Passage to Discovery: breakfast

Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts

savory lobster quiche

I had some leftover lobster and thought it might make a good quiche. I also feared that I would ruin it somehow and well lobster is not something you can afford to ruin. I did a little research to find out what pairs well with lobster as well as the best cheeses for a quiche.

I settled on gruyère and Swiss. Gruyère is technically a Swiss cheese however it only has holes in it if it has been aged 5 months to 1 year. When it is a young cheese it has a creamy, nutty taste that adds a savory, distinctive taste to your baking. It is typically used in fondue and to top French Onion Soup.

The Swiss cheese is not necessarily made in Switzerland. Many are made here in the U.S. I chose this cheese as an accompaniment to the Gruyère because it comes from the same "family of cheeses" but would offer a milder taste.

I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome, except for the burned pie crust. My husband said it would be more effective to admit I made a mistake than to pretend it came out perfectly!

Savory Lobster Quiche

9 inch pie shell (can use pre-made)
4 eggs
2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1 cup of shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup of shredded Gruyère cheese
1 cup of cooked lobster (can substitute crab)
1/4 cup of minced yellow onion
1 teaspoon of parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare your pie crust in the pie pan and once the oven is preheated place in the oven for 3 minutes. After three minutes prick the base of the pie crust with a fork then continue cooking crust for 5 minutes. Remove pie crust from oven and set aside.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees and add eggs, flour, mayonnaise, milk to a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add cheese, lobster, onion, parsley, salt and cayenne pepper to the egg mixture. Stir with a spoon until everything is combined.

Pour ingredients into your pie shell and return to the oven and bake for 45 - 50 minutes. Remember to cover the top of your pie crust with aluminum foil or an pie crust protector or it will burn....like mine did :(

P.S. I miss my old camera - this one takes blurry yellowy pictures :(

egg white frittata

I was inspired by making a dessert from leftovers, so I decided to try a frittata. Frittatas and Omelets are the easiest breakfast dish to incorporate leftovers. You can use any type of cheese or herb and almost any meat or vegetable. Just think about what tastes good together.

I wouldn't recommend using peas, broccoli or chicken, but asparagus, ham, cheddar cheese or Swiss would be divine!

Below is a recipe that is easily modified depending on what you find in your fridge.

Q: What is a frittata?

A: A frittata is basically an Italian style omlette. I prefer this cooking technique to it's French cousin, because you don't have to acquire the skill of the flipping the egg around in the pan.

Egg White Frittata

Serves 2-4 Cook time: 10 minutes

6 egg whites

1/2 cup of cooked mushrooms (I used shiitake)*

3 strips of turkey bacon*

3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (1 tbl reserved for serving)

1 tablespoon of chopped chives

1 tablespoon of butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

Sour Cream for dipping (2-4 tablespoons)

*If you are starting with uncooked mushrooms or bacon, you must cook these first. You will find instructions below the frittata recipe.

Set your oven to broil. In a bowl whisk together cheese, eggs and salt and pepper with a fork. Heat a 12 inch (non-stick, oven safe) saute pan on medium heat. Add one tablespoon of butter to the pan and melt. Once the butter has melted, add the mushrooms and bacon. If your mushrooms and bacon are cold, saute them for about a minute just to heat through. (This step is only necessary if your ingredients are cold.) If your ingredients are warm from recent cooking, just spread them out evenly in the pan.

Slowly pour in egg mixture into pan and stir with a rubber spatula. You will notice the egg beginning to set immediately. As it sets you will want to move the egg around so that the runny parts on top are transferred to the bottom of the pan to cook. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until the egg mixture sets.

Once the bottom of the eggs look firm, top the eggs with chives and move into the oven. (Keep in mind the top of the egg might look runny at this point. This is how you want it to look since we are moving it into the oven to complete the cooking process.) Broil in the oven on High for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned and the eggs look fluffy.

A non-stick pan is crucial to this dish, because you need to slide the frittata out of the pan easily as shown in the photo.

Once it is on a cutting board, use a pizza cutter or knife to slice into pie shaped halves. Serve by sprinkling with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a dollop of sour cream. (I didn't have any sour cream for this dish, but my husband said it was the only thing that could possibly improve the dish.)

COOKS NOTE: If you use whole eggs instead of just egg whites the cooking time will increase by about a minute on the stove as well as an extra minute in the oven.

Mushrooms:

Cook 3/4 cup of chopped mushrooms in a saute pan. Saute in 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat until brown and cooked through.

Turkey Bacon:

Cook on a skillet over medium heat until the bacon begins to brown, about 3-5 minutes. Remove to a plate covered in paper towels to absorb grease from the bacon. (If you want your bacon crunchier, line a baking sheet with newspaper or paper towels and set the bacon on a cookie rack to drain.)

Leftovers used: egg whites, chives, Parmesan cheese, turkey bacon

Passage to Discovery

savory lobster quiche

egg white frittata

About Me

Followers