Quick and Easy Quiche

When I think of quiche, I would hardly think to describe it as “quick and easy”. Mainly because the only times that I’ve ever made quiche, it’s taken me most of the day. I make the crust from scratch and use a million ingredients that need to be prepared different ways and end up with a final product somewhere around the mid-afternoon and a sink full of more dirty dishes than should be necessary.

Hence why I don’t make quiche very often.

However, today Matt and I had the day off so in addition to sleeping in and lazing around the house all day, I wanted to make something nice for breakfast. Pancakes were out of the question (for obvious reasons) and I didn’t have bread to make French toast. I wanted something a little fancier than plain old scrambled/fried/poached eggs and when I absent-mindedly suggested quiche, Matt got very excited. Not wanting to disappoint him, I quickly searched for a “quick and easy quiche recipe”.

Apparently, they aren’t as rare as I thought…

I had lots of broccoli and a fair variety of different cheeses in my fridge so I figured broccoli cheese was the way to go.

As for the crust…I rarely buy frozen pie crust and my usual pie crust is a bit of a lengthy process so I found a quick 4-ingredient quiche crust, however I wasn’t entirely satisfied with how it turned out. The flavor and texture of it was fine however it stuck pretty badly to the bottom of the pie plate so it’s probably best to just use your favorite pie crust recipe or a frozen crust instead.

But enough yacking, on to the recipe!

Broccoli and Cheese Quiche
(Recipe adapted from Cajun Chef Ryan’s recipe)
I still can’t get over how well this quiche turned out. It’s amazingly delicious and now one of my new staples. Plus, Matt almost ate the entire thing himself…and he’s a tough critic.

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie shell
6 large eggs, cracked (I only had 5 eggs and it still turned out fine)
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or any combination of cheeses you want)
2 cups broccoli florets, steamed and cooled
salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Using a fork, prick the shell dough a few times to prevent air bubbles from forming. Brown the pie shell in the oven for about 10 minutes.

While the pie shell crust is browning, beat the eggs then add the milk and about half of the cheese in a medium bowl.


Fold in the broccoli florets and then add the spices to the egg mixture.

When the pie shell has browned, removed from the oven. Pour the egg, cheese and broccoli filling into the browned pie shell and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.


Return the filled pie shell to the oven. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the quiche is puffed up and set. (You may want to put it on a cookies sheet as it apparently prevents burning. I didn’t however, and it was fine.)


Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes, then slice into portions.

Chicken Pot Pie for a snowy day

The snowpocalypse hit today. We got 30 cm last night (and even more today…) and I was awakened at 7 AM to a knock on my door as my brother was stuck in our alley and needed help. I spent the first hour of my morning pushing and shoveling. Consequently, I decided to hibernate for the remainder of the day.

So I made chicken pot pie. On days like today, you shouldn’t have to do anything besides curl up in your favorite sweats and watch movies and eat chicken pot pie. However, if you happen to get laundry done and your Christmas decorations taken down, so much the better!

Chicken Pot Pie
This recipe is more like a casserole with a top crust as Matt isn’t a fan of savory pies (being the pie-lover he is, I don’t understand this in the least) so I had to trick him into thinking it was a casserole. You can still make this pie with a bottom crust as well though.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup flour
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup whipping cream
2 bay leaves
3 cooked chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley

pastry for a single crust pie
salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion and about a 1/4 tsp salt, and cook until softened (about 6-7 minutes).

Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant. Stir in the flour, then slowly stir in the broth, cream and bay leaves. Simmer until the mixture is thickened (about 10 minutes).

After the mixture has thickened, discard the bay leaves and stir in the chicken, peas and parsley. You can add any additional salt & pepper to taste here as well.


Pour the mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Roll out pie dough, drape it over the dish and trim. Bake at 425 F until the top is golden brown and bubbly (about 20-25 minutes). Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.


P.S. My good foodie friend Lindz also has a yummy chicken pot pie recipe here. Check it out!

Strawberry Rhubarb Birthday Pie

My boyfriend loves pie. He's not a huge fan of cake (sometimes I wonder why he dates me...) but he's really into pie. We constantly argue over cake vs. pie superiority. One day, I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Anyways, his favourite pie is strawberry-rhubarb. And yesterday was his birthday. Normal people enjoy birthday cake on their birthday. But not my boyfriend...no. He prefers birthday pie. Strawberry-rhubarb birthday pie, to be exact.

(On a side note, we're apparently having wedding pie at our wedding too...not sure how I'm gonna argue that one just yet.)

But yes. Strawberry-rhubarb pie. In the middle of winter.

And where, do you ask, does one find fresh rhubarb in the Albertan prairies in the middle of December?

That's easy. One doesn't.

Fortunately, I thought ahead and bought a ton of rhubarb when it was in season and blanched and froze it all for this very occasion. For my high-maintenance-summer-pie-loving boyfriend.

I like to think that I'm a pretty awesome girlfriend. Even if I did manage to nab the one boy I know who doesn't like cake.

I guess I like a challenge ;)

Summertime Pie in the Middle of Winter
(a.k.a. Strawberry-Rhubarb Birthday Pie)

Ingredients:

4 cups rhubarb, chopped
2 cups strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie

Directions:

In a large bowl, toss the rhubarb and strawberries with the sugar, flour, lemon juice and cinnamon.

Roll out half the pastry dough on a lightly floured surface and line a 9-inch pie plate. Spoon the filling into the prepared pie plate.

Roll out remaining pastry dough for the top crust. Gently lay it over top of the fruit and trim and crimp the edges. Cut slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake on a baking sheet in a 425 oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for another 50 to 60 minutes longer or until rhubarb is tender and the crust is golden. Let stand for about 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Serve warm with whipped cream.


Once again – I promise I’ll share my pie crust recipe with you soon enough! I just happened to have 2 single pie crusts in my freezer from the last batch I made so it was quicker to just use those instead of starting from scratch…next pie time! I promise.

Gluten-Free Apple Crumble Pie

I did a show a little while back called, Perfect Pie. In it, my character was known for making amazing pies and pastries. Because of this, I made it my own little personal mission to learn how to make great pies – especially pastry from scratch.

I’m very picky about pies. I love fruit pies but I hate it when they’re too sweet. I especially hate it when apple pies are too sweet. My mom makes an AMAZING apple crumble pie and I have always been a little nervous to try to make one myself in fear that it wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as hers.

Sarah and I were at the farmer’s market on Saturday and I noticed that one of the vendors (specializing in gluten-free items) had gluten-free pie dough. I decided to buy some along with some fresh granny smith apples and embark on a gluten-free apple crumble pie adventure! If it was bad, I could always cheat and blame the dough, right?


Thankfully, it wasn’t. It actually turned out really good. So good, in fact, that I wasn’t able to snap a picture of the final product before it was devoured by my family. So yeah. It was good.

I will also definitely do a post in the future about my own pie dough as I do have a killer (and very not-gluten-free) recipe, but for now, enjoy this wheat-free alternative :)

Gluten-Free Apple Crumble Pie
Pie is another thing I don’t tend to have a set recipe for…I’m always adding more of this or that to suit it to my tastes. This recipe is kind of just a guideline.

Ingredients:

1 gluten-free pie crust (bottom crust only)

Filling:
6-8 coarsely chopped & peeled granny smith apples
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp rice flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat-free rolled oats
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed

Directions:

Topping: In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, oats and cinnamon. Using pastry blender (or your fingers), cut in butter until crumbly; set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie dough to a generous 1/8-inch (3 mm) thickness; fit into 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Trim to leave 3/4-inch (2 cm) overhang; fold under and crimp edge. Set aside.

Filling: In large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar, flour and cinnamon; toss to combine. Scrape into pie shell. Sprinkle with topping.

Bake at 400°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F; bake for about 50 minutes or until filling is bubbly and thickened. Let cool on rack.