Let Them Be Little

ASPARAGUS - YUM, YUM!

A great, great spring veggie!  We love asparagus around here. I love, love, love it!

It's a favorite of mine in an omelet, as a vegetable on the side, love it in salads, we even like it in soup!

Grilled is definitely a favorite way to prepare, followed by roasted - well, it really doesn't follow behind by a lot! It's fabulous roasted! And then steamed. Steamed is good and we do a lot of steaming asparagus throughout the winter as it is available and looks decent.

I personally do not like the canned stuff.  I had it when I was very young and thought - "YUK!"

But in my teen years, I prepared some wild asparagus I found growing in the yard; I steamed it for the family and realized I had been wrong to judge the little spears too quickly.  :)

Right now asparagus is offered in abundance! And it is inexpensive. (So, go, go, go...grab a bundle!)

When picking it out.  Look at the tops, make certain they are intact and look fresh but then look at the bottoms of the spears as well.  The bottoms that look the least "dried out" are the freshest.

Now, take a little look at the photos and you will notice that not all of the spears are the same length.  That is because I never cut the ends off. While washing them (with water and FIT), I bend the bottoms until they naturally break. That does mean that I end up with all different lengths but the woody, tough end will be completely gone.  Asparagus will naturally break at the point where the good part meets with the not so good end. Try it, you will see what I mean.

 The pan above has 2 lbs of washed and dried (and ends snapped off) asparagus.

I prepared this batch 2 ways, we were having some extra folks for dinner and I wasn't sure how they would prefer it, so I played it safe.

To roast the asparagus, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Drizzle with a little olive oil. (Doesn't take much, just enough to coat spears).

Roll the asparagus in the olive oil to coat.

Sprinkle with freshly grated sea salt (or kosher salt) and freshly grated pepper. (Freshly grated does make it taste better, I promise).

Bake 8-10 minutes. 

Note: These spears were done in about 8 but they are fairly thin.  Very thin spears will not take long at all, thick spears will need a little longer, maybe 12 min. or so.  Just watch them. You don't want them to get too done.  I like them roasted but with a little crunch to them still. You can test them by piercing one with a fork.

During the cooking time, give the pan a little shake to rotate the spears.

So, half of the pan I roasted just this way and then sprinkled a little fresh lemon juice on them to brighten them up at the end.

The other half I sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan just before they finished roasting. (Maybe a minute or two).

Then drizzle with reduced balsamic (a good balsamic) vinegar.  Mmmmmm........

Asparagus roasted this way is delectable!

To reduce balsamic:

Bring a little balsamic 1/4 - 1/2 c. to a simmer and let reduce by half. This happens quickly so pay attention.

Reducing it will sweeten it up a bit and thicken it, of course. It is great drizzled on veggies or cheese, even fish.  Or as a dip for veggies.

I'll be making this again and again, so when I have the chance, I will take a photo of the finished asparagus and add it here.

The parmesan and balsamic asparagus was a hit with our guests... yay!  No leftovers for me...shucks.

Buon Appetito!

SPINACH AND BACON QUICHE

The quiche I served for a recent brunch, it was a big hit:

6 large eggs

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

A little freshly grated nutmeg - a pinch or so (freshly grated is the best!)

Salt and pepper (to taste)

2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed

12 oz. bacon , cooked and crumbled   (may use up to 1 lb.)

1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese

1 - 9 inch deep dish pie crust, unbaked

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a blender.

Layer the spinach, bacon, and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top.

(I began with half of the spinach, bacon and cheese and then repeated with the other half when layering. Everything moves around a bit when you add the egg mixture though so there is no need to be too particular).

Bake 45 - 55 minutes or so, just until the egg mixture is set and a knife inserted comes out clean.  Watch it closely near the end of the baking time. (Try not to over-bake).

Let set for 10 minutes or so before serving. Serve on warmed plates.

 

Method:

(In case you would like a little more instruction).

I began with the pie crust, once made, I put the prepared (covered) pie crust back in the fridge to keep cold (and let rest) while I worked on the quiche.

While the bacon was cooking, I washed, dried and cut up the spinach and began working on the rest of the quiche.  When bacon was cooked (crispy), I drained it on paper towels and then crumbled it.

With everything ready to go, I put the quiche together and then baked it.

 

The quiche is quick and easy to put together. If you would like to save some extra time, you could buy an unbaked, refrigerated or frozen pie crust.

 

 

CREAM CHEESE FILLED CREPES

 with raspberry sauce and a little Nutella drizzle. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

 

2 Crepe recipes and cream cheese filling recipe below.

 

 

Crepes

1 1/2 c flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 c milk

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

Beginning with liquids, combine all ingredients in a blender and blend well.  Chill in refrig. for 1 hour. Heat saute pan on med-high. (Do the water dance test to check to see if the pan is ready).

Brush pan with a little butter and pour 1/4-1/3 cup of batter on pan.  Quickly tilt and rotate the pan so the batter covers the bottom of the pan. Cook until light brown on bottom and dry on top.

***

TIP! To freeze crepes:

Cool crepes.  Stack them in between pieces of wax paper.  Wrap in foil and/or put into freezer bags.  Label and freeze up to 3 months.

***

Another recipe for crepes - not as many ingredients.  (I like the first recipe best though).

Basic Crepe Recipe

3 eggs

1/2 c milk

1/2 c water

3 Tbsp butter, melted

3/4 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

Prepare with the same method as above.

 

Cream Cheese Filling

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 c powdered sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

Blend all ingredients together with mixer.

Then fold in:

1 c heavy cream - whipped

 

Serve cream cheese crepes with fresh fruit: strawberries, raspberries, balckberries, or whatever you like!  If serving with fresh fruit, plan on approx. 4 c. fruit.

 Or serve with a warm fruit sauce. During the winter, I make sauce from frozen fruit. I warm it in a saucepan until the fruit begins to soften and become juicy.  I then add a little sugar and bring the fruit and sugar to a simmer until the sugar dizzolves and the fruit juice thickens a bit.  (I don't like to use a lot of sugar though). Sometimes I add a sprinkle of cinnamon, or vanilla also.

If you want to drizzle Nutella on top, just heat the Nutella in the microwave until it is warmed through and drizzle with a fork.

 

WARM WAFFLES

 Jill asked me a question about waffles after reading this post.  In the title I used the word "cruddy" which in no way was referring to the waffles, ha, ha.

But her question was about keeping waffles warm.  Waffles usually disappear so quickly around here that there is no need to KEEP them warm.  Now, ham on the other hand is a totally different story! ha, ha. 

I have used the microwave in the past to keep waffles warm while we are in the process of making them.  For instance, after a couple of waffles are ready, I put them on a plate and place them in the microwave for 15 seconds or so and then leave them.  The microwave remains warm even without running.  You can then keep cooking and adding to the micro.  One of my former microwaves had the "warm" option - which was fabulous!  The oven usually tends to dry food out so I personally wouldn't use the oven to keep a lot of waffles warm - and especially for a long-ish time period.  :)

For re-warming waffles, I think the very best way is by putting them back into the waffle iron.  But I don't mind if the outside of the waffle is a little crispy - as long as the inside is nice and fluffy still.  :)

With all that said...

I really thought about Jill's question and put this to a little experiment.  I wondered if a tortilla warmer would keep the waffles on the table warm.

And the answer is yes!

It held the heat for quite a while.  Really.  That last waffle was off-limits so I could keep coming back to it. I checked on it after we had finished eating and after we cleaned up the kitchen, it was still on the warm side.  So, I thought that was pretty good.

It's a great alternative if you want your waffles ON the table and warm.  I do suggest paper towels to line.  Warm waffles, when covered, will sweat....try to say that ten times and fast, ha, ha!

About the tortilla warmer/keeper:  My friend, Rosana (from Mexico), loves the warmers that are styrofoam.  She gets them at the market.  They are really inexpensive.

I have the one pictured below that was around $4.00 or so.  I would like one or two more but I would like to find the styrofoam containers.  I have used hers and they are great.

I wouldn't tempt you with a title like "Warm Waffles" and not provide a recipe, so here is a family favorite:

(I have been using this recipe since before children...there are probably better recipes out there, we use a few different recipes also but we really do like this one).

 

 2 eggs

2/3 c milk

1/3 c butter melted

Beat together and then add:

1 Tbsp vanilla

Beat again.

Stir together:

1 & 1/3 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar

Add to wet ingredients and mix well.

Pour onto hot and lightly greased waffle iron.

 

Yield: 4-5 large (belgian size) waffles.

BACON FOR JILL

Jill left me a comment asking how to cook bacon in the oven, rather than send her a note, I thought some of you might also like to know how this is done.

How to bake bacon:

My oven tends to run a little hot, so consider that when you try to bake bacon in your own oven.

Preheat to 375 degrees.

Lay bacon strips in a single layer on cookie sheet.  (I used a regular cookie sheet for these photos but I generally use a pampered chef stone, either way works).

Place in oven for 10 minutes.  Take out and flip bacon strips over.

Bake another 10 minutes.  (Depending on your oven temp and desire for crispiness).

 

Easy as...pie bacon!

Alrighty then, lunch is nearly ready, anyone want to come over and eat a BLT with me? 

FEELING THE LOVE?

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Love you "somethin' waffle!"

Just before Jonathan went in for a bite, he saw me reach for my camera and began the protest...he didn't want to be put on the blog and therefore was not going to take a bite.  I responded "Maybe you won't be put on the blog..."

Or maybe you will...hee, hee.  I did disguise the photo a bit, turned it a pinkish hue in honor of the day of love, added some grain...

it's a win-win!

  

 

Speaking of win-win, here's a question for you:

If you eat bacon in the shape of a heart, does it magically become more heart healthy?

 

***

Since Valentine's day was on a Sunday this year, I wanted to make waffles for the family before church.  I have always wanted a heart-shaped waffle iron but I haven't found one that I wanted to invest in.  I love our waffle iron that we have had for years.  It's a Belgian waffle iron with big, deep squares; great pockets for the syrup to settle.  This year I planned to purchase a heart-shaped waffle iron but on the way there, I stopped to check on a friend in need and then made plans with Jonathan and just ran out of time.  I am so glad I did.  We had our heart shaped waffles anyway, made with my trusty Belgian waffler...I just cut them with my gigantic cookie cutter before serving!  Perfect!  Big heart-shaped waffles with deep pockets for the homemade strawberry sauce.

For the bacon, I placed them on cookie sheets in the shape of hearts and baked them in the oven.  Sometimes I cook my bacon in the oven anyway, it allows me to be free to prepare the other items on the menu at the same time without having to babysit the bacon.

One of the best memories from breakfast was of Smash.  He came into the kitchen and took in his surroundings of hearts and all things red...without being able to see the bacon in the oven but smelling the aroma from it cooking, he asked, "So, is the bacon in heart shapes too?"  When I told him that it was, he ran...ran to the oven in disbelief to see the heart shaped bacon.  He was impressed, not an easy task for moms with teens.

Hope you all had a Valentine's weekend filled with love.

SHOULD WE NAME THESE

BREAKFAST CUPS?  Or maybe Brunch Cups?

*

Not quite sure what to call them but the kids called them delicious.

With the fixings for breakfast burritos on hand but no tortillas and zero desire to make tortillas from scratch, I came up with a new thumbs-up recipe.  (At least I got the thumbs up from my fam).

When I saw that I had some refrigerated crescent rolls on hand (for another recipe), I knew I could make something with those as my base.

*

Grocery list:  Crescent (Pillsbury) Rolls, Sausage, Eggs, Milk, Cheese, Chives, Garlic salt (Lawry's), Pepper and anything else that sounds good to you.

*

Here's my method:

Preheat oven to 350*

I opened the can of crescents and rolled them out, then let them rest for a few minutes while I browned some sausage.

*

Brown 4 oz. crumbled sausage, drain on paper towels (set aside to cool for a few minutes)

In bowl: 

Whisk together -

6 (or 8) eggs

1/4 c milk

dash of garlic salt (I like Lawry's)

freshly cracked pepper

1/2 - 1 c grated cheese (I used cheddar jack because that is what I had on hand, I wanted to use the 4 cheese Mexican blend but didn't have any - which is unusual.)

Back to crescents:

Pinch the perforations together.  (Leave triangles together)  Use rolling pin to make the dough nice and thin.  You should have rectangles now.  Cut rectangles in half so you have a square to work with.  This will give you 8 squares. 

Drop each square into a muffin cup, pull sides up so that some of the corners hang over the edge.

Divide the crumbled sausage between the eight cups,  top that with a few freshly cut chives, and pour 1/4 c of the egg mixture over the top.

Raise the temp of the oven to 375* and pop the muffin tin into the oven for 20-25 minutes.  Insert a toothpick in center, it will come out clean when they are done.

***

*If you prefer ham or bacon, you could use that instead.  You could add other things as well, broccoli, mushrooms, whatever you like in an omelet or breakfast burrito would work well.

**My family wanted more, I could have doubled this recipe.  Any leftovers probably would have been good refrigerated and eaten the next morning.