Zoe Cuisine

Crustless Quiche

 

This is a super easy recipe that is great for cleaning out your fridge of those random pieces of cheese and stray veggies left over from a previous night's dinner. You can throw almost any combination of ingredients into a quiche without going wrong (well maybe not fruit...). I recently whipped these up for dinner using cooked chopped broccoli, diced canadian bacon and shredded sharp cheddar. The quiche will puff up a little like a soufflé when it is done, so it looks impressive for being so easy to pull together. Since I generally cook for two, I make individual quiches in 4-5" ramekins. You could make one quiche in a 9" pie pan instead. If you decide to only use cheese, I would add another egg and another 1/4 cup of milk or else the quiche will look rather wimpy. If you feel like going the extra mile and making a traditional crusted quiche, you can use this same recipe for the filling.

Crustless Quiche Base 4 large eggs 1/2 cup milk 1 tablespoon flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper butter for greasing the ramekin 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese for dusting each ramekin Suggested Additions 1/4 cup shredded cheese - cheddar, pepperjack, parmesan, mozzarella or fontina 1/4 cup veggies - cooked broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus 2 tablespoons meat - chopped ham, sausage, prosciutto, bacon Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crack eggs into a medium mixing bowl and whisk together with the tablespoon of flour until there are no lumps. Whisk in the milk and salt and pepper. Butter the ramekins liberally and dust with parmesan cheese. Add the veggies, meats and cheese of your choice to the ramekin in an even layer. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the filling and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes until the eggs are set and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. A 9" quiche may take 35-40 minutes or more to cook.

View Printable Version

Pesto Scramble

When I was growing up in a small suburb on the North Shore of Boston, the dining choices in the immediate area were pretty slim. Of course that has all changed and now you can find everything from fine dining to Bertucci's. But back then when we wanted to venture out for breakfast or brunch, we could choose a greasy spoon style diner, or else a family owned river side cafe called Chippers in the neighboring town of Ipswich. The diner made my mother cringe, so we always ended up at Chippers, as did most other residents. Since the restaurant was located right on the edge of the Ipswich River, it had great views and an abundance of ducks that we kids would feed with bread scraps that they supplied while we endured the long wait for a table. Unfortunately Chippers was flooded and went out of business at least ten years ago. A few new places have opened up across the street where flooding is much less of an issue. Although the food is great, they just aren't Chippers. What I miss most about Chippers, besides all the family memories, is a dish they served called the Pesto Scramble. You might think that pesto and eggs sounds like a weird concoction, but trust me the flavors work really well together. Since the ingredients in the dish weren't a secret - just eggs, pesto, tomatoes and cheese - I have been whipping up my own pesto scrambles for a while now. This is a great quick meal idea for breakfast, brunch or lunch. I find that it is an excellent way to use up any leftover pesto you might have since you only need a tablespoon or so depending on how many people you are cooking for. You could switch red peppers or spinach for the tomatoes, or omit adding any vegetables at all. I think parmesan, provolone, asiago or cheddar are the best cheeses to experiment with. These eggs are great served on their own, on toast, with some hash brown potatoes or just a simple green salad. 

Pesto Scramble Ingredients: 2-3 eggs 1/3 cup diced plum tomatoes, seeded, or quartered cherry or plum tomatoes with seeds 2 tablespoons shredded cheese of your choice 1 tablespoon pesto salt and pepper Instructions: Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Add a little salt and pepper. Heat a small skillet over medium heat until hot, then spray liberally with cooking spray (you can also use butter or olive oil). Add the tomatoes and cook until the skins are just blistered, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and scramble as you normally would. When the eggs are set but still a little runny, add the cheese and pesto and stir to combine. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper before serving. Serves 1.

Baked Eggs in Ham Take 2

I opened my refrigerator this morning and saw a few lonely pieces of ham left over from my baked egg experiment over the weekend. I so enjoyed my egg parcels that I decided to give them a try again. Since today was a "school day" and I was short on time, I decided to forgo making a creative filling and just crack the egg into the ham cup. A straight up version you could say. Halfway through the cooking process I took the eggs out and sprinkled about a tablespoon of an italian cheese blend on top of each (you can use whatever cheese you have, cheddar or gruyere would be great). This time I slightly overcooked the eggs. I baked them at 400 in my convection oven for 14 minutes which was definitely at least 2 minutes too long. I don't mind a firm yolk sometimes, but to most people this is a big no no. When I made these the other day, my husband made the suggestion that a little sauce might jazz them up a bit. I decided to make a faux hollandaise by combining a tablespoon of creme fraiche with about a teaspoon of dijon mustard. The sauce was a great addition and made these even more reminiscent of eggs benedict, only a lot healthier. My point in writing a second post about this egg concept is that it is so easy, tasty and looks really cool (almost like a little flower!). What's not to love about that? I'd love to hear if anyone tries this with some different fillings or deli meats and has a great result.

Eggs before baking in the muffin tin

Eggs Baked in Ham

One of the dishes I made with Sara Moulton last week was eggs baked in ham. This is a great breakfast or lunch concept that you can make in endless flavor combinations. The basic idea is that you line the well of a muffin tin or a mini souffle ramekin (the size that holds a half of a cup) with a piece of ham that is then filled with a vegetable and topped with an egg. The result is a perfect little package of scrumptiousness. This is a great idea if you are hosting a brunch for a group of people because you can make twelve at once in your muffin tin. Sara's recipe was for eggs baked with Sofrito which is a Latin American mixture of tomatoes, red bell pepper, onion, garlic and cilantro. I really liked her version, but I decided to try the eggs another way at home. I started by sauteeing spinach with a little diced shallot in olive oil. I put the spinach/shallot mixture in a bowl and added a few tablespoons of ricotta cheese and some shredded mozzarella and parmesan. I then filled my ham cup with the spinach mixture (don't overfill or your egg won't fit!) and cracked an egg on top and sprinkled the egg with more of the cheese. The result was fantastic! It was a little bit like an eggs benedict on creamed spinach. A cautionary tip for making this is to use a non-stick muffin tin if possible so the ham cup is easy to remove, or else spray your tin with cooking spray. I would also babysit the eggs while they are baking the first time you make this because it is very easy to overcook the eggs. I pulled the eggs out of the oven a few times to inspect them to make sure that the white was set.

Here is Sara's recipe:

Eggs Baked in Ham with Sofrito Ingredients: 1/2 large red bell pepper, coarsely chopped 1 small onion, coarsely chopped 1 large plum tomato, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup packed, rinsed and dried fresh cilantro leaves 4 garlic cloves, peeled 8 thin slices of Black Forest ham 8 eggs 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese crushed tortilla chips for garnish kosher salt and black pepper Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the bell pepper, onion, garlic, tomato, cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a food processor until smooth. It should look like salsa. Fit a slice of ham into each of the lightly oiled or sprayed muffin cups or mini souffle dishes (they must be able to hold about 1/2 cup) with the ends of the ham extending over the edges of the cups. Divide the sofrito among the cups, shaping a well in the center. Crack one egg into each well. Sprinkle each egg with a little salt and pepper and cheese.  Bake in the center of the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the whites of the eggs are set but the yolks are still runny. Carefully remove the eggs and ham from the muffin tin with a knife, spoon or small spatula. You may also be able to lift them out with your hands. Sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips and serve. Serves 4

Recipe courtesy of Sara Moulton

View Printable Version

Better Egg Salad

I don't know about you, but I have never been a huge fan of egg salad. Typically prepared with mostly just mayonnaise and chopped hard boiled eggs, I would always pass it over when contemplating a sandwich since it seemed like such an unhealthy option. Seeing those bins of it in the deli counter with a film over the top never helped the matter. However, I absolutely love deviled and hard boiled eggs, so I figured maybe I could try my hand at egg salad at home and come up with something that wasn't so scary. I love the result I came up with, I hope you do too!

3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced

1 heaping teaspoon mayo

1 heaping teaspoon whole grain mustard

1/2 teaspoon (or just a squirt) of lemon juice

1 teaspoon capers, drained of juice

dash of tobasco sauce

dash of cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together and serve on your favorite bread or on top of a salad. This makes enough for one very generous sandwich.

View Printable Version