Quiche Night

Tonight Jason had the amazing idea to make a quiche.  

It was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 13 slices bacon
• 7 ounces shredded Swiss/Pepper Jack cheese
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 7 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons alt
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 2 green bell peppers finely chopped

Directions:

1. Place back on in a large, deep skillet.  Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown.  Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan or casserole dish.
3. Line bottom of dish with cheese and crumbled bacon.  
4. Combine eggs, butter, peppers, onion, salt, flour, and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 35-60 minutes, until set.
6. Serve hot or cold.

Orange Rolls

This morning I tried my hand at orange rolls, it proved to be much more of a project than I anticipated.  

The whole process took about 2-3 hours and produced four dozen orange crescent rolls.

INGREDIENTS

 Rolls:

• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 7 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons (2 packages) dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water

Filling:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• Zest of two oranges

Glaze:

• Mix together juice of 2-3 oranges and  approximately 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar. (I juiced the oranges, strained out the chunks, and then added the sugar to the taste and consistency I wanted.)  If you put in too much powdered sugar and don't have any more oranges, try adding a little orange juice.

DIRECTIONS

1. Stir milk, sugar, oil, and salt until sugar is completely dissolved. Add 2 cups of the flour and beat well. Add 2 eggs and stir in. 
2. Dissolve the 2 T. yeast in a 1/2 c. warm water and add to flour mixture. 
3. Mix in the remaining 4 cups of flour. 
4. Put some flour on a pastry board or counter and knead until dough is smooth and not sticky (more flour may be added if sticky). 
5. Put dough into greased bowl and let rise until double (about an hour) in a warm place. 

6.  Divide dough into 6 parts and roll each into a circle. 

7.  Spread 1/6 of the orange/butter filling mixture and cut into 8 wedges. (I use a pizza cutter to cut, it's easier than a knife.)

   

9.  Roll each into a crescent shape and transfer to a baking sheet. (roll the wide end of the triangle to the pointy end)

10.  Cover and let rise at least 1 hour in a warm place. 

11.  Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. 

12.  Pour on glaze when rolls are still warm. **Warm, not hot.  If the rolls are too hot the glaze will melt right off.

Egg Cups

Baked Egg Cups

• 12 Eggs
• 12 thin slices of deli ham (round)
• 1/2 Cup of your favorite cheese (I used shredded Parmesan)
• 1/2 Cup diced green onion or chives (or leave them off)
• Fresh salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400.  Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  Lay a piece of ham in each hole creating a little ham cup.  Crack one egg into each hole and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Bake the eggs for about 12 minutes…until the white is firm and the yolk is still nice and runny.
3. Carefully remove each egg from the muffin tin and top with grated cheese and green onions/chives (or leave them off)

Enjoy!  We did!  

And the best part?  Each of the egg cups are only about 100 calories and 17 grams of protein!

Baklava Bars

INGREDIENTS
Cookie Base

• 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 egg

Filling

• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 frozen mini fillo shells (from 2.1-oz package)

Glaze

• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Garnish

• 5 tablespoons honey

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir walnuts, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and the salt with fork until mixture is well mixed and crumbly.

Red Velvet Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon red food color
• 1 egg
• 3/4 to 1 cup cream cheese frosting
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, cocoa, butter, sour cream, food color and egg until soft dough forms.
2. Roll dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
4. Frost cooled cookies with frosting. Sprinkle with nuts. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

Chocolate-Mallow Cookies

Thanks Betty Crocker!

Cookies

• 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
• 1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
• 2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg

Filling

• 2/3 cup marshmallow creme
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar

Topping

• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon unsweetened baking cocoa

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix, cocoa and flour. Add sour cream, 1/4 cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla and the egg; stir until stiff dough forms.
2. Shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Press each ball to flatten slightly.
3. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until set (do not overbake). Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
4. In small bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer until light and fluffy. For each cookie pie, spread about 2 teaspoons filling on bottom of 1 cooled cookie. Top with second cookie, bottom side down; gently press cookies together.
5. In small bowl, stir together topping ingredients; sprinkle over tops of cookie pies. Store between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container.

Viennese Crescent Holiday Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup hazelnuts, ground
• 1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 vanilla bean

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, butter, nuts, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, salt, and vanilla. Hand mix until thoroughly blended. Shape dough into a ball. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, place sugar in a bowl or small container. With sharp chef's knife, split vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape out seeds, and mix them into the sugar. Cut pod into 2 inch pieces and mix into sugar.
4. Remove dough from refrigerator and form into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball into a small roll, 3 inches long. Place rolls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet, and bend each one to make a crescent shape.
5. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until set but not brown.
6. Let stand 1 minute, then remove from cookie sheets. Place hot cookies on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with prepared sugar mixture. Turn gently to coat on both sides. Cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature. Just before serving, coat with more vanilla flavored sugar.