Spinach Quiche

This is a lovely dish that can be made for any occasion. I like to take it to parties because it is tasty and transports easily. It is also great for Easter but can be served any time.

Quiche is a custard like mixture of cream, eggs, cheese along with vegetables in a shell of savory pastry dough. According to records, it originated in Lorraine, medieval Germany. It was called Kuchen that was made with eggs, cream and lard baked into a primitive base made with flour, water and salt. Along the history, Loraine became part of France when cheese was added and became Quiche as we know it today. I can easily see people in villages coming up with this dish. Just throw a little bit of eggs and some cream into a pie shell along some vegetables and meat and there is a fabulous dish that makes a meal.

This is not just any old quiche recipe. The pie shell is from Martha Stewart cookbook. It is her pie shell recipe that she uses for her fall pies but it works great here as well. The filling is my creation.

Make sure you get the best quality cheese you can find or afford. Your dish will surely benefit from it. I use French or Midwestern cheeses.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS FOR THE DOUGH

1 ¼ cup flour
pinch of salt
8 T (1 stick) cold butter
7 Tbsp of icy water or more if needed

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING

1 lb vegetables I used spinach but you can use many others like asparagus, nettle, chard, broccoli etc. -chopped.
4 oz mushrooms like white bottom or crimini, chopped
3 slices of bacon (omit if prepared for vegetarians)
2 cloves of garlic
200 gram of feta cheese (crumpled into small pieces)
½ cup milk
½ cup cream
1/8 tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp tarragon (crumpled between the fingers)
3 whole eggs (lightly beaten)
200 gram graded cheese like Gruyere, Parmesan, divided. Leave some for the top.

PREPARATION

Chill water in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 F.

MAKING THE SHELL

Add the salt to the flour and mix it with the butter quickly in a food processor or with your finger tips.
Add the chilled water and mix quickly until there is a nice ball.
Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
Take it out of the fridge. Using a rolling pin quickly roll it out into a circular shape so it fits the dish you use to bake the dough in. Set it into the dish. You can press down into the dish so it fits snugly.
Put it into the fridge for another hour.

PREPARE THE FILLING

Fry up the bacon for 5 minutes in in some oil. Add the spinach and continue to cook for 5 more minutes.
Sauté the mushrooms in a separate dish. Add to the spinach mixture.
Put in this mixture in a medium sized bowl. Add the crumbled feta, whisked eggs, milk , cream, black pepper, nutmeg, tarragon. Mix.

PREPARE THE CAKE

Put the mixture in the pastry shell.
Grade some cheese on the top.
Now it is ready to be put into the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until done. When the blade of a knife comes out clean, it is ready.
Let cool. Serve warm.

enjoy!

Source

Martha Stewart

Text and photo by Twincitiesherbs.

Kitchari recipe

Kitchari! A nourishing vegetarian dish to make in the winter or the summer … whenever you are looking for something easy to digest.

Now that the holidays are over, our bodies want to have a little break from all the rich, heavy foods. However, spring isn’t here yet so we can’t eat all the lovely seasonal vegetables. In fact, spring is nowhere in site, just the past week it was -40F here in the Midwest. Even if the prediction of the groundhog is correct, spring won’t start until April here. Many people start dieting now, removing nourishing foods from their diet but most fail because it is just too early. So what can we do?

I like to turn to the ancient Ayurveda cooking, in other words Indian cuisine! Most people associate Indian foods with something exotic. Yes, some of their dishes can be foreign to us, but their nourishing dish, the Kitchari can be made any time, anywhere and surely by anybody. Really, Indians make it on a regular basis, serve it during holidays with the rich foods to help their digestion and even give it to sick people to recover from an illness. It is an inexpensive dish that millions eat on a daily basis in India. I asked my Ayurveda teacher if we could eat it during the cold season. She said yes even when it is -40F – just add the warming spices like ginger, cumin, and hot pepper. You can serve local vegetables like carrots, spinach, kale, cauliflower, onions etc. Of course, it would go nicely with some Indian rice and roti.

This is a very healthy dish. Usually, Ayurveda practitioners advice their clients to eat kitchari if they have any acute or chronic issues. It just does amazing things… The three spices turmeric, cumin, coriander are used along with the mung beans. The kitchari diet should last for 1 week when one is only allowed to eat kitchari, rice, grains and vegetables. Of course all the fried foods, fried vegetables, paneer have to be left out. Mung beans are used but if you can get the yellow split moong beans, they are even better as they are easier to digest.

Recipe

Kitchari Ingredients

2 tsp of ghee (I use home-made)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp of whole cumin seeds
1 cup of split mung dal (yellow) – soak for at least 4 hours
½ tsp salt
about 4 cups of water or chicken stock
1 inch of fresh minced ginger root, finally chopped
black pepper
cilantro to taste
yogurt
lemon

Indian rice Ingredients

1 cup white Basmati rice
2 cups water or meat stock
2 tsp ghee (homemade the best)
1 tsp cumin seeds
little piece of cinnamon
pinch of saffron (8-10 strings)
1/2 tsp salt
¼ tsp little turmeric

Preparations

Clean and soak mung beans overnight but soak at least for 2 hours.
Discard water and use fresh cold water to cook the beans. Cook for 1/2 hour.
Making the gravy. Saute the onions on medium high heat. When you smell the nice aroma of the onion, add the ginger, cumin seeds stir and cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and the powders (turmeric, cumin, coriander), stir for 1 minute.
Add 1/4 cup of cold stock or water. Stir.
Add 1 cup chopped tomato and cook for about 5-10 minutes until it becomes saucy.
Add chopped carrots and other vegetables.
Bring to a boil, turn down and cook for 30 minutes.
Add in the cooked mung beans and cook for 15 more minutes or until done.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with rice, roti, cilantro and lemon.

Indians cook the dish with the rice. I personally like to serve the rice on the side and prepare separate.

Enjoy!

Traditional Hungarian stuffed cabbage (töltött káposzta)

I don’t think it is an accident that stuffed cabbage is a Christmas dish. You can surely serve it any time but it is the perfect dish for the holidays.

I smile every time I remember my daughter’s reaction. She was three years old when she saw stuffed cabbage on the Christmas table and screamed ‘YUCKY’. However, after she tried it, she realized how delicious it was. Ever since then, she makes sure that stuffed cabbage is on the Christmas menu.

Stuffed cabbage is a popular winter dish in Hungary even though our ancestors didn’t make it. It is a dish that was taken from the Turkish cuisine. They called it szárma from the Turkish word sarmak, then the Hungarians added their own twist to it. Today, many of us can’t imagine Christmas without it. My mom made it every year.

I don’t think it is an accident that stuffed cabbage is a Christmas dish. You can surely serve it any time of the year but it is the perfect dish for the holidays. In the old days, families butchered their pigs and the meat was ready to be used by around this time. Also, there weren’t too many vegetables available except for a few like cabbages and onions. Not to mention that the dish can be kept in the cold for a couple of days. In fact, it tastes the best after a few days. This was an important consideration, too. Christmas went on for days back in the old times. Also, according to traditional customs, people were not allowed to work during the celebrations.

The recipe is not too difficult, though it is time-consuming. Just remember you won’t have to cook for 3 days afterwards! There are many variations of this recipe but this is how I make it. Please feel free to experiment with it.

RECIPE

Makes about 18 rolls

INGREDIENTS

Meat stock:

1 -2 lb of beef bones (ox tail and beef bone)
2-3 Tbsp of black pepper corn. I like to add a lot of peppercorns because they give a really nice flavor to the dish.
water
4 bay leaves
3 carrots
2 parsnips
1 large onions
few cloves garlic
2 celery stalk or 1 medium sized celery root

For the cabbage rolls:

high quality oil (lard, sunflower seed oil)
1 1/4 lb of ground pork (can be half beef)
oil
1/4 cold water
1 larger onion, chopped
2 slices of bacon, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 lb of sauerkraut, drained, divided
few strings fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
1 cup of uncooked rice, cleaned
1 cup of cold water to cook the rice in
1-2 heads of large Savoy cabbage or green cabbage or sour cabbage leaves (about 18 – 20 leaves)
marjoram
2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika (make sure it is authentic)
1 egg
sour cream
freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
Hot pepper flakes or Erös Pista to taste
smoked meat like kielbasa, sausages (optional)

METHODS

Meat stock

Place the onion, beef bones, pepper corns, garlic, carrots, parsnips, bay leaves and celery in a large pot. Add enough water to cover everything well. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and slowly cook for 2- 4 hours covered. Set aside. (Omit if you already have it).

Making the dish

Preparing the base of the dish. Sauté onion in oil on medium high heat for 5 minutes or until translucent. Add bacon and render for 5 more minutes. Add paprika and garlic, stir for 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup cold water (have it ready) and stir. Add 1 lb of the sour kraut. Mix. Set aside.
Preparing the cabbage leaves. Fill a larger pot with cold water and start boiling it. This will be used to blench the leaves. Take the leaves off the cabbage gently one by one. When the water boils, add the leaves in the boiling water one at a time for a few minutes. Here we are parboiling the cabbage leaves quickly so make sure they get semi soft but not mushy. After taking the leaves out quickly immerse the leaves in cold water. Take them out and put them on a colander so the water can drain. (Omit if you have sour cabbage leaves).
Parboiling the rice. Bring 1 cup of rice in 1 cup of cold water to a boil. Turn the heat down and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Set aside.
Preparing the stuffing. In a larger dish, mix the cooked rice from earlier, crushed garlic cloves, marjoram, 1 egg and the meat together. Set aside.
Assembling the stuffed cabbages. Fill the cabbage leaves in the middle with about 1 heaping tablespoon of stuffing or more if leaf is bigger and fold them on all four sides so the stuffing is tucked inside the leaves nicely. You can close the leaves with a toothpick if you want but it is really not necessary. This may sound like a difficult task but really what you do here is you tuck the filling inside the leaves and fold each side onto the stuffing so it is nested inside the leaves. Please, see the pictures for clarification below.
Place the assembled cabbages on top of the prepared sour kraut mixture from earlier one by one, fitting each leaf snug next to each other. Place the remaining 1 lb sour-kraut on top of the stuffed cabbages.
Pour the meat stock over the stuffed cabbage leaves. Make sure the liquid covers everything in the pot. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down. Cook on very low heat slowly covered for 2 hours or until the cabbage and the stuffing are cooked.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve the stuffed cabbages on top of the sauerkraut along with sour cream, sliced kielbasa and hot red pepper flakes or Erös paprika.
Add the meat if you wish.

Merry Christmas! Enjoy! Jó étvágyat!

Text, photos and recipe by twincitiesherbs.