Kale mushroom feta quiche

Mushroom, Kale Feta Quiche

By Rachel with help from Kass

Ingredients:

Olive oil or butter to sauté

1-2 bunch kale

One large onion

1 lb white mushrooms

1 ½ cups feta cheese

10 eggs 

1 cup milk

2 sheets puff pastry (or two pie crusts) 

Salt 

Pepper

Instructions

Sauté one bunch kale torn into smaller pieces removing center stem.

Dice and sauté an onion.

Slice and sauté mushrooms. 

Combine in bowl. 

crumble one block of feta into veggies mix

 In separate bowl whisk 5 eggs and a half cup milk. 

Add liberal amounts of pepper and a tsp salt. 

Mix with half the veggie mix. 

Do it again with the other half (5 eggs, half cup milk, salt, pepper). 

Get two pie pans use puff pastry as crust (just lay down a sheet). 

Pour in each mix into a pie pan, crumble half a block of feta on each quiche. 

Bake one at time at 400 for 45 min. Do fork test (come out clean). 

Yield is two quiches. 

Calzone – a pizza turnover

I got this recipe from an insert in the Seattle times way back when.  Julia Child had posted it in the Sunday section of the newspaper.  It called for a steamer and a food processor and a pizza stone.  None of which I had but started to slowly acquire them afterwards and have never been without the invaluable steamer and food processor.  This recipe really galvanized my entire cooking experience.  Just recently when going through old papers I came across a photocopy of the recipe and am committing it to the blog for the place it plays in my history.

Ingredients

Dough for three 12 inch disks

3 cups flour

1 package yeast

1/8 tsp sugar

½ cup tepid water

.75 cup cold milk

1.5 tsp salt

2 TBSP Olive Oil

Filling (per calzone)

1 sweet Italian sausage

1 fennel bulb

1 onion

1 medium red bell pepper

Garlic oil (1 garlic clove in 3 TBSP olive oil)

Salt pepper and lemon juice

Cheeses

            ¼ cup parmesan

            1/3 cup swiss

            1 ounce cheddar or swiss in long logs

Herbs

            Minced parsley

            Oregano

            Basil

            Thyme

Method

Make the yeast mixture, let stand 5 minutes

Into food processor add flour, salt and olive oil.

Process to blend

Then add yeast mixture and process a few times

Then dribble in milk till ball forms.  It might require more than ¾ cup.

Let dough rest for five minutes.

Turn out onto a floured board and kneed 50 strokes. 

Let it rest then kneed it 20 more times.

Let dough rise for 1.5 hours

Then divide the dough into thirds and let rest for then minutes.

As dough rises, steam and slice the sausage and vegetables.

Oven to 500 degrees.

Toss dough into three separate round disks, 12 inches in diameter

Paint dough with garlic oil in center of disk.  Leave ½ inch around edge free of oil.

Spread ingredients onto half the disk and then fold over and seal the edges.

Paint with garlic oil and use coarse salt on top of calzone. 

Bake on parchment paper, or corn meal on pizza stone.

Bake for six minutes till golden brown.

Sue Warner-Bean’ s Curry Chicken Salad

I got this from Nanci Zombro who got it from Sue Warner-Bean.  We made it for a worship in the park experience with John Knox church for 105 pita pocket sandwiches.  So many people asked for the recipe that I have added it to the blog!

Ingredients:

1 8oz Cream Cheese

¼ Cup Butter

2 tsp Curry Powder

1 clove Garlic, minced

½ Cup Major Grey’s Chutney, finely chopped

¼ Cup chopped nuts (any kind)

(Stop here for making a vegetarian version)

 8 to 12 ounces Cooked Chicken, finely chopped

Green Onions, chopped

Beat Cream Cheese and butter.  Add curry, garlic, chutney, and nuts.  If mixture is too thick you can add a small amount of sour cream or milk to thin it out a little.

Add chicken and green onions.   Beat until blended.

Serve immediately or cover with a damp paper towel and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Sue put  it on crustless bread that she added chopped nuts to all around the outside.  Nanci and I put it in a pocket pita.  The next tea party we do, we will try it Sue's way.

...

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons butter, divided

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup milk

2 cups diced cooked chicken

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups cooked rice

3⁄4 cup frozen peas, thawed

1 tablespoon dry breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk in flour and thyme and cook for 1 minute.

Gradually stir in broth and milk, stirring until thick and smooth.

Stir in chicken and add salt and pepper; set aside.

Grease a 1 1/2 quart shallow baking dish.

Spread rice in prepared baking dish, sprinkle with the peas and then pour creamed chicken mixture over.

Dot with remaining tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese which you mix together.

Bake at 400° until hot and bubbly, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Tiropita (Greek Cheese hand Pies)

Yield: 24 (3 inch) pies

Ingredients

For the Filling

8 oz feta cheese

3 oz ricotta or small curd cottage cheese

3 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

1 TBSP dried parsely

2 eggs

salt (as needed)

For the Pies

8 oz (24 sheets) phyllo dough, thawed

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the cheeses. Taste and add a pinch of salt as necessary.

3. Add the eggs and mix well.

To Make The Pies

1. Layer 3 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing melted butter in between each layer and brushing butter on top. (Be sure to keep the phyllo that you are not using under a lightly damp tea towel to keep them from drying out.)

2. Cut the phyllo stack into strips, roughly 3 inches wide.

3. Place 1 Tbsp of filling at one end of each strip of layered dough.

4. Starting at the filled end, bring the bottom corner up to the top, creating a triangle that encases the filling. Then, fold the triangle over. Then, fold the triangle down. Continue folding until the end of the dough is reached. Re-butter the end to ensure it sticks firmly.

5. Place the triangle on a baking sheet, seam-side down and brush the top with butter.

6. Continue with the remaining dough and filling.

7. Bake the triangles for 10- 12 minutes, until golden and puffy.

To Freeze For Later

1. Place the unbaked triangles on a baking sheet and freeze in a single layer. Once frozen solid, transfer them to an airtight bag or container.

2. Bake from frozen at 375 F for 15-25 minutes, or until golden.

Recipe from www.CuriousCuisiniere.com - Travel the world from your kitchen! -- Tiropita (Greek Cheese Pies) -

https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/tiropita/

PASTRY for Pasties

We made Pasties for a dinner at church and found this recipe.  We were not sure that it would work since it did not resemble anything we had tried before but it was perfect.

Ingredients

8 oz butter

10 oz hot water

2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 large free-range egg, beaten

1 handful medium ground cornmeal

Bring your butter and water to the boil in a large pan, then take the pan off the heat.

Stir the flour and salt into the mixture bit by bit with a spatula, until you’ve got a dough.

Tip it on to a floured surface and use your hands to shape it into a smooth ball.

Put the ball of dough into a floured bowl, dust the top with flour, then cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes while you make the filling.

Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour, then divide your pastry dough in half and roll each half out until it’s slightly thinner than ¼ inch.

Use a cereal bowl (See note below) (about 6 inches diameter) to cut 4 circles out of each half, so you end up with 8 circles. You may need to cut out 2 or 3 circles from each half first, then re-roll the remaining pastry to make the rest.

Dust the circles with flour, and spoon your filling into the middle of each one.

Brush the edges of the pastry with some of the beaten egg, then fold each circle in half over the filling and crimp the edges with your finger and thumb to seal them.

Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper, scatter a handful of cornmeal over the paper, and place your pasties on top.

Brush the pasties all over with more of the beaten egg and sprinkle over a little more cornmeal.

Bake in a 350 degree oven.

Pasties cook for 30 to 35 minutes

Alan Masterson and I went to Lowes hardware and bought an end cap for a six inch round metal end pipe.  We drilled a few holes in the end of it and it made the perfect round for cutting out pasties.

Linzer Schnitten (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

Grandma Sarah Guerrero used to make this every Christmas.  Danish roots?  I don’t know but we always loved it and our copy of Fannie Farmer looks like we have opened to that page a thousand times!  Enjoy!

3 eggs (Divided)

2 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp powdered cloves

1/4 tsp salt

grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

1 cup apricot preserves

Instructions

Beat 2 of the eggs until light. 

Gradually add 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the butter, blending well.

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together in a bowl and then stir into the wet ingredients.

Add the lemon rind and juice and mix well.

Turn dough onto a floured boards and knead until smooth. Cover with a bowl and let stand 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 375.  Roll out to 1/2 inch thick.  Cut into strips 1 1/2 x 10 inches.  Mark a groove down the center of each strip with the handle of a wooden spoon.

Fill the grooves with apricot preserves.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake 20 minutes.

Beat the remaining egg and sugar together, brush over the baked strips while still hot and cut into diagonal pieces.