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Saturday, September 19, 2020

Colby Squares Quiche Treat - Weekend Recipe

This great quiche recipe is perfect when you make it with an herb flavored crust.  It is a traditional crust recipe seasoned with Italian Seasoning which I share the recipe at the end.  







You can make this as an appetizer to serve at a family gathering this fall or as a brunch item making it in a square shape rather than pie shaped.

Colby Squares Quiche Treat 

1 Herb Crust (see below)

2 cups chopped cooked turkey or chicken

1/3 cup green onions, chopped

8 ounces Colby cheese, grated

6 slices crisp cooked bacon

1/8 tsp salt

2 Tbls Parmesan cheese, grated

1/8 tsp paprika

4 large eggs

1/8 tsp white pepper

¼ tsp dry mustard

Onto or into prepared (not baked) Herb Crust (see below) sprinkle with chopped turkey or chicken, then onion.  Cover with cheese.  Crumble bacon over cheese.  Beat eggs with salt, pepper, and mustard.  Stir in milk.  Pour carefully over filling.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika.  Back on the lowest rack of 400-degree oven, 25 to 30 minutes or until set in center.  Cool on wire rack. Serve warm or cold.  Makes 8 dinner servings, 16 appetizer strips.

HERBED CRUST

½ cup sifted flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp Backyard Patch Italian Seasoning

½ cup firm butter

¼ cup cold milk

Combine flour, salt and Italian seasoning.  Cut in butter with knives or pastry cutter until particles are the size of peas.  Sprinkle with cold milk, adding just enough to make a stiff dough.  Shape into a square and roll on a floured board into a sheet about 12 by 16 inches.  Fold into thirds and lift into a 9x14x2 inch baking dish or 9 x 13 metal pan.  Unfold.  Fit carefully into the dish, trimming edges with the top of dish.  Fold crust down ¼ inch to form a rim and press with tines of a fork.


RECIPE THEME

Each month a theme is chosen and a number of recipes on that theme from my massive archive will be shared.  This year we have 12 new topics, different from the topics of last year.  

To find the recipes of last year, check out this recipe link or search the blog with the topic Recipe2018, or Recipe2019 

You can search the monthly theme by looking for the theme keyword in the search box and it will pull up the recipes on that theme as posted, so look at the bottom of the recipe in each posting for the KEYWORD in the () to search for each  month.  All recipes this year will be tagged Recipe2020 so you can find them all.

The themes are:

Feb 2020 - Footbal Tailgate Favorites (AppFeb)
March 2020 - Kabobs (KabobMar)
April 2020 - Brunch (BrunchApr) more in 2021 also
May 2020 - Non-Traditional Pizza (PizzaMay)
June 2020 - Stir Fry Dishes (StirJun)
July 2020 - Salads with no lettuce (SaladJul)
August 2020 - Pickled things (PickleAug)
September 2020 - Quiche (QuicheSep)
October 2020 - Squash Soups (SquashOct)
November 2020 - Pumpkin (again) (PumpNov)

December 2020 - Turkey Recipes (TurkDec)

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Quiche Lorraine - Recipe Theme

This recipe is for the traditional quiche, one many folks have tried or enjoyed in a restaurant. Since going to restaurants is not the things these days, you can now make Quiche Lorraine at home.  To prep for this recipe you need to cook a pound of bacon and crumble it, you can do this a few days ahead if you want.  I like to slice fresh mushrooms, but canned or bottles mushrooms will work just fine in this recipe.

Contrary to popular belief Quiche actually originates in Lothringen a medieval kingdom under German rule. The name 'quiche' is also of German origin from the word 'Kuchen' which means cake. The French later enhanced the dish and renamed the dish, Lorraine. So Quiche Lorraine is actually – Quiche Quiche!


The herbs in this recipe are a French blend called Fines Herbes which is a combination of Chives, chervil, tarragon and parsley.  I love the way it enhances but does not mask the gentle flavor of eggs and cheese, making this a great breakfast or dinner quiche.

Quiche Lorraine (serves 12) 

2 10 inch pie shells

1 egg white 

1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 cup of sliced button mushrooms (about 3 to 4 ounces)

2 cups, cheddar cheese, shredded

2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

4 eggs

2 tsp Backyard Patch Fine Herbs Seasoning

1 tsp salt

1 pint whipping cream

¼ cup white wine

 

Directions:

Prick pie shells with a fork.  Brush each shell with egg white.  Put into 350-degree oven for 10 minutes.  Sauté mushrooms and onions.  Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.  Add crumbled bacon, mushrooms, onion, and cheese and combine.  Place half of mixture into each pie shell.  Mix eggs, herbs and salt and blend in whipping cream.  Then wine.  Pore custard mix into pie shells.  Bake 1 hour in 350-degree oven.


RECIPE THEME

Each month a theme is chosen and a number of recipes on that theme from my massive archive will be shared.  This year we have 12 new topics, different from the topics of last year.  

To find the recipes of last year, check out this recipe link or search the blog with the topic Recipe2018, or Recipe2019 

You can search the monthly theme by looking for the theme keyword in the search box and it will pull up the recipes on that theme as posted, so look at the bottom of the recipe in each posting for the KEYWORD in the () to search for each  month.  All recipes this year will be tagged Recipe2020 so you can find them all.

The themes are:

Feb 2020 - Footbal Tailgate Favorites (AppFeb)
March 2020 - Kabobs (KabobMar)
April 2020 - Brunch (BrunchApr) more in 2021 also
May 2020 - Non-Traditional Pizza (PizzaMay)
June 2020 - Stir Fry Dishes (StirJun)
July 2020 - Salads with no lettuce (SaladJul)
August 2020 - Pickled things (PickleAug)
September 2020 - Quiche (QuicheSep)
October 2020 - Squash Soups (SquashOct)
November 2020 - Pumpkin (again) (PumpNov)

December 2020 - Turkey Recipes (TurkDec)

Monday, September 14, 2020

Summer Squash Quiche - monthly theme

I originally posted this recipe on my Community Garden Blog back in 2014 when I was growing vegetables in a community garden plot.  We moved into a house and started gardening in our own yard in 2016, so I stopped posting in that blog.  I decided to repost the recipe here for you to enjoy.


This quiche uses summer squash and in September is a great time to use those zucchini still popping up in the garden.

Summer Squash Quiche 

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

1 cup sharp cheddar,shredded

1/2 cup zucchini, chopped

1/2 cup yellow summer squash, diced

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup tomatoes peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1 tablespoon parsley

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

8 eggs beaten 

2 cups evaporated milk or half and half

Sliced tomatoes for the top 

Directions:

To prepare the pie shell, bake the pie shell for 5 minutes at 400 degrees then cool. Mix all the Squash, onions, bell peppers, chopped tomatoes and garlic. Add all the herb and spices, mixing well. Whisk the eggs and milk together in a large bowl, pour in the squash mixture to the egg mixture. Blend the Jack Cheese and Cheddar Cheese together. Spread the cheese into the bottom of the cooled prepared pie shell then add the egg and squash mixture.  Bake the Quiche at 400 degrees for 10 minutes and reduce the heat to 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until the Quiche is set.  Place the sliced tomatoes on top and allow to cool or serve hot.

RECIPE THEME

Each month a theme is chosen and a number of recipes on that theme from my massive archive will be shared.  This year we have 12 new topics, different from the topics of last year.  

To find the recipes of last year, check out this recipe link or search the blog with the topic Recipe2018, or Recipe2019 

You can search the monthly theme by looking for the theme keyword in the search box and it will pull up the recipes on that theme as posted, so look at the bottom of the recipe in each posting for the KEYWORD in the () to search for each  month.  All recipes this year will be tagged Recipe2020 so you can find them all.

The themes are:

Feb 2020 - Footbal Tailgate Favorites (AppFeb)
March 2020 - Kabobs (KabobMar)
April 2020 - Brunch (BrunchApr) more in 2021 also
May 2020 - Non-Traditional Pizza (PizzaMay)
June 2020 - Stir Fry Dishes (StirJun)
July 2020 - Salads with no lettuce (SaladJul)
August 2020 - Pickled things (PickleAug)
September 2020 - Quiche (QuicheSep)
October 2020 - Squash Soups (SquashOct)
November 2020 - Pumpkin (again) (PumpNov)

December 2020 - Turkey Recipes (TurkDec)

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Improvements and Changes to Backyard Patch Herbs

Covid has taken a lot out of me.  I am sure you can relate.  I did not realize how much I need to interact with others to boost my own creativity.  I miss just talking randomly about herbs.  Comments on my blog aren’t doing it, discussions on Facebook aren’t doing it.  I just need to have spontaneous questions. Everything seems to take me longer to do: Making herb blends, printing labels, packing items.  I can spend hours and lose track of time.

I have tried in this down time of quarantine to learn how to edit videos, so far I have not finished one of them.

I did clean and organize the cabinets in the herb room, scanned a pile of recipes (still not much of a dent in the collection.) I organized my craft room and cleaned out my part of the garage. Seriously, I never do these things, much to my husband’s chagrin.

Working during Quarantine

I am working from home, all of my jobs are now in one building.  This could be part of my problem I never escape.  My living room is now my office, my dining room was for teaching via zoom, my basement is for blending herbs.  The only escape I have is the garden. Which is probably why I have been spending so much time there.  Neglecting things I should be doing, like writing my monthly newsletter.


The weeds have never been more tamed.  But I have not grown one herb or flower that was new, except those two biennials I planted last year.

The Silver Dollar Plant flowered wonderfully and made these great branches when I harvested the seed.

 


The hollyhocks turned out to be black (I had no idea from the gift seeds I got.) When the sun shown on the plants they actually looked deep purple.  I liked the color difference from morning to evening.

 

But beyond this I have not been very creative in the garden. 

We do have cats again.  It was hard being on lockdown with no pets so we contacted a fostering agency called Mutts and Meows and got a pair of young cats.  Aren’t they adorable?

 


I have not written an email to my membership in months, mostly because even finding the energy to post to the blog has been hard, a newsletter is time consuming and I have had ½ a dozen false starts.

There are few events to promote, no talks to support with info and no new herbs to share.  And since we are not traveling, I do not have any cool places for you to visit right now.  That makes finding newsletter topics difficult.  So finally when the weather turned cooler this week I sat down with my journal and a pen and a view of these….

 


Zinnia, Cosmos, calendula and on the arbor is hops, just about to ripen.  All I need is a couple days of sun and I will have a huge hops harvest.  Might need to learn to brew beer!

In my journal I wrote down product ideas, garden ideas, newsletter topics, recipe ideas and finally after all that writing I decided a few things.



I created a DIY product - DIY Refrigerator Pickles. Doing things at home being popular these days made it fun to make kits for making refrigerator pickles. They have everything needed except vinegar, water and the veggies.  And as long as the veggies are fresh, they can come from a garden or from the store or farmers market.  In 24 hours one can have pickles without having to know how to can.  

If one wanted to know how to can, my Canning Basics class is coming up in October with District 214.  It will be virtual, so you don't need to leave home.  I am also showing how to make vinegar, sugar, honey and other items infused with herbs in a special three-part class called INFUSION which is happening starting September 16th at 7 PM via Zoom.

Time for Change

I have decided after making all my notes and watching YouTube videos on growing my business that things need to change. Don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing to complain about.  I still have my part time day job, I am still teaching in a limited capacity and Backyard Patch Herbs did very well during lock down, so I unlike many I could still pay the rent and pay bills.  My soup mixes and baking products were a big hit as were my gift baskets.  But I realized I need to simplify. The wide variety of products available all the time is terribly time consuming to make, even if I don’t make things ahead and only do on-demand crafting, it is still a lot of work. 

·        So I have decided to rework my product line and my email strategy, as well as what I do on Social Media. Here is the short list: 

  • My newsletter will be once every three weeks.  Not quite twice a month, but not once a month either. I will add more fun to the newsletter and cover more things, but in different ways, this way I can create useful content more often than before in less time.  
    • I will share garden images; 
    • easy and challenging recipes for the beginner and the adventuresome cooks; 
    • share more information of what I enjoy from my herb and gardening friends with links to websites you may have overlooked; 
    • book reviews on garden and herb topics; 
    • sharing the herb and gardening wisdom of my herby friends. 
    • If you want to join the newsletter visit this link.
  • I have enjoyed choosing recipes on a theme to post each month on the blog (this month the theme is quiche), so I will be doing more of that, expanding to include recipes with photos on Instagram. In other words, you get to see some of my hubby’s tasty creations.
  • I will also be changing my product line.  I plan to add some special items that will be DIY type creations that are available seasonally and will allow folks to enjoy herbs in new and different ways.
  • I will reduce my herb blends to those that are most popular and with the exception of my Italian Dressing and Marinade I will be retiring all blends that have salt. Stock up now they will be gone on December 31, 2020. If you want to vote on your favorite herb mixes, as there are 45 - I will be holding a vote of some sort in the newsletter and on Facebook in the coming weeks.
  • Although I love to experiment with Herb teas, I am going to reduce the offerings to 10 - 12 teas, those being my most popular. Other teas will come and go seasonally in much the way I have begun offering Holiday only teas for Halloween and the Winter Holidays.  Those of you who love a tea will always be able to order it, just remember the name and email and can send it.
  • I am going to offer subscription services, like a CSA style box as well as tea of the month and herb blends of the month. This is where I will share my new experiments rather than adding them instantly to my product line as I have in the past.
  • I will continue to offer remote programs on Zoom as well as in-person programs, but will work to add programs to a Youtube channel (I think I will trade herbs for editing assistance.) And eventually create an herb cooking class on a platform like Teachable where folks can learn at their own speed.
If there is anything you think I should or should not do in the coming times?  Any products you might like to see?  All suggestions will be considered.

 

Saturday, September 12, 2020

Crustless Cheese Quiche - Weekend Recipe

This weekend the recipe I choose is one you can make for breakfast or brunch.  Perfect to have on a nice fall day on the back porch. You don't have to worry about a crust and it is richly tasty.  You can also make it ahead and freeze it to enjoy later.


Crustless Cheese Quiche

7 large eggs

5 large egg yolks

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup half-and-half cream

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1-1/2 teaspoons Backyard Patch salt-free Fines Herbes seasoning blend or Herby Salt Substitute

1/4 teaspoon dried basil


Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine eggs, egg yolks, whipping cream, half-and-half, mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, seasoning blend and basil; pour into a greased 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.


Freeze option: Securely wrap individual portions of cooled quiche in plastic and foil; freeze. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°. Unwrap quiche; reheat in oven until heated through and a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°.


RECIPE THEME

Each month a theme is chosen and a number of recipes on that theme from my massive archive will be shared.  This year we have 12 new topics, different from the topics of last year.  

To find the recipes of last year, check out this recipe link or search the blog with the topic Recipe2018, or Recipe2019 

You can search the monthly theme by looking for the theme keyword in the search box and it will pull up the recipes on that theme as posted, so look at the bottom of the recipe in each posting for the KEYWORD in the () to search for each  month.  All recipes this year will be tagged Recipe2020 so you can find them all.

The themes are:

Feb 2020 - Footbal Tailgate Favorites (AppFeb)
March 2020 - Kabobs (KabobMar)
April 2020 - Brunch (BrunchApr) more in 2021 also
May 2020 - Non-Traditional Pizza (PizzaMay)
June 2020 - Stir Fry Dishes (StirJun)
July 2020 - Salads with no lettuce (SaladJul)
August 2020 - Pickled things (PickleAug)
September 2020 - Quiche (QuicheSep)
October 2020 - Squash Soups (SquashOct)
November 2020 - Pumpkin (again) (PumpNov)

December 2020 - Turkey Recipes (TurkDec)

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Seafood Quiche - Recipe of the Month

It is well into September before I am starting this month's recipe theme, but I have been harvesting like crazy.  It finally got a bit cooler and I had to get out in the garden.  Then we finally got some rain this week after a month, so I expect the herbs to pop up with new growth when the sun comes out this weekend.  As a result I need to get things posted now before the garden consumes me again.


This time I am going to start the Quiche theme (which we did a year ago in September) with a great Seafood Quiche.  
This luxuriously rich quiche is best in small bites. Be sure to squeeze the spinach dry after thawing. When baked, the quiche is still a little wet in the center, but it sets up as it cools. This was a Food Network recipe created by Kristine Gasbarre, but it lacked herbs so I dressed it up with my Seafood Seasoning. I am not a fan of seafood, but I like the flavors in this, especially as an appetizer or mini quiches.

 Seafood Quiche

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (4 ounces)

1 9-inch deep-dish unbaked piecrust

1/2 cup lump crabmeat (about 5 ounces)

1 package (10-pounce) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/2 cup small peeled shrimp (about 4 ounces), uncooked

4 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup half-and-half

3 teaspoons Backyard Patch Seafood Seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Place half the cheese in pie crust. Top with crab, spinach and shrimp. Top with remaining cheese. Beat eggs slightly in a large bowl. Beat in remaining ingredients. Pour over seafood and cheese. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 300F and bake 50 minutes longer, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.


RECIPE THEME

Each month a theme is chosen and a number of recipes on that theme from my massive archive will be shared.  This year we have 12 new topics, different from the topics of last year.  

To find the recipes of last year, check out this recipe link or search the blog with the topic Recipe2018, or Recipe2019 

You can search the monthly theme by looking for the theme keyword in the search box and it will pull up the recipes on that theme as posted, so look at the bottom of the recipe in each posting for the KEYWORD in the () to search for each  month.  All recipes this year will be tagged Recipe2020 so you can find them all.

The themes are:

Feb 2020 - Footbal Tailgate Favorites (AppFeb)
March 2020 - Kabobs (KabobMar)
April 2020 - Brunch (BrunchApr) more in 2021 also
May 2020 - Non-Traditional Pizza (PizzaMay)
June 2020 - Stir Fry Dishes (StirJun)
July 2020 - Salads with no lettuce (SaladJul)
August 2020 - Pickled things (PickleAug)
September 2020 - Quiche (QuicheSep)
October 2020 - Squash Soups (SquashOct)
November 2020 - Pumpkin (again) (PumpNov)

December 2020 - Turkey Recipes (TurkDec)