Thursday, September 23, 2010

It's almost time to say goodbye...


It's the end of the road for us, folks! Our six months of cooking with Mark Bittman is almost up. This is our last Potluck week, and we start cooking with Giada on October 4th. That smiley little minx beat out my girl Lidia Bastianich by just a few votes! I hope you are all looking forward to six months of lemon zest, baci, and cleavage. Woohoo!

No really, I'm excited to work with some more Italian recipes, which I crave constantly anyway. In prepping for the shift, I started doing a bit of hunting, since I only own one Giada cookbook and I've yet to open it! I came upon a wonder that has existed forever and I have also never used. Google Books. If you haven't tried it, open a new window and get on it now! Check out what happens when you type Giada's name into Google Books! A huge selection of her cookbooks online, so you don't even have to drag your lazy ass to the library. I just heard a chorus of angels singing. 

Anyway, since I have already had to return most of my Mark books to the library cause some other skeeze had them on hold, I did a Mark search, too. And lo and behold, the same huge selection. I had an abundance of eggs and cheese, so this recipe was spot on. I did lots of changing, since I'm not a fan of pre-baking a quiche crust and I also wanted some more flavor punch. E swears he hates quiche, but he lies. He admitted to eating a slice while he waited for me to get home yesterday. And of course he liked it. I think it was the tang from the goat cheese that did it. Everything is better with goat cheese. 


Zucchini and Goat Cheese Quiche
adapted from Mark Bittman's Cheesy Quiche from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food
Ingredients:
1 pre-made 9 inch pie crust (go ahead and make your own if you are adventurous, but I use the frozen crust from Whole Foods  and it's really good!)
4 eggs, plus 2 egg whites
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 leek, washed and diced
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
1 Tbls. olive oil
1/2 cup goat cheese

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Set your pie crust on a large baking sheet. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add leeks and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini and mushrooms and cook until tender, another 5 minutes. Season with oregano, salt and pepper and set aside. Beat eggs and milk in a large bowl. Crumble goat cheese in the bottom of the pie crust. Top with vegetables and pour egg mixture over the top. Bake for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake another 25 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Rest quiche on a rack for 10 minutes before slicing.

*Tip, if you have any leftover egg mixture, pour it into a buttered ramekin and bake it along side your quiche. Eat it with toast for breakfast. :)

Print the Recipe



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This post is linked to:
IHCC
and Simple Lives Thursday

10 comments:

Heather S-G said...

LMFAO!!! I'm w/ ya on this one. That's all I'm saying ;) Oh, and YUM!

Tina said...

You are too funny! Love that post. I too am looking forward to Giada....I am still plugging away at my Italian Williams Sonoma book.

Love that goat cheese - great post!

Kat said...

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http://www.livinglikethekings.com/2010/09/one-lovely-blog-award.html

Kim said...

Our 6 months w/ Bittman sure did go fast! I'm looking forward to some Italian food too and pasta....lots of pasta.

I'll never understand the issues that men have with quiche. It's like they like it but are afraid to admit it or something. This one sounds great with the tangy goat cheese and buttermilk.

June said...

Oh, I do love Mark Bittman. You have been eating swell. Giada will be fun too. Can't wait to hear what you make...

Thanks for stopping by my place; I'm happy to find yours.

Deb in Hawaii said...

I think we will all manage to have fun no matter who we cook with. Mark was a favorite for sure but I will keep cooking him and Giada will be fun too.

Your quiche looks delicious--zucchini and lots of cheese works for me! ;-)

NKP said...

Mmm, I love tangy goat cheese! I'll miss Bitty too, it has been a great 6 months cooking with him. Great quiche!

Couscous & Consciousness said...

Great looking quiche and perfect way to use up some end of season zucchini
Sue

Matilda said...

Awesome recipe! And you are right, everything is better with goat cheese...

a moderate life said...

Hi Joanne! Just wanted to let you know I am doing a Tackling Bittman recipe roundup this week at a moderate life of exotic takes on bittman recipes, and I will be featuring this quiche recipe. Thanks and stop over to visit! Alex@amoderatelife