leftover remix: garden ham quiche!

Happy New Years's Eve!

I can't believe that 2016 is almost here. Just a few short hours and we'll be welcoming another year! But with that being said, I do find it unbelievable that my nearest grocery store is already stocked for Valentine's Day. It's crazy . . . their New Years section was almost nonexistent. What is the world coming to?!

In my house, we're actually still going through Christmas leftovers. Since we cooked a lot for our Christmas feast, it stands to reason that we've been surviving on leftovers for the last few days. The game hens turned into our usual enchiladas, but the ham still has a ways to go.

What to do? Well, since it's around breakfast time, I figured that I would make something appropriate for this meal time. After googling "leftover ham ideas", a few recipe staples came up, including quiche. After changing my search to "ham quiche", I stumbled on this recipe that not only utilized ham, but a bunch of different other ingredients too. Well with the word "garden" in it, I couldn't possibly resist making this recipe!

What I really liked about this recipe was the fact that it was fairly easy to whip up. Plus, it had a good amount of vegetables and I didn't have to worry about making a crust. Again, super quick and easy and has a lot of room for add-in and changes. For my quiche, I added some sun-dried tomatoes for a little tartness and decreased the cheese to about half a cup (because I ran out, lol). I also used fat-free half ad half since I didn't have any milk. For the batter, I added parsley, some garlic powder, and a touch of paprika since I usually season my eggs that way.

I was so happy with how this turned out! The quiche itself had a pleasant density to it, probably due to the Bisquick. Flavor-wise, it was a good balance of ham versus veggie. The little bit of sun-dried tomatoes that dotted throughout the quiche gave it that tart and tangy tomato flavor every other bite. Although I had baked it a tad too long, the hubby even had seconds! That was a nice surprise, since he's not all that into quiches.

What a wonderful addition to the leftover remix rotation! This is a definite winner in my book!

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Ham and Broccoli Garden Quiche
(from Farm Eats, City Streets)

1 ½ cups diced cooked ham
2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets
½ cup chopped green onions
½ cup chopped green pepper
1 ¾ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 ½ cups milk
¾ cup Bisquick baking mix
3 eggs
¼ tsp black pepper

 
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a deep dish pie plate.

If using frozen, steam the broccoli in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Drain and cool. Otherwise, mix the ham, broccoli, onions, green pepper and cheese. Pour the mixture in the pie plate.

Beat the remaining ingredients (milk, Bisquick, eggs and black pepper) until it’s fairly smooth. Pour over the broccoli and ham mix in the pie plate.

Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (about 35-40 minutes). Remove from oven and brush with butter. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

christmas time poussin.

Merry Christmas!

Me and the hubby did another round of big cooking, but this time, sans extra people. At first, I thought that I would be weird to cook so much food for just the two of us, but I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it was. We had Christmas music blaring on the radio and me and the hubby were chatting and joking around the entire time. It felt nice and festive even though it was just the two of us. :)

Let me tell you, it was still a lot of work. We were in the kitchen for nearly four hours to create our Christmas feast! In the end though, It was totally worth it. We had some whiskey brown ham, green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, creamed corn, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a couple of game hens in lieu of turkey.

For the game hens, I decided to try out a recipe that called for pomegranate molasses. When I was back in San Diego, I picked up some Mid-Eastern essentials and a bottle of pomegranate molasses happened to be one of them. Since then, it's been sitting in the back of my pantry, waiting to be used.

When I made this recipe, I made the mistake of marinating this for just one hour. DON'T DO THAT. In order for this to be successful, it really needs to sit overnight. Otherwise, you'll get a nice tasting skin, but no flavor on the actual poultry itself. Also, I did a rookie mistake of not adding enough salt and pepper. So, again, season well people.

Other than that, this turned out well, I thought. If I had properly marinated them, this dish would've been kick ass! The sweet tartness of the molasses really worked with the cinnamon and allspice to make a really tasty flavor combination. And the honey made a beautiful glaze that makes it finger-lickin' good. Next time, I'm trying this on a whole turkey!

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Roasted Game Hen with Pomegranate, Honey, and Cinnamon
(slightly adapted from One Girl in the Kitchen)

2 game hens, butterflied and ribs removed
1/3 cup pomegranate molasses
2 cloves garlic, minced
cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, olive oil to taste
3 to 4 tbsp honey

 
Rinse the game hens and pat them dry them thoroughly on the inside as well. Mix the molasses with plenty of cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper and minced garlic. Pour the marinade over the hens and rub them so that the flavor gets everywhere. Let them rest in the refrigerator, covered with plastic, for at least 8 hours, turning them occasionally.

After this time, drain the hens from the marinade, sprinkle each one with salt and pepper, and tie their legs with kitchen twine. Arrange them chest side up on an greased baking pan, and bake at about 375 for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. At the end, brush them with the honey and bake 5 more minutes or until internal temp reads at 155F degrees. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes in order to reach a safe eating internal temperature of 165F degrees.

Serve each hen on a individual plate and garnish with fresh thyme sprigs and pomegranate seeds.

crustless wonder.

I was in the mood for some pie. I don't remember exactly what triggered the craving, but it was growing exponentially with each passing day. But just because I'm in the mood for pie doesn't mean I wanted to make it myself. Lazy much? Lol.

I think it's all the steps that goes into making a pie: Making the crust, doing the filling, then putting it all together. That's waaay too many steps to go through especially when I want it RIGHT NOW. So when I came across this Amish pie recipe, I was stoked! The pie looked interesting and easy enough to do. I had all the ingredients on hand, so what more could I ask for?

After blitzing this in the blender and pouring it in the pie dish, I was as curious to how this was going to turn out. Waiting patiently for 45 minutes and letting it cool until it was warm-ish, I cut into the pie and tasted it.

I had mixed feelings about the pie.

On one hand, I liked that it had an egg-custard-like texture to it but I was expecting something more like a velvety smooth Bavarian custard. And I don't know if I didn't blend it enough, but my pie turned out wet, like it wasn't blended properly or something and the eggs, milk, and butter didn't incorporate together fully. So, more blending maybe? The flavor was nice, although I wished it was a tad more sweeter.

So, would I make this again? Maybe. I'd probably tweak it a little so that I'd get a more smoother, velvety filling like that in the picture. And amp up the sugar a little. And add more coconut flakes. Hmmm . . . Looks like I might try another recipe for this pie. Damn, it had so many goo reviews too. :/

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Amish Crustless Coconut Custard Pie
(from Cookin' at Home)

2 cups milk, may use lower fat
4 large eggs
1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup granulated sugar
1⁄2 cup butter, room temperature
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 
Place all ingredients into a blender and mix well until smooth. Pour into a 9" deep dish pie pan-- during the baking process, the flour drops to form the crust and the remaining ingredients will form the filling.

Bake at 350F degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.

scales like a...potato?

We finally finished the leftovers! I love Thanksgiving, but I can only eat turkey and ham for so many days. By yesterday, I was ready to throw in the towel. So for tonight's dinner, I decided we needed to "detox" from all that heavy eating.

And what better way to do that than through fish?

I was looking for a recipe that not only looked fancy, but also something that would be fun to make. When I came across this potato-crusted fish, I knew that I had hit the jackpot. Whenever I made fish, It was either baked, pan-fried, or steamed. This recipe seemed interesting and easy enough to do. I wasn't too crazy about the refrigeration or the pan frying part though . . .

So, I decided to take a little leeway from the recipe. I started with using frozen fillets straight from the freezer. I read this tip a long time ago, which saved me on having to thaw the fish before being able to use it. Then, instead of pan frying, I decided to bake these suckers to cut down hands-on time. Also on the plus side, I would be able to cook all the fish in one go. Huzzah!

Another thing I changed was adding more ingredients to the mustard mixture. Tarragon sounded lovely, as well as parsley and citrus zest. To cut down on the fishiness of packaged fillets, I thought it would be a great idea to cook them on sliced citrus wedges and some parsley.

The result? A lovely flavored fish filet that has an incredible herby and citrusy flavor! The potatoes aren't potato-chip crispy, but has enough crunch around the edges to make them irresistible. I also like the fact that the citrus slices helped to avoid the fish from sticking to the pan. Served with a salad, this was the perfect meal to have after Thanksgiving leftovers!

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Potato-Crusted Fish
(adapted from Live. Laugh. Cook.)

2 to 3 frozen fish filets (like salmon, tilapia, cod, flounder, etc . . .)
1 to 2 red potatoes, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Dijon or favorite mustard
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp flat-leaf parsley, minced
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
zest from one lemon or orange
salt and pepper

handful flat-leaf parsley
1 lemon or orange, sliced

 
Preheat oven to 450F degrees.

Combine mustard, butter, olive oil, garlic, minced parsley, tarragon, and zest into a paste. Season with some salt and pepper then set aside.

On a foil-lined baking sheet, lay down two slices of citrus for every fish fillet used. Layer with a few sprigs of parsley.

Take a frozen filet and cover the bottom of the fish with some of the mustard mixture. Place on top of the parsley and citrus slices. After that, brush the top of the filet with additional mustard mixture then repeat process for the remaining fillets.

Take the potatoes and toss in the leftover mustard mixture and add olive oil to moisten, if necessary. Working one fillet at a time, arrange the potato slices in an overlapping pattern to cover the fish. Season lightly with salt and pepper then bake for 30 minutes or until the fish is done and the potatoes are crispy and tender.

Makes 2 to 3 servings.

leftover remix: ham eggs benedict!

Thankfully, our ham this year was considerably smaller than last year's, so that made ham leftovers manageable. Last year, we had to throw out about a third of the ham before it went bad. Besides sandwiches and snack meat, I had a hard time finding ways to use up one of our thanksgiving favorites.

Surprisingly, I found out that we didn't really eat ham outside of the sandwich realm. We went through the turkey a whole lot faster than we did the ham! So, to reduce the inevitable waste we were going to have with a twenty pound ham (for TWO people!!), I got creative with adding it into soups, casseroles, pasta, sides, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When all was said and done, we threw away about a third of the ham.

With all that experimenting, I forgot to make something that should have been a no-brainer for breakfast: eggs benedict! So this year, I made sure to whip up my favorite breakfast and make it a little fancy. For this thanksgiving remix, I topped english muffins with a generous schmearing of smokey chipotle mustard, a couple slices of farm fresh tomatoes, some creamy avocado, a few pieces of ham, a couple of perfectly poached eggs, and topped it off with my favorite mock hollandaise sauce.

Best. Breakfast. EVER.

leftover remix: asian turkey noodle soup!

I wanted to do something interesting with our leftover turkey but I'm torn. We're getting down to the last of it and I'm undecided whether or not to make it into some kind of casserole. It'll be easy to do and I'm sure there are billions of casserole recipes out there to try. Heck, even I've got a casserole recipe in my repertoire!

But I want to make something interesting out of it!

Call it vanity, but I kind of wanted to make something that was totally opposite of what the thanksgiving turkey originally tasted like. I wanted to change it's taste profile so that it would turn into some kind of wonderful. Lo, and behold, I got my inspiration!

Enter "Year of the Fish". I was in the mood for a fairytale and this movie intrigued me. So I settled in and watched it on Amazon (besides, who doesn't love a Cinderella story?). Well, there was a scene in the movie where they were eating soup and suddenly it hit me . . . let's make a turkey ramen!!

That got my juices flowing so right after the movie, I got to searching for a basic asian soup. I didn't want it to be too complicated; just simple and classic ingredients. I ended up using a recipe from Martha Stewart, of all people. I'm not really a big fan of hers, but I found that this was exactly the kind of soup I was looking for.

This turned out exactly how I wanted it to. It was your basic broth, heavy on the ginger, and with the unmistakable hint of turkey. I wanted this to primarily be a ramen-esque type of soup so there's more noodle than meat. Why rice noodles? Because that's what I had on hand. Next time, I would probably go with an egg noodle since i prefer that to the taste of the rice ones. Other than that, I thought this experiment turned out pretty good!

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Scallion-Ginger Broth with Turkey and Rice Noodles
(slightly adapted from Martha Stewart)

1 tsp vegetable oil
4 scallions, chopped with white and green parts divided
1-inch piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minched
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 (4.5oz) ramen-size block of rice noodles
1/4 cup matchstick carrots
1/4 cup lightly shredded turkey

 
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add scallion whites, ginger, and garlic; cook, stirring, until scallions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add broth and fish sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until flavors are blended, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, rice noodles, and turkey then continue simmering until noodles are done. Garnish with additional carrots and scallion greens.

leftover remix: turkey enchiladas!

The hubby and I were looking forward to turkey day this year. Man, oh, man, the good thing about people not eating the turkey was having so much leftovers! Why? to make turkey enchiladas, of course! This dish is soooo freakin' tasty and is a great alternative to casserole or sandwiches.

For Thanksgiving this year, the hubby decided to forgo the usual canned cranberry sauce and decided to make a huge batch of cranberry salsa. We made this salsa last year when we experimented making enchiladas using our usual recipe. Since he didn't have a high tolerance for spicy heat, we opted for pablano peppers for a milder salsa to keep the flavor or chiles but without the mouth-burning heat of jalapenos. Turns out, that was a great idea!

You would think that the Mexican flavors of the enchilada would clash against the festive flavors of cranberry and turkey. In actuality, it actually blends together with the turkey and the tart cranberry salsa is perfect with the pablano and cilantro. If Thanksgiving had a Latin version, this would be it!

I can see a pattern developing here, lol. Right when I started packing up the turkey, he asked whether of not we were going to have enchiladas the next few days. I can see why he loves it so much. Not only is this good, but it's so festive looking on a plate! Heck, even on sad paper plates, this looks super tasty! Huzzah for leftover turkey!

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Turkey Enchiladas with Cranberry Salsa
(adapted from Laura's Best Recipes and Food Network)

For the Salsa:
1 (12.oz) bag fresh cranberries, divided
1 cup sugar
zest from a large orange
2 tbsp water
1/2 pablano pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

For the Enchiladas:
extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups turkey broth
handful chopped cilantro leaves
2 (14.oz) cans green or red enchilada sauce
3 cups shredded turkey
3 rounded tbsp chopped green chiles
6 large flour or corn tortillas
1 to 2 cups Mexican cheese blend
salt and pepper, to state

light sour cream
chopped tomatoes
finely chopped romaine lettuce
shredded cheese blend

 
Make the salsa:
Empty bag of cranberries into saucepan and reserving 1 1/2 cups to a small bowl. Add sugar, zest, and water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves and cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and stir in 1/2 cup reserved cranberries. Add sugar, then salt and pepper to taste.

Chop remaining 1 cup cranberries in a food processor and add to cranberry sauce. Stir in pablano pepper, lime juice, honey, and salt. Let cool to room temperature then stir in cilantro. Set aside.

Make the enchiladas:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and ancho chile powder then cook for a further minute. Sprinkle on flour and stir to ensure flour doesn't burn.

Gradually add stock to make a sauce. Continue stirring over low simmer until flour cooks and liquid thickens. Add green chiles, chopped cilantro, and shredded turkey. Stir in 2 tbsp of enchilada sauce and continue to cook until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Mixture should be thick, but not runny.

Take a large foil-lined baking pan and lightly coat with cooking spray. Cover the bottom of the pan with a light layer of enchilada sauce. Take a tortilla and briefly toast both sides on a griddle pan. Put a scoop (about 1/2 a cup) of the shredded turkey mix on top of the tortilla. Fold the tortilla over the filling and roll like a cigar to enclose it. Place the rolled tortilla in the baking dish and repeat for the remaining tortillas.

With the remaining enchilada sauce, pour in between and over tortillas then top with shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese has melted. Serve topped with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream with cranberry salsa on the side.