Spicy Sausage Asparagus Quiche

Spicy Sausage Asparagus Quiche

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 90 mins Total time: 1 hour 45 mins

Every bite of this Spicy Sausage Asparagus Quiche is pure comfort. The asparagus and herbs balance the dish making it fresh and bright. TABASCO® Sauce enlivens the flavors of this classic brunch recipe and Smithfield Fresh Breakfast Sausage makes this quiche next-level delicious.

Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com

Serving: 9" Quiche

Ingredients

1½ lbs (or 5 medium) russet potatoes

12 oz Smithfield Fresh Breakfast Sausage, Hometown Original

½ medium onion, finely diced

6 large eggs, divided

1½ cups half and half

1 cup Mexican Cheese blend

2 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped

1 Tbsp dill, finely chopped

2 tsp TABASCO® Sauce

1½ tsp sea salt, divided

½ tsp black pepper, divided

¼ tsp garlic powder

8 oz asparagus, ends removed and cut into thirds

Instructions

Prep:

1 Preheat oven to 425˚F. Generously butter a 9" pie dish.

How To Make Sausage Asparagus Quiche

1 Peel and grate potatoes and squeeze out excess moisture with your hands then squeeze dry with 2 paper towels. Transfer dried potatoes to mixing bowl and add 1 egg, 1 tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper. Quickly stir together until well combined then press into the buttered pie dish, molding the potatoes evenly over the bottom and all the way up the sides of the dish. Bake right away uncovered at 425˚F for 30 min. Remove from oven and decrease temperature to 350˚F.

2 Meanwhile in a large skillet over medium/high heat, add Smithfield Fresh Breakfast Sausage and sauté just until cooked through (5 mins). Add diced onion and sauté 5 min or until golden and sausage is starting to brown. Remove from heat and let cool while making egg mixture.

3 In a large mixing bowl, combine 5 eggs, 1½ cups half and half, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp garlic powder, and 2 tsp TABASCO® Sauce** then whisk together until combined. Stir in 1 cup cheese, 2 Tbsp parsley, 1 Tbsp dill and the cooked sausage mixture. Pour mixture over prepared potato crust

NOTE:  5 MEDIUM POTATOES FOR THE CRUST ARE WAY TOO MANY. I probably used 1 1/2 large potatoes to make the crust for a deep dish glass pie pan.  The volume of the filling was accurate.  Charlie and I both liked this a lot.

Pizza Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

PIZZA QUINOA STUFFED PEPPERS

yield: SERVES 5 total time: 1 HOUR 5 MINUTES prep time: 20 MINUTES cook time: 45 MINUTES

These Pizza Quinoa Stuffed Peppers have all the flavor and goodness of pizza…in a bell pepper! Pretty, delicious, and (mostly) healthy.

In case Charlie does not care for stuffed peppers, I put some filling on some French bread split lengthwise and hollowed out.

2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa

3.15 ounce package of sliced pepperoni, slices cut into quarters

8 ounces of perline (pearl) mozzarella, liquid drained

3/4 cup pizza sauce

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil, more for garnish

8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, roughly chopped

2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

5 red bell peppers, sliced in half and hollowed out

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except parmesan cheese and bell peppers.

Meanwhile, place red pepper halves in boiling water and cook for three minutes. Remove and let cool so that you can handle them.

Fill pepper halves with quinoa mixture and place in a large baking dish (9×13 or bigger). Repeat until all pepper halves are full. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over the top and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and peppers are heated through. Enjoy immediately

If you can’t find pearl mozzarella you can cut up any type of fresh mozzarella into small pieces.

Ribs in the smoker with potato salad and sourdough bread.

Smoked ribs, potato salad and sourdough bread

POTATO SALAD

RICH DAVIS, KCSMAG MAY 1998(Note Rich Davis is creator of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce)

1 1/2 LB RED POTATOES 1 1/2  tsp CAVENDER’S SEASONING

2-15ounce CANS CHICKEN BROTH 1 T. CHOPPED PARSLEY

2/3 C. CHOPPED RED ONION 1 1/4 C. MAYONNAISE

2 C. MINCED CELERY 1 1/2 T DIJON MUSTARD

1/3 C. MINCED GHERKINS OR SWEET SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

PICKLES PINCH PAPARIKA

4 EGGS, HARD COOKED AND CHOPPED

WASH AND CUT THE POTATOES INTO 3/4 INCH PIECES.  PLACE THE POTATOES IN THE BROTH AND SIMMER 15 MINUTES, OR UNTIL THE POTATOES ARE TENDER BUT STULL FIRM.  ADD ONE FREEZER TRAY OF ICE CUBES AND ALLOW THE POTAOTES TO COOL IN THE BROTH AND THEN REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT.  DRAIN THE POTATOES AND DRY THEM WELL IN A TEA TOWEL.

IN A BOWL, MIX TOGETHER THE REST OF THE INGREDIENTS, THEN GENTLY FOLD IN THE POTATOES.  DECORATE WITH PAPRIKA.

Sourdough bread

1 1/3 Cup water

1 Cup sourdough starter

1 T. sugar

1 T. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2/3 T. instant yeast

enough flour to make a soft dough.

Add water and starter with sugar and soda. Mix salt and yeast with a cup of flour and add to beater bowl with water and starter.  Beat with whisk for about a minute. Switch to bread hook and add flour a little at a time until it forms a ball around the bread hook and does not  stick to the bottom of the bowl.  Allow the dough hook to knead the bread for a few minutes.

Remove to board and knead. If it seems a little dry, wet your hands and knead it until softens. If it is sticky, knead in a little flour until if feels right.  Put in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.  Punch down, shape into two long loaves and place then on a double french bread pan.  Allow to rise for a couple hours, slash three times at an angle, brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds and bake at 430.  After ten minutes, when the crust is set, insert the probe of a thermometer and remove from the oven when it reaches 190º.

 The store had spare ribs @ $3.50 per pound and St. Louis rigs @ $5.00/lb.  Spare ribs are the same as St. Louis ribs with about a pound to a pound and a half of extra meat. I got the spare ribs with the intent of trimming of the extra meat and grind it up to make sausage but at the last minute, I decided to smoke the whole slab instead.

Ribs 

 Trim spare ribs or get them already trimmed as St. Louis ribs.  Remove membrane and hard fat. Sprinkle with rub made with the following.

2 tablespoons sugar 

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon black pepper

Wrap in plastic, then foil and refrigerate overnight.  Heat smoker to 240- 250 with apple wood and charcoal. and add water to pan for moisture.  Place ribs in smoker and smoke for 3 hours, spritzing with apple or orange juice after 2 hours. At 3 hours, brush with bacon fat mixed with Horizon BBQ sauce.  After 30 minutes, turn and brush the other side. After 4 hours, if done, remove, let set 10 minutes and serve.

Steamed Salmon with fennel and citrus

This is a recipe I saw in the most recent issue of Fine Cooking, by Marcus Samuelsson.

I didn't have all the ingredients and didn't want to try to find them because the places they might be are not close-by nor are they near to each other.  I used mussels instead of  Manila clams and fish stock instead of miso and clam juice.

Steamed Salmon with Fennel and Citrus.

FOR THE SALMON

1 lar. bulb, fennel
1/4 cup matchstick cut fresh ginger
2 7oz. skinless center cut salmon
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt
2 3/4 tsp Asian sesame oil
1/2 medium lemon
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilanto

FOR THE FENNEL, CITRUS, AND CLAMS

1 C. dry white wine
1 small grapefruit, segmented and membranes juiced
1 medium blood orange, same as grapefruit
1 medium orange, same as grapefruit
1/2 c. clam juice
1 tbs. white mise
1 tbs rice wine
1 tbs. fish sauce
1/2 cockles or Manila clame
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
2 Tbs.coarse chopped fresh mint
1 medium scallion, cut into 2-inch long slivers for garnish.

Steam the salmon

place the tops and tough outer layers of the fennel in the bottom of a wok. Add half of the ginger with  some water in the bottom and put a steamer rack on top.  Brush the salmon with sugar, pepper flakes and salt.  Drizzle with sesame oil and steam for about 8 minutes.  Let set for 10 minutes and brush with a little more sesame seed oil and garnish with cilantro.

Steam the clams for 5 to 6 minutes in wine, citrus from squeezed citrus juices from segments, clam juice, miso, vinegar, fish sauce and squeeze of lemon juice plus the lemon.

Cook the fennel in oil in skillet until soft and browned a little (8 minutes) add the papriks, salt and pepper. remove from heat and fold in citrus sections.  Save a few sections for garnish.

serve clams in bowl with some broth, the fennel on top and the salmon on top of that.. Garnish with rest of ginger, nint, scallion and some of the citrus segments.

I also served it with some medium grain rice.

Vietnamese Chicken Wings and stir fry veggies.

Vietnamese Golden Chicken Wings

12 chicken wings, tips removed and wings cut in half at joint 

2 cloves cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped 

1/2 onion, cut into chunks 

1/4 cup soy sauce 

1/4 cup Asian fish sauce 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

2 tablespoons sesame oil 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

1 tablespoon garlic powder 

1 tablespoon white sugar

Place the chicken wings, garlic, and onion into a large bowl. Pour in soy sauce, fish sauce, lemon juice, and sesame oil. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and sugar; toss together until well coated. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours to overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with aluminum foil.

Remove wings from marinade, reserving extra. Arrange wings in a single layer over bottom of prepared dish. Bake in preheated oven, turning once and brushing with reserved marinade, until deep, golden brown and meat juices run clear, approximately 30 minutes.

Vegetables : broccoli, snap peas and carrots stir fried until tender and then tossed with hoisin sauce and teriyaki sauce and a little salt.  We also had Asian brown rice and kimchi

Steak, broiled tomato and baked potato

Steak dinner for me but Charlie had his with rice, kimchi, seaweed and Yum Yum Sauce instead 

The tomato was halved, cored, salted and peppered, butter and bread crumbs added and broiled for about 3 minutes. Steak was cooked by heating a cast iron skillet to 500 in the oven then putting the skillet on a hot stove, put the oiled and salted steak in the skillet for 39 seconds per side, then back into the oven for 2 minutes per side.  

This is my regular sourdough bread but instead of two small loaves like usual, I put it all in one bread pan.  I had to tent it to keep it from getting too brown while it was cooking.

Beef Stifado

I used beef tenderloin butt instead of veal or osso bucco.  The store I shopped at today had neither of those.  I used an Italian brand of crushed tomatoes instead of passata and red bell peppers instead of whole pimentos and served an Asian brown rice, and the Stifado was cooked in an Instant Pot.

GREEK

Beef Stifado

A family favourite passed down through the generations, this classic Greek casserole teams slow-cooked osso bucco with a rich, herbaceous tomato sauce.

SERVES 4-6 PREPARATION 15 MIN COOKING 1 h r30 MIN SKILL LEVEL EASY

By Sofia Christopoulos

Ingredients

4large pieces of beef osso bucco (substitute with 6 small, you can also use veal)

20 whole small onions, peeled (I use pickling onions)

7–8 garlic cloves 

3 small sprigs rosemary

4 small bay leaves (substitute with 2 large)

6 whole pimento (actually means whole allspice berries)

5 whole cloves

2 whole nutmeg, halved (substitute with ½ tsp ground nutmeg)

⅓ cup  white vinegar

1 tbsp salt

14.5 oz tomato passata

4 tbsp tomato paste 0.17

½ cup olive oil 4.5 C.

¼ tsp black pepper 

steamed rice (to serve)

Cook's notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Instructions

You will need a good quality large pot with a lid. I use a Chassuer cast iron pot. 

Mix tomato paste with vinegar, set aside.

Start layering the ingredients in your cast iron pot. First, place the meat on the base, then the onions, followed by the garlic, spices and salt and pepper.

Add the tomato passata, vinegar with tomato paste and oil.

Top with the bay leaves and fresh rosemary sprigs.

Cover pot with a lid and put on a medium heat for a few minutes to warm up, then turn the heat down to a low simmer for 1½ hours. Do not open the lid or stir at all. Every 30 minutes just give the pot a gentle shake.

Meanwhile, prepare your rice. I cook mine using the absorption method, which is 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. To make, put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium-size pot on a medium heat. Once the oil starts to heat up, add the rice. When the rice tips start to become translucent, add the water. Turn the heat to low and put the lid on. After 10 minutes, check the rice to see if the water is fully absorbed. Once cooked, turn the heat off and put the lid back on to keep warm.

After 1½ hours check the meat. If it is not falling apart, put the lid back on and cook for a further 30 mins. Once the meat looks ready, turn the heat off and serve your stifado with rice.

Apple sourdough bread rolls.

Since Charlie is taking a long weekend vacation in Colorado with friends from work, I am not cooking much. I made some apple sourdough bread rolls but all I made with the one I ate is a bun for a hamburger.

Apple Sourdough Bread Rolls

Makes 6 small bread rolls

110g sourdough starter (100% hydration)-3.88 oz
220g grated apple (2 medium size apples, peeled and finely grated)
300g flour (2/3 AP white + 1/3 wholemeal)-10.5822 oz
1 tbsp salt

In a large bowl mix together the sourdough starter, the grated apple and the flours. On a work surface knead the dough for 8 minutes. Add the salt and knead for two additional minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and leave it to rest at room temperature for 8 hours or overnight in a greased bowl covered with cling wrap. Remove the dough from the bowl and on a lightly flour dusted surface divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. To shape each piece, bring the four corners in the centre and pinch. Take the piece in your palm dusted with flour and twist the centre. Place each piece face down (pinch side down and smooth side up) on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Be sure to position the rolls on the baking paper so that they fit into the dimension of your baking/pizza stone. Let them rest for one hour and a half (covered with a clean tea towel). Preheat oven to 240°c with the baking/pizza stone and the dripping pan inside. Prepare 250ml hot water in a jug with a pouring spout. With a blade slash a cross on the top of each piece. Slide the baking paper directly on the baking stone and then cautiously pour the hot water in the dripping pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until nice and golden. Remove from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.