Quiche-adilla

Once in awhile, two worlds collide so perfectly, you can't help but stand back in awed delight.  It happened in our kitchen this weekend.  A quiche and quesadilla crashed into one another, and fell instantly, madly in love.  This is the result.  Meet the quiche-adilla, a gluten-free master piece of epic portions.  It's light and airy, filled with savory spices and seasonal ingredients, atop a hearty corn tortilla.

Quiche-adilla

2 Corn Tortillas, each cut into 4 wedges
1/2 lb. Breakfast Sausage (we like the spicy kind)
1 Zucchini, diced

1 Red Pepper, diced

5 Eggs

1/4 C. Milk
Paprika
Onion Powder
Cheese of your choice
S&P

Preheat oven to 375.

Grease the bottom of a 9" pan.  Place the tortilla wedges in the pan to form the crust.  Sprinkle with S&P.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Brown the breakfast sausage, zucchini and red pepper.  Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, milk and seasonings.

Carefully transfer the breakfast sausage mixture to the pan, spreading evenly over the tortilla crust.  Pour the egg mixture on top and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through and golden brown.

Lost Waffles

We woke up this morning to beautiful Spring weather, so we had  to eat breakfast on the balcony.  After a long winter of hibernation, it seemed only right to make something new and fresh.  Scrounging through the fridge, we had a couple eggs, some bacon and a few frozen waffles. This combination led to a kitchen experiment - that's my favorite kind of experiment, you know.  

From the deep dark winter of the freezer emerged Lost Waffles, a play on Lost Bread, a.k.a. French Toast.  These Lost Waffles are soft and pillowy, with the hint of a crispy crust.  With a side of sweet and spicy bacon, eggs done your favorite way, and topped with whipped cream, I invite you to enjoy Lost Waffles, part of this complete breakfast.  

Lost Waffles

4 Frozen Waffles
2 Eggs
1/4 C. Milk (I used almond)
1/2 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. Vanilla
Spoonful of Sugar (helps the Lost Waffles go down...)
Butter
Whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place frozen waffles on a baking sheet and bake until extra crispy.  

In a shallow bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar until well combined.  

Add a pad of butter to a medium skillet and heat over medium-high heat.  You want this pan to be HOT when the waffles jump in.  Quickly douse a waffle in the egg mixture, making sure the egg gets into all the nooks and crannies.  Add it to the skillet and let it sizzle away until golden brown and crispy.  (Don't dip the waffles in the egg until just before you put them in the skillet, or they'll become soggy).  Repeat with the remaining waffles.  

To serve, top the waffles with whipped cream and a side of your favorite breakfast accompaniments.  

Donut Holes with Jam & Creme

A few weekends ago, we went to the apple orchard with some friends. After filling a sac with juicy Winesaps (and taking more photos than we could count), we stopped at the orchard shop and picked up a few extra goodies.  Per our tradition, we chose a couple jams from the monumental display.  This year, we settled on strawberry rhubarb, among others.  For the last few weeks, the jar of SR jam had been staring me down from the kitchen counter, so I finally opened it up.  Instead of smearing it on a slice of trust toast, I wanted something different, something satiating and sweet.  I landed on donuts.

Reminiscent of jelly-stuffed donuts, these simple donut holes are light as air and when swooped through a trail of strawberry rhubarb jam and vanilla creme, they're to-die-for.

Donut Holes with Jam & Creme

1 Tube Unbaked Biscuits
2 C. Vegetable Oil
1/4 C. Strawberry & Rhubarb Jam
Squeeze of Lemon Juice
Vanilla Creme (recipe follows)
Powdered Sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the vegetable oil over medium low heat.

Open the tube of unbaked biscuits and using scissors, cut each biscuit into quarters.  Roll the dough quarters into balls and set aside.  When your  vegetable oil reaches 350 degrees, lower the heat and carefully drop a couple dough balls into the oil.  They will cook very quickly, so be prepared to scoop them out as soon as they turn a golden brown.

Place each golden ball onto a baking sheet.  Once you've fried all the balls, place them in the oven for 4-5 minutes.  Remove the balls when they have cooked all the way through.  (You can test this by cutting one of them open.  You want the dough to be fully cooked).


Dust the balls with powdered sugar.

Squeeze some lemon juice into the jam and stir to thin it out.  This makes dipping easier.  Arrange your plate with smears of jam and vanilla creme.   Place donuts on top of the sauces.  Enjoy.

Vanilla Creme

1 Packet of Vanilla Pudding
2 C. Milk
1 t. Vanilla Extract
1 T. Bourbon



Add the vanilla pudding packet to the milk and whisk for 2 minutes.  Add the vanilla extract and the bourbon and whisk until fully combined.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap so that it touches the surface of the pudding* and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until thick.  Thin with milk as needed.

*This prevents a skin from forming on your pudding.

Christian and me at the orchard.  Does anyone send out Fall cards?  We may have to now...