Manly Quiche

Last night was another of my Family Dinner Nights.  We had a bunch of left overs from my daughters 1st birthday party - deli meat, cheese, and veggies galore!  We made a truly delicious gluten free quiche with a hash brown crust that was inspired by a goat cheese and arugula quiche recipe found here. I tossed a bunch of the left over crudité with some spring lettuce mix for a tasty salad. To quote my husband, "Real men eat quiche. Especially when it is made with hash browns and bacon!" There was not a spec left!

INGREDIENTS:
cooking spray
2 tablespoons butter, melted - plus more for pan
1 pound package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
8 large eggs
sea salt and ground pepper
½ cup light sour cream
1 cup half and half
sea salt
8 - 10 oz  grated cheese (I had left over deli cheese so I just chopped it roughly) 8 - 10 oz  chopped deli ham
1/2 cup red onion - small dice
3/4 cup cooked and crumbled bacon (4 - 5 slices)

DIRECTIONS:
1)  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2)  Spray a 9-by-2 1/2-inch spring form pan with cooking spray. Line the sides of the pan with strips of parchment paper (trim to the same height as pan). Spray the parchment with more cooking spray - this part is essential, it will give you a beautiful golden crust and as well as keep the crust from sticking to your pan.
3)  Place hash browns on 3-4 thicknesses of paper towels and fold paper towels over potatoes. Hold over sink and squeeze excess moisture from hash browns.
4)  In a large mixing bowl whisk  melted butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add squeezed hash browns and mix until all the butter egg mixture is coating the hash browns. Pat into bottom and up sides of prepared pan, using your hands. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until set, 15 to 20 minutes (we did 18 minutes in our convection oven).
5)  In a large bowl, whisk 7 remaining eggs, sour cream, half and half,  cheese, ham, onion, bacon, 1 teaspoons sea salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until well combined. Pour into crust, and bake until set, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove outer ring of springform pan, and gently peel off parchment paper.
6)  Let rest for 10 minutes and serve.


NOTES: you could sub any meat and cheeses you like.  Spinach, arugula, chopped broccoli, chopped asparagus, or green onions would be good too.

(photo curtsey of Sarah Germain)

Oh-My-Goodness-Cookies!

Dessert for our family dinner night was so tasty! Maple bacon chocolate chip cookies! Maple, bacon and chocolate in a cookie!! How could these be bad, right? They kind of have the taste and texture of coconut macaroons. We munched on these with some Prager port.  My husband downed several with a glass of milk. I think they would be fabulous with an afternoon latte. Again, how could this be bad??

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 12-15 small cookies)
2 cups fine ground blanched almond flour*
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 slices of bacon (cooked and chopped into small pieces)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon canned full fat coconut milk

*(I used Bob's Red Mill blanched almond flour - fine. But for an even finer texture, run the flour through a spice grinder or food processor.)

Directions:
1) Fry the bacon until crispy. Cut into small pieces & cool completely.
2) In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, baking soda and salt until well blended.
3) Now add the bacon pieces and chocolate chips to the almond flour mixture. Toss to coat.
4) In a separate smaller bowl, combine and lightly beat together the oil, maple syrup, vanilla and coconut oil.
5) Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, mixing till well combined. The dough will seem be wetter and grainier than your average cookie dough.
6) Using a cookie scoop, form cookie dough into equally sized balls and place on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for at lest 30 minutes or freeze until ready to bake.
7) Place cookie balls onto a parchment or silicone lined cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 11-12 min.
8) Remove from oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes before transferring.

BLT Ranch Penne Pasta!

For tonight's dinner, I hit it outta the ball park, if I do say so myself. BLT Ranch pasta. I mean it has BACON in it. What's not to like? Plus spinach and tomatoes so you can kinda feel good about eating it. My husband went back for a second helping and said "I'll make you a deal... If you make this, I WILL eat it."

The idea for this started because we had some cherry tomatoes that were looking kinda sad and wrinkly. Which makes them PERFECT for a pasta dish - trust me! They plump up when you cook them, but they don't burst. Plus their flavor is intensified by having dried out a bit on the counter. And since both bacon and pasta were on sale at the market today. Winner, winner bacon pasta dinner!

INGREDIENTS:
12 oz pasta of choice
12 pieces thick cut bacon
1 T. Butter
1 T. Olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes
2 giant fistfuls of baby spinach
1 T. Ranch dressing mix (or more to taste)

DIRECTIONS:
1). Line a cookie sheet with foil & lay out your slices of bacon. Put into a cold oven and set temperature to 375. Set timer for 20 minutes. Bacon should be perfectly crisp and golden.
2). While bacon is cooking, cook your pasta with very salted water according to box directions.
3). Once bacon is cooked, stack and slice into 1 inch strips.
4). When pasta is close to done, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add butter and olive oil.
5). Add cherry tomatoes and bacon.
6). Add drained pasta & spinach. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring to prevent sticking, until spinach begins to wilt.
7.). Sprinkle with ranch dressing mix and toss to coat. Serve with fresh cracked pepper.

And...YUMM! See how the tomatoes plumped?!?! Super tasty and quick.