Quiche d'Olives

As shared by Mari @ Once Upon a Plate
www.onceuponaplate1.com
Adapted from "Gathering in the Garden" by Shelley Snow and Elaine Husband

Quiche d'Olives (or mini quiche)
Serves 8

2 Tablespoons shallots, chopped
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 pound black nicoise olives, or other black olives, pitted
1 (9-inch) deep dish pie shell
1 (6 ounce) package fresh spinach, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400º(F)
Saute the shallots in the butter until lightly browned.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, cream, and pepper. Add the shallots, spinach, and cheese to the egg mixture and pour into the pie shell. Arrange black olives over the top of the quiche. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Can be served warm, or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

French Bread ~ Two ways (Bread Machine Dough)

(You can have softer or crispier crust on these loaves ~see below for method).

As shared by Once Upon a Plate by Mari (www.onceuponaplate1.com)

(Crispy Crust: Brush with egg wash only during last 5 minutes of bake time.)

Makes two 13 to 15" baguettes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

2 Tablespoons dry milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 egg white, whisked with 1 Tablespoon water (see below for use)

Add first 8 ingredients to bread machine.

Select the dough cycle. 

(Or use the bread setting of your machine, but remove the dough before the baking cycle begins.)  Form into 2 baguette loaves.

Spray or lightly oil a large cookie sheet, or line with parchment paper; sprinkle with cornmeal.

Form loaves: Transfer dough (it will be soft) to a lightly floured board. 

Sprinkle with a little flour; cut dough into 2 portions. Roll each portion into a rectangle about 12 to 15 inches wide (add more flour as needed). 

-

Starting at long end, roll up; pinch seams well. Repeat with next roll. 

-Place loaves on prepared cookie sheet; cover with clean dish towel and let rise another hour. 

Preheat oven to 400°. Place a pie plate on the lower rack of the oven; add about 1 inch of boiling water to the pie plate.  With a very sharp knife or razor blade make 

3 or 4 diagonal slashes (almost parallel to surface of bread) along the length of 

the loaves just before placing in the oven.

For softer crust: Brush loaves with egg wash/water mixture when you put the bread into the oven. 

For crispy crust: About 5 minutes before loaves are done, brush with egg white and water mixture. 

Bake bread for 15 minutes; lower heat to 350°. Bake for another 25 minutes. 

NOTE:

Tent with foil if bread is browning too quickly for your liking, bake until bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

You may need to adjust baking time; mine bake in a little less than 25 minutes during the 350º bake.

Enjoy!

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Mini Savory Cheesecakes with Dressed Greens
Makes 4 servings

For the cheesecakes:
3/4 cup capacity ramekins or custard cups
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, softened

1 slice bread, processed in a food processor to make 1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 cup (one 8-ounce container) whipped cream cheese

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously coat four small (3/4-cup) soufflé molds with the butter. Divide the bread crumbs among the molds and coat the bottoms and sides heavily with the crumbs, pressing them onto the buttered dish so they stick.

Put the cream cheese in a medium bowl and add the eggs, sour cream, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of the parsley. Mix well with a whisk and divide among the soufflé molds. Sprinkle the crumbled blue cheese on top of the cream cheese mixture in the molds. Top with the remaining 1 tablespoon parsley.

 

Arrange the molds on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes.  Do not over bake. The cheesecakes should still be slightly wet and soft in the center. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from molds. 

For the salads:

3 cups arugula or butterhead lettuce (Bibb, Boston leaves, or Spring Mix)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Dash salt and freshly ground pepper.  Meanwhile prepare the salad.

To assemble:

Whisk Olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper in a bowl large enough to hold the greens. Add lettuce leaves to the bowl and toss gently. Divide the greens among 4 salad plates. Invert each cooled mini cheesecake into one of your hands to unmold it, then turn it over so it is right side up and place it in the center of one of the plates on top of the lettuce. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from More Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pepin.

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Gaufrettes ~ French-style Waffle Cookies with Salted Caramel Filling

Gaufrettes ~ French-style Waffle Cookies
with Salted Caramel-Cinnamon Filling

(The number of cookies this will yield depends upon the diameter of your pizelle or stroopwafel
iron.)


I find this dough easiest to mix in my stand mixer, the first stage requires several minutes of beating, then the addition of the flour makes the dough very stiff ~ so I allow the machine to do the work.

INGREDIENTS:

3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks, or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

Beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla until the mixture turns fluffy and very pale, and forms a ribbon that holds its shape.

Add the melted butter and mix well.

Sift in the flour, a little at a time, and mix well to form a smooth dough.

Next, allow the dough to rest. (I leave it right in the mixing bowl and cover the top of the bowl with a clean, barely damp kitchen towel) Allow dough to rest for about 2 hours at room temperature (I've used it at 1 1/2 hours with no problem.)

With your hands, roll the dough into balls, 1-1/2 inches in diameter

Bake in a hot pizelle iron (or stroopwafel iron) he smallest grids until the cookies are golden brown and crisp. Let the cookies cool on a rack and fill when cool; store in airtight containers.

Note: These wafers are delicious without the filling, too.

For The Filling:

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons dark corn syrup (I've used light corn syrup; no notable difference)
1/2 cup finely ground hazelnuts, optional*

Coarse sea salt (optional)

To Make Filling:

In a saucepan boil the brown sugar, the remaing one cup of the butter, cinnamon, and dark corn syrup until it reaches the soft ball stage (234-240 degrees F 112 -115 degrees C). Stir in ground hazelnuts at this point, if using.

To assemble the cookies:

Best to spread the filling and assemble one at a time, to assure top wafer wil adhere to the filling.
Allow cookies to cool, spread warm filling on one wafer; sprinkle a tiny pinch of coarse sea salt over filling (if desired), top with second wafer. Continue until all wafers are used. When cool store in an airtight container.

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