Leftovers!!!

I am not a fan of leftovers.  I find that on most occasions, re-heated food is awful (with a few exceptions).  However, I do like taking my leftovers and making something new with it....QUICHE!

I find that I really only make quiche at Easter time.  There's something about ham and cheese quiche that just makes me happy.  I make it different almost every year and it's one of the very few things that I can cook and improvise and not have it come out awful.  

This year's quiche is Ham and Broccoli....Here's what I did:

The Ingredients

-Leftover ham (I used about 5-6 slices and cubed it up)

-Cheese (whatever kind you have/like.  I had some basket cheese, so I cubed up some of that)

-1 box frozen chopped broccoli, defrosted

-Onion (as much as you want, I used 1/4 of a massive onion)

-Garlic (once again, as much as you want)

-4 eggs, beaten, with a splash of milk (more, depending on the size you're making)

-Pie Crust

The Method to my Madness

-Chop the onion and saute it in a little bit of olive oil

-Add in the garlic and the defrosted broccoli

-Add in some salt and pepper (not too much salt - the ham is salty enough)

-Add in the chopped ham

Onion, Garlic, Broccoli, and Ham

-Line a pie plate with the pie crust (if you're feeling ambition, go ahead and make your own.  I bought the rolls of pie crust - thank you Pillsbury!!)

-Put all of the broccoli and ham mixture into the crust

-Put the cheese in on top and mix in it with a fork (I think that chunks of cheese works better than shredded cheese)

 

On the Left:  Basket Cheese!  On the Right:  Everything in the pie crust

-Pour the Beaten eggs/milk over the mixture and mix it in, making sure to mix everything in well

-Fold the crust over for a "rustic" look - or make a real crust if you're up to it...

-Bake at 350* for 30-45 minutes

The Finished Product

 The key to a good quiche is using whatever you want - Potatoes are great in quiche (make sure you pre-cook them so they're not hard when you try to eat it).  I would have used potatoes today, but I didn't have any....


Have fun and ENJOY!!


Points:  7 points per slice - 8 slices per pie

Easter Dinner

This year we celebrated Easter at my mom's house.  There were 14 of us this year and I'd say that we had a really nice time.


Instead of my mom cooking the majority of all the food and everyone just coming to eat, we split up the responsibility this year and everyone made 1 dish each.


Mom:  Ham and Turkey and Stuffing (The turkey and stuffing was made for those who don't like ham)
Me:  Green Beans (I made them with caramelized onion and almonds - they were SO good, and I forgot to take a pictures of them!!!) and Sweet Bread
Auntie Regina:  Broccoli Casserole
Auntie Annette:  Roasted Potatoes
Dad:  Antipasto deli rolls
Carolyn:  Pickled Peppers
Nonni:  Rice Pie
Mom & Erin:  Egg biscuits and a Pagoda (A bit of deliciousness consisting of flaky pastry, boiled cream, chocolate cream, whipped cream, raspberry filling, and peaches - with cherries on top! - I had never tried a Pagoda, or even heard of one before, but my Mother in law's contribution was very well received!!)

A Pagoda from Pastryland Bakery in Smithfield, RI

I totally overdid it with the sweat bread....But I'm sure it won't go to waste!!

The 13 sweet breads that I decided to make for Sunday.  12 mini's and 1 extra large - Some with hard boiled eggs!!  Everyone got to take home a mini!!

All in all, it was another delicious holiday.  There was much less food than usual (can you believe that that list is LESS food than usual?) but we were able to enjoy what we were eating instead of stuffing ourselves with too many choices and not enjoying anything.

Sweet Bread!!!

You know it's almost Easter when the Sweet Bread recipe comes out.  I'm actually quite early in baking my first batch this year.  I normally don't start baking Sweet Bread until at least Friday before Easter.  This year, I'm on top of things!  Every year for the past 2-3 years, we have sent a bread out to Florida to my Father in Law.  This year I was determined to get him some bread BEFORE Easter, rather than after.

I also decided that while I blogged about Sweet Bread last year, I would actually share the recipe with you this year!!!  Enjoy!!

The Recipe

1 cup milk (I always use 2%)

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 packets yeast (either Active Dry or Instant - it really doesn't matter.  If you have bulk Yeast instead of packets, use 5 teaspoons here)

1 Tbsp sugar

1 cup luke-warm water

6 eggs

1 tsp salt

10 cups flour

The Method

• Melt the milk, butter and 2 cups of sugar in a sauce pan and let cool completely (I usually cool it for a little while and then stick it in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes)
• While cooling the milk/butter/sugar mixture, mix together the water, 1 Tbsp sugar and yeast.  Let sit and activate
• Beat the eggs and add in the activated Yeast and cooled milk/butter/sugar mixture
• Add in the flour and salt (I usually mix in 9 cups and the once mixed together, use the last cup (plus a little more, if needed) while kneading the dough)
• Dump the dough mixture onto a floured surface and knead until smooth (about 5-10 minutes)
• Transfer the kneaded dough into an oiled bowl and cover in oil.  Let rise to double in bulk (about 2-3 hours)
• Dump the risen dough onto a flour surface and cut into sections (I usually cut into 3 uneven pieces, one for a small loaf pan, one for a large loaf pan, and one for a tube pan).  Braid each section and transfer to greased pans
• Let the dough rise in the greased pans until they have doubled again (about 1 hour)
• Bake at 275*F for about 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.  10 minutes before removing from the oven, put an egg-wash on each loaf to brown the tops (I always put the timer on for 45 minutes, test and then go from there....)

Pictures of the whole process are below!  This is the most delicious Sweet Bread recipe you'll ever make!  It's really delicious.  Cutting and eating it while it's hot is so good, and toasting it and putting some butter on top is a great option, too!!!

ENJOY!!

  

From left to right:  milk/butter/sugar mixture, water/sugar/yeast mixture, flour/salt

The Yeast makes the dough rise!  The activated yeast (this is shown in a 4-cup measuring cup, fyi)

The kneaded dough, covered in oil in a bowl (this is a giant salad bowl, and after 2 1/2 hours of rising, the dough was expanded to the top lip of the bowl!)

A section of the dough, braided and ready to be put into one of the pans!

Braided, and ready to rise!  These rose for another hour before going into the oven

The final result!

Sweets, Lent, and Homemade Cinnamon Buns

If I have any weaknesses at all, it's food.  Specifically sweet food.  I think we've all realized this now, having seen my progress on the weight-loss challenge (I hardly EVER get my points for avoiding sweets).  I honestly haven't lost as much weight as I was hoping, even with the challenge.  So I've decided to give up sweets for Lent.  I'm usually pretty good with whatever I give up (except for the year I tried to give up swearing...that didn't go well at all).  Since this year I'm going to go for sweets, I decided to blog a recipe that I made a few weeks ago - the epitome of delicious (and sweets).  I'm actually making a batch today (since I'm working from home) as a little "Fat Tuesday" treat.  They're 6 points plus a piece (for the big ones), so I'll definitely be using up my quota of extra points....But to start out the 40 days of no sweets, this is a great beginning!

Homemade Cinnamon Buns (recipe from King Arthur Flour Cookbook)

The Dough

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsps instant yeast

3 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp granular lecithin (Optional - and I didn't use it.  I don't have it in the pantry)

2 Tbsp nonfat dry milk (I didn't have this, but I did have dry buttermilk, so I used that instead)

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg plus enough water to make 1 cup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp soft butter

The Filling

1/4 cup soft butter

3/4 cup sugar mixed with 1 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips (optional)

The Icing

3 Tbsp heavy cream, or 2 Tbsp water (I don't usually have cream in the house, so I usually use somewhere between 2-3 Tbsp Milk)

1 cup confectioners' sugar

The Method

Mix and knead together all of the dough ingredients (yup - throw it all together and mix it in the mixer.  Once it comes together (I added a tiny bit more water to make it come together better), switch to the dough hook and knead it for a while.  Once it is formed into a soft, smooth dough, place it in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 1-1 1/2 hours to double in bulk.

Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and roll into an 11x20 rectangle.  Spread a thin layer of butter over the dough.  Sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar/nut mixture.  Roll into a log (the log way) and use a serrated knife to cute into 12 equal pieces.

Place the buns in a greased 9x13" pan, pressing down slightly.  Cover and let sit again for about 45 minutes to an hour, until puffy.

Preheat the oven to 350* and bake buns for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then take them out of the pan and let cool to just slightly warm before frosting (I actually take one out of the pan immediately, pour some icing over the top and eat immediately.  Yes, they're that good).

ENJOY! - I know I will!  Hello comes 40 days of no sweets!!!

Frosted Cinnamon Buns - the epitome of deliciousness!

Did you say Sweet Bread?

Sweet Bread.  If you've never had it, it's quite possibly some of the best of anything you've ever eaten.  I'm sure I could say this about a lot of foods.  But seriously, Sweet Bread is the best.

For as long as I can remember, it's been a tradition that's come hand in hand with Easter.  As a kid, I always loved watching my mom make it.  We would activate the yeast, melt the butter/milk/sugar and let it cool, and then mix it all together with the flour.  I used to be so amazed at how the dough would puff and bulk up after just a few hours.  My mom would dump it out of the bowl, and split it up.  She always would braid it and fit it into the baking pans.  Then, it would rise again.  Once in a while, she would take some hard boiled eggs and put those on top, too.

My sister and I were altar servers and usually would have to serve at  Easter Vigil mass, and when we got home, my mom would be pulling the bread out of the oven.  The smell - delicious.  The taste, indescribable.  Hot out of the oven or even a little stale (toasted, with butter).  No matter what, amazingness.

I remember the first time I ever made sweet bread by myself.  I don't remember WHEN it was, but I remember the situation.  We were all at home, it was the day before Easter.  My mom was home, but she had a migraine and was sick in bed and not able to make it herself.  We were all so upset, because we have always associated sweet bread with Easter and didn't want to go to a year without it.  Being that I love to bake, I decided that I was going to try to make it myself.  And I didn't let anyone down.  I remember being really nervous about it....Bread can be really tricky.  But ever since then, I've always made my own bread.   I think that it's a tradition that I'll never get away from.  I've had store-bought Sweet Bread before, but it's just not the same.  

When I make it now, certain things always come to mind.  When we were young, we were big fans of the "Strega Nona" books written by Tomie DePaola.  There is one book, 'Strega Nona's Magic Lessons" where Strega Nona is teaching Bambalona, the Baker's Daughter, how to be a Strega.  Big Anthony, who never listens, wants to be a Strega, but he can't so he decides that he's going to work for the Baker, instead.  Well, instead of baking the bread like he's supposed to, he eats his way through the bakery, until he realizes what time it is and that he's late for baking the bread.  Well, one of the taglines in the book is, "The yeast makes the dough rise."  The Yeast DOES make the dough rise, but Big Anthony put a LOT of Yeast, in order to catch up on time.  Without giving EVERYTHING away, we'll just say that Big Anthony got fired, and leave it at that.  Let's just say that every time I activate the yeast, all I can think is, "The yeast makes the dough rise."  :o)

So as long as the dough rises (and you don't forget the sugar), you're in for a treat with some yummy sweet bread.