I don't like Quiche

Normally, I really don't like quiche - and neither does James - but when my mom decided to throw a brunch birthday party for my grandfather's 85th birthday, it seemed that quiche was almost necessary! I set out to find a recipe that had a good ratio of vegetable to egg (it's the overly egg-y quiches that I really can't stand) and after going through a number of recipes found this one on All Recipes. I doubled the recipe and instead of making them in pie pans, I decided to use muffin tins to make them easier to serve to a lot of people. Overall, I really liked this....when it was warm. I will say that a lot of people mentioned in the recipe reviews that this can also be served at room temperature, but I thought that it was really at its best when still warm from the oven. I did make a couple of changes to the recipe after reading a lot of reviews. You can see those changes in bold below.

Oh. And James still doesn't like quiche.

Crustless Spinach Quiche
Recipe courtesy of All Recipes

Ingredients...

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 5 eggs, beaten **I added an extra egg
  
• 3 cups shredded Muenster cheese **I used 2 cups of an Italian blend
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• **I added 2 cloves of garlic, and a diced red pepper

Directions...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan. **I used muffin tins instead

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, peppers, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan. **I filled each tin about 3/4 of the way and, after doubling the recipe, got about 26 mini quiches

Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. **In muffin tins they baked for 15-18 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Muffins!

I'm not a big baker, but when I noticed the overripe bananas on my counter last weekend and then also remembered that I had a bunch of blueberries waiting in the freezer, I decided that it was time to make muffins! I enjoyed both of these recipes, but my husband thought the lemon flavor in the blueberry muffins was too overpowering (well they ARE called lemon-blueberry muffins...). The banana nut muffins were definitely a home-run and I'm planning to make them again for a brunch birthday party for my grandfather in a couple weeks.



Banana Nut Muffins
Recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence, FoodTV.com

Ingredients...

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 overripe bananas
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped **I used walnuts

Directions...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. **I didn't have an electric mixer, so I hand whisked and it seemed to work just fine** Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
Recipe courtesy of Liz's Cooking Blog who snagged the recipe from Food and Wine

Ingredients...

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Directions...

Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the blueberries. In another medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, oil and lemon zest, then whisk in the lemon juice. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture until blended; do not overmix. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins stand in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.