I love the "seasons" of food. I especially love Spring when things like fiddleheads and rhubarb are abundant! Cooking with local, seasonal food is a lovely thing. I suspect there won't be a lot of rhubarb pies coming out of Mamma Church's kitchen this year, but I'll try to find some good, healthy ways to use rhubarb. Maybe one pie!
This week we had our first good batch of fiddleheads. We had them steamed with a wee bit of butter with dinner two nights in a row. I had about 1 1/2 cups of them (cooked) leftover in the fridge yesterday. And yesterday was also our big Spring Concert at school. (Did I mention that I'm a music teacher?) So time was at a premium. Early in the day I baked a fiddlehead and cheddar quiche that could easily be warmed up for a quick, late supper. Here's the result!
The recipe.....first you gotta make a crust. Ok, you don't have to make a crust. You can buy one. Or you could make this crustless too. Just generously spray your pie plate with cooking spray or brush with a bit of butter or oil. I confess. I never used to make pie crust. I never made pie because I totally failed at crust! But I finally found a fool-proof recipe and method for rolling it out. Now...it's a piece of cake!
The recipe was published in an old Marjorie Standish cookbook that I got as a wedding gift some 32 years ago. This will make a two-crust pie. I use it for one-crust too as I like a nice, tall fluted edge for a quiche. yes, you waste a little, but the measurements are spot on with this recipe and I have it committed to memory! And it makes transferring it to the oven so much easier before it's baked.
Here is the recipe:
1 3/4 cup flour (I use King Arthur UNBLEACHED All-Purpose. I have made it with whole wheat pastry flour, but just use a bit more water.)
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup oil (I use canola oil for sweet pies and olive oil for savory pies.)
Stir just to mix...don't go crazy.
Add 3 TBLS cold water and stir just to bring everything together. And you know, a hand is the best tool for this. The dough should "clean" the sides of the bowl and form a ball.
I roll my crust out between two sheets of waxed paper. No need to add extra flour which can make a crust tough. Loosen it from both pieces of paper and roll onto your rolling pin and into your pan. Trim and flute and it's ready to fill.
You can fill with just about anything. Generally I use up stuff. Veggies or meat and about 6 oz. of whatever cheese you have to just fill the pie shell.
For this quiche I used:
About 1 1/2 cups cooked fiddleheads
6 oz. shredded extra sharp cheddar
a bit of black pepper
That all gets dumped into the pie shell. Then I whisked 6 eggs and 1 cup skim milk. Yes, skim. Relax. It works out just fine. Pour that over the filling.
Then bake the quiche for about 50 minutes at 375 degrees until the top is golden and it loses it "jiggle-ness."
It reheats well. Great for any meal!
So after an afternoon of dipping marshmallows in dark chocolate and all sorts of delectable toppings and baking a Texas peanut butter cake (all for the "Dessert for Dinner" fundraiser), here's what's for supper in Mamma Church's kitchen. And trust me, it's much healthier!
I modified a recipe that I found in a new Gooseberry Patch cookbook. I took two boneless, skinless chicken breast halves and pounded them thin between some layers of plastic wrap. Using my favorite cast iron skillet, I melted about 2 TBLS of butter. The chicken was peppered and dusted (and I do mean just dusted) with flour and then cooked for 3 minutes on each side. The chicken was pulled out of the pan and left to rest on a cutting board. While the skillet was still hot I added 1 more TBLS of butter and a couple more "dusts" of flour and scraped the pan. Next I added 1 cup of low-sodium, fat-free chicken stock and 1/3 cup of lemon juice and about heaping tsp of chopped garlic. That all got stirred and simmered until it was "saucy!" The chicken was sliced and placed back in the pan and topped with about 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms and an 8 oz. can of artichoke hearts. Once that was all heated through, I served it with some baby brussel sprouts.
I will be honest (as I promised I would be). It was good, but not by favorite new dish so far. The hubby liked it. But I thought the lemon was a bit overwhelming and might cut back on it next time. (It's odd, too, because I love lemon!) I think I might skip the artichokes as well and simply pile on some baby spinach at the very end of cooking.
But all in all, a fairly quick, tasty and good for the body meal!
Yes, yes. I know. This is a blog about healthy cooking and healthy eating with real food and real expectations. This post? Not so much.
Tomorrow my Youth Group kids are hosting a fund-raising event for their mission project "Imagine No Malaria." The event is called "Dessert for Dinner." It will feature a buffet of tasting portions of a wide variety of sweet treats.....baklava, red velvet cupcakes, French meringues, decadent brownies, apple pie, peanut butter cake just to name a few! Mmmmm.....
I have made these little treats. Simple and oh so sweet. Just marshmallow lollipops dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in English toffee bits, chopped pecans, or sprinkles. Easy and fun!
A note: For dinner tonight, it will be healthy and I'll post later! Trying a new dish.....a lemon garlic chicken with artichokes and baby spinach.
