Southwestern Mexicali Sauce
(Use with beef, pork, chicken, or whatever… makes about 3 cups)
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
¾ teaspoon salt
dash of pepper, dash of cayenne
6 tablespoons seeded green chili peppers (finely chopped)
2 teaspoons chili powder
3 cups of milk
Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, chili powder and chopped chilis. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, then cook 1-2 minutes more.
(Can refrigerate and save for serving, then heat in microwave.)
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Roast Pork with Fennel Seed
(Serve with German Beer Sauce!)
1 3-4 lb. pork loin blade roast; ½ teaspoon fennel seed; 2 tablespoons sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground sage; 1 teaspoon ground (crushed) marjoram; ¼ teaspoon celery seed; ¼ teaspoon dry mustard; 1 tablespoon snipped parsley. Oven at 325 degrees.
“Stud” roast with fennel seed by pushing knife tip into meat and inserting 4-5 seeds into each “pocket” as you remove the knife. (Cut about 15 evenly-spaced pockets on the roast’s surface.)
Combine sugar, salt, sage, marjoram, celery seed, dry mustard and 1/8 teaspoon pepper – rub roast with mixture. (Coat top of roast.)
Cover roast; let stand 4 hours in refrigerator. Place meat on shallow roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer. Roast, uncovered, in 325 oven for 2 ½ to 2 ¾ hours or until meat thermometer reads 165-170 degrees. Sprinkle with parsley. Let meat stand 15 minutes before carving. Serves 8-10.
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German Beer Sauce
(Serve over pork roast, beef roast, ground round, etc. This has always been a big hit!)
1 tablespoon (= 3 teaspoons) salt; 1 ½ teaspoon pepper; 3 tablespoons flour; 9 tablespoons vegetable oil; 4 small (thinly sliced) onions; 3 cups (good) beer; 3 cups hot beef broth; 7 teaspoons cornstarch; ½ cup drippings from roast.
Mix onions in flour, salt and pepper mixture and grill (brown) in a large sauté pan. Add beer to hot beef broth and drippings, then add the grilled onions. Mix cornstarch with a small amount of cold water and stir in. Heat over medium high until thick and bubbly.
Serve like gravy.
**
Raisin Sauce
(Goes great with pork chops)
½ cup packed brown sugar; 4 tablespoons cornstarch; 3 cups water; 2 cups raisins; 4 tablespoons lemon juice; 2 tablespoons cider vinegar; 2 tablespoons butter.
Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in a large pan; stir in water, raisins, lemon juice, vinegar and butter. Cook and stir over medium high heat until thick and bubbly, then cook 1-2 minutes more.
**
Wine Sauce
(For Cornish hens or poultry)
5 tablespoons cornstarch; 5 tablespoons brown sugar; 2 teaspoons chicken boullion or granules; 1 ½ cups of drippings from poultry; 1 ½ cups red wine. Cook and stir mixture until thick and bubbly, then cook 1-2 minutes more. Serve over roasted poultry.
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Dill Sauce
4 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons flour; 2 teaspoons chicken boullion or granules with 2 cups hot water; 2 teaspoons sugar; 2 teaspoons dried dillweed; 2 teaspoons lemon juice.
Melt butter, stir in flour thoroughly, add chicken broth, stir in sugar, dillweed and lemon juice. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly, then cook 1-2 minutes more. Serve warm with / over fish.
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Sauteed Mushrooms
Cut fresh mushrooms in halves (or 1/3’s or whatever, based on the size of the ‘shrooms); sauté in butter 1-2 minutes, turning frequently, and sprinkling with garlic powder and ground pepper; splash a “healthy” amount of Burgundy Wine over ‘shrooms and continue to stir and cook until tender. Serve warm over grilled steaks.
**
Huckleberry Clafouti
(Great for breakfast or desert – a big favorite in the Northwest!)
¾ cup milk; ½ cup cream; ½ cup sugar; 3 eggs; 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla; 1 tablespoon Kirsch; “zest” of one lemon (finely grated); 1/8 teaspoon salt; ¼ cup all-purpose flour (if berries are extremely juicy, use up to one cup); 3 cups huckleberries (or blueberries), washed and drained; powdered sugar, and Whipped Cream, for garnish.
Mix all ingredients except berries and garnishes in a blender or food processor until blended into a smooth batter. Refrigerate batter for one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate. Place berries in the pie plate. Pour batter over the berries and bake until puffed and brown, approximately one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm or a room temperature with whipped cream. (I usually let it cool 45 minutes to an hour before slicing.)
**
My Mom used to make these great cookies:
Raisin Filled Cookies
Dough: 1 cup sugar; ½ cup shortening; ½ cup sour milk; 2 ½ cups flour; 1 egg; pinch of salt; 1 tsp baking powder; ¼ teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Filling: 1 cup raisins; ½ cup sugar; ½ cup nut meats; ½ cup water; pinch of salt; 1 tablespoon vanilla
Boil filling until smooth. Roll dough into cookies. Put a spoonful of filling on each cookie. Put another cookie on top. Pinch edges together. Bake at 350 for 10-15 mins.
**
Mom made a great pumpkin pie, too! (But the secret may have been in the details. Cook's secrets.)
Mom's Pumpkin Pie #1
Filling: 3 eggs; 1 cup sugar; ½ teaspoon ginger; ½ teaspoon nutmeg; ½ teaspoon cinnamon (to sprinkle on top); ½ can pumpkin; 1 ½ pints milk (as best as I understand, Mom used canned milk for half of this amount); 2 teaspoons flour; pinch of salt. (Use your favorite pastry recipe for the crust.)
Mix the pumpkin, sugar, eggs, spices and salt before adding the milk. (Makes 2 pies.) Bake in a hot oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees until done (guessing about 45 minutes.)
**
Mom's Pumpkin Pie #2
(Found on a postcard from my Grandmother Miller written in 1953. “Makes a large pie.”)
Filling: ¾ cup Del Monte pumpkin, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, ½ tablespoon flour, ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 cups milk, ½ tablespoon butter, 2 eggs. Heat milk, not too hot.
**
Lancaster County Filling
(for leftover mashed potatoes)
2 cups mashed potatoes; chopped onions, celery and green pepper to taste; 2 eggs; 3 slices of bread, cut into small cubes; 1 teaspoon baking powder
Soak bread in beaten eggs. Mix all together and bake in greased casserole for about 30 minutes. (Note: If mixture seems too dry, add milk.)
**
Drop Dumplings
1 cup flour; 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon shortening; 1 egg, beaten; ¼ cup milk. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until fine. Add milk and egg. Mix well. Drop (into stew, etc.) with spoon. Cover and cook 12 minutes. (I loved these!)
**
Pennsylvania Dutch Scrapple (the real old fashioned deal!)
Separate one hog’s head into halves. Take out eyes and brains. Scrape and thoroughly clean the head. Put into large kettle, cover with 4 or 5 quarts of cold water and simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours, until meat falls from bones. Skim grease carefully from surface; remove meat, chop fine and return it to liquor. Season with one teaspoon powdered sage, salt and pepper. Sift in granulated yellow corn meal, stirring constantly until it attains the consistency of soft mush. Cool slowly for 1 hour, watch carefully as it scorches easily. When cooled pour into greased oblong tin and place in cold place. When ready to eat, cut in thin slices and fry crisp and brown.
**
Weiner Schnitzel (Breaded Veal Cutlet)
Cut 2 lbs. of veal steak, ½ ink thick, in pieces for serving. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dip in bread crumbs, then in beaten egg, then again in crumbs. Let stand a few minutes and then fry on both sides. Sprinkle with lemon juice and garnish with a fried egg.
**
Corn Fritters
Take tender roasting-ear corn and slice off tips of kernels, then scrape down corn-pulp from cob with knife. To each pint of pulp add two heaping tablespoons of flour, 2 eggs, ½ teaspoonful of salt and a pinch each of black and cayenne pepper. (When adding the eggs put the two yolks in first, then stir in lightly the beaten whites of the eggs and the flour.) Fry in just enough butter to prevent them from sticking to pan. Place in frying pan by spoonfuls the size of oysters, brown on both sides and serve.
**
Scalloped Potatoes
Thinly slice about 6 raw potatoes. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with bread crumbs, bits of butter and a little parsley. Put over it a layer of potatoes, salt and pepper. Alternate potatoes and bread crumbs until dish is full. Pour a cup of milk over it and bake in oven (at 350 degrees) for about one hour.
**
Sand Tarts
1 pound granulated sugar, 5/8 pound butter, 3 eggs, and flour -- enough to stiffen
Roll out very thin, cut out, and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Pecans, walnuts or other chopped nuts may be placed on top of each cookie. (Bake about 15-20 minutes at 325 degrees or until firm and lightly golden.)
**
Mom’s Strawberry Pie
Bake a 9 inch pie shell, cool. Mash 1 quart fresh strawberries and add water to make 1 ½ cups. Add 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Let come to a boil and boil one minute. Pour 1/3 of filling into pie shell, then arrange 1 pint of whole fresh strawberries on top of filling. Then pour rest of cooked filling over top of the berries. Filling will run between berries, just glazing them. Chill pie for 2 hours before serving.
**
Mom’s Tollhouse Cookies
1 cup shortening, ¾ cup brown sugar, ¾ cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 beaten eggs, 2 ¼ cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon hot water
Sift flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture consisting of shortening, sugar, vanilla, eggs; add hot water and one package of chocolate bits. Bake at 350 degrees F.
**
Blonde Whoopie Pies
1 cup butter or Crisco; 1 cup light brown sugar; 1 cup white sugar; 3 eggs; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 cup sour milk; 4 cups flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoons baking powder; vanilla. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.
For a real twist, try these with a Chocolate Filling! Here’s an Old Amish recipe: "Shave chocolate fine, about two squares. Put in a vessel to which has been added 1 cup rich milk, 1 ½ cup sugar, butter size of an egg. Boil all together until thickness desired."
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“Poor Man’s Pie” (Old-Fashioned PA Dutch Milk & Sugar Pie)
½ cup flour; ½ cup sugar; pinch of salt, 1 ½ cup sweet milk; butter.
Mix flour, sugar and salt and sprinkle this mixture on the bottom of a 9-inch unbaked pie shell. Carefully pour in the milk. Dot generously with pieces of butter and sprinkle with cinnamon. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees, and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the filling is set, and the top is browned. (This was a personal favorite when I was a kid!)
**
And here’s the recipe that landed me on “Live with Regis & Kathie Lee” in 1995, where I won the Grand Prize in their “Dynamite Desserts” Contest – a one-week, all expense paid trip for two to Hawaii plus a $1000 gift certificate from Williams Sonoma. What fun!
“Outlaw Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce”
For Bread Pudding:
10-15 slices whole wheat bread, cubed (add more if needed)
5 beaten eggs
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind ("lemon zest")
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups dried pitted dark sweet cherries
(in a pinch, substitute 2 cups raisins)
16oz. can of crushed pineapple, well drained
Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in brown sugar, milk, lemon juice, lemon rind, ginger and cinnamon. Add bread cubes and mix lightly until they soak up all the mixture. Stir in cherries and drained pineapple.
Coat a 13x8 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mixture into dish. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Then uncovered for another 10-15 minutes, or until done. (Check with a toothpick for doneness.) Just before serving, make Whiskey Sauce.
For Whiskey Sauce (note: you can easily use only ¼ to ½ this much!):
1 pound butter, melted
6 cups powdered sugar
1 cup good whiskey
Melt butter and take off the heat, add sugar and whiskey and stir thoroughly. Be careful with this stuff, since you won't be "cooking off" the alcohol. (Don't serve it to kids!) This will make enough sauce for 2-3 bread puddings, but you'll want to use it on vanilla ice cream, to dunk your donuts and cookies or on your pancakes, but just don't get too sauced... "Outlaw!"
-- Bon appetit, from Chef Skip!
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Fried Potatoes & Eggs
This is one of those easy, from-the-hip “recipes.” I use one 14 ½ oz. can of Del Monte Fresh Cut DICED New Potatoes, and fry them in a skillet over medium high heat to a light golden brown, seasoned with a dash of garlic powder, a dash of onion powder, a splash of paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. (You can, of course, peel, dice and parboil fresh potatoes as well, and brown ‘em.) Then, when browned, reduce heat to medium, and stir in three large fresh eggs (yolks broken and stirred up, but not beaten) and simply scramble until just cooked. (Don’t overcook.) These were a family favorite and I still enjoy them frequently.
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Ham, Beans and Potatoes
Here’s another quick, easy and low-cost meal that’s always been a tasty family treat. Use one or two small canned hams (depending on your budget or fondness of ham), pulled apart or chunked; one can (drained) peeled, whole new potatoes; one can of green beans; and one can of yellow wax beans. Pour the beans and their juice into a large pot; add the drained potatoes; add the ham; stir, and bring to an easy boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 -10 minutes… and enjoy!
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Beans & Rice (and/or Shrimp)
And speaking of beans, I’ve become a big fan (again) of beans. Good fiber, I guess, and low cost. I’m growing – and enjoying – some great bush-type green beans in my garden right now, and just finished cooking some dried Yoeme Vayo beans which were gathered originally by Native Seed Search at...
(www.nativeseeds.org) from a Yoeme Indian village in Ures, Sonora, Mexico, and are now growing in profusion in our desert garden. (Good for controlling cholesterol and diabetes. But, I digress.)
Anyway, cook up a cup of dried beans (small red beans, lentils, black beans, or…?) per the directions on the package – or, usually, soak overnight, drain, rinse, and cook in 2 ½ cups of water for 1 ½ hours. Cook up a cup of good rice, per package instructions – I like Basmati Rice or Lundberg Wild Blend – and mix the (drained) beans and rice together, once cooked, adding a generous amount of butter. Season with salt, pepper, a dash of cayenne, and some garlic powder and onion powder, to taste, and enjoy! For a variation on this, boil some fresh or frozen shrimp and mix in with rice and beans. (My method for cooking shrimp is to cover them, shell on, with cold water; add lemon juice and cayenne pepper, to taste. (Or use Zaratrans Crab and Shrimp Boil seasoning instead of the cayenne. Cook on medium high heat until they come to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and cover for the same amount of time they took to boil. Drain. (As a side, or mix -- shelled shrimp -- together with beans and rice.)
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Sauteed Shrimp
(Love my shrimp!) Cold boiled, hot, sushi, with rice, scampi… and especially sautéed in butter. To sauté fresh shrimp (or thawed frozen shrimp), remove the shells. (I leave the tails on.) Melt ample butter in a sauté pan, add lemon juice and fresh minced garlic and a dash of cayenne. Lightly brown the garlic over low heat. Add shrimp, turning constantly, and sprinkling with garlic powder. Add fresh Herbs de Provence crumbled over the top, mix and sauté until cooked. Serve hot with cocktail sauce (see recipe) or with hot butter. Truly one of my very favorite foods!
Cocktail sauce: Heinz (is there any other kind?) ketchup, lemon juice, and prepared horseradish, mixed to taste and degree of hotness. I always just shoot from the hip on this and vary the hotness for the occasion. (You can easily taste it as you go and adjust.)
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“Amish” Half Moon Pies
Filling: Add 2 cups chopped dried apples to 2 cups cold water and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cook in saucepan until apples are pulpy and soft. Add 2 cups sugar, mixed with one Tablespoon cinnamon, and the grated rind (“zest”) and juice from one orange. Simmer to cook away water. You can add 3-4 Tablespoons of Apple Butter to your apple mixture for added richness and taste.
Pastry dough: 2 cups flour; 2/3 cups shortening; 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ cup icy cold water. Sift flour. Cut in the shortening until in small flakes. Dissolve salt in cold water and add to the mixture. Form dough balls and roll into thin (pie crust thickness) 6” – 7” circles.
Spoon the apple mixture on half of each pastry round; fold over to form a half circle and tightly pinch the edges together. Mark tops of pastries with tines of fork to vent before baking, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar before baking. Bake for 8 minutes in 425 degree oven, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake about 25-30 minutes longer, or until lightly browned. Let cool. Makes 8-10.
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Filled Meatloaf, Noodles with Breadcrumbs, and Succotash
(This is truly my all-time favorite Pennsylvania Dutch meal! This is a “from the hip” recipe – my favorite way to cook…)
Here’s a fairly quick and easy “three-course” PA Dutch dinner! Starting with the Filled Meatloaf: First, mix up a batch of your favorite bread stuffing – from scratch or just use Stovetop Stuffing. Then, using 2 – 2 ½ lbs. of extra lean ground beef, seasoned to your taste (I use onion flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper) and make two very large round patties from the meat. One patty will need to be a couple inches larger than the other, as you will want to use the smaller patty as the bottom of your loaf; then mound your filling (or “stuffing” or “dressing” depending on where in the country you’re at -- ask for "filling" in a Southern restaurant and you may get a funny look) on top of the bottom patty. Then cover that will the larger patty, and pinch it together with the smaller patty all around the bottom. You should now have a mounded “filled” meatloaf. Place it in a lightly greased casserole baking dish and bake it in a preheated 350 degree oven for roughly 1 – 1 ½ hours, or until done (no pink inside the meat.) Serve thinly sliced.
For the first side dish, "your starch" – Noodles with Breadcrumbs – make a generous amount of bread crumbs, about ¼ inch in size – and brown them to a crispy, lightly toasted consistency in a sauté pan with lots of butter. Set aside to add to noodles later. Cook a package (or more, if you’re feeding a larger group) of your favorite egg noodles per the instructions on the package. Pour the cooked (al dente) noodles into a colander and drain well. Return the pot you’ve cooked the noodles in to a low-heat burner and melt lots of butter in the bottom of the pan, adding enough milk to make a nice creamy white sauce. Easy. Don't scorch it! Stir in the drained noodles carefully, and coat them with the sauce, then toss in the toasted bread crumbs and stir gently. Voila! Sound simple? It is. And mighty tasty.
For the second side dish, your veggies – Succotash – you may already have a favorite recipe. I simply cook, separately, a bag (or box) of frozen Sweet Corn and a bag (or box) of Fordhook Lima Beans* per the instructions on each package. (The beans usually take longer than the corn.) Season both to taste, with salt and pepper, and, yup, lots of butter. (Some people like to add onions to their succotash.) Then gently mix the corn and beans together in a serving bowl. Use Baby Limas if you can’t find Fordhooks.
I've made "Succotash" using soy beans and shoe peg corn. Yummy! (Okay, I called it "Soycotash!")
Lastly, you’ll want some brown gravy for the Filled Meatloaf. And yes, it’s easiest to use a mix of a jar or two of gravy. But, if you’d like to make it from scratch, you might want to make a German Beer Sauce gravy from my earlier recipe, or, here’s a quick, tasty, gravy-from-scratch recipe:
2 Tablespoons butter; 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1 Tablespoon cornstarch; 1 ½ cups hot beef broth. (Optional: add grilled onions and / or mushrooms. Chop 1-2 onions and / or about 1 cup of sliced mushrooms. Grill or sauté in butter, pepper and garlic before adding to the gravy.)
To make gravy, melt butter, stir in flour and cornstarch. Cook and stir over medium / low heat for 15-20 minutes. Add hot beef broth to the flour mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 3-5 minutes, reduce heat, stir in grilled onions and / or mushrooms and simmer about 30 minutes. (Not sure why the gravy-from-scratch thing is so difficult or "scary." Try it! It's easy... and tastes best!)
Then sit down, count your blessings, and enjoy a good old-fashioned Pennsylvania Dutch dinner. And top it off with some pie, cookies, or half-moon pies, of course! Yah, das goot!
**
Baked Stuffed Trout
2 lbs. de-boned whole Trout (fresh, or thawed, if frozen)
1 3-oz. can chopped mushrooms
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup butter
7 to 8 oz. flaked and drained crabmeat (can add small or chopped shrimp, optional)
½ cup coarsely crushed saltine crackers
dash of pepper
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons snipped parsley
Thaw fish, if frozen. Drain mushrooms. Cook onion in skillet in ¼ cup butter until cooked (not browned); stir in mushrooms and flaked crabmeat (and/or shrimp), cracker crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper. Stuff into (salted) fish cavities and bake uncovered at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until fish is done (flakes with fork).
Here’s a couple of extra helpful hints for this one: Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Use a shallow, well-greased baking pan. Sprinkle the fish cavities generously with salt. Brush fish skin with cooking (or olive) oil before baking. You can add almond slices, lightly browned in butter, as a nice garnish. Sprinkle with parsley before serving. Serve with a lemon wedge. Uh, oh... my mouth is watering!
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The World’s Greatest Quiche
I used to bake this quiche when I was the breakfast chef for The Channel House Inn on the central coast of Oregon. Our guests, from all over the world, used to tell me it was the best quiche they’d ever had, so I decided to call it “The World’s Greatest Quiche.” (No one has ever complained about the name… or the quiche.)
To make two (2) quiche (or is it “quiches?”) – why not just go for it? If you make one you will definitely wish you’d made two – you’ll need:
Two unbaked 9” pie crusts (from scratch or Pillsbury’s frozen crusts work just fine!)
8 eggs
4 cups of heavy cream
½ cup (finely) chopped green onions
fresh rosemary
2 cups of shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
16 slices of bacon
2 cups of sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups of broccoli florets (crowns)
3 Tablespoons diced sun-dried tomatoes
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon red cayenne pepper (in time, more, if you dare)
a “sprinkling” of paprika
…and…
“Chef Skip’s Secret Herb Mix” (you can use this stuff on many other dishes, like an herb butter sauce over pasta): Simply mix equal amounts of sesame seeds, rosemary, basil, thyme and oregano (dried, crushed herbs), and add a dash of salt, a dash of sugar, and 2 or three dashes of powdered garlic. Keep it stored in a shaker and keep it in your kitchen!
Cut the bacon into ½” pieces and fry it up nice and crisp in a little skillet. (Or you can fry it up in strips and crumble it afterward, once you’ve drained the grease and let it cool.) Set the fried bacon aside, drained, to cool. Slice your mushrooms, and sauté in a couple Tablespoons of butter until they’ve just begun to caramelize. Then drain and cool. Next, make your “quiche juice” as I call it – your egg and cream mixture. Start by placing the 8 eggs in a bowl and lightly beating them with a whisk. Add your cream and beat, lightly, together to mix well. Sprinkle in your cayenne and black pepper and shake a generous amount of the “Secret Herb Mix” on top of your quiche juice. Mix the seasonings into your egg and cream mixture and set the bowl aside. This is a good time to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Now we’re ready to begin filling the crusts with goodies, by layering them. Start with a thin layer of shredded cheddar lightly patted onto the bottom of the two crusts. This will help the grease from the bacon and butter from the ‘shrooms from making your crust bottoms soggy. Save some cheddar to top off each quiche later in the process. Then layer the bacon on top of the cheese, then sprinkle the (finely chopped) green onions over the bacon. Next, evenly spread the mushrooms. Then sprinkle the sun-dried tomatoes over the mushrooms. On top of this, spread the broccoli. Do it neatly; heads up, not stems up. In fact, easy on the stems -- use crowns!
Next, cover it all with the shredded Swiss. Then top off each quiche with a nice sprinkle of shredded cheddar. Now here comes the tricky part. Lightly whisk your egg and cream mixture to mix the herbs thoroughly, as some may have settled to the bottom. Transfer the mixture from the bowl into a small pitcher with a spout to make it easier to pour. Then slowly pour the egg and cream mixture over the top of each quiche so that it doesn’t spill over the sides of the crust. The advantage of making two quiches is that you can pour some mixture onto the second while the mixture is slowly settling down through the layers of the first.
Alternating between the two, very slowly fill each quiche with the mixture, covering the top layer of cheese evenly. Sprinkle the top with an even dusting of the Herb Mix. Then sprinkle a teaspoon or so of fresh rosemary leaves (I don’t chop them, I just lightly crush them between my fingers to bring out the flavor). Then add a light sprinkling of paprika evenly over the top. Now it’s oven time! Carefully place these “works of art” onto the middle rack of your oven, uncovered, making a real effort not to slosh the mixture over the edges of the crust, in which case they won’t turn out quite as perfectly. Bake for about an hour and five, maybe ten, minutes. – I don’t bake by the clock. I bake by the look, smell, and degree of “done-ness.” I split my baking time roughly into thirds. For the first third I let them do their “thing.” After maybe twenty minutes, I peek in, and then I carefully rotate them so they will brown evenly. (Each oven has its particular hot spots.) After another 20 or 30 minutes, once the quiche has become nicely browned, I rotate them again, this time loosely adding a large piece of foil over the top of the “pies.” By loosely, I mean gently tucked around the edges of the pie plates, a couple inches above the surfaces – not touching the surface.
The foil is to prevent the quiche from becoming overly-browned on top, while baking more thoroughly throughout. Continue baking for another 15 to twenty minutes and then test for done-ness. (Simply press lightly in the center and the quiche should spring back up rather quickly.)
When done, remove from the oven, allow to cool for ten minutes; slice, serve and enjoy!
If you prefer to serve these later, allow them to completely cool on racks for a few hours, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. You can reheat them by removing the plastic wrap, covering them with foil, poking a couple small holes in the foil to vent any steam, and placing the quiche back into a 350 degree oven for 30 – 40 minutes to reheat, and, again, cool for 10 minutes, slice, and serve warm.
And there you have it! A broccoli, bacon and mushroom quiche made as relatively simple as possible. And, absolutely, without a doubt, “the world’s greatest quiche.” (Remember, “If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all the evidence that you ever even tried!”)
Hugs and Quiches,
Chef Skip
"So, how," some people ask me, "did you become a chef?" Well, I didn't go to the CIA (Culinary Institute of America)! I've just always enjoyed food. Ever since I was a husky little 3-year-old tyke running wild up and down the sidewalk in front of my house, food has always been a big priority for me. (As you can see, I even wore a "Size Husky" jeans. Too many shakes!)
I learned to cook by watching my Mom, licking the spatulas and beaters and doing whatever else I could to get in the way. I cooked in Boy Scouts and earned the Cooking Merit Batch. Taught the Cooking Merit Badge at Summer Camp. Worked as a cook while still in high school, and later in college.After that, I created advertising for food. Styled food, photographed food, drew food, designed ads, packaging, neon signs, trade show displays... youkind of get the picture. Then, in my mid-40's I found myself cooking, and cheffing, again; and even ended up on "Live with Regis." (I also grow my own food!)
Chubby little Skippy Treaster --
pre-school food critic "at large."
Lovin' those cheesburgers, fries and chocolate shakes... too much!
Click logo to give!
Just for fun, I've decided to put a few favorite recipes on my website. Enjoy!
Here's some fried potatoes and eggs topped with cheddar, "soycotash" ...
and a couple of grilled pork chops.
Cookin' with Regis! (And whiskey!) Now THAT was certainly a high point for me. What a really great guy, too!
No, the above photo is not Mexicali Sauce... it's Fruitcake. The BEST I've ever tasted. If you think you really don't like fruitcake, think again. This
is an old family recipe... and I really am sworn to secrecy on it... so you
won't find it here. Sorry! Just sayin'!
I pitched this to Haagen-Dazs as a new flavor, but they wouldn't bite. But I've made it for myself a few times, and it's awesome. Really.
One of my really fun projects was to work on the graphic design and menu for The Rock'N'Diner. Got to design the neon signage, the menu, the vinyl booths (right down to colors, trim, and piping), and interior decor. This was a real hoot. From just a sketch, to the building and grand opening... wow!
I drank Coca-Cola from the time I was just a little kid. (Not particularly advised now.) Never did I imagine I would grow up to design marketing pieces -- and to style and art direct photo shoots -- for Coke and many of the major fast food companies who sold their products. (I even played badmitton with the CEO of Coca-Cola... and won. Someone had actually told me to "let him win," but, yeah, c'mon!) All in all, my years back in Atlanta were a real high point. And...
Some may say that my real claim to fame came when I designed the "Return of the Jedi" collector glasses for Burger King, Coca-Cola, and, yes, Lucas Films back in the early 80's. Imagine that. A little Pennsylvania Dutch kid who grew up to work on a Star Wars project. Am I lucky, or what? It was a real hoot!
I went on to start my own company out here in Arizona, and, again, as it just turned out, my biggest account was in the fast food business. So back to my food styling and photography, design and writing, and even playing the mascot character in TV commercials.
But that's a long story. (Had fun!)
I really enjoy growing veggies. Must've picked up the green thumb from Pappy
Treaster, my Grandpa. Now THERE was a real farmer / gardener! I grow squash, beans, corn, tomatoes, citrus, kale, broc, catnip... and flowers... as best as I can given the desert heat in Arizona.
Some of my homegrown tomatoes... from earlier this year. And homemade spaghetti sauce. Some of which I've got in the freezer for this winter. (Just can't beat homegrown!)
Corn, green beans and tomatoes from my own garden! Yay! (Had too shop for the mushrooms and beef to sautee.)
My 4th of July burgers were graced with green beans, tomatoes, and lettuce from my garden. A real treat!
Still have a nice mess of green beans in the freezer.
You'd think I'd be obese, right? I was! But now days I try to eat healthier, and I still "style" my food before I eat it... it may be the Zen of the experience. And I still "document" and photograph my creations, too. Like this salad I made, with lettuce, carrots, chick peas, black beans, soy beans, sunflower seeds. mushroom and water chestnuts. Now, I don't do this every night, okay?!
My packaging design for Miz Biskit restaurants won a few design awards for me when I was in my early 20's. Got me started in my food marketing career. (Why just eat it when you can play with it, too?!)
Wrote, designed, styled, fabricated and sampled the wonderful Southern stew, chili, barbecue, ribs, chicken... (you get the picture) for a Castleberry Foods trade show booth. This is hard work sometimes, but it's been fun!
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Yoeme Beans from my garden.
