Quiche! With hash brown crust!

On Pintrest, I found a recipe for a quiche with a hash brown crust.  There are a ton of them.  The one I referred to was a Martha recipe.  The crust is basically a bag of frozen hash browns thawed and drained well, a couple tablespoons of butter melted, an egg, and some salt and pepper mixed together.  You press it into your pan and bake it for about 15-20 minutes.  You don't need to weigh it down like you do a traditional pie crust.  Win-win!  Easy-peasy!  Faster, in fact, and less messy than a regular pie crust.  

Pumpkin waffle mix, optional.

I used a traditional quiche pan instead of the springform pan Martha wants you to use.  I also used 365 Brand hash browns from Whole Foods, so I'm not sure if that made a difference.  My crust didn't quite come up to the top of the pan.  No biggie.  I have grated swiss, thawed and squeezed frozen spinach, and this amazing Nieman Ranch uncured ham steak (also from Whole Foods) that I couldn't stop eating.  I was hungry and it was just... so... tasty.

A traditional quiche batter is one large egg to one half cup of dairy.  Traditionally, it's heavy cream.  Oof.  I can't do it.  I can't help but equate that to a giant serving of whipped cream.  Double oof.  Don't get me wrong, I loooove whipped cream, but I don't want to eat a pint of it.  I use whole milk.  It makes a lighter quiche and I don't miss the fat, personally.  You could use anything from skim (but why?!) to heavy cream.  A nice touch is to whiz up your batter with a stick blender (or real blender).  It smooths out the eggs and gives it a nice texture.  But don't go crazy, you just want to combine those things.  For this recipe I used four eggs and two cups of whole milk.  I added a stray egg white to this since I needed a yolk for the egg wash for my cheddar dill bread that I'm also making (tune in tomorrow!).  If you end up with a bit of extra batter, never fear!  I added it, a little cheddar, and a little dill to a small baking dish.  Et, voila!

Dinner is served!

In my crappy apartment oven, this baked for about 40 minutes.  Your (nicer) oven time and temp may vary.  Another point worth mentioning, if you make a cheese quiche, use a little less cheese than you might think.  If you really load it up, it gets hard to cut when it's done as copious amounts of cheese make it really soft.

The verdict?  Delicious!

Now, get cookin'!

Mushroom Spinach Polenta

The complete recipe this time. I swear.
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There's a restaurant nearby called 518 West, which makes the best mushroom polenta appetizer. It's a few different mushrooms, rosemary and cashew butter, and romano cheese on a firm polenta. I love it. As usual, I had some things to use up and have made this version that satisfies my craving well enough. Enjoy!

Polenta:

1 cup white cornmeal
3 cups boiling water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 TSP salt
1/4 cup grated hard cheese (I used an aged French gruyere)

Bring to boil water, bouillon cube and salt. Whisk in cornmeal and lower heat to medium low. Add cheese. Let bubble for 15 minutes uncovered, stirring often. Pour out into a foil lined pan and let cool. Cut into squares. Reheat by baking, pan frying, or grilling.

Topping:

1/2 white onion, diced small
1/4 pound proscuitto, diced about 1/2 inch (optional)
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced thin
1 TSP minced garlic
1 TSP each fresh thyme, sage, rosemary, chopped fine
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed well and chopped
grated romano, for topping

Saute onion, prosciutto, herbs and garlic on medium high in combination of butter and oil, for about five minutes. Add mushrooms and saute for another five minutes. At this point add 1/2 TSP salt. Add spinach, cook until wilted. Drain well, discarding liquid.


Notes:

When you add the cornmeal to the water, whisk hard. Whisk like your life depends on it. Add the cornmeal slowly and whisk hard! This will prevent lumps.

I didn't add a ton of seasoning to the water for the polenta since I want it to be more of a vehicle than the star. Add more seasoning, if you prefer.

I used white cornmeal because that's all the market had that wasn't self-rising. Here in The South where cornbread reigns supreme, it's really hard to find a non-self-rising cornmeal. Use what you can find, white or yellow. Heck, blue could be fun if you're making polenta for something else.

I recommend pouring the hot polenta into a square or rectangular foil lined dish. It make cutting easier later. However, you can use whatever pan you have available.

Because the prosciutto is salty, you don't need to add a lot of salt. Adding salt after sauteing the mushrooms for a few minutes will cause the mushrooms to release their liquid, which will deglaze the pan.

I prefer Knorr Vegetarian Vegetable bouillon. A lot of vegetable stocks are heavy on carrot, which I don't like. The Knorr has a nice balance of veggie flavors.

I like to buy the fresh herbs in the mixed packets. The one I used here is called "poultry blend" and is a mix of thyme, rosemary and sage. When cooking for one, I find it tough to use the whole herb packet before it goes bad. Except basil. I can put a hurtin' on some basil. I suppose I could grow my own, but with the kitten, I'd expect him to eat them before I could use them.

Foxy Moron's Egg Casserole

Here you go, Foxy, something to do with all of those eggs!

1 bunch fresh spinach, washed well
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1/2 log goat cheese, about 4 ounces
12 fresh eggs
1 1/3 cup cream
olive oil
~ 1 tsp each salt & pepper

Saute shallot and fresh spinach in saute pan until spinach is wilted. Drain well and add to generously oiled casserole dish, spreading evenly. Crumble goat cheese evenly into the bottom of the casserole onto spinach. Break all twelve eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add cream. Mix with a stick blender for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over spinach and goat cheese mixture. Poke into egg mixture anything that bobs to the top. Bake on 350 degrees, about 45 minutes, or until center is set and edges are browned.

Notes:
Cooked spinach is W-E-T wet! Drain well so you don't get a soupy, eggy mess!

I prefer to crack them one at a time into a small bowl then add to the larger bowl. The first time you break a bad egg into a large bowl of prepared ingredients, you will too!

If you don't have a stick blender, know it's worth the investment. This step incorporates a lot of air and will make the eggs super light and fluffy.

For this, I used a clear, glass 2.75 quart pan, measuring 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" x 3". Your mileage may vary with a different pan. The deep dish worked great for this!