Passage to Discovery

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

waste not want not

As a child there were always words and phrases that annoyed me and "waste not want not" was one of them. It is possibly because I didn't understand what it meant or it could have been the tale-tale tone that was used when those words were spoken to me. However, as an adult I more than understand this phrase each time I scrape food into the garbage.

I've been throwing out lemons I could easily squeeze into my water for some added vitamin C and that delicious pork tenderloin could be packed in my husband's lunch. Each week I see more and more waste due to simple forgetfulness or lack of creativity. But the bottom line is we are watching every penny in this down economy and the wastefulness has to stop!

Friday I attempted my first dessert from scratch and it turned out to be easy and delicious. More on that in another blog. The recipe called for me to separate my eggs leaving six leftover egg whites. These were not my only leftovers, when all was said and done I also have half a tub of marscapone cheese and about ten lady fingers.

The eggs I dealt with first. I remember Alton Brown saying you could freeze them in ice cubes and then drop into a zip top bag to later use for anything from meringue to chocolate mousse. If you do not have ice cube trays, you can still freeze your egg whites in a container, just be sure to mark with a sharpie the number of egg whites in the container. If you want to use your eggs immediately, just keep them in the fridge and make a delicious egg white omelet or frittata for breakfast.

For the lady fingers, I decided to create a dessert. While digging around in the fridge I also found berries and whipped cream leftover from a dinner party and created something similar to a strawberry shortcake.

I started by drizzling chocolate sauce on the plate, to which I added the lady fingers to absorb the chocolate. I then added a layer of whipped cream so the berries would have something to adhere to. I sliced up the strawberries and dropped on blueberries wherever they fell. Finally I topped the berries with a bit of chocolate and more whipped cream.

It took less than five minutes to assemble this dessert and not only did it use leftovers, but it was one of the most delicious desserts I have ever had!

I am sure you have other ideas for berries, even eating them on their own is divine. However, if you notice your berries are about to spoil, wash and freeze them. You can use them frozen for smoothies or if you gather enough berries save them for a pie or cobbler. YUM!

The lady fingers can be frozen, but when thawed they will not be quite as good. You can also freeze the whipped cream. I found this Web site showing you how to do so. I still have my marscapone cheese. I will figure out what to do with that and will let you know.

sleepless in austin

After lying in bed for over an hour and a half and realizing sleep will not come, I decided to get up and be productive. Tomorrow I attempt a tiramisu and as well as preparation for my first ever fancy four course dinner party.

It seems that at 31 it is a little late to attempt making my first dessert from scratch, but nevertheless it is about time I tried.

My love for cooking began as a child when my mom gave me a 1974 Betty Crocker cookbook. I remember perusing the recipes before bed admiring at all of the pictures of food. Once I attempted to cook my family endured meals of mac and cheese with little hot dogs cut up on top and pear halves made to look like bunnies. All of which was quite fun, but still a far from anything culinary.

Over the years cooking didn't change much for me and I did not experiment either. I wasn't gifted with the same relationship to the kitchen as my father and brother who without any training or even a recipe, can create celebrations for your taste buds. (My dad's cornflake surprise excluded.)

I however, am a meticulous recipe follower and my recipes, like my Bible have served me well. I will let you know how it all turns out.

the shortest distance between two points

Tonight I saw the film Julie and Julia. It isn't very often that you leave a movie inspired and full of sheer joy. Both women decided to make something exceptional out of the mundane. It reminded me of my own journey and the search for beauty in what can be a monotonous life. I love food, love entertaining and figuring out will to make life fuller, but also simpler. I'm still working on the simpler part, I know there has to be a way!

I've decided I like being busy and that part of my life will probably never change - so I must learn to manage the busy. A friend suggested that I make a daily to-do list and I have to admit it has made a major difference.

A good to-do list is more than just tasks. It also applies the one thing I remember from geometry class about a straight line, it is the shortest distance between two points. When making a list try to figure out how to accomplish the most in the shortest amount of time. For example, if you are starting your day at the gym and you know the post office and library are nearby maximize your time by preparing your packages and remembering to put books to donate or return in your car before you leave the house, thus killing three birds with one stone. It is amazing how a little careful planning can really make the most of life and time.