Day Fifty-One

She Said:

I'm going to file this one under "Think of a Better Name for This Recipe!" It's a bad name, but a delicious dish. This counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project and it's from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Spinach Cheese Custard

1½-2 pounds fresh spinach, tough stems removed (we got ours from the farmer's market)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 eggs
1½ cups milk
1 cup grated Gruyère
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain well. Press out the excess moisture. Transfer to a cutting board and finely chop.

2. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until fragrant and softened, about 2 minutes. (I actually let this go longer until they were sweet and carmelized.)

3. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Lightly grease a 7- by 11-inch baking dish with oil.

4. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until smooth. Add the spinach, onions, milk, and Gruyère. Season with the salt and pepper to taste. Pour into the baking dish. Top with the Parmesan.

5. Bake until the custard is set and a knife inserted comes out clean, about 30 minutes. (Ours took closer to an hour.)

6. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

We had this as our entire dinner. It wasn't a lot of food but it was really, really good.

Day 51/365:Recipe 29/175

I believe I have died and gone to heaven.

She Said:

I just can't wait to post about this. He chose another recipe from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook for breakfast (which turned out to be an early lunch) and I believe I have now eaten the greatest food on earth.

Creamy Cheddar Grits

2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup fine quick-cooking grits (not instant)
1¼ cups half-and-half
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1½ cups aged sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (4 ounces)
½ cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (4 scallions)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grated Cheddar and chopped scallions, for garnish

Bring 4 cups of water to boil in a heavy 4-quart saucepan. Add the salt, then slowly add the grits in a thin, steady stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the grits thicken, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the half-and-half and butter to the grits and stir. The mixture will seem thin but it will thicken as it cooks. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes, until very smooth and creamy. Off the heat, stir in the Cheddar, scallions, and pepper. Season to taste and serve hot with a sprinkle of grated cheese and scallions.

He made some very delicious fried eggs to go with this and I just kept saying how unbelievable the meal was. Truly unbelievable. I haven't had a whole lot of grits in my life but these are hands-down the best I have ever had!

"Egg-cellent" Egg Salad

She Said:

I was trying to come up with a really easy thing to take for lunches this week and I remembered egg salad. I love egg salad! It's one of those comforting foods, ya know?

I particularly love MY egg salad - is that rude to say? I hope not. Here's what I do.

Pat's Egg-cellent Egg Salad

6 hard-boiled eggs
1/2 cup light mayonnaise (I use the olive oil kind)
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard (Gulden's is the best)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4-1/2 cup India relish (to taste)
Fresh ground black pepper

Dice up the hard-boiled eggs and place into a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Adjust seasonings as desired.

Serve on your favorite bread or wrap.

That's it. It took us all of 10 minutes to assemble this last night, including peeling the eggs! It's really easy, it's really delicious and it's CHEAP!

I really enjoyed my lunch today.

Editor's Note - 8/22/10 - I have changed my recipe. Now I add a lot more onion powder (I'm thinking like almost 2 teaspoons and I don't add the mustard. It is so much better!!

One Local Summer, Week 1

Today began our foray into the One Local Summer Challenge. I decided to keep the pictures in a set on my Flickr account, but we'll also be posting them here, along with the recipes.

Here is our first week's entry, made with all local ingredients.

Chicken Florentine Sausage Frittata

1 lb. chicken florentine sausage, cut into 1/2" slices

1 tbsp. butter
6 eggs
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup swiss cheese, shredded

Saute sausage pieces in oven-safe skillet until browned. Remove sausage from pan and cool slightly. Wipe skillet dry. When sausage is cool, chop sausage into bite size pieces. In a bowl, combine eggs, half-and-half, chives and parsley. Melt butter in original skillet. Return cooled sausage to pan and saute slightly until browned all over. Pour egg mixture over sausage in skillet. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes until the eggs are set. Remove cover. Sprinkle cheese over top. Broil uncovered until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Sausage from Mountain View Poultry Farm - 55.9 miles

Butter from Liberty Bell Butter - approx. 30 miles

Eggs from Jack's Farm - 13.8 miles

Half-and-half from Merrymead Farm - 12.5 miles

Chives from our garden - 0 miles

Parsley from our garden - 0 miles

Swiss cheese (Highland Alpine) from Birchrun Hills Farm - 11.5 miles