Broccoli and Mushroom Quiche

I am very happy with how the crust has turned out. This is the most successful pie I have made so far; it held up very well and had just the right buttery taste. I just need to be more patient and REALLY let it cooled before I sliced it.

Pate Brisee
(one 5" pie shell)

• 1 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup organic rye flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 - 2 Tablespoons iced-cold water
  

1. Gently pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream until dough just holds together.
2. Shape dough into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days).

For the Filling:

• 1 egg
• 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/4 cup whole milk

• 3/4 cup broccoli, florets, chopped small
• 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  
• shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• a handful of pine nuts
  
• 1/2 red onion, chopped

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 7" x 5"baking dish with aluminum foil. Place pate brisee in the center and roll it out to line the aluminum foil. Place a separate sheet of aluminum foil over the pate brisee and fill it with uncooked beans, rice, or pie weight. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and dry. Remove weight and foil. Let cool.


Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Throw in onions, and cook until translucent. Add mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Add broccoli and cook until the liquid released from mushrooms is evaporated, and the broccoli is still bright green.


Transfer quiche pan to a baking sheet. Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the bottom of the crust. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, egg. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Mix in the mushrooms, onions, broccoli and remaining cheese. Pour into the pie shell. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Transfer to oven, and bake until just set in the center, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Beetroot Hummus

"All hummus should be made with beetroot - it's so pretty" quote from Adrian. Should I remind him he used to dislike beetroot?

Here's a quick and nutritious recipe to use up beetroot and add a new twist to a traditional Middle Eastern dish - Hummus - .

Hummus is a staple of Middle Eastern cookery. Its blend of chick peas and sesame seeds are a valuable source of calcium, protein, vegetable fats, iron and B vitamins. The addition of beetroot increases the vitamin C content and adds magnesium. All of which combines to make this pretty much a super-food.

Beetroot added a pretty pink color to the otherwise bland-looking dip. You can either make this from scratch, with dried chick peas and fresh beetroot or you can whiz it up in 5 minutes using pre-cooked beetroot and a can of chickpeas / frozen chick peas. Serve it with toasted bread, fresh vegetable sticks or as a side dish.

For other twist on hummus and homemade tahini, go here. I dressed the dip with some roasted pine nuts. I guess I can call it Pink Hummus Snaubar. I meant to decorate it with parsley but I mistaken celery for flat-leaf parsley...... now what am I going to do with that bunch of celery in the fridge?

Ingredients:
1 beetroot, cooked and diced (roasted or boiled)
1C cooked chickpeas
1 TB white sesame, roasted (or tahini)
1 glove garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 TB olive oil


Blend the ingredients together in the following order:

1. lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, white sesame/ tahini
2. beetroot, chickpea (add water if necessary)
3. Season with salt if necessary.
   

Breakfast Salad that could be put on dinner table, too

The original recipe calls for cubed cucumber, diced red bell pepper, and halved cherry tomatoes tossed together in olive oil vinaigrette dressing. I decided to use whatever there was in the refrigerator instead: diced green bell pepper, cubed beef tomatoes, parsley, chopped green beans, and frozen corn kernels.
Instead of serving over shredded lettuces, I served it over arugula leaves, sun dried tomatoes and topped with pine nuts. I over cooked the egg - instead of soft boiled (that would give a beautifully oozing yellow yolk), I got hard boiled eggs. Sprinkle with some crumbled goat cheese and you are ready to serve.
It's a delicious way to bring more vegetables to breakfast table. I bet it could just as well be served on dinner table, too.

Pesto for Arm Strength

I like to put my arms to test and keep them toned. Hence, I often subject myself to task, such as chopping, that may have been unnecessary. However, not so for pesto. Chopping all the ingredients by hand produces pesto with minuscule flecks of basil, and definition between ingredients. It's also more flavorful and pop in the mouth creating a sort of gastronomic satisfaction that you don't get from blended one - which forms a moist homogenized paste with little to no definition between ingredients.

I have used to same recipe for rocket and parsley pesto. Apparently there are a lot of vegetables you can 'pesto' with, such as broccoli. Before serving, I scoop just enough portion out from the small bowl and season with salt and lemon juice to taste.

Ingredients:
1 large bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried
3 medium cloves of garlic
one small handful of raw pine nuts
3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
A few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

Start chopping the garlic along with about some of the basil leaves. Keep adding and chopping the rest of the basil leaves until they become a fine mince. Add about half the pine nuts, chop. Add the rest of the pine nuts, chop. Add half of the Parmesan, chop. Add the rest of the Parmesan, and chop. In the end you want a chop so fine that you can press all the ingredients into a basil "cake" - see the photo up above. Transfer the pesto "cake" to a small bowl and cover with a bit of olive oil for storing.

Makes about 1 cup.