But! While our gourmet dinner club flounders, I have an exciting new inspiration I'll be sharing soon that will hopefully kick-start my sharing in 2015!
What's going on now? Well, my cooking group is having attendance issues--this is life for adults who work full time, try to go back to school and have, you know, lives beyond that. I was gifted a trip to an excellent cooking school class booked in the new year and THAT'S very exciting. And I've been talking about blogs a bunch for unrelated reasons. It was all bound to come full circle.
In the mean time, have leftovers to get rid of? I did. (And not the Christmas kind. Yet.) Apparently two people don't take apart 2.5 lbs of salmon very quickly. Quiches are great because they're incredibly durable, flexible, easy to transport and warm and generally just an extremely forgiving dish.
A note on the quiche itself: You're welcome to put this in a pie shell. That's just never my favorite part and I'd rather shift those calories into delicious fillings. Speaking of fillings, this quiche is salmon-heavy. You could probably reduce the salmon by an ounce or even two and still end up with a very nice quiche.
Further, say you don't want salmon in here. You cooked two chickens last Wednesday and you've got a carcass you need to strip. Use that. (Or, duh, that Christmas turkey. I did one early turkey dinner already and some of it went into a version of this quiche with red peppers.) And it's winter so you want to know why I inserted asparagus - go ahead and use peppers and mushrooms. You don't like goat cheese. Sub in swiss. I think you see where I'm going here.
If you want to freeze the quiche, bake it, let it cool completely, and put it very well-wrapped (and flat; it will break or squish if you manipulate before frozen) into the freezer. When the time comes, reheat from frozen at 325 for 20-30 minutes with a foil cover so it doesn't over-brown.
Salmon Quiche with Bacon, Asparagus and Goat Cheese (crustless)
9 oz cooked salmon
4 rashers bacon
6-8 stalks asparagus
1 green onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup goat cheese
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
5 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Break salmon into hunks (doesn't need to be precisely bite-sized; you'll cut it into servings as well). Your asparagus stalks depend on how thick they are. Eyeball it! Then chop them into 1/2 inch sections.
Place salmon, bacon, veggies and cheese into one large bowl. Don't break up your goat cheese too much--the real flavor impact of goat cheese will get lost if it's in tiny pieces. Crack over the pepper and add salt.
In a second bowl, whisk eggs, cream and milk. I was going for a mid-range cream consistency as there was extra whipping cream and we drink skim. You could alternatively use 1/2 cup 10% cream OR I've even tried 5% when I realized I was nearly out of dairy and it worked just fine as well. Mouthfeel will change, overall presentation or edibility of the dish will not.
Pour the whisked egg mixture over the other ingredients and stir to coat very gently.
Pour everything into a buttered 9" pie plate. I use a pyrex dish and it comes out very nicely but you could put down parchment if you're concerned about sticking.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the top is brown and the center isn't wiggling like custard.
If you chose to freeze the quiche, pop it in the freezer after it's come to room temperature. Remember not to let it bend or get squished until it's frozen solid. To reheat later, use a throwaway pie plate and bake from frozen, covered in foil to keep from over-browning, at 400 for 25-30 minutes.
Place salmon, bacon, veggies and cheese into one large bowl. Don't break up your goat cheese too much--the real flavor impact of goat cheese will get lost if it's in tiny pieces. Crack over the pepper and add salt.
In a second bowl, whisk eggs, cream and milk. I was going for a mid-range cream consistency as there was extra whipping cream and we drink skim. You could alternatively use 1/2 cup 10% cream OR I've even tried 5% when I realized I was nearly out of dairy and it worked just fine as well. Mouthfeel will change, overall presentation or edibility of the dish will not.
Pour the whisked egg mixture over the other ingredients and stir to coat very gently.
Pour everything into a buttered 9" pie plate. I use a pyrex dish and it comes out very nicely but you could put down parchment if you're concerned about sticking.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the top is brown and the center isn't wiggling like custard.
If you chose to freeze the quiche, pop it in the freezer after it's come to room temperature. Remember not to let it bend or get squished until it's frozen solid. To reheat later, use a throwaway pie plate and bake from frozen, covered in foil to keep from over-browning, at 400 for 25-30 minutes.
