Fresh Herb & Gruyere Quiche

Quiche--sort of like an omelet in a pie crust. Quiche tastes good hot or cold for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It's also a great way to use up your eggs. You can add ingredients like broccoli, roasted red peppers, onions, bacon, or ham. This recipe makes a simple quiche with a lot of flavor, and the fresh herb taste really comes through with each bite. The herbs are a great combo with the stronger tasting gruyere cheese. Added bonus: quiche freezes well. 

1 deep dish pie crust, frozen

6 eggs
1 cup buttermilk 
Fresh oregano & thyme (~1 teaspoon of each)

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Garlic powder to taste

2 1/2 cups gruyere cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 350. Take the deep dish pie crust out of the freezer and sit it in a deep dish pie plate. When it thaws a bit, you can spread it out and press into the pie plate and mend any broken pieces.

Whisk together the eggs and milk in a large bowl. Add the oregano, thyme, salt, dry mustard, and garlic powder. Whisk well. Add the cheese and whisk again.

Pour the egg mixture into the pie crust and bake for 50-55 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the center is firmly set. 

Let the quiche sit for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with fresh fruit. 

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smoked Ham

The rainy season began today and the weather has cooled a bit. A perfect day for soup. Hearty soup. Carrot and celery are often added to split pea soup, but I was out of both and feeling lazy, so I went with onion and garlic. This recipe is inexpensive to make and will warm you up on a cold, rainy day.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 bay leaf
1 lb package dried yellow split peas
1 large smoked ham hock
10 cups water
Tabasco to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Let it heat up for a minute and then add the onions. Stir for a few minutes then add the garlic, thyme, and bay leaf and stir again. Add the split peas and ham hock. Pour in the water and simmer the soup for 2 hours, stirring often. Remove the ham from the bone and add back to the soup and stir in. Serve hot with homemade bread. Makes 6-8 servings.

Garlic Roasted Broccoli

This broccoli is garlicky and delicious. When broccoli is roasted the heat concentrates the flavors and caramelizes the natural sugars. That sweetness, mixed with the garlic and crushed red pepper in the recipe makes this a flavorful broccoli dish with a kick. 

4 cups broccoli florets

8 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Crushed red pepper to taste
Ground tellicherry black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Toss broccoli in a bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, red pepper, and pepper. 

Place on a medium baking sheet covered with parchment paper and roast until the broccoli is tender and a bit darkened on the bottom, 12 or so minutes. The broccoli should have a nice crunch.

A Word on Working in Restaurants

Tip well! My past jobs included being a waitress and a bartender. It is hard work although it may not look like it. After I stopped waitressing I had dreams for months that I had too many tables and couldn't handle it. One time I spilled pork tenderloin and fried shrimp on a pregnant woman. It is stressful. People aren't always nice and they don't all tip well. Working in restaurants is the reason I am a great tipper to this day. Make sure you don't ignore the wait staff when they are talking, be nice, and treat them like a fellow human being. And for God's sake, if you have any decency, do not ask for separate checks! 

Enjoy your food.

Dad's Roasted Garlic Hummus

Middle Eastern appetizers are savory, garlicky, and comforting. This is one of my Dad's many recipes and is different from his regular hummus recipe because the garlic is roasted. The sweet, roasted garlic mellows the intensity of the garlic in the hummus. The first time I ever saw hummus I was in college when a friend of a friend from the Middle East made some of the smoothest and most delicious hummus I've ever had the pleasure to know. Baba ghanoush is another wonderful Middle Eastern appetizer and my recipe for it is here. Toasted pita bread goes well with hummus and baba g.

2 heads garlic, roasted
3 TBSP olive oil, divided

1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 TBSP lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

To roast the garlic, slice off the tops of the heads and pour 1 TBSP olive oil over the cut side. Place in a garlic roaster or wrap in foil. Roast for about 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven. With a tiny fork, remove the garlic from the skin covering (or squeeze them out with your fingers).

Place remaining 2 TBSP olive oil and other ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix thoroughly. Serve with crackers or pita chips.

Dad's Greek Salad

My Dad is a gourmet cook and this recipe is from his stash. My Chicago days included a stint as a waitress at a Greek restaurant where I learned to love Greek food. Athenian steaks, feta cheese, Greek salads, cream of chicken soup with rice and lots of lemon, and more. There was also some pouring of ouzo in the back room as I recall. This is my Dad's recipe so I didn't edit it but if I did, I'd leave out the olives. I've just never been fond as described here. Opa!

Dressing:
1/3 c olive oil
1 tsp marjoram
1 garlic clove, minced
1 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 TBSP lemon juice
salt and pepper

Whisk all ingredients together.

Salad:
1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cucumber (or ½ English cucumber), sliced
½ red onion, sliced thin
½ red bell pepper, cut into strips
2-3 tomatoes, sliced or cut into thin wedges
10 fresh mint leaves
6 oz feta cheese, crumbled
12-16 kalamata olives
4 mild pepperoncini peppers, whole

Combine salad ingredients in a bowl and toss with the dressing. Serves 4.

lizzycooks Red Sauce con Vino Rosso

Variety is the spice of life, so they say. Tomato-based red sauces are like that too. After combining the mandatory base of garlic, onion, tomato sauce and paste, a lot of variety is possible. Some people add meat to their sauce and some don't. Some people add veggies to their sauce beyond the garlic and onion, for example: squash, bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and tomatoes. In the summer, it's a real treat to add garden-fresh herbs and veggies to the sauce. This red sauce recipe is meatless and my preference is for a smoother sauce. It's got a tiny kick from the crushed red pepper. Add more if you want more kick. The wine gives this sauce flavor and beautiful color.

I'm excited about a new ingredient in this recipe and am never making red sauce without it again--fennel seed. It was off my radar screen until a friend pointed out it was missing from my red sauce recipe. He also mentioned that the sauce could benefit from wine and crushed tomatoes instead of fresh. These were quality suggestions, so I put this recipe together and dedicated it to my fennel seed-suggesting friend. I did a little reading and made a couple of batches of red sauce with this magical fennel seed. Before adding it to the sauce, use the back of a spoon to crush it up on a small plate to release the flavors. The fennel seed gives the red sauce a lovely, earthy, sweet-ish flavor that's hard to describe, and the house smells wonderful.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6-16 large cloves garlic, minced 
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped fine

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 cup dry, red wine 

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed 

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 bay leaf

Heat a 4-quart sauce pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the olive oil and let it heat up for a minute or two. You want the garlic and onion to sizzle when you add them to the pan. Add the garlic and onion and stir until the onions become transparent, about 5 minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn--easy to do. Add all of the remaining ingredients. Stir until everything is well blended. 

Turn the heat to low and cover the pan. Continue to simmer the sauce for another couple of hours (or more), so that it cooks down. Check on the sauce here and there and stir it. Remove the bay leaf when the sauce is finito. Serve this amazing red sauce over lasagna, spaghetti, manicotti, eggplant parmesan, or some of your favorite dishes. 

First lizzycooks video in a post!

-Dedicated to KF with gratitude

lizzycooks 3-Cheese Lasagna

I recently started making lasagna after a long while. This recipe makes one 13x9" pan (or two 8x8" pans) of hearty, delicious, and cheesy lasagna. And, you don't have to boil the noodles because the sauce cooks them. I didn't believe it at first, either. You can use the ready-to-bake noodles or regular. 

First step, make this recipe for lizzycooks Italian red sauce. You can make it a day or two beforehand and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to assemble the lasagna.

32 oz part-skim ricotta cheese

2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded (1 cup reserved)

1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup reserved)

2-3 eggs

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced 

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

9-12 lasagna noodles

Mix up the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to create the cheese mixture. Preheat the oven to 375.

Layer a 13x9" pan with enough red sauce to cover the bottom, then add a layer (3 pieces) of the uncooked lasagna noodles, and then add a layer of the cheese mixture. Spread the cheese mixture evenly over the noodles. Repeat layering two-three more times and end with a layer of sauce. Top with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. 

Put a piece of parchment paper over the lasagna and then cover with foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and parchment paper and let lasagna cook for 15 more minutes. Broil for 3-4 minutes on high to brown the cheese and make it all luscious and bubbly. Remove from the oven and let sit for about 15 minutes before cutting and serving so it can set a bit. 

Serve with red or white wine or sparkling cider, garlic bread and a simple salad. Or, enjoy a piece for breakfast--it's good cold, too.

lizzycooks Italian Red Sauce

This beautiful red sauce goes well with lasagna, manicotti, and chicken or eggplant parmesan. I've been making and improving my meatless red sauce for years and this is the 2022 version. This is the sauce I use with my 3-Cheese Lasagna recipe. This sauce recipe makes enough for a 13x9 pan of lasagna. Any leftover sauce can be stashed in the freezer for your next bake. Bon Appetit!

      

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped 

1 28 oz can tomato sauce

2 14.5 oz cans organic crushed tomatoes

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons fresh oregano, minced

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

2 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed

2 teaspoons Kosher salt 

2 teaspoons sugar

Crushed red pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

1 cup water

Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and let it heat up for a
minute or two. Add the garlic and onion. You want them to sizzle when they hit the pan. Stir until the onions become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste, stir well. Add the Italian seasoning, oregano, thyme, fennel seed, salt, sugar, crushed red pepper, and bay leaf. Stir it all together until the spices are blended in. Add the water and stir again. Continue to simmer the sauce on low for another couple of hours, stirring occasionally. Remember to take the bay leaf out when the sauce is done!

lizzycooks Slightly Spicy Grilled Chicken Lettuce Wraps

These crunchy, delicious wraps are served cold and full of flavor. There was leftover grilled chicken in the house which was perfect for this recipe and the reason I put it together. A small bounty of lettuce was ready to harvest and all of the Asian-inspired sauce ingredients were present, so lunch was created. Three parts here: chicken, lettuce, sauce, and the sauce measurements below are estimates. 

Homegrown "salad bowl" lettuce was used for this recipe but other types will also work. It was tough to get a photo of the rolled up wraps as it gets kinda messy once you pick one up. Next time I'll get a better shot and try out a different type of lettuce.

1/2-2 cups grilled chicken breast, chopped fine (another option is tofu)

1 medium red onion, chopped fine

2 large cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped

4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon chili paste

1/2 teaspoon dried ginger

8 lettuce leaves, good for wrapping

Mix together the chicken, onion, garlic, and cilantro in a medium bowl and put in the fridge. Whisk sauce ingredients (8) until all ingredients are dissolved. Put in the fridge for at least an hour so the flavors can get together. Wash the lettuce and refrigerate.

Remove everything from the fridge, grab a leaf of lettuce, and put some of the chicken mixture on top. Give the sauce another quick whisk, add some to the top, and roll it up. Another option is to mix together the sauce and chicken mixture before putting it on the lettuce.