, asparagus, spinach, kale, zucchini, etc...
1/3 lb ham, chicken or bacon
a handful of feta cheese, artichoke hearts, olives; Use your imagination!

Bake at 375 for 55+ minutes until no longer jiggly in the center.

Mock Almond Roca

Preheat oven to 350

Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil and lay out about 15 graham crackers and sprinkle with about 4 oz. sliced almonds

Combine in a sauce pan:

2 sticks butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Melt these ingredients together until rapidly boiling. Stir constantly and boil hard for 3 minutes or until it reaches 260’ on a candy thermometer.

Drizzle boiled mixture over the nuts and bake for 15 minutes until bubbly all the way to the center.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Once they melt, spread with a spatula to cover. Cool and Enjoy!

Christmas Roca

As Promised, here is the Christmas version of the above recipe...

Substitute:

1. Chocolate Graham crackers for the regular ones, if you can't find them, I used Oreo cookies. I opened them up, tried to spread filling on both halves and laid them filling side up on the baking sheet.

2. Dry Roasted and Salted pistachios for the almonds.

3. Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares for the chocolate chips. Try to let them melt really well before spreading them to keep the brown and white coloring of the bark.

Prepare the same way as above and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cookies

Single Batch

¾ cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter at room temp.
2 large egg whites
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups chunky peanut butter (do not use freshly ground, natural, or old-fashioned peanut butter; the cheaper brands work best)

1 cup flour
½ tsp. baking soda
10 ozs. Butterfinger candy bars crushed into roughly ½ inch chunks

Preheat to 350

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Blend sugars, butter, egg whites and vanilla until fluffy, scraping the sides to make sure it is all incorporated. Add peanut butter and mix until well combined. Add flour and soda until just combined; do not overblend. Mix in smashed butterfingers. Mound dough in 2 tablespoon portions onto greased or parchment lined baking sheets. Flatten slightly before baking.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 15 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

I usually double the recipe. They freeze very well!

Pesto Pizza

One Boboli pizza crust (I like the thin one best) spread with

1/2 to 3/4 of a container of prepared pesto sauce sprinkle with
Shredded Mozzarella or Italian blend cheese about 1/2 cup

Top with any of the following:

Marinated artichoke hearts chopped
Kalamata olives chopped
Sundried tomatoes, julienne
Crumbled Feta cheese
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Baby Shrimp
Pine nuts

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Apricot Crisp

Chop and pit 4 cups of fresh apricots

In a saucepan, stir together until well blended:

2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water

Add apricots and heat on medium heat until thick and smooth (some chunks are good!) and bubbly.

In a separate bowl mix together:

1 cup flour
2 cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts)
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup butter (room temp)

Mix the above ingredients until crumbly. layer 2/3 of the mixture into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Top the oat crust with the apricot filling. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the filling. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes until the oat mixture is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.