Christmas Morning and The Crustless Quiche

The Ideal Christmas Morning:
Waking up early, full of excitement for the day to begin. Running downstairs to be with family and opening presents in front of the toasty fireplace. Holiday smells and warmth from the kitchen permeating every room.

Yep, that's how the movies always show it, so why can't I have a little part of it?

I woke up Christmas morning knowing I was headed off to work in a few hours. But I made the most of the few hours I had. I was an inventor and creative mind this morning, concocting the most delicious quiche (if I do say so myself), which made me feel super productive. But then again, what doesn't taste good with bacon, cheese, and eggs? Happy holidays!

The Crustless Quiche

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 roma tomato, diced
3 strips of cooked bacon, roughly crumbled
5 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup cheese (I used a mixture of Parmesan and Cheddar)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin pan. (Make sure to grease sides and bottoms!)
2. Heat oil in saute pan. Toss in diced onions and cook until onions are soft and translucent. (My onions ended up a bit charred- result of too little oil and too much heat too fast, but it was fine nonetheless). Toss in tomatoes, and cook until moisture is gone. Add a 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste. Remove mixture from heat.
3. Season beaten eggs with a dash of salt and pepper. Add in onions, tomatoes, bacon, and cheese. Stir until combined.
4. Pour mixture into muffin tins, filling each muffin tin until 2/3 full.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Annual White Elephant Gift Exchange and Stuffed Mushrooms

We had our annual (second time) white elephant at our house a few days ago. The prerequisite for the party was to bring a wrapped gift and some kind of hor d'oeuvres. Besides being a French word I can never spell (thank you, Google!), hor d'oeuvres means appetizer-type foods. At first, I was afraid that we wouldn't have enough food at the party. However, as it always turns out at potlucks, there is too much! We had a varied and very pretty table spread. Also, there were lots of first-time recipes, which contributed to the fun!

Menu:

1. Spinach and Cheese Pinwheels (Tiff)
2. Green Onion Pancakes (Aud)
3. Stuffed Mushrooms with Cream Cheese Filling (Lydia- recipe below)
4. Baguettes Topped with Cream Cheese Filling (Lydia- I made way too much filling!)
5. Lettuce Wraps (Mom)
6. Potstickers (Rich)
7. Muddy Buddy (Mare and Glo)
8. Cream Puffs (Mare)
9. Chicken Meatballs (Cass)
10. McDonald's Chicken Nuggets (Mols)
11. Punch (Ann and Ben)

I have made stuffed mushrooms in the past, but this time I used a new recipe. I modified it a bit, and it was a great hit! I made too much filling, so I have cut down the filling to fit about 30 small white mushrooms. 

Stuffed Mushrooms 

25 whole fresh mushrooms 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/3 cup chopped crab meat (I used imitation crab meat because I had that on hand)

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened 

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Grated Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling

Black pepper and salt, to taste

Cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Wash mushrooms and twist off stems. Drain mushrooms and dry on paper towel. Arrange mushroom caps on greased baking sheet. Remove woody part of stems and chop rest of stems finely. 
3. Heat oil in pan, and add garlic and mushroom stems. Cook until moisture is gone. Remove mixture, and cool until warm (no longer hot). 
4. Mix together cream cheese, mushroom and garlic mixture, crab meat, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper in bowl. 
5. Put cream cheese mixture into large ziplock bag, snip off corner, and pipe mixture into mushroom caps. Top each mushroom with extra Parmesan cheese.  
6. Bake mushrooms in oven for 20 minutes, until mushrooms release their juices. 

Stuffed Mushrooms

more 'shrooms

Baguettes with Cream Cheese Spread

Who's dat blocking all the food? :)

Our Abundant Feast!

Movies with the 'Rents and Sugar Coated Pecans

Saw Tangled with Yannie (ten going on eleven years old!). Loved it. LOVED it. I totally want to see it again! My parents saw Tron instead (didn't like the fluffy Disney animated films).

So far, pretty relaxing winter break. Doing some reading: finished Les Mis for the second time in a day. I start with the intent of savoring Hugo's work, instead I get absorbed into the plot and zoom through. Didn't quite read morning till night, but close. Currently reading, and about to finish, The Memory Keeper's Daughter. It's a good read thus far, I enjoy it.

Finally tried this Sugar Coated Pecan recipe while Angela was at my house this weekend! I can't believe I waited this long. It's ridiculously easy and produces a delicious snack (while reading, of course)! Plus, it makes the whole house warm and smell like cinnamon. I made 2 batches. First time, I followed the recipe with previous bakers' modifications. My parents verdict: delicious, but too sweet. Second time, I added my pecans, and kept the sugar mixture the same. Here is it!

Sugar Coated Pecans (with my modifications)

3 egg whites
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp water
2 lbs whole pecans
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Beat egg whites with vanilla and water until foamy. Add pecans and thoroughly coat.
2. Combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon in separate bowl. Then add the sugar mixture in parts to pecans. Thoroughly coat pecans with each addition of sugar.
3. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Cover 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil and grease foil.
4. Spread pecan pieces evenly on baking sheets. Bake for 1 hour, stirring nuts every 15 minutes.

I got lazy the second time and stirred the nuts only twice before taking them out of the oven. Turned out fine. The foil is a must, saves you from having to scrub the dried sugar crust off your baking pans! This makes quite a bit of pecans... but they keep well in airtight containers, plus they make great gifts! Costco sells 2 lb. bags of pecans for about 10 bucks... it's totally worth it!

Comfort Food: Coconut Curry

Decided to add a foodie post to the emo one (See: Standing at the Edge). This is definitely one of my go-to recipes when I crave good home-cooked food, but am short on time. Plus, this makes lots of leftovers, so perfect for the school week!

Coconut Chicken Curry

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch chunks (I use two of the large, frozen ones from Costco)
Splash of cooking wine
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp curry
1 onion, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups peeled, cubed potatoes and/or carrots (1 inch chunks)
1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce (optional)
Sugar and salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Season chicken pieces with cooking wine, salt, and pepper. 
2. Heat oil and curry powder in large pot. Be careful to not burn the curry! Add more oil if necessary, to prevent burning. Add onions and garlic, and cook until onions are translucent. 
3. Add chicken, stirring chicken to coat each piece with curry oil. Cook until chicken is white on the outside. 
4. Add potatoes and carrots, coconut milk, diced tomatoes with juice, and tomato sauce (if using) to pot. Stir to combine. Partially cover pot and simmer on medium heat, stir occasionally (especially if using stainless steel pot), for 45-60 minutes, or until curry thickens. Add sugar and salt, to taste

The first few times I majorly burned the curry oil (second step), because I was heating the oil and curry while cutting and prepping all the other ingredients. The curry turned black and I had to completely start over! To avoid this, prep everything (cut chicken and season, cut potatoes/carrots, open cans) before starting to cook. Watch the pot, and add more oil if necessary! Also, I have left the tomato sauce as optional. I use it when I have it on hand, but I feel the curry is delicious even without.