Easy and Elegant- Really! Parmesan Frico

Have extra Parmesan cheese to use and want to make a very classy addition to a salad or soup? Make Parmesan frico! This turns cups of grated cheese into dainty, lacy crisps.

It's as easy as 1,2,3.

1. Grate your cheese (about 1 cup for 4 fricos)
2. Arrange cheese in 1/4 cup circles on a NONSTICK baking pan (or use parchment paper)
3. Pop in a 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown

These will be a bit bendable when they come out warm, so you can shape the frico into cylinders or cones if you are very fabulous and a master chef. Or you can do what I did and thrown them on a Cesare salad.

Either way, you look like the hostess with the mostest and your guests will be impressed and your culinary prowess.

Mom's "Reliving Her 20s" Best Quiche Recipes

One of my favorite things is going home for Sunday dinner. It grounds me, lets me spend time with my family and get back to things that matter.

When I was making my 52 Weeks of New Food list for 2013, I originally said I wanted to make a killer quiche, inspired by a trip to Morristown with my friend Samantha. My mom read it and said she had an amazing crab quiche recipe she and her best friend used to make when they shared an apartment together in their 20s.

We spent the larger part of a rainy afternoon going through all of her recipe books and pulling out the best recipes (one of our goals for 2013, and a post for another day!).

Her quiche recipe (from a 1978 issue of Better Homes and Gardens), and she had handwritten notes all over it. The recipe makes enough egg and Swiss filling for two pies, so we made a spinach quiche and a crab quiche.

They were AMAZING, and she said they tasted exactly like she remembered. Definitely not low cal, but who cares- they're worth it. (Ignore the photo. I was so excited about these that I started to cut it before I took a photo!)

Thanks for this recipe, Mom! It's a keeper!    

Mom's Quiche (Makes enough filling for 2 quiche)

Ingredients:

2 refrigerated pie crusts (or premade crusts)
2 cups heavy cream
4 eggs
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
~2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
 6oz. crab claw meat
10oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained 
Salt, pepper (can use white pepper), cayenne, nutmeg to taste

Directions: 

Cook the pie crusts per the directions on the package for about 8 minutes. You want the crust to be a tiny it brown, but not burn when you put it back in the oven. When pie crusts are done, turn oven to 325.

In a bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, eggs, and Swiss cheese.

In the meantime, heat the butter over the stove, and add scallions until they shrink just a bit, about 5 minutes. Add the scallions to the egg mixture. Then, divide the egg mixture evenly into two bowls.

For spinach quiche:
Add the thawed spinach to the egg mixture. I love a lot of spinach, so this was OK for me, but you can add half if you like. Add in a sprinkle of nutmeg, salt and pepper and stir.

Pour into the pie crust and bake at 325 for 45 minutes (until a knife comes out clean if you put it in the middle). Let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

For crab quiche:

Add the crab claw meat to the egg mixture, followed by a sprinkle of cayenne, salt and pepper.

Pour into the pie crust and bake at 325 for 45 minutes (until a knife comes out clean if you put it in the middle). Let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Buffalo Blue Cheese Turkey Meatballs

The weather is getting cooler, fall boots are on display--that means football season is right around the corner! I'm not a huge sports fan, but I am a huge fan of tailgate fare!! Here's a really quick and easy way to do meatballs-buffalo style!

I liked that there was no need to pan fry the meatballs (which is a complete pain and the sole reason I don't make meatballs more often), and the taste of the fresh parsley added a different note of flavor to the meat.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey (you can probably use any meat) 
1 small onion, grated
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, divided in half
1 c. crumbled blue cheese, divided  
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling 
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup hot sauce (such as Frank’s)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Combine the first six ingredients in a bowl and gently mix. Once the mixture has come together, add about 3/4 cup of the blue cheese and gently incorporate.  (Overworking the mix leads to really tough meatballs!)

Roll the meat mixture into balls. (I had about 30 small ones.)

Arrange the meatballs in a nonstick skillet (I used a 16") and drizzle them with just a little bit of olive oil. Place in the oven and bake until the meatballs are cooked through and golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. 

While the meatballs are baking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the hot sauce and whisk to combine. Toss the baked meatballs in the hot sauce to coat.Add additional blue cheese and scallions to garnish. Serve with celery and blue cheese dressing.

Recipe adapted from: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/buffalo-chicken-meatballs/

Barbeque Chicken and Bacon Stromboli

Thursday nights are date nights. They have been since 2009 when Boyfriend and I started dating. Thursdays are synonymous with wine, relaxation, weekend planning and not so healthy food. A few weeks ago I decided to try a stromboli at home (here's the recipe) that was savory and easy. The below did the trick!

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced ( I used rotisserie chicken)
1 ½ cups BBQ sauce
4 slices smoked bacon, cooked crispy, drained and chopped
1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese
½ cup chopped green onions
1 can Pillsbury Pizza dough (not thin crust)
Olive oil cooking oil spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a baking pan with non-stick foil. Lightly spray the foil with the cooking oil spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl mix the diced chicken and BBQ sauce.

Take the pizza dough out of the can and unroll it on your prepared baking sheet.

Press the dough into a rectangle… do not make the dough too thin.

Put the BBQ chicken down the center of the dough from one sort end to the other.

Sprinkle the chopped bacon over the chicken, then sprinkle the cheddar cheese, then sprinkle the chopped green onion over the top.

Carefully pull the sides of the dough from the long side to the middle. (Don't break it like I did.) Pinch the dough closed.

Sprinkle the top with garlic powder and bake for 16 minutes or until light golden brown.

Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before cutting. (You can dip in more bbq sauce if you like!)