leftover remix: ham and spinach quiche!

Since making quiche was a great way to use up the ham, I decided to make another quiche again. This time, I changed up the flavors and made it a bit more savory. I thought shallots and mushrooms would be a great combination as well as having spinach and parsley for some healthy greens. Also, just to firm the quiche up a little, I went ahead and upped the Bisquick to one full cup just for the sake of easier measuring. Why not, right?

I'm so happy the quiche turned out super yummy! It was slightly more denser than the first time I made it, but in a satisfying kind of way. Man, I'm really loving this recipe!

---- o o o o ---- 

Ham and Spinach Quiche
(adapted from Farm Eats, City Streets)

1 ½ cups diced cooked ham
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced and roughly chopped
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup low fat milk
½ cup fat free half and half
1 cup Bisquick baking mix
3 eggs
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp black pepper
kosher salt, to taste
1 tsp olive oil

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

In a large pan on high heat, saute mushroom and shallot in oil until browned. Add spinach and garlic and cook until spinach has wilted and excess moisture has evaporated. Remove from heat and season with a pinch or so of salt. Add ham then set aside.

Beat the milk, Bisquick, eggs, paprika, and black pepper until fairly smooth. Stir in parsley, cheese, and ham mixture. Pour into the prepared pie plate.

Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (about 35-40 minutes). Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

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!

---- o o o o ---- 

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!

---- o o o o ---- 

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.