EGGS!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We certainly did despite being far away from our family. We have become proficient at finding other orphans around the holidays and it makes for some good times. Several years ago Joel and I started a Thanksgiving tradition of having Wild Turkey with our dinner and this certainly makes for some interesting times not found at our family dinners back in Oklahoma. Perhaps they should and we would make it home more often...haha!
Just kidding, mom.

If you're like me you have an extra pie crust in the freezer begging to be used. I immediately thought of making a quiche (I'm all pied out). Hands down the best quiche recipe I've found comes from America's Test Kitchen which I modified only slightly because I had extra veggies on hand. This makes a great breakfast, lunch, or dinner and it's light enough that you won't feel too guilty eating it after the gluttony of Thanksgiving. I'm obsessed with goat cheese and it pairs so well with light and fluffy eggs that I couldn't resist, but you can put just about anything you want in your quiche, so be creative.

If you decide to go with leeks in your quiche I discovered a great trick to making sure your leeks are clean. Trim and dice the leek then place it in a large bowl of cold water and swish it around several times. The sand and dirt will fall to the bottom. Scoop out the leeks and strain in a large mesh strainer. Easy! And no grittiness that's easily missed trying to wash them before dicing.

Another trick, so you don't make a mess, is to place your pie shell with the veggies inside on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil directly on your oven rack before you add the eggs. This will keep you from spilling the liquid whilst moving it from the countertop to the oven. And don't be afraid not to use all your egg mixture. Once it reaches about a 1/2 inch from the rim STOP! I know you want to use all the eggs but please refrain. You'll thank me later.

Lastly, don't fully rely on the timer for doneness, once a toothpick inserted an inch from the rim comes out clean the quiche is ready to come out of the oven. It will finish setting in the center while it cools on your wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.



Goat Cheese, Leek, & Mushroom Quiche
Serves 6

2 medium leeks, washed and diced (green leaves trimmed and discarded)
1/2 cup mushrooms, washed and diced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cream
3/4 milk
2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper (white pepper works well here)
pinch of grated nutmeg
4 ounces goat cheese
One 9" pie crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat butter and olive oil in a pan. Add mushrooms and saute for 4-6 minutes until browned. Add leeks and cook for 5-6 minutes more. Set aside and let cool. Meanwhile, add cream, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to a large bowl and whisk until incorporated.

Place veggies at the bottom of pie shell and dot the goat cheese evenly around the pie. Place on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and place it directly on the oven rack. Add egg mixture until it's filled 1/2 inch below the rim.

Bake for 32-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted an inch from the rim comes out clean. Once done place on a wire rack and let the center finish setting. The longer it sets the easier it will be to slice cleanly. Serve warm or at room temperature.




I've had a hankering to cook food in wonton wrappers for the longest time so yesterday while grocery shopping I finally fulfilled my urge and put some in my shopping basket. So many come in a single package that I even considered devoting a year's worth of blogging to everything I could cook in its wrapper. Doesn't that sound fun!? Okay, maybe just to me.

These egg wontons are an amazing breakfast that look fancy but are actually quite easy to make. The ingredients you can use are limitless, so use whatever gets you going. You could also scramble your eggs before baking, but I love runny eggs more than anything, so that's how I cooked mine. And since the oven was already on I cut up some potatoes and we had quite a breakfast!

 

Wonton Egg Cups
serves 3-4

12 wonton wrappers
6 eggs
1/2 cup onions, sliced and caramelized
1 cup spinach
3 ounces goat cheese
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Caramelize onions on the stovetop, about 30-45 minutes. (If roasting potatoes this is a good time to get them in the oven). Spray muffin tin with cooking oil and place two wonton wrappers per cup, overlapping them so the points oppose each other. Distribute goat cheese evenly in the bottom of each cup. Place spinach in with the caramelized onions and cook just until the spinach begins to wilt. Place onions and spinach in each cup and carefully crack an egg over the filling, careful not to break the yolk. Alternatively, scramble 4 eggs with 2 tablespoons milk and distribute evenly. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake 12-15 or just until the white of the eggs set. It will continue to bake and cook while it cools. Serve warm.