Bacon Spinach Quiche

Alas, my spotty updating seems to be a recurring event here, doesn't it? If only I had a laptop of my very own to use at my heart's desire. Until then, continue to expect consistently inconsistency in my postings :)
Very well, I have had much more time on my hands lately than I have in the past, partly because I have been forced due to economic disabilities to end my swimming career prematurely, and partly because as of late, I haven't really had much homework.
So I've spent much of this time cooking for my family and running in the mountains, where the air is cleaner and the trails are (despite dips and rocks everywhere) much easier on my soft swimmer's joints. Anyways, on to the cooking!
My mom told me this was by far the best quiche she has ever eaten - homemade or restaurant made. I have to say it turned out quite pretty from the oven.

Crust:
I'm going to be honest here. Even with my seemingly endless amounts of time these days, I just don't have the time (or maybe I'm just lazy) to make home-made pie crust. My mom bought pre-made shells from the store. You can do that, or you can be cool and make your own.
This recipe makes two quiches, so you will need two shells.

Quiche Filling:

16 eggs, beaten.
1/4 water or skim milk
9 oz. (about 9 cups) fresh spinach
1 package (12-16oz.) good quality bacon
About 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 onion, diced.

Begin by dicing the bacon into small, 1/4-inch square/rectangle/polygons. Cook in a skillet over medium-low heat until nice and crispy. You may need to drain the fat periodically from the pan so it doesn't get soggy while cooking. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until whites and yolks are blended. Add 1/4 cup water (this will give the eggs a fluffier texture and also keep them nice and moist), cheese, and spinach. If you think the spinach leaves take up too much room in your bowl and shell, gently wilt them by steaming them for about 1 minute in the microwave. Allow them to cool before you add them to the eggs. By this time your bacon should be finished cooking. With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon bits and let them drain and cool on a paper towel. Drain the fat from the pan, and saute the onions in the bacon pan until just translucent. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once all of your hot ingredients are cooled, add them to the egg mixture (if you add them while they are steaming hot, your eggs will CURDLE, your cheese will melt and get GREASY, and you will have a disgusting mess). Bake your quiches in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 35 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned like a summer beach-goer and the middle of the quiche is firm and set up just like that summer beach-goers browned abdominals. Ok, not that firm. But you get the idea. You don't want to be eating raw eggs.

My mom made the beans!

This quiche does not need salt, because it has bacon in it. Unless you want extra sodium in your diet. But you really shouldn't, because that is unhealthy.
 This quiche also pairs wonderfully with pinto beans or black beans! Just pop them in your slow cooker with a hamhock, water or chicken broth, and some salt and other lovely seasonings like pepper, allspice, or chili powder, and allow them to cook throughout the day until nice and tender. You will want to add water as it evaporates so your beans don't dry out.

Chocolate Fudge Butterfly Truffles

Well, I've certainly failed to deliver in the weekly-basis offerings, haven't I? It's felt like an eternity since I was able to update, and I think it's been about three or four weeks. How sad! Well, this week, since Valentines Day just passed and Easter is around the corner, I'm providing you with a delicious, simple recipe for truffles. Delicious, dense, fudgey chocolate truffles encased in even more rich bittersweet chocolate.
Sounds wonderful, right?
Indeed. And they're even more wonderful when they're done right, which failed to happen when I made this recipe in my culinary class, resulting in the truffles swirling with the outer coating and making a general mess. Not my fault.
So I decided to do them again at home this weekend, and I would do them right, without the time restraints my group had in class. And sans people who don't follow directions. But I won't delve any further.
I'm also making them because my parents took a trip to Nevada this weekend, and I thought I'd make something nice for them to return to. Aren't I just the best daughter ever? ;)

I also dressed my truffles up a bit. The ones we did in class were simply balls coated in chocolate. I decided to sprinkle on some of my pink pearls, chocolate sprinkles, and I made almond-sliver butterflies to top some of the truffles, hence the 'butterfly truffle' name.

Are those strawberry marshmallows adorable, or what? :D

The truffle filling is basically a ganache with a little corn syrup and butter:

• 10 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped finely. (Or you can use chips).

• 1/2 c. heavy cream

• 1 T. corn syrup

• 3 T unsalted butter

Simmer the heavy cream and corn syrup in a sauce pan. Once simmering, pour over the chocolate chips and butter. Let sit for about 3 minutes, then stir gently, so you don't slosh cream and chocolate all over your kitchen.

Here, you can add all sorts of wonderful things to your ganache to make it taste even more fantastic: mint extract, orange extract, amaretto, rum, brandy, coconut extract, or any other flavoring you wish. If you add alcohol, add 1/4 cup and stir in slowly, again, so you don't slosh everything and make a giant mess. Also, the alcohol in the ganache will keep it from freezing solid, so if you store these in the freezer, you can just pull them out and devour them right away instead of waiting for the center to soften.
I didn't add any flavors to mine because I am sharing them with some friends, and I'm not sure if they like chocolate and orange paired together. I do. :)

Melted wonderfulness.

Once your filling is all mixed together, pour it into a flat glass casserole dish or sheet/brownie pan. Place it in the freezer until it is set.

After about 1-2 hours, the ganache will be frozen solid (unless you added alcohol, then it will be set and solid)
Remove from freezer and let thaw a few minutes until you can scoop it fairly easily and roll it into small balls about the size of a marble.
*Having a melon baller helps make your balls rounder. I used a spoon, so mine are a little lumpy. But I was able to mold a couple of them into hearts that way :)
Place your rolled ganache orbs onto a parchment-paper lined baking sheet.
When you have finished scooping, put the balls back in the freezer for several hours, or over night.

Coating

Classy!

10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or chips)

Melt either in a microwave or double boiler.
If you're using a double boiler, just be careful not to get ANY water in the chocolate. A single drop could ruin everything!
It helps if you use a thermometer to make sure your chocolate stays between 92 and 94 degrees fahrenheit. This ensures a hard outer shell for your truffles. I used a meat thermometer, and I'm pretty sure my chocolate was closer to 98 degrees, but my shells were still nice and hard.
If you use a double boiler, remove the pot holding the chocolate from the heating pot once your chocolate is half-way melted. This will ensure it doesn't get too hot.
Now go get your truffle centers from the freezer! Since they will be nicely frozen, they won't melt all over into your coating. You can use an ice cream scoop to scoop up some of the melted chocolate, then drop your truffle center into that and roll it around to coat it without putting it into the actual pot, risking melting.
Place the coated truffles back on the parchment they were frozen on. I discovered that since the pan is still very, very cold, the coatings set up very, very quickly. Therefore, decorate them as soon as you place them on the pan! You can use chopped nuts, sprinkles, cocoa, cinnamon sugar, coconut, or slivered almonds to decorated them. You can roll them completely in the coatings, or you can just sprinkle the coatings on top, like I did.

You can see here that the outer shell and inside are distinctly separated!

If your coating is hard and set because of your cold pan, then you can go ahead and enjoy! If not, store them in the freezer until it is hard.
Store them in the freezer so that condensation doesn't build up like it would in the refrigerator and drip all over your truffles. When you are ready to serve them, remove them and let them come to room temperature to soften the centers.
I hope you enjoy this recipe, and share it with your friends and family over the next couple of chocolate-filled months. I can guarantee they will love you even more than they already do if you make this for them. :)

Interview with a Chef

So I'm sorry to say that there will be no recipe this week. I know, you are all crying bitter tears. However, I do have something that may be interesting to some. I had the privilege (don't I sound pretentious) to interview Chef Aurore at the Vogue Bistro here in Surprise for my culinary class. Basically, we had to interview someone in food service to learn more about the realities of a career in culinary arts. Now, keep in mind these are not quite direct quotes, but are comprised of what I took from my notes. So without further ado, here it is:

What is your position in the kitchen?
Executive chef and co-restaurateur (she owns the Bistro with her husband).

What inspired you to enter into a culinary career?
It is my passion. I always loved cooking. I began when I was 14, when I worked. My grandparents had a foie gras factory (foie gras is a pate of goose liver from a goose that is fed a lot of grain so it has a very fatty liver), in France and [an uncle in her family] was a Duke, so his crest was the symbol on their pate packaging. Their pate was famous in France and was considered a fine delicacy, which people came from around the world to try. 


What are the daily functions of your job? What kind of things comprise your day?
I grow all of my own herbs and some produce. We own a market near the 101. Tuesdays, I go to the farm to see what I will use from my own farm. On Wednesdays, I visit several farmers markets around the valley to find ingredients (produce, meat, cheese) for what I will be making the next week. On Thursdays, I come in early so I can prepare for the weekend. On Fridays, we have artisan-made bread which I go to pick up. I also plan my menu for the next week on Fridays. It is important that I am also prepared. 
 
I was here the other night with my father for dinner, and had on of the special dishes for that night, which was the California halibut. How do you produce ideas for recipes?
I base my menu on what is fresh and ripe that week. If there are shallots at the market, I incorporate them into the dish. The halibut you had had been caught that morning at about 7, and was here by 12, so it was very fresh.

How do you integrate with other employees to achieve completion of service?
Our servers are our mouths. They are who the customer sees first, so they represent us, the chefs. On the weekends, I make the dishes we will be serving the next week for them to try so they know how they can recommend dishes. We really depend on the waiters. Every minute of every day is important, and it is all about communication. Communication is one of the most important parts of a restaurant. We send the waiters/waitresses messages from the kitchen to let them know what is going at all time. On days like this when it's not as busy (Tuesday afternoon), we try to train and teach as much as possible.

What do you find enjoyable about being a chef?
Everything. Seriously, it's tough sometimes, but educating the customers, listening to what they have to say inspires me. Really, everything from interaction with the customers to training employees. I find it all enjoyable.

How do you manage your kitchen so that things do not get out of hand?
The kitchen should never become so bad that it becomes out of hand. Like I said, it is all about communication. Everyone is responsible here. If we give them the tools to work, they should be able to know what to do with it. Everyone works together to keep problems from happening. [In short, Hell's Kitchen is sort of a far cry from reality.]

How do you go above and beyond to provide excellent service?
My motto is "never let the customer leave angry". If they are angry, do everything you can to appeal to them unless they simply did not enjoy anything at all and they are uncompromisable. If someone got a bad meal, give them a gift card to try it again, or fix it for them. Never let them leave with a bad impression because one person who has a problem will tell their friend, and eventually that one person will become 20 prospective customers who will never come try your food. It could ruin your business if you don't work with them. Never let it become a lose-lose situation.


Chef Aurore definitely showed her dedication to customer service. I was there to interview her for my grade, something she was already giving to me that she didn't necessarily have to. My interview was scheduled for 2:30, but she got caught in traffic on her way back to Vogue from one of the farmers' markets she gets her produce from. While she was on her way, she called to waiters and told them to put me on the phone. She apologized for running late, and asked if I had eaten yet. I told her no, but that it was not necessary to give me anything because I had no money, but she insisted, saying that "you haven't eaten lunch. You need to eat something!" She asked me to put the waiter back on the phone again and told him to have the chefs there make me anything I wanted. Of course, maintaining my manners, I ordered a salad, which was cheaper than the other choices I had.
I chose the Vogue Salad, which was comprised of arugula, warm sherry vinaigrette, candied walnuts, apple-wood smoked bacon, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries.
The menu's description said nothing about an herb-grilled chicken breast, but nevertheless, there was one thinly sliced next to the salad. I have to say it was the best salad I have ever had. The vinaigrette was balanced perfectly between sweet and acidic, and it had an essence of some kind of spice which was delicious with the candied walnuts. The chicken breast was juicy and seasoned perfectly, and paired well with the leftover vinaigrette.
If you're looking for somewhere nice, but still somewhat semi-formal to go on your next date, I recommend Vogue Bistro, located on Reems and Waddell, on the west side of the Bashas. They are opened Monday-Saturday for Lunch (12-4), and Dinner (4 PM-12 AM).

Now hopefully, I will have another recipe for you all next week!

Zuchinni Bread and Spiced Chai Lattes

I began posting some of my own recipes on Facebook, and my friend suggested I make a blog. I'm sadly running low on time today, but I promise my other posts will be much nicer :)
 Zuchinni Bread
 1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 C oil
3 eggs
2 C shredded zucchini
1 tsp. vanilla
3 C flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 C chopped walnuts (optional)

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Shred the zucchini using the larger side of a cheese grater, and mix with the sugars, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Combine both mixtures and stir until moist and integrated. Add in the walnuts, and pour the batter into two greased bread pans. You can also make muffins using cup cake tins. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
For moister bread, place a dish of water in the oven while it is baking.
I also added cranberries to one of my loaves, as you can see in the top picture.

Spiced Vanilla Chai Tea Lattes (3 8 oz. serving)
I used a special loose-leaf spiced vanilla chai tea by Urban Market Tea. However, if you do not have this available, you can use the following ingredients:

3 chai tea bag
3 C boiling water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 C milk
1 Tbsp. cream
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. all spice

Just a pinch each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, as desired.

Boil water in a tea kettle. Meanwhile, mix milk, cream, vanilla, and spices in a small sauce pan and heat until steaming. Continuously whisk this mixture while it heats to avoid scalding. When the water boils, pour 3/4 C over each tea bag, and let steep 3-5 minutes. After the tea has steeped, remove the tea bags and add 1 tablespoon of sugar and about two tablespoons of the steamed, spiced milk into each cup. Finish by sprinkling a bit more all spice over the top of the latte. This is also very good over ice, but let it cool slightly before pouring over ice so that the hot tea doesn't melt the ice and dilute itself.