Sausage and Cranberry Quiche

This is a great companion quiche to the Basic Quiche, when prepared with the vegetables. Always a favorite when I make Sunday brunch.

1 9-inch deep dish pie shell
1 pound roll sausage, such as Bob Evans Original
1/4 cup chopped onions
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 and 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
5 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups half and half

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Crumble and cook sausage and onion in skillet over medium heat until sausage is browned. Remove skillet from heat. Sprinkle cheese on bottom of pie shell. Top evenly with sausage mixture and cranberries. Combine eggs and half and half in a bowl, whisk until blended. Pour egg mixture over sausage and cranberries in pie shell. Bake 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Cranberry Canes

My mother would make these every Christmas when we were growing up. They have been a family favorite for many years now.

Scald 1 cup milk. Cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, measure 4 cups unsifted flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 t. salt. Cut in 2 sticks of butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Dissolve one package yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Add to flour mixture the yeast, milk and 2 beaten eggs. Cover dough tightly and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Filling:
1 and 1/2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup honey
1 and 1/2 t. orange peel

Cook filling ingredients over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Cool.

Divide dough in half. On floured surface, roll out one dough half to 18 x 15-inch rectangle. Spread half of the filling on dough. Fold dough in thirds so it is 15 x 6-inches. Cut into about 15 strips, one inch wide, and twist ends in opposite directions. Repeat with other dough half. Place on greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 400 degrees, 10-15 minutes. Ice with confectioner's icing. (I like to add a little cream cheese to my icing.)

Piccalilli

This cold vegetable salad is very similar to bean salad, but as my husband says, "tastier".

Use whatever vegetable combinations you like, and adjust the seasonings according to your taste, but I make it as it is written here.

I also use "no-salt added" vegetables, when available.


1 can French-style green beans  (drained)
1 can wax beans (drained)
1 can light red kidney beans (drained)
1 can shoe-peg corn (drained)
1 medium red onion (chopped)
1 cup chopped fresh bell pepper (I use a combination of red, green and yellow for lots of color!)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds (or 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Place drained canned vegetables and chopped fresh vegetables in a heat proof bowl.

Place remaining ingredients in a saucepan and heat to a boil. Remove from stove and pour over vegetables. Allow to cool, then refrigerate before serving. Keeps in refrigerator for about two weeks.

Pecan Pie

This recipe came to me by way of my Texas born husband. Pecan trees grow on his family's property and when life gives you pecans, make Pecan Pie!

This recipe has become a favorite because it's not super sweet, and it's loaded with pecans instead of sugary filling!

Texas Pecan Pie

1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 and 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
Additional pecan halves to decorate pie.
One 9-inch pie crust (unbaked).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs. Mix in corn syrup, sugar, melted butter and vanilla. Place chopped pecans in bottom of unbaked pie shell. Pour filling over. Decorate top of pie with pecan halves, making concentric circles, or however you want. Bake for 50 minutes. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

Cherry Almond Crumb Pie

This recipe was one of my Dad's favorites. It is made with a filling of sour cherries (in my opinion, the only kind of cherries a pie should be made with!) with an almond crumb topping. Fresh sour cherries are difficult to find and are only in season for a short time, so make this pie any time of year using canned Oregon Red Tart Cherries.

You will need one 9-inch unbaked pie shell. (I use Pillsbury in the refrigerator case.) Of course, you can make one from scratch too! I have also made this pie using a homemade shortbread crust and it's delicious!

For the filling:
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar*
3 T. cornstarch
2 cans Oregon Red Tart Cherries
1/4 t. almond extract
1 t. tapioca (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain the cherries and reserve the juice from only one can. In a sauce pan, stir the cherry juice into the combined mixture of the cornstarch and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Gently stir in cherries and almond extract. If you're worried your cherry filling might be too loose, add a little tapioca. Pour filling into pastry lined pie pan.

*Sugar may be increased to taste, but I only use 1/2 cup because I like the tartness of the cherries.

For the crumb topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. cinnamon
6 T. unsalted butter
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingers until crumbly (or cut in using a fork). Add the almonds. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the cherries and bake pie 30-40 minutes. (I bake in a 400 degree convection oven for 30 minutes.) Cool pie several hours to allow filling to thicken before slicing. Makes 8 servings.

Coconut Blueberry Cake

This delicious cake has become one of our favorites! So easy to make too! We top it with lemon sauce (recipe included).

Notes: I use fresh blueberries and unsweetened coconut. You can use sweetened flaked coconut, but I like it best with unsweetened. I also use one fresh lemon for the sauce, the juice and zest equal what the recipe calls for.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup flaked coconut, plus more for sprinkling on top

Lemon Sauce:

1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat eggs in separate bowl. Add milk, vanilla and vegetable oil to the eggs. Fold egg mixture into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in blueberries. Fold in coconut.

Put batter into a greased 13 x 9 baking pan. Sprinkle extra coconut all over top. Bake 22-24 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool.

Note: I use a convection oven at 350 degrees, baking for 24 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and lemon peel. Gradually add water until blended. Bring to a boil, cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon juice. Cut cake into squares and drizzle with lemon sauce. Lemon sauce can be gently reheated in the microwave for leftover servings.

Basic Quiche

Almost anything can be added to this basic quiche recipe to make it truly your own. I will list the ingredients and method and then notes on how I make my favorite version.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
4 ounces Jarlsberg cheese, shredded
2 ounces whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. (I use a convection oven.)

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and half-and-half. Add salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Place shredded cheese in the pie shell. Pour egg mixture over cheese.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until crust is golden and filling is set. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:
I use a deep dish pie pan (because I add extra goodies) and lightly spray it with cooking oil.

I use all Jarlsberg cheese and usually between 6-8 ounces. I have used Jarlsberg with a mozzarella/Monterey Jack blend as well.

I like this Quiche with vegetables. In a saute pan with a little olive oil, I mix chopped onion with chopped sweet peppers (green, red, yellow) and maybe some sliced mushrooms, and also a 6-ounce bag of baby spinach. Add the spinach last after the vegetables have softened and cover the pan until it wilts.

Layer the cheese in the bottom of the pie dish. Then layer the vegetables on top of the cheese and then pour the egg mixture over. Bake as indicated above.