Mini Quiche with Chard and Red Onion

I made these for my sister’s baby shower, and they were a huge hit!  I made a large batch for a total of about 150 mini quiches.  The recipe below is scaled down for a smaller audience.

Mini Quiche with Chard and Red Onion

Makes about 60 mini quiches.

Crust
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2½ sticks unsalted butter (20 tablespoons), cut into ½-inch pieces
6-7 tablespoons ice water

Combine the salt and both flours in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine.

Add butter and pulse until all the butter is coated in flour and the largest pieces are the size of small peas.
Add the water, a few tablespoons at a time, and pulse until the mixture forms a cohesive mass.

Turn out onto a floured surface.  Gather and press the dough into a ball.  Add flour or water if the dough is too sticky or too dry.  Divide into 3 pieces.  Form each piece into a ball, flatten into a ½-inch thick disk, and refrigerate for at least one hour (and up to two days).

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Lightly grease 3 mini muffin tins (24 cups each, 1¾-inch diameter muffin cups), or you can reuse one muffin tin.

Remove chilled dough from refrigerator, one piece at a time.  On a well flour surface, between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap, or on a pastry mat, roll the dough until it is 1/16 inch thick. 

Using a small round cookie or biscuit cutter (2 to 2½ inches in diameter), cut circles from dough.  Gently press the circles of dough into mini muffin tins.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  The crust will not be completely cooked at this point, but should be set and barely beginning to brown on the edges.  

Allow to cool in the pan for 3-4 minutes.  Then carefully remove to cool on a wire rack.

Filling
1 small bunch of chard, washed and chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ large red onion, chopped
4 teaspoons butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
¾ cup whole milk
¾ cup cream
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
pinch nutmeg (freshly grated, if possible)
4 oz freshly grated aged goat cheese, or other flavorful cheese (I used Midnight Moon “Cypress Grove,” and it was perfect.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange par-baked shells on the parchment paper.

In a large pan over medium, heat 1½ teaspoons of oil. And chopped chard and cook, stirring, until wilted – about 3 minutes. Remove chard from pan and set aside. 

Add butter to the pan. When melted, add chopped onion and a pinch of salt. Cook onion over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, until translucent, soft, and sweet. Removed from heat; add to chard and gently toss to combine. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, yolks, milk, and cream; salt, pepper, and nutmeg. 
Divide chard mixture between the par-baked pastry shells.  Top each with a sprinkle of cheese and about a tablespoon of egg.  Alternatively, you can stir the vegetables and cheese into the egg mixture and divide evenly among all pastry shells.

Bake for about 14 minutes, until mixture is just set.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

An Eco-Friendly Baby Shower

In just a few short weeks, I’m going to be an aunt!  I can’t wait!

Back in September, I helped plan and catered a baby shower for my sister.  The menu was designed to be eco- and pregnancy-friendly, with a focus on high-quality, seasonal, organic ingredients for mama, baby, and guests.

The invitations were printed on recycled paper produced with “100% green hydroelectric power” (great paper and great customer service). 

Beverages were served in mason jars that will be re-used for canning.

The Menu

• Mini quiche (recipe): whole wheat pastry crust, wilted rainbow chard, caramelized red onions, Cypress Grove “Midnight Moon” goat cheese.
• Cannellini bean crostini: from dried beans; with rosemary, garlic, extra virgin olive oil,  and sundried tomatoes.
• Spinach salad: dried cranberries, toasted pumpkin seeds, “Bellavitano Raspberry” cheese, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette.
• Carrot cake: with cream cheese frosting; made with organic ingredients; icing dyed with natural, vegetable-based food coloring.

torta salata alla zucca e gorgonzola (pumpkin-gorgonzola tart)

This is the fourth post in a series: “what to do with a ten-pound pumpkin.”
This recipe was inspired by an Italian friend, Valeria, who was also cooking with a large leftover pumpkin this week.  Her description of the contrast between the sweet pumpkin and sharp gorgonzola got me really craving the combination.  Normally a tart like this would call for pieces of cut up pumpkin, rather than a puree, but I couldn’t resist giving it a try.  This is a great variation and just one more of the many ways to use fresh pumpkin puree!

Torta Salata alla Zucca e Gorgonzola (Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Tart)

Serves 6

crust
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 eggs
⅛ tsp salt
¾ cups (90 grams) whole wheat flour
¾ cups (95 grams) all purpose flour
water

filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 cups (about 3 ounces) chard or other winter greens
3 eggs
⅔ cup milk (preferably whole)
¼ tsp salt
several grinds of black pepper
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 oz crumbled gorgonzola
1 ¼ cups (10 oz) fresh pumpkin puree (see here for recipe)
1 ½ oz (about 1 cup) freshly grated parmesan

for the crust 
Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a mixer, beat together the butter and mustard on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed between each addition. Add flour and salt. Mix until well combined and a mass of Dough begins to form. If the dough is too dry, sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of water and mix again. Add additional water a teaspoon or two at a time, until dough begins to come together into a unified mass.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured countertop (or dough mat) and form into a ball and flatten into a disk.  Wrap in plastic and allow to rest in refrigerator for about 30 minutes. (At this point, the dough can be refrigerated for several days or frozen for 2-3 months.)

Roll dough flat, into the shape of your baking dish (i.e. in a circle for a 9” pie plate or tart pan) about 1 ½ inches bigger on all sides (12-inch diameter for a 9” pie plate). Dough should be between 1/16 and 1/8 inch thick.

Carefully transfer dough to baking dish and press into corners. Fold excess dough under and/or use to patch any tears in the dough. If desired, flute edge of crust.


Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper (or lightly greased aluminum foil) and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Parbake for 15-20 minutes. (While crust is baking, begin preparing the filling.)


Once crust is mostly cooked, carefully remove the weights and parchment paper. (They will be hot!) Set crust aside and proceed with the filling. (Leave oven on.)

for the filling
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium and cook the onion until translucent and beginning to brown (about 5-10 minutes), add the greens and cook until wilted (1-2 minutes). Remove from heat.


In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, ⅛ tsp salt, pepper, and nutmeg. In another bowl, stir together pumpkin, remaining ⅛ teaspoon salt, and parmesan.


Layer the onion and greens on the bottom of the crust, spread the pumpkin puree on top, and slowly pour the egg mixture over it.


Using a spoon, very gently swirl the mixture so that some of the pumpkin is drawn to the surface. Sprinkle evenly with crumbled gorgonzola.


Bake at 350°F for 30-45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is cooked through.


Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

For part three of the “what to do with a 10-pound pumpkin” series, I decided to make pumpkin whoopie pies.  This was my first attempt at any type of whoopie pie; I devised a recipe based upon my pumpkin bread and adjusted ingredient ratios by comparing a handful of other recipes.  I offer 3 variations on the cream cheese filling – classic vanilla, almond, and molasses (“brown sugar”).

This would be a great recipe to make with children.  The pies are lots of fun to assemble, and the fact that they’re rather humble-looking to begin with means that they’re hard to mess up.  Happy baking!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2 cups (14 oz) light brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ¼ tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cloves
¾ tsp ginger
1 ¼ tsp salt
3 cups (24 oz) fresh pumpkin puree (see here for recipe)

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients (flour, leavenings, salt, and spices) in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing on lowest setting after each addition. Stir in pumpkin on lowest setting.

One a cookie sheet (or half sheet pan) lined with parchment paper, drop batter by 1-3 tablespoon scoops, working quickly to prevent batter from spreading too much.  Take care to space the scoops at least 2 inches apart (or more for larger “cookies”). 

A cookie scoop works best for consistent shape and size.  I used three different sizes (approximately 3 Tbsp, 2 Tbsp, and 1 Tbsp each).  Adjust baking time depending on cookie size: 13-14 minutes for large, 12 minutes for medium, and 10 minutes for small.


Allow to cool on parchment paper for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack.  Once cookies are cool, proceed with filling.


Cream Cheese Filling (Vanilla, Almond, or Molasses)
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
pinch of salt
flavoring of choice*
              1 tsp vanilla extract or
              1 tsp almond extract or
              1-2 tsp blackstrap molasses (start with 1 tsp & taste) + 1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Add sugar and salt.  Mix well, starting at lowest setting and gradually increasing speed to medium-high.  Add flavoring. 



Spread filling onto flat side of cookie and press flat side of second cookie on top.  Set completed pies on wax paper. 



Whoopie pies can be served immediately but will hold their shape best when chilled in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 



*All three of the filling variations work equally well.  The vanilla is classic, the almond is a fun twist, and the molasses is something a little different.  I like that the molasses offsets the sweetness of the filling.  And since brown sugar is just sugar with molasses (either unrefined sugar or refined sugar with molasses added back in), putting molasses in the filling essentially turns it into “brown sugar” cream cheese filling, which has some depth that the others lack. 


If using molasses, take care that you don’t add too much and overpower the pumpkin flavor.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

This is the second post in a series: "what to do with a ten-pound pumpkin."

I finally decided to cook the pumpkin that had been sitting on our countertop since the final U Street Farmers Market of 2010.  That is, since late November.  (Yes, winter squash really does keep that long.)

It was my first experience with this variety of pumpkin.  I can’t remember what the producer said it was called.  I only remember that he said it was one of his favorites.  And since it was the end of the season, we got the whole thing – all ten pounds of it – for something like 2 or 3 dollars… I keep wanting to call it a Cinderella pumpkin because of it’s folklore-ish charm, but upon further research, I found that it’s definitely not a pumpkin of the Cinderella variety.   It might, however, be a “fairytale” pumpkin.  Maybe someone can correct my rudimentary pumpkin classification skills.

It was also my first experience cooking a pumpkin of this magnitude.  Starting with close to ten pounds, I ended up with about 6 pounds (10 cups) of roasted pumpkin puree.  It’s a lot, but certainly not more I know what to do with.  I have a laundry list of pumpkin dishes I’d like to try, hence this series.  First up: curried pumpkin soup.

Curried Pumpkin Soup (made with fresh pumpkin)

Serves 4 to 6.

3 cups (24 oz) roasted pumpkin puree (see below)
vegetable oil for roasting and frying (I used grapeseed.)
4 cups pumpkin broth (see below)
1 ½ cups low sodium chicken (or vegetable) broth  
              or 1 teaspoon broth concentrate (such as “Better than Bouillon”) + 1 ½ cups water
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 ½ teaspoons curry powder
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Roasting Pumpkin
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut pumpkin into manageable sections (4 to 8 pieces, depending on pumpkin’s size).  Scoop out seeds and fibers and reserve for later use.

Brush or rub pumpkin with oil and place flesh down in a large roasting pan or half sheet pan.



Roast until pumpkin is fork-tender (30 to 45 minutes, depending on size of pieces).  Once pumpkin has finished roasting, set aside to cool.  



When roasted pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh from skin using a spoon.  Use a knife to remove any remaining skin. 

Puree pumpkin in a food processor until smooth, in batches if necessary.  (Pumpkin will keep in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for several months.)

Pumpkin Broth
While the pumpkin is roasting, prepare the broth.  In a medium-size pot, combine pumpkin seed and fibers, about 1/4 of the onion, and 5 cups of water.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes, skimming any scum off the top, as necessary.  Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard solids.

Pumpkin Soup
In a medium size pot, heat about 2 teaspoons of oil over medium heat.  Add remaining onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add minced garlic and cook another minute.

Add pumpkin puree, pumpkin broth, and chicken broth (or concentrate+water).  Bring to boil. 

Reduce heat and allow to simmer for cook for 15-20 minutes.  If soup is too thick, thin with water as necessary.  Season with white pepper, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, and curry powder.  Taste for seasoning (and add more if desired). 

Stir in cream just before serving.

What to do with a 10-pound pumpkin…

This is the first post in a series: “what to do with a ten-pound pumpkin.”

Come January, when you find yourself with a large pumpkin or winter squash that’s been hanging around since fall but without a particular plan of action, you can roast and puree the pumpkin – either to use immediately or to freeze for later use.

My next few posts will cover just a few of the many wonderful things you can do with fresh pumpkin.  For more ideas, check out some of my past posts:

Mashed Winter Squash
Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkin Ravioli

Fresh Pumpkin Puree
printable recipe

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut pumpkin into manageable sections (4 to 8 pieces, depending on pumpkin’s size).  Scoop out seeds and fibers and reserve for later use (if making soup, see here for broth recipe).

Brush or rub pumpkin with oil and place flesh down in a large roasting pan or half sheet pan. 



Roast until pumpkin is fork-tender (30 to 45 minutes, depending on size of pieces).  Once pumpkin has finished roasting, set aside to cool.  

When roasted pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh from skin using a spoon.  Use a knife to remove any remaining skin. 

Puree pumpkin in a food processor until smooth, in batches if necessary.  (Pumpkin will keep in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for several months.)

Blue Hubbard Squash

This lovely little squash graced our countertop for many weeks before it finally graced our dinner plates.  As a squash I had neither seen nor heard of before, it possessed an air of mystery from the start.  When I saw it at the market, I knew it was special.  Blue hubbard. A sophisticated bluish greenish gray unlike any I had seen on a squash before.  When I heard its name, only the “blue” part really stuck with me, and I decided that it must be blue on the inside, too.  I could just imagine all the blue pies and casseroles and risottos.   Of course the rational part of me knew that I was being silly, but a part of me hoped that it would actually be blue inside.   I didn’t bother looking online to find out the truth.  I wanted to be surprised when it finally came time to cook the squash.

So how does one cook a blue hubbard squash?  Much like any other winter squash.  I chose to roast and mash the squash to serve alongside sautéed catalogna rossa greens and dijon-thyme baked chicken breast.
Even though it wasn’t blue inside, the squash was exceptionally good and particularly sweet and creamy.  At half the carbs and calories and 1½ times the potassium and fiber, this mashed winter squash makes an excellent substitute for mashed potatoes.
 
Mashed Blue Hubbard Squash

 

Serves 2.  Recipe can easily be multiplied for larger squash.

12 ounces hubbard squash
grapeseed or olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons milk
salt
4-5 leaves fresh sage, minced (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°F. 

Cut squash into large pieces.  Scoop out seeds and fibers. (Discard or reserved for another use.)  Brush a thin coat of oil on the cut sides of the squash. 



Bake, cut side down, until squash is soft and can be pierced easily with a fork.  (This took 20 minutes for the squash pictured, but time will vary depending on the size/thickness of the squash.)





When squash is cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop out the flesh.




In a saucepan, combine milk and butter over medium heat.  When butter has melted and milk is hot, add squash and mash with a potato masher or fork until desired consistency is reached.  Season with salt.  When squash is heated through, stir in minced sage leaves and serve. 

Vitamin Greens

It’s a funny name for a vegetable—redundant (aren’t all greens full of vitamins?) and potentially even off-putting (is the fact that they contain vitamins really all they have going for them?).  Vitamins greens really are one of the sweetest greens and in person are nowhere near as intimidating as they sound.  Also known as Vitaminna, the thick, leafy green, according to sparse online resources, is a member of the Chinese cabbage family, related to bok choy, and chock-full of Vitamin A.


What’s more, it’s delicious.  This assessment comes from a girl who is a fan of such greens as chard, kale, and dandelion, but I promise you that it’s the truth.  Vitamin greens are one of if not the sweetest winter green I have tasted to date.  They’re sweeter even than chard and leave none of the chalky mouth-feel that it sometimes does.
I had never even heard of vitamin greens until last month, when I saw them mentioned in the weekly 14th & U Farmers’ Market e-newsletter.  I have an ever-expanding love for greens and knew that I had to try them.  They did not disappoint.  They’re sweet and bright with just enough bite to bring them down to earth.
Over the next couple of weeks, in addition to the several bunches that we bought  for immediate consumption, we also blanched and froze some for use during the winter.  We haven’t broken into them yet, since one of the downtown farmer’s markets had fresh greens just last week.  I am looking forward to adding the frozen greens to soups and stir fry.
Since we couldn’t find anything about how to cook vitamin greens, we improvised.  The first time, I removed the stalks before cooking, but we learned at the market the next weekend that we could cook the stalks right along with the leaves. 
That being said, if you want to reserve the stalks for another use, they’re great raw (sliced in salad or dipped in dressing).  They’re also excellent in a cheddar-red-onion-vitamin-green-stalk omelet.   (A concoction born of necessity: a near-empty refrigerator after almost a week away for Thanksgiving.)  The omelet was so good that we made it a second time (with goat cheese instead of cheddar and the addition of thyme). 
The below recipe is a quick, simple way to eat your greens. (And I honestly couldn’t believe how delicious they were!)
Sautéed Vitamin Greens

Serves 4.
1 bunch vitamin greens (washed, trimmed, and roughly chopped)
1/2 red onion (sliced)
1 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil
salt and pepper

In a wide Dutch oven or  deep sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and a pinch of salt.  Sauté, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and just begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes.  Add vitamin greens and toss until the greens begin to wilt.  Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until greens reach desired tenderness, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

We had them with prosciutto-wrapped pork chops.  There’s an excellent recipe here.