our little secret: easy but impressive leek & ham quiche

If you're having dinner guests on fairly short notice, or want to prepare an easy make-ahead brunch that won't require a lot of fuss while you visit with your out of town guests, let me tell you about this quiche. Growing up, it was always my mom's staple "fancy" food - we made it for Christmas Eve, New Year's, and other festive occasions. Precisely because it can be made ahead (even baked the day before), you never have to follow the recipe exactly, it uses up odds and ends of cheese left over from other recipes in your cheese drawer, and it's impressive enough on a plate. The basic premise is some meat (optional), some vegetable (optional) plus some cheese(s), and several eggs mixed with half-and-half. I made a double batch of leek confit (remember how good it was in Molly Wizenberg's leek tart?), and used up a little fresh mozzarella, fontina & gruyere I had on hand, with a few slices of ham. Perfect.

Grocery list: one pre-made pie crust - the kind you can roll out, not frozen in a tin (or, make your own), 4 eggs, 3/4 cup half-and-half, 3 cups total shredded cheese (I used about one cup each gruyere, fontina and mozzarella), 3 ounces sliced ham, 1-2 cups leek confit. You could also saute mushrooms and/or onions to use in place of the leeks - cook them for about 10 minutes until tender, then allow to cool to room temperature before assembling quiche.



Roll out the crush into a pie dish. Spread 1 cup of cheese on the bottom, followed by diced ham. Evenly distribute leeks (or the mushroom/onion mixture).



Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the ham and leeks. Whisk eggs and half-and-half with salt and pepper, then pour over the filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-75 minutes, or longer.



Quiche is done when you can gently shake the sides of the pan and the inside giggles without appearing liquid-y. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before you slice it. The eggs will continue to cook during this period, and the inside will firm up, so don't cut too early or your quiche slices will look messy.

not boring turkey again: open-face ham, cheddar & apple butter sandwiches

I have turkey sandwiches so often they've started to depress me. I know the numbers (how many calories and how much protein - so I know I'm getting what I need for an upcoming swim or whatever), but that also means I know exactly how it's going to taste. And after a while, I just dread having one. Every now and then, I'll find a new sandwich to eat for a couple days, just a bit more of a splurge, but that little investment means I can go back to my turkey again for a week or so. A vicious cycle, but at least it led me to this amazing open-face ham & cheese...

Grocery list: rustic or sourdough bread, black forest ham, extra sharp white cheddar, chives, dijon mustard, apple butter.



Drizzle slices of rustic bread with olive oil, and broil for a couple minutes on each side to toast. Spread a little dijon mustard (I prefer Roland Extra Strong), then a generous spoonful of apple butter.



Top with a few slices of black forest ham, some extra sharp white cheddar, and broil until the cheese bubbles. Slice a little pinch of fresh chives over the top, and you've got lunch.

sopressata paninis with roasted red pepper tapenade

I used to be very weirded out by any sandwich meat outside of turkey, but in the last couple of years have started to see that I've been missing a lot of deliciousness. Sopressata is one of those meats that I wish I had known about a long time ago. It's an italian cured pork sausage, made with black peppercorns, and just a slice or two can make a basic grilled cheese turn into an amazing experience. For this sandwich, I broil it with fresh mozzarella, some slices of black forest ham, and this red pepper and olive spread that is quickly made in the food processor.

Grocery list: sliced sourdough or italian bread, 2 slices of sopressata + 2 slices black forest ham (per sandwich), fresh ovaline mozzarella. For the tapenade: kalamata olives, fresh basil leaves, 2-3 roasted red peppers, olive oil, garlic, thyme, red wine vinegar.



Start by making the tapenade. Make sure you pit the olives first, and then put about 15 of them in the processor. Follow with the red peppers, 2-3 garlic cloves, a handful of basil leaves, a sprig of thyme leaves (remove the stems), and pulse for a few seconds until the olives and peppers are coursely chopped.



[Edit - forgot originally to include the rest of the directions for the tapenade here. After initially pulsing the olive mixture for a couple seconds, remove the lid and add a splash of red wine vinegar and stir to get the bigger chunks of olives down from the sides of the processor bowl. Return the lid; while pulsing the food processor, pour in about 1/4 cup of olive oil. You want the tapenade to have a thick consistency - spreadable, but not runny.

Next, turn on the broiler. Toast both sides of the sliced bread. Then, smear both sides of bread with the tapenade, and on one side of each sandwich place a few slices of fresh mozzarella. On the other side, put 2 slices of ham and 2 slices of sopressata. Return to the broiler until the cheese is bubbling and the top of the salami starts to crisp.

ham and gruyere quiche

Quiche is a dish that I make fairly regularly, especially in the spring and summer, and I never really follow a recipe. The gist is basically start with a crust, put whatever cheese(s) and other filling in the bottom, then cover with egg mix and bake until it's set. I haven't found a combination of fresh spring vegetables and good quality cheese that I don't like. So when I saw an article recently (in Elle Decor, of all places) about it being the "season for quiche" now that it's spring, it reminded me that it's time to have a little brunch get-together.

I followed the article's recipe somewhat, because I have never made a crust as light and airy as this one was described. The foundation is phyllo dough, paper thin sheets of dough that you have to glue together with egg wash. I tried this to see if the challenge was interesting, and even though I now know I can make a phyllo crust for quiche myself, I probably will stick to the old fashioned southern pie crust in the future. It has a more solid, salty, dense texture, which I prefer. But I'll walk you through this one anyway, because phyllo crust is just good to know about...

Grocery list: phyllo dough (I found this in the freezer section of WF, a single box of 20 sheets), 8 eggs, 1 c half and half, ham, gruyere, goat cheese, 1 roma tomato, 5 T breadcrumbs, about 3 cups uncooked rice.



Lay one sheet of phyllo down on the counter. Beat a single egg in a bowl, and brush a little egg wash on the surface of the dough. Sprinkle 1 T plain breadcrumbs over. Add another sheet of dough, and repeat the layers (dough + egg wash + breadcrumbs) until you have 6 total sheets of dough, ending with dough on top.



Take your pie plate and set it on top of the dough layers. With a pointy knife, cut the dough *about an inch wider than the perimeter of the pan*. This is important b/c the dough shrinks when you cook the crust, and if you cut it to the exact size to start with it will shrink and not cover the bottom of the pan.

Take the dough layers and put in the bottom of your pie pan. Lay down a sheet of parchment papers, then cover with the uncooked rice, to weigh down the paper. Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees, remove from the oven to cool (remove the rice and paper first), and turn the oven down to 300 degrees.

Grate a handful of gruyere and crumble an equal amount of goat cheese. Slice a handful or 2 of ham (virginia ham is perfect -- you can ask for 1-2 thick slices at the deli counter). Sprinkle the ham & the cheeses in the bottom of the crust. I prefer to slice the roma tomato and arrange the slices around the pan so when it cooks, each piece of quiche will have a slice of tomato right in the center.



The egg mix is 4 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk, beaten together with 1 cup half and half and a pinch of white pepper, tiny pinch of cayenne, and salt and pepper. Pour this over the toppings and bake for at least 45 minutes. You'll know when it's done because the top will be golden and the egg mixture "set" -- i.e. if you shake the pie dish a little, it shouldn't be liquidy in the middle.

Let set on the counter for 10 minutes or longer before slicing and serving.