green chile bacon quiche.

I have been hankering for a nice wedge of quiche ever since I had a tiny sliver at a cafe two weekends ago. This hits the spot.

INGREDIENTS
1 refrigerated pie crust (half of15-ounce package), room temperature
1/4 cup of bacon bits
1 4-ounce can diced green chilies
4 green onions, chopped
1.5 cup shredded cheese (I used a blend of Mexican cheeses)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup milk
4 eggs
A pinch of salt

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 425°F. Unfold crust. Press crust into 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Beat milk, cream eggs and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add cheeses, bacon bits, green chile and scallions. Pour into crust. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375°F and continue to bake quiche for another 25 minutes until knife inserted into center comes out clean. 

banana walnut bread.

Mr. Sachinky claims to hate bananas but ate this puppy up with absolutely no complaints!

wish you could smell this baby.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
A pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large ripe banana, peeled and mashed with a fork
1/2 cup walnut pieces

beauty.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly brush a 9-by 5- by-3-inch loaf pan with butter. 

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. 

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and the vanilla extract into the butter, mixing until incorporated. Add the bananas.

With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour, baking soda and salt until just incorporated. 

Fold in the nuts and transfer the batter to the prepared pan. 

Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

baked perfectly.

chicken tortilla soup

How have I not posted this before? This is perfect winter, chilly weather food. It's currently Mr. Sachinky's favorite dish, one I have made three times already in quick succession.

can of pinto beans
can of black beans
spicy hot V8
bay leaves
cumin
oregano
salt/ pepper
shredded rotisserie chicken
sweet yellow corn
can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes
chicken broth

served with a chicken-avocado burrito

I just eyeball the measurements. I don't own a large stockpot otherwise I'd make this in giant batches. Let it simmer for a half an hour or so before stirring in a large dollop of sour cream just to thicken it up a bit. Served topped with fresh avocados, lime juice, chopped cilantro, bite sized tortilla chips, guacamole and even more sour cream!

alabama pecan pie

thanksgiving is upon us!

we have two invitations to dinner tomorrow. the first one is at the mccarthy's in the afternoon and she asked us to bring the wine and desserts. her husband wanted pecan pie and i love pecan pies but have never made one. so here's my first attempt at baking a pecan pie. the recipe is from her husband's aunt.

Ingredients:
1 cup white Karo corn syrup
1 tbsp butter
1/8 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Method: Mix all the ingredients together and combine well with beater. Pour filling in an uncooked pie shell and bake slowly - 1 hour at 300 degrees.

looks good and fingers crossed - it tastes good tomorrow.

slow-cooker beef stew.

even though fall continues to evade us, i couldn't wait any longer to simmer this gorgeous stew on a sunday afternoon. i cooked it on low for 8 hours and it was perfect. i served it with pureed potatoes mashed with butter and milk.

mmm.

here's the how-to-do:

heat pan till very hot. melt butter. season beef stew meat with salt and pepper liberally. sear meat and (all the goodly juices) throw into a slow cooker with one can of diced tomatoes, baby carrots, (frozen) pearl onions, a generous splash of red wine, a heaping spoonful of minced garlic, plenty of beef stock, several splashes of Worcestershire sauce, a couple of bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste and a teeny, tiny pinch of thyme.

garnish with fresh parsley.

this was amaz-ing. so good that we ate it for dinner three nights straight.

beer cheddar potato soup.

slow cooker recipe: 

I just kind of eye balled the ingredients.

-diced potatoes
-diced celery
-diced baby carrots
-diced red onions
-minced garlic
-1 cup milk
-1 bottle beer
-a generous pat of butter
-freshly ground pepper
-bay leaf
-Worcestershire sauce
-Tabasco
-pinch of salt
-chicken stock
-dash of Dijon mustard

cook on low for 6 hours. puree with an immersion blender. garnish with bacon bits and chopped chives.

Cherry cake.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 whole egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup cherries, roughly chopped

I love cherries. Along with mangoes and lychees and pineapples, they are my favorite fruit. Every time summer rolls around, I buy a huge bag of cherries from the super market and usually they rot before I have a chance to eat through them. This means it's usually a race against time to find an easy recipe to use them up before they go bad. I decided on this delicious recipe from the Pioneer Woman's website and tweaked it.

Method:

--Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
--Butter a square baking dish.
--Cream sugar and butter; add egg and combine.
--Add flour, baking powder, and salt to the mixing bowl and then pour in the milk.
--Add cherries and chopped walnuts (I pulsed it for a couple of seconds on my food processor) and mix gently. Or you could run your mixer over it one last night resulting in a glorious purple batter that resembles black currant ice cream.
--Pour batter into buttered pan and smooth out the surface. Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown.