25 March 2010

crustless mini quiche

So, I already told you how Hubs dislikes breakfast for dinner. Since I love it, for taste and ease of preparation reasons, I am constantly searching for ways to cook breakfast foods that don't seem like breakfast. One time we had polenta waffles topped with goat cheese. Usually I'm looking for ways to cook eggs, because eggs are what make breakfast for dinner so easy.

We've done baked eggs, egg and avocado sandwiches, hard boiled eggs several different ways, chile egg quiche. When I ran across this recipe from a fellow Portlander and knew I had to try mini quiches.
Diversion #1: My mom used to make crustless quiches all the time. I think it was Bisquick's Impossible Quiche recipe, similar to this one, except that my mom always filled hers with ham, cheddar, and frozen mixed vegetables. Not so gourmet, but it's one of my top 10 classic childhood comfort foods. (Ooh...now there's a post idea...)
I set out to make these mini quiches, except I didn't have most of the ingredients in the recipe, so I winged it. I used finely chopped cooked broccoli (OK, so I nearly pureed it. It worked.), cheddar cheese, yellow onion instead of shallot, no parsley and no meat.

After I put the quiches in the oven, I reread the recipe and realized that I forgot to cook the onions and garlic. They were finely minced, so I didn't worry about it. Then I realized I forgot to add the salt and pepper. For that, I ran to the oven and s&p'd the tops of the quiches. Since they're small, it worked.
Diversion #2: I got a lecture from Hubs about this. I frequently misread recipes, accidentally omit key ingredients, or commit some other cooking foul. This is probably due to me scribbling a recipe off the computer, shorthand, on a tiny scrap of paper, or sometimes even running back and forth from the kitchen to the office and trying to remember the measurements of a few ingredients each time. Sometimes I get a little over confident in my freestyle cooking abilities. (To my credit, though, only once have I had to throw something inedible away. 99.9% of the time, my mistakes are fixable or don't affect the end product.) Hubs politely, but firmly, reminded me that I have access to a laptop now, and suggested I pull that over to the kitchen table when preparing a new recipe. I thought that was a very helpful suggestion.
The quiches survived, and were very yummy. I increased the recipe (yet another error-inducing factor) because I wanted leftovers for breakfast. They were yummy warmed, smashed in a sandwich, with some extra melted cheese on top. Mmm.
Diversion #3 (last one, I promise!): Aren't those sweet potatoes vibrant and lovely? I cubed them and sauteed them, until tender, in some olive oil with salt and pepper. The kids don't normally like sweet potatoes, but they thought these were carrots and ate them right up. Who am I to argue with that?