Tilapia Asparagus Quiche

More Quiche! Since I bought my hand blender, I've been experimenting all over the place. Jess got me drooling for asparagus, so I decided to put some into a quiche!
Ingredients:

1/4 lb cooked asparagus
1 handful spinach or 1 knob frozen spinach
1 filet tilapia, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
fresh chopped parsley
shredded swiss cheese
1 raw pie crust
salt/pepper

Directions:
1. Lay your pie crust in a tin and poke it with a fork, then stick it in the oven at 400°F for 5-7 minutes.
2. In a blender, blend the spinach, asparagus, and a drizzle of heavy cream.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, salt/pepper, and parsley.
4. In the half cooked pie crust, spread out the pieces of tilapia, then the asparagus mix, then the egg and cream mix. Sprinkle the shredded swiss on top.
5. Cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes... depending on the oven... until the top is golden.

Serve warm with a basalmic vinegaratte salad...mmmm!

Wild Strawberry Tart

My very first dessert! Woohoo! I usually like salty over sweets, but I found these lovely wild strawberries in my yard and I kind of wanted to try my luck with a strawberry tart! It turned out delicious. I used a kitchen scale (that I initially bought to weigh my baby dinosaurs) to measure my ingredients exactly. I didn't work my pastry cream long enough, though.. it should have been thicker and I should have put in a little more elbow grease.
BUT
The taste was spot on.
Ingredients:

• 750 g (1.5 lbs) strawberries
  
• 1 pie crust in dough form
  
• 30 g (1 oz) powdered sugar or regular sugar
  
• 30 g (1 oz) flour
  
• 20 cL (7 fl ounces) whole milk
• 2 egg yolks

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 250°F. Spread your pie crust in a buttered tin over baking paper. Poke holes in the crust with a fork, and put another layer of baking paper and some raw rice or beans on top for weight. Cook for 20 minutes, then let cool.
2. For the pastry cream, heat some milk on low heat in a pan and add half the sugar, then all the flour and mix well.
3. In a separate salad bowl, beat the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar. Pour a little of the hot milk and mix well. Then dump this mixture into the pan you are heating the milk in.
4. While on low heat, beat and beat and beat until the mixture kind of solidifies. Your arm will hurt. This may be a good use for an electric beater? Once it solidifies, take off the heat and let cool.
5. Fill your pie crust with the pastry cream, and lay your cut and washed strawberries on top. Refridgerate for a few hours before serving. If you have a very sweet tooth, you can add powdered sugar on top.

This was a hit! My first dessert! A little runny, but that won't happen next time. The cool thing is that you don't have to put strawberries. You can do this with raspberries, kiwis, peaches... or a mix! Also, I used eggs from my mother in law's hens, so the pastry cream is a lot more yellow than it would be with grocery store eggs. They are so much better though!

Asparagus Risotto & Chicken Pita Salad

I found these recipes on Sunset.com, one of my faves for dinner recipe sites. ;) I think you will like these ones. They both were yummie!

Asparagus Risotto
In a large pot in olive oil, cook 4 chopped green onions and 1 cup Arborio rice until fragrant. In 4 batches, stir in 1 qt. hot vegetable broth and cook, stirring, until each is absorbed and rice is al dente, 20 minutes, adding hot water if you need more liquid.

About 5 minutes before rice is done, add 2 lbs. asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 2-in. pieces; 2 tbsp. unsalted butter; and ½ cup grated parmesan cheese; cook until asparagus is tender-crisp.


Grilled Chicken Pita Salad
Prepare grill for high heat (450° to 550°). Rub 2 boned, skinned chicken breast halves with olive oil and cook, turning once, until no longer pink. Slice.

Meanwhile, whisk 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 tbsp. fresh oregano, and 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper; set aside. Boil 1 lb. asparagus (ends trimmed), cut in spears and halved lengthwise, just until bright green; rinse with cold water.

In a bowl, combine reserved chicken; 4 oz. feta cheese, broken into chunks; asparagus; 2 cups halved grape tomatoes; ½ cup pitted kalamata olives; and 2 cups pita chips. Toss gently with reserved dressing. Add 2 cups baby arugula and toss once just to combine.

Creamy Duck Legs

Duck is delicious! It really doesn't taste anything like chicken or turkey. When it's raw, it looks like a red meat. We've been trying to eat different things every once in a while, and these really inspired me.. especially because I'd never made duck before! There is a lot of meat on duck legs.. we didn't finish them, so you can cut the meat off when they're cooked and easily serve 3 or 4 people instead of just 2 gluttons like us.
Ingredients:
2 duck legs, skinned
2 tbsp grapeseed oil or EVOO
1 small onion, chopped
2 chopped cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1 handful mushrooms
2 tbsp heavy cream
fresh ground pepper
Directions:
1. Brown the legs in the oil on both sides a few minutes. Remove the legs and then do the same with the rosemary, onions and garlic.
2. Add the mushrooms and brown a little, then put the legs back in.
3. Add the wine and broth. I used a pressure cooker, so I cooked it for 20 minutes. If you don't have one, cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. The meat should easily come off the bone. I guess you could transfer to a crockpot as well.
4. Reduce de sauce a little (uncover) and add your cream and fresh ground pepper to taste. I think I sprinkled some fresh parsley in there, too.

Serve with a nice salad and some home fries.. or white rice.. or pasta...or mashed potatoes... mmmm!

This completely blew my mind. I will now regularly buy duck.

Orange Avo Smoothie

A friend posted this on thier facebook page- and i Love it. I make it all the time!! I have a Magic Bullet- so, i just throw all the ingredients in and whip it up for b-fast.

ORANGE AVO SMOOTHIE
1/2 avocado
half frozen banana
2 dates (sometimes i omit the dates bc i don't have any)
1/2 c fresh squeezed oj
1 orange
2 T lemon juice

blend. yum.

Southwest-Style Rice Salad

What to do when it's hot out, you have leftover rice you don't want to throw out, and you don't really feel like cooking?
Make this! It's delicious and refreshing and has that little kick of spice that makes you smile
Ingredients:
whatever amout cooked rice you want
1 can tuna, drained
1 tomato, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
1 small handful chopped cilantro
1 avocado cut into cubes
juice from 1/2 or whole lemon
pinch of cumin
pinch of chili powder
pinch of garlic salt
fresh ground pepper
small drizzle EVOO
Directions:
Mix it all together and eat as a side or a light meal. I served with a soft boiled egg. Soft boiled eggs are soooo good. To soft boil, start the eggs in cold water on medium heat and count 12 minutes (on a gas stove). You can eat them warm with a dash of salt or cold with a dash of mayonaise.

Chicken Burrito Bowl Remix

I made this again. I don't know why, but it came out a lot better than the first time...
I think It is because I didn't cut chicken into cubes and I used bone in skinless chicken thighs that I placed over the beans, so they stayed whole.
I added 1 tbsp chili powder
2 chopped tomatoes
minus the corn
for garnish i didn't have cabbage so I used chopped batavia salad.

Delicious! Especially since the beans are HOME MADE!!

D-Day Turkey Cutlets

I grew up eating this, and I think Jess has too. My mother got it from my grandmother, but they never knew what to call it in English. My mother calls it "Turkey with White Sauce" but in France, they are called "Escalopes Normandes" which translates into Normandy Cutlets...and since D-Day is coming up, I dedicate this recipe to the beaches of Normandy! I have to admit that I tweaked the original recipe, but I can't help myself.. and we don't ever have whiskey in the house. This serves 4 or how ever many turkey cutlets you put in.
Ingredients:
4 turkey cutlets
a very large handful of chopped mushrooms
less than 1/4 cup dry white wine or whiskey
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
butter or margarine
salt/fresh ground pepper
For the sides:
1 bunch fresh spinach
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp EVOO
Hot pasta
Directions:
1. In a deep enough sautée pan, melt the butter and brown the turkey cutlets with some salt and fresh ground pepper.
2. At the same time, in another pan, sautée your mushrooms in butter.
3. When the cutlets are golden, add the white wine. My mother uses whiskey, but it is a little more tricky because you have to flambée it. To flambée, pour in the whiskey, and light a match to it. Keep the pan in your hands and move it around until all the alcohol has burned. It is fun. Make sure your hub or kids or friends are watching you because they will think you are the coolest person they know.
4. Add the mushrooms and cream, put on low, and cover while you cook your spinach.
5. In a separate pan (hey, use the one you used for the mushrooms! Less dishes!) lightly brown the garlic in EVOO and then add the spinach. It will reduce by a lot. Stir around so nothing burns, salt/pepper, and turn off the heat.

Serve over hot pasta! Any pasta will do. I have used almost everything.. even rice or fries!

I cheated a little and used wild mushrooms in the picture, so yours might not look like mine, but I make it all the time with regular mushrooms too! I like to use spinach because it's delicious, but substitute any other veggies.. broccoli or even skip the cooked spinach and use raw! Sometimes when I can't find turkey (in Florida, they seem to only eat turkey in sandwiches or on Thanksgiving, but never as cutlets..wtf), I use thin boneless pork chops or even chicken.. oh my.

Chicken and Asparagus

OK- i know this doesn't look very good; but it was delicious (it just doesn't photograph well) =) And i realize that you probably do not have access to any of these ingredients in France. I am sure that you can substitute cream for soup and replace cheeses.

Ingredients:
1.5lbs Asparagus spears, halved
4 boneless chicken breasts
2 tbls EVOO
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese



Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*. Place asparagus in a 9" square baking dish. In a skillet over medium heat, brown both sides of chicken in oil. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange chicken over asparagus. In a bowl, mix soup, mayo, lemon juice, and curry powder. Pour over chicken. Cook for 40-minutes or until chicken is tender. Sprinkle with cheese.

Good with Hearts of Palm Salad. Spinach and Garlic for vege.

Mini Stuffed Peppers

Did i not post this recipe yet? I found it in the drafts! I got this recipe from a co-worker. I love peppers- and this is a great appetizer! Good for entertaining.

Ingredients:
1 package (8oz) cream cheese (softened)
1 Cup (4oz) Shredded Chedder Cheese
1 Cup (40z) Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
6 Bacon Strips, cooked and crumbled
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 lb fresh jalepenos, halved lengthwise and seeded (i also used mini red and yellow peppers)
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
Sour Cream, onion dip, or ranch for dipping

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine chesses, bacon, and seasonings. Mix well. Spoon about two tbls into each pepper half. Then, Roll in bread crumbs.

Place in greased baking pan. Bake uncovered at 300* for 20 minutes (30 minutes for a more mild flavor). Serve with sour cream or dip.