Corn and Pepper Quiche

Corn and Pepper Quiche

Ingredients
1 Crust (recipe below)
3 ½ oz frozen corn (¾ cup)
3 ½ oz leek, white part only, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
3 large eggs
1 cup half-and-half
6 oz roasted red bell pepper, chopped (see note)
4 oz roasted poblano pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 lb cheddar cheese
½ tsp Mexene chili powder

Directions

Make the crust and chill at least an hour.

Slice very thin slices of cheese to layer on the crust. This will create a barrier to prevent the crust from getting soggy when serving. Shred the remaining cheese
Sauté the corn kernels and chopped leek in the butter until tender. Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and half-and-half. Add the sautéed corn and leeks, the red and poblano pepper, shredded cheese, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Press the chilled Crust dough into a pie pan or tart pan to form a uniform ¼-inch crust. Bake, covered with foil and pie weights, for 15 minutes, or until firm and light golden brown. Remove Crust and Raise oven temp to 450 F.

Remove from the oven and remove weights and foil. Sprinkle with half the cheddar. Pour in the filling. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar.  Bake 15 minutes at 450 F. Reduce heat to 350, bake 20 to 30 min until the egg sets.

Makes 8 servings.

Crust Recipe:
Grind a 3 ½ oz bag of Fritos corn chips into a meal to make ¾ cup. Pulse meal, ¾ cup (3 ½ oz) all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Pulse in 5 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces, until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add 1 egg and pulse until the dough forms a ball. Press flat and chill wrapped in plastic at least 1 hour.

Note: To roast a red pepper, hold over flame or under broiler long enough to char it all over. Transfer to a brown paper bag; seal and let it rest 10 minutes, or until it’s cool enough to handle. Peel and seed.

Baked Falafel

Baked Falafel

Makes eight 1/3 cup sized Falafels

1 15oz can Chick Peas (drained)

8oz Yellow Onion, chopped (half of a very large one)

1/2 cup fresh Parsley

2 cloves Garlic, minced fine

2 eggs

2 tsp ground Cumin

1 tsp ground Coriander

1 tsp Salt

1/8 tsp Black Pepper

1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Lemon Juice (vinegar may be substituted)

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 cup dry Bread Crumbs

Preheat oven to 400F with rack in the middle position.

In a food processor, puree Chickpeas until they are broken apart and in small bits.

Add Onion, Bread Crumbs and Parsley and process more, until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

In a separate container beat eggs with all remaining ingredients, then pour into processor.

Puree until the whole mixture is moist and evenly distributed.

Apply Cooking spray to 8 spaces in a muffin tin made for large muffins.

Evenly spoon the mixture into the 8 muffin spaces.

Bake 30 minutes, switching the oven to broil during the last 10 minutes to help the tops brown a little more.

These look best served upside down. Serve alone or on a salad.

Vegetable Lasagna

Time consuming, but absolutely worth it. Even meat eaters will find this delicious.

Vegetable Lasagna

Make in a 9x13in casserole dish

1/4 cup   Olive Oil

6 oz         Onions, small dice (half of a large yellow onion will give you this amount)

6 cloves of Garlic, chopped

1              Red Bell Pepper, small dice

8 oz         Mushrooms, sliced

1 small    Zucchini, medium dice

1 small    Yellow squash, medium dice

8oz          Tomatoes, diced (roma tomatoes do well)

1/2 tsp    Salt

1/2 tsp    Black Pepper

                Cheese mixture:

1 lb          Ricotta

2              Eggs

8oz          Parmesan, grated

3.8oz can Black Olives, sliced

1/2 tsp    Red Pepper flakes

1/2 tsp    Salt

1/2 tsp    Black Pepper

12 oz       Mozzarella, shredded

1 box       Fresh Basil Leaves, chopped fine (small plastic box from the produce section)

1 TBSP Parsley

32oz    Tomato Sauce for Pasta (Classico brand is fine)

12 No-Boil Lasagna noodles. 3 sheets should be able to cover the casserole dish. DeLallo brand is a good one

Whisk together all cheese mixture ingredients in a bowl and set aside to await assembly of the lasagna.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wide pot at medium-high heat.

Sauté The onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Add bell peppers, and sauté 2 minutes.

Add mushrooms and sauté until their juices have evaporated. Add zucchini and yellow squash and sauté 2 minutes or until they are tender. Add diced tomato and stir only until the tomatoes are hot. Add salt and pepper and remove from heat.

To assemble the lasagna:

Coat the bottom of the dish with a thin layer of sauce- just enough to keep the pasta moist.

Build a layer:

                Place 3 sheets of pasta in the dish, forming the first pasta layer.

                Spread 1/3 of the Cheese Mixture over the pasta.

                Spread 1/3 of the Vegetable Mixture over the Cheese Mixture

                Spread 1/4 of the Mozzarella over the Vegetable Mixture and sprinkle with basil                    and parsley

                Top the layer with 1/4 of the remaining tomato sauce

Make 3 layers in total, then cover with the last 3 noodles, the last 1/4 of the mozzarella and 1/4 of the tomato sauce.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 90 minutes at 350F.

Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes to brown the top.

Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes before slicing.

Tortilla Española

Makes 4 servings

A very traditional dish from Spain. It is so tasty, my dislike of eggs doesn’t really apply.

Don’t worry about all the oil, a lot of it will be drained after cooking. You can filter it with a paper towel and save for future use. (the filtered oil works fine for onion paste from the Tikka Masala recipe)

12oz Russet Potatoes, skinned, sliced extremely thin (1/8in or thinner)

8oz Onion, minced

4 Large Eggs

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Salt

1/8 tsp Cumin

1 cup Olive Oil

This is most easily done with 2 nonstick skillets: a medium-large one for frying the onions and potatoes, and a small one ( 8in) for cooking the actual tortilla.

Beat Eggs, Pepper, Salt, & Cumin in a large mixing bowl (a 2 quart bowl will work fine)

Set stove heat on medium.

Pour a little Oil in the large skillet, evenly arrange Onion, and sliced Potato.

Pour additional Oil in the pan until most of the Potato layer is submerged.

Fry for about 20 to 25 min, stirring occasionally. Take off the heat when some of the potatoes begin to brown.

Remove Potatoes and Onions, and place on paper towels to soak up excess oil.

Preheat small skillet on medium heat with a small amount of oil.

Stir Potatoes and Onions into egg mixture a little bit at a time so that every piece of potato is covered.

When skillet is hot, pour in the Egg mix with Potato and Onion and spread evenly in the pan, pressing down the top so it is flat.

Cook 5 minutes, occasionally wiggling the skillet handle back and forth to ensure the tortilla isn’t sticking.

Now, the flipping:

Place a plate upside down on the skillet. (the plate must be larger than the skillet)

Lift skillet and plate, holding one hand against the plate. Flip the tortilla over onto the plate. Return the skillet to the stove, and carefully push the tortilla off the plate into the skillet to cook the other side. Cook another 5 minutes.

If you like egg a little rare, serve now. If not, flip again and cook another 3 minutes.

After removing from skillet, let cool about 5 minutes, cut into 4 slices and serve.