Boston Pie Experiment Quiche

I embarked upon my first cook-off challenge this past Sunday with The Food Experiments hosted by Theodore Peck and Nick Suarez. They brought the experiments on tour and made Boston their last stop after visiting Austin for the Pork Experiment, New Orleans for the Brunch Experiment, Washington D.C for the Taco Experiment, Philadelphia for the Cheese Experiment and Boston was the glorious Pie Experiment!  I received an e-mail a few weeks before the event with a great description by Theo about the project. I thought it was a great idea and I immediately entered and decided to tweak my Foolproof Quiche.  I knew this was going to be fun when Theo replied saying ‘I’m not afraid to admit that I am a man who likes quiche'! When I received the confirmation e-mail, reality set in and I felt a little nervous yet excited. I started to think about recipe ideas, but did not have a chance to actually try them out until the day before the competition. I played a concert at the Union Square Farmers Market in Somerville the day before with fellow librarians from The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library. I then went to buy my ingredients that afternoon. I stopped in Capone Foods in Union Square where I did not find anything for my quiche, but I did purchase some fresh vanilla bean for another cooking project and had a lovely conversation with the owner, Al. Yes, Al Capone! We talked shop and I shared in my excitement about the Pie Experiment. He told me about Capone's special strata that they make with lobster, scallions, onions, cream & cheese. I told him about my scallop quiche I was thinking of making. He thought it sounded good. They also offer cooking classes which might be come in handy sometime!  I then headed over to Russos in Watertown where I usually buy the cheese for my Foolproof Quiche. While at the register, the women bagging the cheese was very perplexed to see the 5lbs of cheese I was purchasing and actually asked ‘Do you like cheese or something??’. I then headed over to Whole Foods where I purchased the remaining ingredients to experiment with.  While at the herb rack, I was given a little tour on saffron by a knowledgable Whole Foods employee. They had saffron from Italy, Spain and Northern California. The best was from Northern California. Someone in line at the register asked me if I was making paella because of the saffron. Maybe another time! I went home and started to prepare my kitchen for the chaos that was about to take place.

I was ready to experiment. I created a saffron, scallop quiche with a little orange zest.  The saffron was overpowering. I may have added too much of the potent Northern California variety! The scallops also added a disturbing consistency and the zest was, well, too zesty!  The crust was also a little overcooked because I did not have tin foil on hand to cover portions while it was cooking! So, back to the drawing board. I had so many ideas floating around in my head and I could have tweaked the scallop quiche, but I did not have that much time. I still had the night ahead of me and an estimated 10 quiches to make for over 200 people to sample. I made a final trip out to purchase some tin foil and created a quiche with caramelized onions, tarragon, marjoram, greyere and emmental cheeses with Dijon mustard on the crust. This was clearly the winner! The herbs and dijon mustard went great with the caramelized onions. I started baking the remaining quiches at 8PM! 

Here is the recipe for my Pie Experiment Quiche:

1 pie crust (ready made or I use a Flaky Pie Crust Recipe)
6 Eggs
1 8 oz container Creme Fraiche
1/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1/2 Cup shredded Emmental Cheese
1 Medium onion, caramelized (I added 1Tbls brown sugar to the onions while they were cooking)
~1.5 Teaspoons freshly chopped marjoram
~1.5 Teaspoons freshly chopped tarragon
2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard (I use Maille)
Tomato slices (optional)

Preheat over to 425F. Roll out pie crust, place in 9 inch pie plate with holes poked in the bottom. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.  Bake pie crust for 15 minutes in preheated oven, covered with tin foil and pastry weights. Remove pastry weights and tin foil and bake until crust is golden brown. Set aside. Bake tomato slices in the oven on a Silpat or baking sheet with a little vegetable oil for about 15min. Set aside.

Beat eggs in a large bowl with hand mixer for about one minute. Add in creme fraiche and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Next, add in herbs and shredded cheese.

Place pie crust on a baking sheet (this helps to prevent spillage while transferring to the oven and also while baking). Spread dijon mustard evenly over the bottom of the cooked pie crust followed by half of the caramelized onions. Next, Add the egg and cheese mixture to the pie crust. place in oven. After about 15 minutes of baking add in remaining caramelized onions evenly over the quiche with some tomato slices if desired. Bake in the center of the oven until the filling is golden and puffed and is completely baked through, about 30-40 min. To test for doneness, shake the quiche - if it is solid without a pool of uncooked filling in the center, it is done. You may also stick a sharp knife blade into the center of the filling and if it comes out clean, the quiche is baked through. If the edges of the pie start to look too brown, place tin foil along the edges or cover the whole quiche with one piece of foil while baking.

10 Quiches?

I had until 10:20AM the next morning to bake 10 quiches!  I had a good system down. A pie crust was in the freezer while a quiche was in the oven. It was in a quiche cooking frenzy! The only issue arose when I lost time with two crusts collapsing on me. Luckily I had the dough made ahead of time and had enough for 12 quiches.  I had the caramelized onions cooked early on and I shredded the cheese as I went. Even with this, I was only able to churn out 6 quiches with one oven & hours of cooking! I felt like I had already accomplished a lot and I was ready for the pie experiment!

The Day of The Pie Experiment

The last quiche came out of the oven at 10:00AM. My friend and lifesaver for the day, Caitlin arrived at my apartment and we placed a giant tupperware container with the six quiches into my car and drove over to the Middle East. Once we were there a sigh of relief set in. Tables were set up with names of teams and there was a happy buzz in the air of what was to come! Everyone was super helpful in setting up. Nick and Theo really are great hosts. Nicks mother was the sweetest and provided all with helpful tips. We were told to cut the quiches into small bites. I was relieved because I was worried about whether or not I would have enough quiche. 

People started arriving and before I knew it there was a line of hungry people waiting in line for a piece of quiche! The Middle East smelled great and was filled with food enthusiasts!

There was dancing, good beer and great music!  It was more like a giant party than a competition. When it was time to present my dish to the judges, I was surprisingly not nervous. Just being there and enjoying the whole event made it a very comfortable experience.  My quiche won a lot of praise from taste testers and some even came back for seconds! The real enjoyment came when I had a chance to try all of the other delicious pies. So many incredible concoctions, clever names and wonderful chefs! Among my favorites were; the Piegate with a nice maple bacon taste who also had a vegan/vegetarian option which I thought was nice for those that did not eat meat. The Pretzel Me Sweetly pie was a perfect blend of chocolate with a salty pretzel crust. The bourbon banana tart, cherry frangipane, a japanese sweet potato pie with apple, blueberry with lemon curd and the winner Pissaladière with a tart that miraculously hid the flavor of anchovies and took your taste buds on journey with caramelized onions and olive tapenade! I was stuffed and could not try them all, unfortunately, but each pie that I did taste was excellent!  

In the end I was so happy that I participated in this fun event. I would do it again next year! So remember the Food Experiments and if you ever decide to participate, here are some tips:

-Print recipe to handout to everyone

-Bring more business cards

-Prepare recipe and purchase ingredients ahead of time and not the day before

-Props/apron - Coordinated outfits and props like gold pretzels, lab coats, etc.. were a big hit!

-Bring Tape - I brought tape and it came in handy for everyone.

-Decorate your table. We had flowers and an orange covering to match the color of Nomsense.

-Use a big kitchen for the cooking if you can
-Bring a serving utensil and maybe a nice serving tray for presenting to the judges or for more decoration
-Have fun!

For more on the Boston Pie Experiment check out The Food Experiments on Facebook and The Boston Pie Experiment Photo set on Flickr.

Have you made a Nomsense pie lately???

Flaky Pie Crust

I have made enough quiche by now to know how to make a VERY good pie crust! This recipe will not fail you! 

Ingredients

• 2C flour
• 1 Tablespoon cornflour
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 1 Teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 Teaspoon salt
• 2/3C cold unsalted butter, small dice
• 6 to 8 Tablespoons ice water

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together flours, salt, and sugar until well combined. Using clean hands, add butter and shortening until mixture forms smaller pieces (some big chunks should remain) and comes together in larger clumps, about 1 minute. Drizzle in half ice water and mix until just moistened. Drizzle in remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix with fingers to moisten. Form into ball, working quickly. Do not overwork the dough or it will become tough. Cover with plastic wrap, press it into a flat disk and place in coldest part of refrigerator (usually back bottom shelf) for least 30 minutes before rolling out and forming into a crust. 


I always freeze my pie crust for 15 minutes before baking.

Vegan Banana Muffins

Another vegan recipe that is sure to please! Muffins can pack in as many as 600 calories each! There are healthier options on the market now: http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-muffins ic1806. I enjoy a nice 100 calorie, chocolate VitaTop on occassion. Though, they are a little pricey and making your own is much more satisfying! I made these prior to going on a road trip. I stopped in to visit with some family on the way and they loved these muffins so much that they were gone before I left the same day! I think they are the perfect muffin, super moist and very easy to make. Try using the same recipe with blueberries, apples or other fillings.

This recipe is from Food.com (http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-banana-muffins-179846)

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas

1/2C brown sugar or 1/2C pure maple syrup (I used brown sugar)

1/2C Vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cardamon powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1C whole wheat flour

11/2C white flour

1teaspoon baking powder

1teaspoon baking soda

Directions

-Preheat over to 350F

-Grease or place cups in tin for 12 muffins

-Mash bananas in a bowl (or if the bananas are not very ripe, use a food processor!)

-Add oil, sugar (or maple syrup), salt, cinnamon and cardamon and mix

-Add flours, baking powder and baking soda and mix

-Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until muffins are done and slightly browned on top

Nutritional Information 

For your average sized muffin. I made a smaller muffin at about half the calories:

Vegan Banana Muffins

Serving Size: 1 (84 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 12

Amount Per Serving

% Daily Value

Calories 242.2

Calories from Fat 86 (35%)

Total Fat 9.6 g (14%)

Saturated Fat 1.2 g (6%)

Monounsaturated Fat 2.5 g (12%) 

Polyunsaturated Fat 5.1 g (25%)

Trans Fat 0.0 g (0%)

Cholesterol 0.0 mg (0%)

Sodium 284.0 mg (11%)

Potassium 208.8 mg (5%)

Magnesium 29.2 mg (1%)

Total Carbohydrate 37.4 g (12%)

Dietary Fiber 2.6 g (10%)

Sugars 13.7 g (55%)

Protein 3.4 g (6%)

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-banana-muffins-179846#ixzz1TVfnTcHX

Enjoy!

Vegan Coconut Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I was introduced to Vegan baking when I tried Sophia Cacciola's chocolate chip cookies during a Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library practice session. Yes, we eat cookies and drink tea during practice! Sophia is the best cookie baker I have come across in a while. I couldn't believe how good these cookies tasted. They were actually better than the traditional egg and butter variety! What I really like is the combination of flours used to create a nice texture and maple syrup for extra sweetness! I made the straight up chocolate chip cookie and they were delicious. Then I decided to utilize some cherries in my fridge and use up some of the surplus of shredded coconut I have as a result of ordering a case instead of one bag online! The cooked cherries with chocolate are divine and the coconut... wow! It helps to keep the cookie together and adds more flavor! So, go on and enjoy these cookies without eggs and butter! You will be pleasantly surprised! I also recently made some Vegan banana muffins. Look out for the post coming soon!

Man-Size Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from Party Vegan by Robin Robertson © John Wiley and Sons, 2010.

3/4 cup Earth Balance, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used vanilla soy milk)

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips

1/4C cherries, pitted and chopped

1/4C shredded coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment

paper or silicone mats.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the Earth Balance and both sugars

until light and fluffy. Stir in the non-dairy milk, maple syrup, and

vanilla and mix until smooth.

3. In a separate large bowl, combine both flours, baking soda, baking

powder, and salt and mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the wet

ingredients, stirring well to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips, chopped cherries and shredded coconut.

4. Drop the dough by the heaping tablespoonful (or more) about 2

inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until slightly

browned around the edges, 15 to 16 minutes. Cool for a few minutes

before transferring to a wire rack to cool. When completely cool,

store in an airtight container.

Makes about 24 large cookies

Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmigiana

Eggplant Parmigiana is one of my all time favorite dishes and has been a staple in my family for generations. I made this eggplant Parmigiana before heading out to San Francisco on one of my many business trips.  The perfect meal before heading away and eating out for 7 days! While in San Francisco I indulge in many different cuisines; 
* Mexican (so many great taquerias!), 
* Thai (homemade by my amazing friend, Sheila Satin of satincrystals), 
* German (suppenkuche), 
* Japanese (kappa), 
* crepes (Honey Honey), 
* sandwiches (rheas) 
to name a few... Look out for photos on the Nomsense Facebook page (Nomsense facebook) and another blog post about my culinary adventures while on the road!  When I returned from this trip, I still wanted eggplant Parmigiana, so I made this recipe again! I also made a nice vegetable parmagiana with zucchini, black beans and portabella mushrooms!

Vegetable Parmigiana

This is the best eggplant parmigiana I have ever made. It even won kudos from my mother who is not a fan of eggplant anything. That is saying a lot! The most important step is to drain the water out of the eggplant by salting and rinsing. It is rather time consuming, but well worth it! This recipe took me about 2hrs. to make. Also, the traditional method is to fry the eggplant slices in oil. To make this recipe healthier, I baked the eggplant and brushed a little olive oil on the slices while they were baking. I think it added to the flavor.

Ingredients:

1 med-lrge eggplant

1-2 eggs

approx. 2C flour

1/4tsp grlic salt

1/4tsp pepper

Favorite tomato sauce

Part-skim mozzarella cheese

Grated Parmeggiano-Reggiano cheese

9X9 Baking pan

Olive oil (use sparingly)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Peel eggplant & cut into ¼” slices.

In your strainer, add layers of eggplant, salt and paper towels. You can also layer the slices on top of cooling racks over a bowl or something that will catch the water droplets.

Let sit for approx 30min. Gently rinse each slice under the faucet on very low pressure. Pat each slice dry with paper towel and set aside. 

Draining the Water Out of the Eggplant Slices

Beat egg(s) and add about 1-2 tbsp of water to loosen up the egg. Prepare flour by adding garlic salt and pepper. Dip each eggplant slice in egg/water mixture followed by flour mixture and place on lightly oiled cookie sheet (1" apart) and in oven. Brush a little olive oil on each slice about 5min. into baking or until they look dry. Bake until slices look golden brown flipping once (re-oil after flipping).

Golden Eggplant Slices

Once all of the slices are done baking, apply a thin layer of sauce (Note: I make a simple sauce with one 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, 1 8oz can of contadina sauce, 1/2 can of tomato paste, approx. 1/4tsp of garlic salt (or 1 minced garlic clove), chopped basil (or dried) and salt and pepper to taste) on the bottom of the 9X9 baking pan followed by a layer of eggplant slices and a layer of mozz cheese. Continue with layering until you have used up all of the eggplant slices. End with a layer of sauce and mozz cheese topped with Parmeggiano-Reggiano and a sprinkle of olive oil.

Layering

delish!

If you make this recipe and it is not the best eggplant parmigiana that you have ever eaten, I want to know about it!!

Enjoy!!

Roots: Mashed Carrots and Parsnips

Ahh, root vegetables, how I love thee...
It was an evening similar to many when I often find myself working late and can not really put much of an effort into cooking. I was hungry and craving a burger or some other kind of fattening brain food. I decided to order a fancy burger for delivery from one of the many steakhouses in the Boston area. After waiting 45min., Foodler called and informed me that they were not able to reach the restaurant! This has never happened to me before. My stomach was in an uproar! I decided to call a restaurant across the street and order a pasta dish. A friendly voice answered the phone and when I said that I was calling to place an order for take-out, she put me on hold. I hung on for what seemed like an eternity and finally hung up in frustration. I decided to take another look in my fridge and what did I find?! Carrots and parsnips, oh my! Parsnips are one of my all time favorite vegetables! I just had some dental work done, so I could not eat anything hard or chewy. What to do...ha, I will boil them and mash them up silly! 

                                                              Look how pretty!




Ingredients
1lb. of carrots 
2 Parsnips
2Tbls butter
Spices: cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg to taste


Directions
Peel and cut carrots and parsnips into thirds. Drop them into a pot and fill with water until just covered. Add some salt and boil until you can cut thru the roots easily with a butter knife. Next, drain the water and add the roots back into the pot. Add 2Tbls of butter, pepper, some cinnamon (maybe 1/4Tsp.), a sprinkle of nutmeg and a little cardamom. Mash them up! Note: You will start to notice that I put cardamom in almost everything. I love the spice! Remind me to write a post about my finnish coffee bread recipe passed down from my Finnish relatives... 
I sprinkled a little parsley on top once the mashed roots were in a bowl. I usually am not a fan of using parsley or garnishing a dish, but this time it somehow made sense. I think the parsley compliments the root veggies.
** For an extra treat, peel, core and chop up some apple. Place in the microwave for a min. or two on high and add to the mashed roots. You may have to drain a little water from the apples prior to adding them. 


This would make a great side dish for anything really or just eat as a meal like I did! 


The moral of this recipe is that you might be able to utilize the ingredients you have in your fridge before spending money on some take-out that might make you feel awful and you just might come up with a simple, healthy & delicious recipe like this one! Enjoy your roots! :)

Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies are classic. I have made them dipped in milk chocolate in the past and they are always a hit! I decided to try out a couple of new ideas for a family gathering I recently attended. The first idea came from South End Formaggio where there is always something new to try. I spotted some shortbread cookies with rosemary while shopping around for cheese a couple of weeks ago. Next idea came from a catering event I attended while helping a friend promote his business. It was a very fun and delicious event. I tried some shortbread cookies with white chocolate and pistachios while I was there. They were so good that I had to make them!

The basic recipe is very simple.

Source: Betty Crocker's Cookbook, Page 157

yield: ~ 2 dozen

Ingredients

1 Stick of butter, softened.

1/4 C Sugar

2C Flour (not the rising kind)

Preheat oven to 350 º F. Mix sugar and butter together in large bowl. Add flour. If dough is too crumbly, add in 1-2Tbsp of additional butter. I added 1 more Tbsp and the dough was perfect. Divide dough and add in 1Tbsp of chopped rosemary to one half. I also added in some lemon zest to another piece of dough to try it out. Looks pretty, but I only used about 1/2tsp. and could not really taste it.

Roll out the dough to about 1/2" thickness and cut out cookies to desired shape using a knife or cookie cutter. 

Bake until the edges are golden brown. Approx. 10min. The recipe says to bake up to 20min. or until set. I think it depends on how thin your cookies are. I would keep an eye on them! 

Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. I placed them on a plate and they were fine.

If you are like me in the kitchen, keep an ice pack handy..two fingers fell victim to a hot cookie sheet this time!

Next, prepare your toppings. Here we have some Valrohna Ivoire Feves 35% Cocoa White Chocolate from Whole Foods. I'm not a big white chocolate fan, but this was very good! They came in the shape of small ovals which was good for melting. The milk chocolate was from Trader Joe's. I bought a package of their Milk Chocolate Minis. I would probably go with a better milk chocolate or a darker chocolate next time. 

The milk chocolate became mixed in with the white creating a nice marble pattern on some of the cookies!

The final products:

All were a hit, especially the rosemary

Rosemary

White Chocolate with Pistachio 

Milk and White Chocolate Dipped

Note: I chilled the chocolate covered cookies in the freezer until the chocolate was set. Store in sealed container in the fridge or serve immediately.

There is so much you can do with this recipe. 

Here are some other ideas:

-Add in some toasted, chopped nuts, cardamom, and or cinnamon to the dough mixture

-Add some lemon or lime zest to the white chocolate before dipping

-Use some melted butterscotch morsels for dipping

-Put some chocolate mousse between two cookies for a mousse sandwich

-Create a little shortbread cookie house! ;)

Have fun with it and be creative with your shortbread!