Tomato-Spinach-Dill Quiche w/ Potato Crust

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20TH, 2010

4 stars (out of 5)

I found this recipe on the same blog as the salad from the previous entry for the spinach salad (http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2010/06/tomato-spinach-and-dill-quiche-with.html). The blogger looks like she has some pretty good recipes on there. This one appealed to me because I thought that the shredded potato pie crust was funny, and also because I haven't made a quiche for a long time (oh, and I was craving dill!).

Ingredients:

1 package of shredded hashbrown potatoes*
Garlic powder (optional)
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup fresh spinach, chopped
2 tbsp red onion
2 tsp dry dill**
1/4 cup feta cheese
7 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

{*Note. Available at IGA. In the original recipe, she actually grated the potatoes herself. I don't really have the time, nor the patience to do this, so I "cheated" and just bought the pre-shredded version. If you have a nice evening that you would like do it from scratch, I recommend looking at her blog. But, if you're like me, you would much prefer to sip on a glass of wine and read a book than stand around shredding potatoes.}.

{**Note. I also added about 2-3 tbsp of fresh dill, and really recommend doing this. Even with this much dill, I think it could have used some more!}.

Preheat oven to 375F.

1. First, I patted the shredded potatoes dry, and spread them in a pie dish. I pressed them down fairly hard and then sprinkled with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. I then placed it in the oven for about 12-14 minutes. It's not very finicky on this count - you can leave it in for a bit longer without it burning (which I did as I prepared the other ingredients).

2. As the pie crust was cooking, I crumbled the feta, diced the tomato, sliced the spinach, and chopped the red onion.

3. I then beat the eggs, milk, and dill together in a separate bowl.

4. When everything was prepped, I removed the pie crust from the oven, and added the tomato, spinach, red onion, and 1/2 the feta cheese.

5. I then poured the egg mixture over top, and sprinkled on the remaining feta cheese.

6. I popped it in the oven for an additional 30-40 minutes, and let it stand for a few minutes before serving.

Overall, this was pretty simple to make, and very stress free. I originally searched for it because I was craving something fairly healthy which had dill in it. I think that the dill could either be increased, or I could have added more salt, which would have made the dill flavour pop more. One note, I would make the potato crust very very thin, or even mix some flavours right into it before setting it in the pie place. Surprisingly, it did make a very good, sturdy crust (and simple!), which I was pleased to see. I will make this recipe again (leftovers were even good for breaky the next day!), probably just adding more dill and salt. SB really liked it, and it was a nice change from our other meals.

Tomato Chicken Casserole

TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010

4 stars (out of 5 - simple, stress-free, and pretty darn good!)

I hadn't cooked a new meal in a while (and had been, quite frankly, a bit lazy), and SB asked me what was going on.... I didn't know! I guess I have been a bit busy and stressed, but I decided to make sure that I made time to cook some new meals, as I know how much satisfaction I get out of it. This was my first attempt in a while, but an easy one. It's one of those "canned soup" recipes... but I refuse to feel bad about them - they always turn out well. This was no exception - the meat was moist and well-cooked, and (most importantly) it was stress-free.

Ingredients:

Meat:

Bone-in chicken (skinned)*
Garlic powder
Salt Pepper

Mix:

1 can (284mL) tomato soup
1 can (284mL) cream of mushroom soup
1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped
1 bunch green onion (or chives), chopped finely
1 v. small onion, chopped finely

{*Note. I used about 1 lb. or less of chicken... basically, do whatever you want up to 3 lbs (original recipe) because I had a lot of extra sauce. I think my basic guideline would be to have as much chicken as I could line my casserole dish with.}

1. {Preheat oven to 350F}. First, I placed the chicken in a 3qt (3L) casserole dish.

2. Next, I sprinkled with salt, pepper, and a good coating of garlic powder.

3. I then mixed the tomato soup and mushroom soup in a medium bowl...

4. ... and added the tomato and 2 types of onions...

5. ... and stirred well.

6. I poured the mixture over the chicken, and placed it in the oven, covered, at 350F for about 2 hours (flexible - no stress!).

New oven!

Look at how my casserole dish now fits in!

7. I served it with rice, but mashed potatoes also worked well. After the photo, I added a side of green beans (and a salad in a separate plate).

Overall, this was a super good, super easy recipe, and I was glad I tried it (despite my reservations about using the soup mixtures). SB really liked it, and the meat was super tender. I guess it can't really be considered anything close to a gourmet dish, but I would serve it to some of my good friends I was trying to make a good meal for (and at the same time being able to socialize!) ;)

Fettucine w/ Fresh Tomato-Pesto

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH, 2010

4 stars (out of 5 - a great garlicky pesto sauce)

My mom was visiting and we decided to make her some home-made pasta, while she found this recipe for home-made pesto with tomatoes. I really really enjoyed it, although I have to warn you that it is garlicky! I decided to make it again for LX when she visited, and to see if I could replicate mom's cooking.

Ingredients:

500g fettuccine (or fresh pasta!*)
3 cloves of garlic (the original recipe called for 8!! Yikes)
1/2 cup loosely packed, coarsely chopped fresh basil
120g baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped**
2/3 cup (160 mL) olive oil
1/2 cup (40g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 jalapeno, thinly sliced***
1/3 cup (50g) pine nuts, toasted

{*Note. We used fresh pasta, as seen here: http://etryingtocook.blogspot.com/2009/12/fresh-home-made-pasta-fettucine.html. It was the perfect amount for three people, although it could do for four if you serve an appy).}

{**Note. The recipe suggested that we use baby spinach for a milder flavoured pesto. If you prefer, the original recipe called for 120g rocket. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure it's good.}

{***Note. The original recipe called for 2 red thai chillies, sliced thinly. I couldn't find these at the grocery store, so I just bought 1 jalapeno. In addition, since SB has a low tolerance for spices, I only added about 1/2 of the pepper.}

1. I first prepared the pesto, and just set it aside until we decided to cook to the pasta. This is one great thing about this recipe- there is no stress with the timing. To make the pesto, I first measured and chopped up my basil, garlic (only use 3!!), and spinach (I left it whole because I'm lazy).

2. I then crammed all these ingredients into my food processor. I had to process these ingredients in batches, adding more and more spinach because my processor is so small. I added the oil in batches as well, blending until smooth (look at how green it is!). {As I am uploading my pics, I am in the process of cooking and tasting this mixture - and I am worried. It's kinda bitter and just, well, garlicky. Fingers crossed!}

3. I then prepared the Parmesan cheese, tomato, lemon juice, and jalapeno, and toasted the pine nuts. Now I'm just waiting for the pasta. (BTW, is it me, or do pine nuts stink when you cook them? eww).

4. When everything was ready, we made the pasta, drained it, and threw in all the ingredients into the sauce pan. I didn't end up using all of the pesto mixture... just taste as you go.

5. The final product:

Overall, this was very simple to make and pretty delicious (fears unfounded). I only wish I had a bigger food processor. I would also recommend adding a bit of salt, and trying it with rocket, which I might do in the future. I think I enjoyed this because it is so different from our usual pasta sauces (and because of the garlic!). I also found that the tomato was a nice addition to add a bit of "freshness" to the dish. One note, if you make the main part of the pesto and then taste it, don't freak out like I did. The addition of the lemon and the Parmesan cheese really brings the flavours together and into a nice sauce.

ID's Baked Tomato Risotto

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH, 2010

4.5 stars (out of 5 - a yummy, easy to make risotto)

This is a dish that the Irish Dancer (we`ll call him ID) cooked for me when I visited him a few weeks ago, and that I really really liked. I thought I'd try it out myself, and see if SB liked it as much as I did. I like this particular recipe because it's such an easy way to make risotto (without the constant stirring).

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup arborio rice
19 oz (540 mL) can of stewed tomatoes
2 cups veggie broth
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp granulated sugar
140g goat cheese log
150g pkg baby spinach (approx.)

1. First, I melted the butter in a sauce pan. The recipe says to use an oven-safe sauce pan (medium sized); I wasn't sure if my stainless steel Ikea pot qualified, so I cooked it in this metal pot and transferred it to a (warmed) casserole dish for the baking portion of the recipe. On this note, here is where you would normally preheat your oven to 400F.

2. I added the onion to the melted butter and stirred. You want them softened (about 5 minutes cooking over medium heat).

3. As the onions cooked, I prepared the rice...

4. ... spices (I like to mix them together in a shot glass)...

5. ... and broth.

6. Once the onions were softened, I added the rice to the sauce pan and stirred until the rice was coated.

7. I then added the stewed tomatoes (including the liquid), and cooked (stirring frequently) over medium heat for about 5 minutes. You want to cook until most of the liquid is absorbed (second picture).

8. I added the broth and the spices to the pot, and turned the element on high, cooking until the mixture came to a boil.

9. Once the mixture came to a boil, it was time to stick it in the oven. If you have an oven-proof pot, you just stick the lid on and in it goes. Because I wasn't sure about the "oven-proofness" of my pot, I transferred the mixture to a casserole dish, covered it, and stuck it in the oven.

10. I cooked the mixture for 30-40 minutes (until liquid is absorbed), but you need to keep an eye on it. Mine looked like it wasn't absorbing the liquid, but then once I took it out (after 30 minutes) and stirred it well, it was much better and only needed 10 minutes more.

11. Once it was cooked, I added the log of goat cheese and the spinach, stirring well.

12. Served with a salad!

Overall, this has such a great flavour with the goat cheese-tomato combo, and it is fairly easy to make. I never make risotto because, well, I'm too lazy, but this is a really simplified way to do it. As you can see from my pic, it was a bit runny, but I think it would have been good with 5 more minutes (SB was too hungry!).

Meat (and Veggie) Lasagna

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH, 2009

3.5 stars (out of 5, with potential for 4.5 stars out of 5)*

{*Note. I was befallen with yet another cooking disaster... this one out of my hands! SB gave the final product 3.5 stars because we ended up with only the veggie version. He said that he would probably have given the meat one 4.5 stars. You may be asking: "What happened to the meat one?"... see below!}

This was a meal I had been planning to make for a long time. We had frozen ground beef in the freezer, and some extra in the fridge from burgers we had made last week, and I thought: a lasagna would be perfect to 1) use these ingredients, and 2) have leftovers for the weekend so that we don't have to cook each night. Well, it was a good idea; unfortunately, it did not turn out to last as long as I had anticipated. BTW, this is yet another recipe from PW from her blog: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/

Ingredients:**

{**Note. These are the ingredients for a full-sized lasagna, as directed from PW. However, my pictures depict smaller versions (approx. half), as I only have a small convection oven that fits a 9" square pan.}

Meat sauce:

1.5 lbs. ground beef***
1 lb hot breakfast sausage (ground)***
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans whole tomatoes
2 cans tomato paste***
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp salt

Filling:

3 cups cottage cheese (low fat)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the stuff from the bottle)
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt

Other layers:

1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese (real mozzarella, but pre-sliced!)
1 package lasagna noodles

{***Note. For my veggie version, I added 1 package ground round. For a full veggie lasagna, I would suggest adding two packages, which should be plenty. For the sausage, mine was not really ideal as it had an outer skin. However, I was able to break it up quite well. I am not sure where to get ground up sausage without the skin. Finally, if you are going to buy tomato paste, may I recommend another brand besides Hunt's? See below...}

1. First, I cooked the ground beef and sausage, with the garlic, over medium-high heat. I ended up switching to my wok, as I was afraid that the meat would overflow! As you can see, the sausage is a bit chunky here, so I broke it up as I cooked. As a vegetarian, this was probably one of the grossest things to cook :(

2. Once it was cooked and browned, you can see how much better the sausage mixed in. So, if you are unable to find the proper sausage, I think any hot Italian sausage will ultimately work.

3. PW recommends draining 1/2 the fat. Our meat was extra lean, but I still thought this was a good idea. I left about 1/3 of it in there.

4. Leaving it over the heat, I then added the whole tomatoes, tomato paste and the herbs...

5. ... unfortunately for me, and this recipe, I found this little gem in my can of Hunt's tomato paste. I say unfortunately because I had already added most of the can to my meat. Eggshell, anyone? Ewwwww...

This is what it looked like before I chucked it out :(

6. Having had to discard my meat dish (I'm sorry, but I couldn't let SB eat that - I have no idea how that shell got in there, where it had been, or how much I had missed. Not worth the risk!), I turned now to my vegetarian version. I was very lucky to have been cooking this at the same time, therefore having a back-up to the "Eggshell Debacle", but it is missing the sausage component/flavour. Oh well. You then simmer this meat sauce for 45 minutes, uncovered. I wasn't sure if the liquid would reduce from the tomatoes, so one suggestion I have is to not add the entire can of liquid with the tomato. This is what it looked like, all ingredients in the meat sauce.

7. As this simmered, I cooked the lasagna, rinsed in cold water, and set them out on a flat. surface You want it al dente.

8. I then made the filling by adding the cottage cheese to a bowl...

9. ...beating the two eggs, and stirring them in with the cottage cheese.

10. Finally, I added the Parmesan cheese...

11. ... along with the parley flakes and salt.

12. I stirred the mixture well, and set it aside until the meat was finished simmering.

13. Once everything was ready, we were on to the layering part. First, SB made me butter the bottom, to prevent sticking. Then we layered, starting with a layer of noodles (overlapping a bit)...

14. ... followed by about 1/2 of the cottage cheese filling, evenly spread...

15. ... and half of the mozzarella cheese (note: we didn't have enough to cover the entire layer, and it was still very cheesy!).

16. We then topped the cheese with just less than half of the meat sauce, spread evenly...

17. ... and repeated the process, starting with the noodles and the rest of the cottage cheese mixture...

18. ... followed by the remainder of the cheese, and topped by the meat sauce.

19. Finally, we topped it off with a generous layer of Parmesan cheese (note, this is the shredded stuff that comes in a bottle).

20. We then cooked it at 350F for 30 minutes until bubbling (although this took a bit longer in our oven!!), and let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

Overall, this was a delicious lasagna, and we ate it all by the afternoon the next day. It was very disappointing to have to throw out the meat one, but I will definitely try it again (perhaps with another tomato paste brand!). We both really enjoyed all of the flavours, and the ingredients were things that I had in my household regularly, so it wasn't a stretch. One final thing that I liked, was that it was a no stress recipe. You just kinda cook everything at your own pace.