Kat's Recipe Box

I first tried this quiche at my friend Carol’s house. I am not a big Asparagus fan but I actually liked this. The only change I made was to use a frozen puff pastry instead of a pie shell which Carol used. Of course the asparagus can be changed out for another vegetable if you would like. It makes a very thin quiche so if you are looking to use this for a meal, I would double the recipe. I am going to try to make this with out a crust as well.

10 bacon strips, diced

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)

3 eggs

1/2 cup half-and half cream

In a skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels; drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. In the drippings, sauté onion until browned; drain. Cut eight asparagus spears into 4-in.-long spears for garnish. Cut remaining asparagus into 1-in. pieces. In a saucepan, cook all of the asparagus in a small amount of boiling water until crisp-tender; drain.

In a bowl, toss the bacon, onion, asparagus pieces, cheese, flour, salt and pepper. Pour into pastry shell. In a bowl, beat eggs and cream; pour over bacon mixture. Top with asparagus spears. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean and crust is golden brown., Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

2 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup diced fully cooked ham

1/2 cup chopped fresh broccoli

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon dried minced onion

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Place hash browns in a greased 9-in. microwave-safe pie plate. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 4 minutes or until thawed. Press onto the bottom and halfway up the sides of the plate. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 3 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, ham and broccoli.

2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk and seasonings; pour over ham mixture. Cover with waxed paper. Microwave at 70% power for 10-12 minutes or until set. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Yield: 4-6 servings

This recipe was given to me by a man I work with and he claims these are the best pancakes ever. This recipe was passed on to him thru his girlfriends Gram. Rick says the extra effort is well worth it, although he cautions not to over mix and that the batter should be thick and lumpy.

3 cups flour
4 tbsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar
2 cups milk
2 tbsp. oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt (optional)

Combine ingredients gently.

Not to long ago, I had pecan pancakes in a restaurant and although they were good at the time I couldn’t help thinking they could be better. The restaurant had actual pecans included in the pancake batter. Anyway, I was looking for something more and decided to throw a few things together for our pancakes at home and this is what I came up with. There are no exact measurements so you are going to just have to wing it. The amounts should coincide with the amount of nuts you are using and how many pancakes you are making.

Enough chopped pecans for the amount of pancakes you are making
A dash of cinnamon
About 1 tbsp. of brown sugar…use your judgment
Enough maple syrup to cover the nuts to make them loose enough to pour over the pancakes

This recipe is great to use up some extra berries that you might have left laying around. I chose fresh blueberries and strawberries.

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/ 2 cup of vegetable oil
2 cups flour
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sour cream
1 ½ cup fresh berries
Beat the eggs and gradually add the sugar. Slowly pour in the oil and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients into a different bowl and add the sour cream and egg mixture alternately. Fold in the berries and spoon into paper lines muffin cups and sprinkle with the topping below.

Topping:
2 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; combine and sprinkle over muffins.

Bake muffins at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

A few years ago, I worked as an HR Manager for a Wholesale Nursery that was run by a wonderful family…not sure if I should mention their name or not…hmmmm…lets wait to hear from them. Anyway, I ran into Don and Kathy, the owners who I hadn’t seen since I left my job at the Nursery. The main offices were housed in a ranch house with a full kitchen of which I made great use. I used to get into the office in the morning and either bake a cake or make my apparently famous Sausage, Egg and Cheese Muffins. As I was talking to Don he reminded me that I used to do this and asked if I could come back and make him some so as they are his favorites; I told him I would post it on my web site. It was wonderful to see you and Kathy again Don…keep in touch. I would love to make you some more muffins.

1 package of sausage links
3 green onions (as I recall, Don asked me to leave these out but I really like them so the choice is yours)
2 eggs
1 ½ cups of shredded cheddar cheese
2 tubes of buttermilk hungry Jack biscuits
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat until browned and cooked thru.
2. Meanwhile, take tubes of biscuits and separate each biscuit into two biscuits and press down each half into a cupcake tin and pressing up the sides. The cup cake tins do not need to be buttered as there is a lot of butter in the biscuits and they will not stick.
3. Mix, two eggs, salt and pepper to taste in a bowl and add green onion if you so choose and add cheese. My family likes cheese so sometimes I add 2 cups.
4. Remove sausage from skillet and slightly cool and chop links into smaller pieces. This is also a preference, my family likes the chunks of sausage where some might like is a little more finely chopped.
5. Take a spoonful of sausage and place into the bottom of the biscuit and then top with the egg and cheese mixture. I use a cookie scoop the get the right portion into the biscuit.
6. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the biscuit edges are lightly brown and egg looks to be set.

Remove, serve and enjoy!

Sometimes, the biscuits may stick around the top due to the egg and cheese so I just use a knife to loosen around the sides.