Tortilla Espanola (also Tortilla Espagnola or Tortilla de patatas)

Tortilla Espanola (also Tortilla Espagnola or Tortilla de patatas)

I have not made this dish in a long time.  I modified my recipe a bit from when I first wrote this down nearly 20 years ago.  We will definitely make this again before too long. Once you get the hang of this dish, it will be very easy to make and something that will be welcome for any meal! This dish is basically a Spanish potato omelet. I have heard that the word "Tortilla" in this dish comes from its circular shape, but it could also come from the fact that it will end up "cake" like. If you called this "Fred", it would still taste great.

Ingredients:

3-4 tablespoons Vegetable oil
4-5 medium white potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (around 1/8" thick with a mandolin)
1 medium onion (yellow or vidalia), thinly sliced (around 1/8" thick with a mandolin)

Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
6 Eggs

Cooking spray (if needed)

Directions
1. In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. Add potatoes and onions and stir every few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. The potatoes should cook for around 15-18 minutes. The potatoes and onion should brown in the process.  Lower the heat to prevent it from burning.  
2. In a large bowl, beat 6 eggs and add salt and pepper to taste. When potato and onion mixture is finished, add to the bowl with the eggs. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add one tablespoon oil to a skillet over medium heat (it can be the same used in step number 1. The ideal skillet for this step will have curved sides). Let heat up and then add the potato/onion/egg mixture spread evenly into the skillet.
4. Cook over medium heat for around 6-7 minutes until firm on the top (you do not want to burn the bottom).  Use a spatula to make sure it is not sticking to the sides.

5. Flip the tortilla.  There are two ways to do this.  Option one: you can take a large plate and place it over the top of the skillet. Make sure the smooth side of the plate is next to the food. Flip the skillet onto the plate. (If it falls apart, you did not cook it long enough.) Then slide it back into the skillet to cook the other side of the tortilla. Option two: you can use another skillet and just flip the tortilla from the pan into the new one.  Make sure that you have sprayed the other pan with cooking spray.

6. Cook for an additional 5-6 minutes.  Remove from heat and serve. Slice with a bread knife or pizza cutter.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Cranberry Bread

 

We wanted to find an easy recipe for a blueberry muffin bread and found this great recipe from the Frugalmomeh site.  So the name is for Frugal Mom eh! (because they are Canadian).  Lots of great recipes on the site.  We wanted something to make an easy breakfast bread that could replace nutbreads.  I think we found it.  I tweaked this recipe a bit and loved the way it turned out.  A nice treat for a morning - or really anytime.

Ingredients (makes one loaf)

Cooking spray

1 cup White sugar
1/2 cup Butter (one stick), unsalted
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Vanilla extract
1 cup Skim milk
2 cups Flour (all purpose)
2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 cup Cranberries, dried

1/4 cup Almonds, sliced
1 1/2 cups Blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar.
4. Add the eggs, vanilla and milk beating well.
5. Beat in the dry ingredients and until well combined
6. Add blueberries and mix by hand gently with a spatula being careful not to crush the berries.
7. Pour batter into your loaf pan and bake for 75-80 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

Mushroom and Sausage Mini-quiches

We have made these a few times and they are wonderful!  I adapted this recipe from Eating Well (one of my favorite sites).  We added more sausage to match with the package sizes we can easily get here.  These have (I think) around 150 calories and lots of protein.  We have one or two for breakfast or lunch - they reheat very easily - around 30-40 seconds for one and 60 seconds for two.  This recipe makes 12 mini-quiches (a full muffin pan's worth) and they are pretty sturdy.  These are great to have on hand for a quick breakfast or snack!

Ingredients (makes 12 mini-quiches)

12 oz Turkey breakfast sausage (removed from casing and crumbled into small pieces)
2 tsp Olive oil
8 oz Mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Swiss cheese, finely shredded
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Black pepper
6 Eggs
1 cup Skim milk

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a nonstick muffin tin generously with cooking spray.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook until golden brown, breaking it up as it cooks, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool. 
3. Add olive oil to the pan. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to the bowl with the sausage. Let cool for 5-7 minutes. Stir in Swiss cheese, Kosher salt and black pepper.
4. Whisk eggs and milk in a medium bowl. Divide the egg mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups (to around 2/3 of the height of the muffin cup). Spoon in a heaping tablespoon of the sausage and mushroom mixture into each cup. 
5. Bake in oven for around 27-29 minutes, or until tops are just beginning to brown.  Let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. The easy way to get the mini-quiches out is to flip the pan over a rimmed baking sheet and they should pop right out.

Enjoy!

Christmas Quiche

If you have a bunch that you need to bring a dish to - I think I have a good suggestion!  I adapted this recipe from my Spinach and Mushroom Quiche that I have been making for a while.  We wanted something else for a holiday gathering and with Jeremy's help, we came up with this new quiche.  It was going to be called a Western Quiche based on the fact that it was similar to a Western Omelette.  But in the end, I think I will call it as Christmas Quiche, because it has green and red peppers.  This naming comes from Mexican cooking (I think) as it has both red and green peppers in it.  Regardless of how it is named, it is really nice to have another quiche to cook.  This is great for brunch or any meal and we will definitely make it again.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)
1 Frozen deep dish pie crust
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 cup Green pepper, diced
1 cup Red pepper, diced
1 small Yellow onion, diced
8 oz Ham, diced
1 1/4 cup Skim milk
6 Large eggs
1 1/4 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Directions
1. Bake pie crust per directions.  Then change the temperature to 400°F for the quiche.
2. In non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoon olive oil and cook peppers and onions for around 5 minutes.  Add ham to saute pan and cook an additional 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, add ham mixture with skim milk, eggs, cheese, black pepper and salt until well blended.
4. Place the pie crust on a Jelly Roll pan.  Pour vegetable mixture into deep dish pie crust.  Bake quiche 45-50 minutes until filling and crust are golden and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Let sit 5 minutes and then serve.

Enjoy!

Spinach and Ham Quiche

After Christmas and Easter, many families are left with the quandary of what to do with the extra ham.  I think I solved this problem - at least at our house.  I have made vegetarian quiches in the past, and adapted them to include some ham.  I loved the way it came out - and it is making for a nice addition to my collection of quiche recipes.  Who knew that I would ever be excited about making quiches.  We have always had this for dinner - but it would be great anytime, especially for brunch.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)
1 Frozen deep dish pie crust
1 tbsp Olive oil
8oz Mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Ham, diced
2/3 cup Skim milk
5 Large eggs
10oz. package Frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 cup Swiss cheese (around 8 oz)
1/4 tsp Black pepper (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp Kosher salt (adjust to taste)

Directions
1. Bake pie crust per directions.  Then change the temperature to 400°F for the quiche.
2. In non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook mushrooms for around 4 minutes.  Add diced ham and cook for an additional 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, mix sautéed mushrooms with ham, skim milk, eggs, spinach, swiss cheese, black pepper and Kosher salt until well blended.
4. Place the pie crust on a Jelly Roll pan.  Pour egg mixture into deep dish pie crust.  Bake quiche 55-60 minutes until filling and crust are golden and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Let sit 5 minutes and then serve.

Enjoy!

Spinach Quiche

We have been having this dish a great deal over the summer as I discovered this great quiche recipe.  The one listed below is a slight variation from one that I posted earlier (Spinach and Mushroom Quiche). This one has a little more dense, which we really like.  I have played with this a bit and I think this variant is the one we are going to to more often.  It still has lots of mushrooms - but I had to change the name a bit - don't I?

We have always had this for dinner - but it would be great anytime, especially for brunch.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)
1 Frozen deep dish pie crust
1 tbsp Olive oil
12 oz Mushrooms, sliced
2/3 cup Skim milk
5 Large eggs
10oz. package Frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 whole Roasted red pepper (around 6-8 oz), diced
3/4 cups Swiss cheese (around 6 oz)
¼ tsp Black pepper (adjust to taste)
¾ tsp Kosher salt (adjust to taste)

Directions
1. Bake pie crust per directions.  Then change the temperature to 400°F for the quiche.
2. In non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook mushrooms for around 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, mix sautéed mushrooms with skim milk, eggs, spinach, roasted red peppers, cheese, black pepper and salt until well blended.
4. Place the pie crust on a Jelly Roll pan.  Pour vegetable mixture into deep dish pie crust.  Bake quiche 55-60 minutes until filling and crust are golden and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Let sit 5 minutes and then serve.

Enjoy!

Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

The truth be told, I have never been a quiche person.  I found them too cheesy - or thought they were.  So for years and years, I have never tried to make this.  And if there was a choice between a quiche...and well...just about anything - I would choose the other.  There are two things that changed this recently.  First, at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, they served Vegetable Primavera Tart for the opening luncheon at the Library of Michigan's Loleta Fyan Small and Rural Library Conference - and I really liked it.  Which is a good transition into the second reason.  Chris (my son) has become a vegetarian.  So we have wanted to have good dinner options that we can all enjoy.  And I think we found one.

I adapted this recipe from Jarlsberg, Spinach & Mushroom Quiche from Busch's (an Ann Arbor, Michigan grocery story.  I played with it a bit and think this will be the base for many new recipes to come.  We loved the way this turned out and will definitely be making it again.  It even reheated well for lunch.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)
1 Frozen deep dish pie crust
1 tbsp Olive oil
12 oz Mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Skim milk
5 Large eggs
10oz. package Frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 whole Roasted red pepper (around 4 oz), diced
1 ½ cups Swiss cheese (around 6 oz)
¼ tsp Black pepper
¾ tsp Kosher salt

Directions
1. Bake pie crust per directions.  Then change the temperature to 400°F for the quiche.
2. In non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook mushrooms for around 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, mix sautéed mushrooms with skim milk, eggs, spinach, roasted red peppers, cheese, black pepper and salt until well blended.
4. Place the pie crust on a Jelly Roll pan.  Pour vegetable mixture into deep dish pie crust.  Bake quiche 55-60 minutes until filling and crust are golden and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Let sit 5 minutes and then serve.

Enjoy!