Another Little Brunch

Roasted Tomato Quiche with Savory Cheddar Crust

I'll be the first to admit this was something I put together only because I had all this stuff in my fridge. It was pretty good. Side-note, I'm getting really good at eyeballing ingredients and ending up with the perfect amount of pastry crust. This is another hangover-adjacent brunch recipe as you can prepare it the night before. If you make these in mini-pies your belly won't look as fat at the beach. 

you will need the following

for the crust

3/4 c flour

2 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp 

1/4 tsp Italian herb blend

shredded cheddar

salt & pepper

for filling 

4 plum tomatoes (sliced)

3 eggs

1/2 milk

onion slices

shredded cheddar 

Italian herb blend

salt & pepper

Step 1: Oven to 375. Slice tomatoes and lay on a baking sheet dowsed in oil and herbs. Bake 30 minutes. 

Step 2: While tomatoes roast, mix dry crust ingredients. Chop in butter and push together with a spoon. Once butter is spread spill in a tablespoon ice water and cheese until dough forms. Chill and then roll out. 

Step 3: While crust chills, whisk eggs, milk, herbs and spices. Roll out dough and start building. 

Step 4: Stack tomatoes, onions and cheese. Fill in with egg mixture. Bake at 375 until set (about 45 minutes). To reheat, bake at 325 for 20 minutes. 

A Little Clambake

When you live in a studio apartment, people already think you're poor (and let's face it, you probably are). So it's important to serve rich and expensive looking dishes. I only have three chairs so that keeps the number of people I entertain to a minimum.  My best friend lives in Wicker Park, I live in Edgewater, though both neighborhoods are in Chicago, she's really lazy and only comes to my apartment twice a year - so go big or go home, right? A lot of people overestimate the cost and skill of cooking fresh (live) shellfish. If you're going to do it, summer is the time as market prices are super low since August is primo season for mussels and lobster. I found one pound lobsters for TEN DOLLARS each at this little Vietnamese seafood market on my side of town. The mussels were also a good price at Whole Foods. While this isn't quite a typical New England clambake, it did finally give me a chance to use the new enameled cast iron pot I've been dreaming about. 

Steamed Mussels

Ask me five years ago if I'd ever put one of these in my mouth...no way. Now that I'm a single mother, my palette has expanded. I made these once in a cooking class and fell in love, now I order them whenever I can. A few tips when purchasing live mussels: order by the pound, keep them cool but not submerged in water, if one is open and you cannot force it to shut - it's dead so throw it away. This recipe calls for dry vermouth, so you may as well buy the gin too and make dirty martinis! 

You will need the following 

1 lb live mussels

1/2 c dry vermouth (or white wine)

2 tbsp butter

1/4 c chopped fennel

2 tbsp chopped onion

1 tbsp chopped garlic

a dash of crushed red pepper

a pinch of dry thyme

salt & pepper 

bay leaf

Step 1: Clean mussels and trim them of their beards. In an enameled cast iron pot, bring vermouth, butter, fennel, garlic, onion and spices to a boil. 

Step 2: Toss in mussels and shake pot to evenly distribute broth. Steam with lid on for three to six minutes, or until mussels open. 

Step 3: Arrange mussels in a dish and boil broth one more minute. Ladle broth over mussels. Serve with warm crusty bread. 

Boiled Lobster

This was my first time boiling a whole lobster, and killing my own dinner. Lobsters are basically sea bugs, so I had no ethical conflict about sticking Clausen into boiling water. Once you're knuckle-deep in lobster flesh you won't even remember him crawling around in your fridge, they're pretty lazy anyways. Good lord this creature was delicious. There's a reason why they give you a bib when you order this out. It's nearly impossible to eat this like a gentleman, eventually you lay down your tools and dig out all that meat with your bare hands, butter dribbling down your face. If you don't have a seafood cracking set, improvise with household tools, like this pair of pliers. Eating lobster is an event, it takes considerable amount of time to hollow out these things. Take your time, savor each bite. 

You will need the following: 

Whole live lobsters

Enough water in a pot to cover lobster

butter

lemon wedges 

2 tbsp sea salt 

Step 1: Bring water and 2 tbsp sea salt to a boil. Submerge lobster (grab him beneath the claws) head first into the water. Cover and let boil for one minute per ounce.

Step 2: Make clarified butter by melting butter and skimming fat from the top. 

Step 3: Remove lobster, let rest on its back for a few minutes. Cut back and tail down the middle with kitchen sheers (craft scissors), dowse with warmed lemon wedges and get cracking! 

A Little Summer Dinner Party

Poor bachelors eat a lot of chicken because it's cheap and lean. There are some recipes and methods of cooking that simply need not be written down on index cards and filed in a box, like baked chicken. I've experimented with various seasonings and flavors for chicken breasts, some work and some absolutely do not, mint and lime for example, gross. The worst part about screwing up the spices is that you're stuck eating it for a few days. A pack of chicken breasts is moderately priced and can feed me for a week, or come in handy for an impromptu dinner party. I like to keep them marinating in the fridge and cook them as I need them. This little combo was probably my best experiment yet. I love fennel for its slight licorice-y taste, but have no fear haters, it's not overpowering. Gives the impression of Italian sausage more than anything. 

Orange-Fennel Baked Chicken Breasts

You will need the following: 

Chicken breasts (tenderized)

1 orange

1 bulb fennel

1 large clove garlic

Italian herb blend

crushed red pepper

salt & pepper

Step 1: Pound chicken until it's tender. Once pounded, cut each breast on it's thickest side to form a pocket. Push fennel slices, orange slices and garlic slivers into pocket. 

Step 2: Store stuffed breasts in a tupperware. Dowse each breast in Italian herb blend, crushed red pepper and salt & pepper. Squeeze remaining orange slices over chicken and let marinate overnight (or a few hours if in a pinch).  

Step 3: Bake chickens in a shallow dish at 375 for 45 minutes. Covering half of the time. These can also be grilled or pan fried, but baking is better for you (and easier). 

*** While chicken bakes, sautee summer veggies (like squash or zucchini) in olive oil with remaining fennel and chopped onions. Basil, salt and pepper make a nice flavor trio for veggies. This is also an incredibly cheap and healthy side dish. 

A Little Southern Pie

If you're a homosexual or a teenage girl, you're constantly battling what snacks and pastries are worth the weight. I am what most would call skinny, but judging by the thrill I get from a perfectly baked pie, I suspect that it won't last long. I'll just have to take plenty of nudey pics now so one day I can say to my grandcats, "wasn't I dish?" 

I really tried to make an effort to eat healthy this week, but alas on a conscientious trip to the grocery, I found these beautiful green tomatoes. I've been wanting to make a green tomato pie for years, they're somewhat legendary in my family as my great aunt used to make them long before I was born. Green tomatoes are NOT the same as tomatillos and will not taste good if used interchangeably. Green tomatoes are unripened red tomatoes, and have a sour-sweet taste much like an apple. They're mostly an end-of-summer produce stand treat. 

Great Aunt Velma's Green Tomato Pie

You will need the following

2 pie crusts

4 c thinly slice green tomatoes

1 1/4 c white and brown sugar (in whatever ratio you prefer)

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp flour

1/4 tsp pie spice

1 lemon (zested and juiced)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 450. Put sliced tomatoes in one bowl. Mix sugars, flour, salt and spice in another bowl. Combine lemon juice with grated rind in a small bowl. 

Step 2: Working in layers: arrange tomato slices, cover with sugar mix and butter pats until out of ingredients. Pour the lemon mix evenly over filling once finished. 

Step 3: Adhere top crust and brush with milk. Bake pie at 450 for 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 375 and bake 45 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting. The longer it sits the better it sets, runny pies piss me off.