Tiramisu Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Wow are things dusty around here from lack of use! I can't believe it's been so long since I updated my blog. Although, in my quest to use up the massive amount of items I had in my freezers, I wasn't making a whole lot of new stuff. And we were on vacation for a week. While we were on vacation--hobnobbing with Mickey Mouse and playing at the beach--I realized how much I miss my blog and need to get back in the groove of updating and trying new recipes. I miss my cookbook project, too.

I was just going through pictures on my computer to move stuff to my "cooking blog" pictures folder and saw the pictures of this amazing cake. I'm embarrassed to say that it was the middle of February when I made it, but I just never got around to posting it. Actually I've posted it before, but this time I remembered to take pictures as I was going. Two of my friends and I decided awhile back to do a supper club. This was back in November I think. We tried to plan it for December, but it fell through. i don't remember if we tried for January. It was originally going to be husbands and kids, too, but my husband didn't really want to go and it turned out another husband was out of town, so we decided to just have it be the girls. I was glad it worked out that way, it was so fun! It was at my friend Jenn's house, and she made a delicious roasted chicken with green beans and amazing fingerling potatoes. Oh my gosh, the potatoes! They were so tasty. Jen brought a really good feta dip as an appetizer, and I was in charge of dessert. I really had no idea what to take, and then I remembered this dessert. It's so rich and decadent and time-consuming, but I love it and wanted an excuse to make it.

Tiramisu Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
5 large eggs
1 1/3 cups whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in another large bowl to blend. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in cream and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Divide batter equally among pans. Bake until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool completely.

Frosting / Filling
3 1/2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1 1/4 tablespoons vanilla extract

Using electric mixer beat cream cheese in large bowl until light. Gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add cream and vanilla and beat until well blended. Cover refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Soaking Syrup
1 1/3 cups Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur
1/2 cups water
1/8 cup instant espresso powder or coffee powder

Combine.

Assembly
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 9-inch-diameter cardboard cake round
2 cups assorted berries (such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries)

Finely grind chopped chocolate in processor (do not over process or chocolate will clump together). After cakes have cooled completely, take about half a cup of frosting and spread it on a cardboard round or what ever you will be placing the cake on.

Cut the cakes in half horizontally. Place bottom of one cake on cardboard round, cut side up. Brush with 1/3 of syrup. Spread out about 1 cup of frosting and then sprinkle with 1/3 of the chocolate. Place top of cake on top - repeat syrup, frosting, chocolate. Place bottom of 2nd cake on top, cut side up - repeat with the remains of the syrup, 1 cup of frosting and remains of the chocolate.

Now, to tidy it up - take a serrated knife and cut around the cake to make it even all around, this made it very easy to frost the cake.

Frost the entire outside of cake. Decorate with berries, icing or chocolate.

This cake is best when allowed to sit for a day or so.

*****

I'm currently doing Phase One of the South Beach Diet again and just thinking about this cake is adding pounds back on to my body, I'm pretty sure. It's really, really, really time consuming, but it's so worth it. Be very generous when using the soaking syrup. The cake is really dense, so you want to use as much of the syrup as you can so it soaks through and makes the cake layers moist and flavorful. And definitely let it sit as long as possible so the cake has more time to absorb the syrup.

This is hands down one of my favorite cakes ever.

Cake batter...I told you it's a dense cake!


Layer of cake with syrup...really brush it on there!


Syrup with chopped chocolate in the background


Mmmmm...cream cheese frosting...


Cake in progress


Frosting cakes is not one of my strong suits, but I'm okay with it since I rarely do it. It tasted awesome, and that's what really counts.

Quick Chile Relleno Casserole

I kind of have a thing for chile rellenos. My mom LOVES them and would always order them at Mexican restaurants when I was growing up. I never really understood them and thought they sounded gross. Then I tried one and was hooked. Since they're ridiculously unhealthy (filled with cheese, battered, and fried), and I assume not super easy to make at home, I generally don't eat them very often anymore. I was at Walmart on Friday picking up a few things for the husband's birthday yesterday and saw they had Anaheim chiles for $0.10 per pound. I had originally slated us to have steak for our Friday date night dinner, but I hadn't bought any steak yet. I saw the chiles and figured I'd scrap the steak plan and do some kind of chile relleno casserole instead.

At one point several years ago I made a chile relleno casserole in the crockpot, but I had no idea where that recipe was, so I turned to Google. Because isn't that what you do when you need to find something? One of the results that came up was from Food.com, and since I've generally had good luck with recipes from there, I figured it was worth a shot. The first recipe I came across sounded good and had good reviews, but it took almost an hour to bake. Conveniently for me, at the bottom of that page was a link to another recipe for Quick Chile Relleno Casserole. That one sounded much better because it only needed 30 minutes in the oven. It called for canned green chiles, so I modified it since I had fresh chiles I was using. The recipe below is my amended version.

Quick Chile Relleno Casserole
Adapted from Quick Chile Relleno Casserole on Food.com

4 Anaheim chiles
1/2 lb monterey jack cheese, sliced
4 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Roast chiles under the broiler or over gas flame until skin is charred. Place chiles in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at least 10 minutes. Remove skins from chiles while trying to keep chiles intact. Cut a slit in each chile, remove seeds, and stuff with sliced cheese.

Coat an 11x7 baking dish with nonstick spray. Place chiles in prepared dish.

Beat eggs with whisk or electric mixer until thick and foamy. Add milk, flour, and baking powder and beat until smooth. Pour mixture over chiles. Top with cheddar cheese.

Bake, uncovered, in a 375F oven for about 30 minutes or until casserole is puffed and appears set when gently shaken.

*****

The only thing I would change about this would be to use more chiles next time. The husband and I ate the entire dish of this. There was enough of the batter in the dish to accomodate a few more chiles, but since I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them when I bought them, I didn't know how many to get. If I was making this for the whole family I'd definitely up the number of chiles. I used Egg Beaters in my batter as I was saving the eggs we had on hand for a birthday breakfast for the husband, so Egg Beaters were my only choice. Plus I figured it made the recipe that much healthier.

This is something I'll definitely make again. We both loved it. The husband ate his in record time.

Roasted chile stuffed with cheese:


Stuffed chiles swimming in the batter:


Finished product! Oh man...I wish I could have somehow captured the smell of this because it was AMAZING!!

Rick Bayless' Chipotle Meatballs (Sandwich Style)

Oh man...words do not express how freakin' excited I am to try this dinner tonight!!! Months and months ago when I was holding the Rick Bayless Mexican Everyday cookbook hostage from the library I saw this chipotle meatball recipe in it. Sounded good and then I thought, "Hmmm...you could probably make a Mexican version of a meatball sandwich with those." And then the idea just had to sit in my brain for a long, long time. I don't know why I haven't made this sooner given my excitement for it!!

So, first I'll post the recipe from his cookbook and then how I'm doing my sandwich take on it after the recipe.

Rick Bayless' Chipotle Meatballs
Copyright 2005, Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday

3 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, peeled (divided use)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs (3/4 cup if they're the coarse-textured panko)
Salt
1-1/4 pounds ground pork
1/2 cup (loosely packed) coarsely chopped mint leaves, plus extra leaves for garnish if you wish
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted)
1-2 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, stemmed and seeded
1-2 Tbsp chipotle canning sauce
1 tsp dried oregano, preferably Mexican
About 1-1/2 cups beef or chicken broth

Turn on the oven to 450 degrees. In a food processor, combine the bacon and 1 garlic clove. Process until finely chopped. Add the eggs, bread crumbs, and 1 teaspoon salt. Pulse several times to combine thoroughly, then add the pork and mint. Pulse the machine a ew more times until everything is well combined--but not at all processed into a paste. Remove the blade.

With wet hands, form the meat into 16 plum-size spheres, spacing them out in a 13x9 inch baking dish. Bake until lightly browned (they'll be browned more underneath than on top), about 15 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, combine the tomatoes, with their juice, chipotles, canning sauce, oregano, the remaining 2 garlic cloves (cut in half) and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender or food processor. Process to a smooth puree.

When the meatballs are ready, spoon off any rendered fat from the baking dish, then pour on the tomato mixture, covering the meatballs evenly. Bake until the sauce looks like tomato paste, 15 to 20 minutes.

Microwave the broth for about a minute to heat it (or heat in a small saucepan). Divide the meatballs among four dinner plates, leaving most of the sauce behind. Stir enough broth into the sauce to give it an easily spoonable consistency. Taste and season with additional salt if you think the sauce needs it. Spoon the sauce over the meatballs, decorate with extra mint leaves, if you wish, and serve.

*****

My mouth started to water a bit there while I was typing out the recipe. Rick has yet to do me wrong, so I cannot wait to try this! The only substitution I'm making is to use ground beef instead of pork. I have 1.5 pounds of ground beef left in my freezer, and I gave the husband a couple options that I could do with it, and this is what he chose. We're trying to get back to no (or very little) red meat, so we won't be having anything like this for awhile.

So, now my sandwich take on them. These sounded really similar to meatballs in marinara my friend Laura makes and then uses for meatball sandwiches. So I thought why couldn't I do a Mexican version, using this sauce instead of marinara, and queso fresco instead of mozzarella. So that's what we're having for dinner tonight! I was telling my friend Jen about these last night when I talked to her, and she thought they sounded awesome, too. She suggested putting avocado or guacamole on them, too. I do have an avocado that needs to be used up, so I might try that and see how it is.

I can't wait to report back to you on how these turn out!!

*****

Oh man...oh MAN!!! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Rick Bayless is a god among men, or at least when it comes to food. These meatballs were AMAZING. The sandwiches were so-so, but I think that's mostly because I forgot to toast or somehow heat up the sandwich rolls before assembling. Oops. They were so filling, too. Neither of us finished the sandwich.

I ended up using one chipotle pepper and a few spoonfuls of the canning sauce because I didn't want it to end up too spicy. I figured better to start with less and then go from there if I needed to, but I think that was just the right amount for our taste. Smokey with a little heat but not overpowering.

I loved the hint of bacon and mint in the meatballs. The flavor was fantastic and captivating. The smokey sauce really added to them as well. This is something I will definitely make again, although since we're giving up ground beef for awhile I may try them with ground turkey, or I'm hoping to get a food grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer for my birthday, so if I do I could grind up a lean cut of pork and make them that way. As it was I used 93% lean ground beef, and they turned out fine. Oh, my food processor was not going to be big enough to add the meat with the bacon/bread crumbs/egg/garlic mixture, so I added the mint in with all that and then combined that mixture with the ground beef in a bowl and mixed it by hand.

Just thinking about them makes me want to go over to the fridge and have one cold!

(I took pictures, but they're on my phone, so I'll upload them later.)

Mango Stuffed French Toast

Somehow I forgot the most important recipe I made on Christmas--our breakfast!! I was looking at recipes on the Rick Bayless website recently and saw this recipe for Mango Stuffed French Toast. Oh man...I wanted to make it right then! I figured I'd save it for Christmas morning. I like to have some kind of breakfast casserole that can be in the oven while we're opening presents. It worked out even more perfectly because there were mangos in my basket from Bountiful Baskets.

Mango Stuffed French Toast
Copyright © 2009 Rick Bayless

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon softened butter for casserole dish
3 mangos (approximately 2 1/2 pounds) peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar (divided use)
12 ounces cream cheese (softened)
12 slices egg bread (challah) sandwich loaf
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half & half
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for garnish
Warm maple or agave syrup

In a very large (12-inch) non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add the mango and saute for approximately 10 minutes or until soft. Sprinkle in a 1/4 cup sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, mix the softened cream cheese and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar.

Butter a 13 x 9 casserole dish with 1 tablespoon softened butter. Divide the cream cheese mixture equally between the slices of bread and spread, covering the entire surface. Place 6 of the slices in the bottom of the prepared dish with the tops of the bread facing out. You may need to squeeze the slices together to make them fit. Spoon the cooled mango slices and their syrup evenly over the bread. Press the remaining slices, cream cheese side down, on top of the mango layer.

Whisk together the eggs, half and half, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour the mixture over the top of the stuffed French toast, making sure to cover all the bread with the egg mixture. Wrap tightly and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until lightly browned and warmed through. Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar and serve with warm syrup.

*****

I just realized we didn't have any syrup or powdered sugar with ours--we just ate it as is (or as was). This was AMAZING. I have yet to be disappointed by a Rick Bayless recipe. I'm telling you, he's a god among men (but not in a blasphemous way). Jen B. and I are dying to take a trip to Chicago and eat at all three of his restaurants.

We all really liked this. It's definitely a breakfast dish I'd make again. It was easy to put together and tasted awesome. Just thinking about it makes me want it again!

Soggy and gooey, going in the fridge the night before!




Mmmmmm...pan of mango french toast...


See the yummy layers? Man I can't wait to have this again!

Pork Katsu Donburi

I'm so excited for dinner tonight. I was feeling kind of ho-hum earlier today about what we were eating this week, but then I looked at my meal plan again and wondered why exactly I felt like that because there are some tasty things slated for every night! I've been thinking about this dinner for a few weeks now, how we haven't had it in so long. I don't know why I haven't made it more recently (apparently St. Patrick's Day was the last time...yikes).

Pork Katsu Donburi

Yum, yum, yum! I cannot wait for dinner. I went to Trader Joe's today (the boy's preschool is a mile away from TJ's...that may end up being detrimental to my grocery budget) and got some egg rolls, so we'll have those along with this.

Pancakes

What a freakin' day. I don't feel bad starting my post like that because I haven't in quite some time, but let me tell you--today is worthy of it! It started off normal enough, other than the boy being up already at 5:47 when the baby woke up to eat. I have no idea how long he had been up, but I was not at all pleased to see him sitting in the hallway at that insanely early time. Between then and when his alarm started at 7:15 he took every toy out of his toy box. We had swim lessons, then when we got home I told him he needed to pick up his room. Now, really it would have only taken him about 15 minutes to put everything back, but he ended up taking 90 minutes to do it. Of course, in that time he threw over a music table toy in the baby's room, spit at me, hit me with toys, threw toys at me, and the capstone was him pouring out almost an entire bottle of his shampoo on the carpet in front of my bedroom. Burt's Bees Shampoo, to top it off, which is not cheap. I was livid. Since then, he's spit at me more, taken a pen out of my room and colored all over his hand, face, and shirt, stolen a pacifier out of the baby's crib, and throw countless fits. The whining and crying...ugh. I want to run away to some where far far away. Dear God, make me a bird so I can fly far...far, far away.

There must be something in the water or air or some chemical in the pool at swim lessons because my friends Jen B. and Laura's kids were acting up today, too. If you read Jen B.'s blog you'll have to agree that something is not right with our kids today.

So, given the day I've had (and that I have a cold on top of everything else), I am really in no mood whatsoever to cook dinner tonight. I had planned on making chicken stir fry, but I think I only have one chicken breast which just won't work for three people. I have a pork chop dish planned for later in the week, but it sounded like more work than I was up to. Since I have no convenience food on hand (the downside of trying not to buy prepared/packaged foods), I was having a tough time coming up with something. Then I thought of pancakes and scrambled eggs and thought I could handle that. Plus clean-up from that will be pretty easy.

Freezer Pancakes

For scrambled eggs I use Egg Beaters and add in a dash of milk, a handful or two of grated cheese, and some Tony Chachere's seasoning. It's actually the husband's recipe...John's Cajun Scrambled Eggs he calls them. At least it will be an easy dinner, and I know there won't be any fights about eating dinner with the boy because he loves pancakes and scrambled eggs.

(By the way, in the course of typing this I was hit repeatedly with a packet of fruit snacks. If we didn't have our Bible Study group here tonight, I think the boy would be in bed by 6:30 at the latest.)

Vegetarian Frittata

Once again I've found myself in the position of needing to use up Egg Beaters from Costco before they go bad. I've done better this time than a lot of other times I've bought them, so that's good. And it means we get to have Frittata!! According to the ol' blog here, I haven't made this since July! Good golly, is it possible it's been that long?! I'm excited for it--it's a healthy, light dinner that we always enjoy. I think I'm going to make some hash browns to go with it, and I have a container of Grands biscuits in the fridge that need to be used. I might make a fruit salad to go with it, or we have regular lettuce salad, too.

It's time for another trip to the potty for the boy, so here's the link to the previous post of this:

Vegetarian Frittata

I don't think I'm changing up much, although I may use feta instead of the parmesan cheese because I also bought feta at Costco, plus I think it would lend an interesting flavor to this. Yum...I'm excited for dinner!

Brooke's Breakfast Casserole

My bestest friend Brooke sent me this recipe for a breakfast casserole over the weekend. The timing was pretty impressive because I had to take food for my MOPS meeting this morning. I was going to do a different casserole, but she said she and her husband LOVED this one, so I figured I'd give it a try. And I had everything on hand for it except hashbrowns--and you know I LOVE when that happens! She found it on a blog she visits to find coupon deals in Boise, but since she sent it to me, I'm dubbing it Brooke's Breakfast Casserole.

Brooke's Breakfast Casserole
1 package Grands biscuits
4-5 cups frozen hashbrowns, thawed
1 package bacon (1 lb?), cooked and chopped
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
8 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Spread 6 biscuits in the bottom of a 9x13 pan to cover the bottom. Sprinkle hashbrowns over the biscuits. Season with salt and pepper (I used Lawry's Seasoned Salt). Place pan in oven for 10 minutes. Remove pan and top hashbrowns with chopped bacon. Spread cheese over bacon. Beat eggs and pour over top. Bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes or until eggs are set in the center.

*****

This was really yummy! I had planned to take a picture of it once it came out of the oven, but we had to be getting out the door, so that didn't happen. There was none left to bring home, so I'll just have to make it again sometime so I can get a picture of it. :) It was really tasty, although I think I used too many hashbrowns. I didn't measure them out, just threw some handfuls into the pan. I might increase the number of eggs, too. I had to use mozzarella cheese because I was out of cheddar (okay, I had a block of it but didn't want to have to shred it), but I don't think it made a big difference. Oh, and I cut up the bacon using my kitchen shears before I cooked it. I prefer to do that over cooking it and then cutting it. Bacon is so doggone tasty. It was a good thing I didn't give myself a lot of time between when the bacon was done and I needed to put it in the casserole because I could have easily eaten all of it.

Pork Katsu Donburi

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!! May the luck o' the Irish be with you today! Did you know that the husband is Irish (well, Irish and Cajun)? He is. We actually went to Ireland in 2005 with my in-laws and the husband's sister and her family. It was a fantastic trip. My FIL even met up with some cousins he didn't know about until he did some family tree research once we were there. It was amazing. In fact, to celebrate today, here's a picture of me kissing the Blarney Stone!



And the husband and I having our first pints of Guinness in Ireland. It tastes so much better over there than it does here!



So to celebrate, we're having...Japanese for dinner. I know, I know, but I couldn't come up with anything Irish that sounded good. I was originally going to do this on Thursday night, but I moved it to tonight. I don't remember why, but I'm excited for it. We've had this once before, about two months ago, and we all really liked it. It's from the Meal Planning 101 blog that I follow and love. Jen B. made it first, and they really liked it, then of course I followed in her footsteps because I'm completely co-dependent on her. With her? I don't know the right phrasing. I bought some pork chops last week when they were on sale for super cheap ($1.66/pound for BONELESS!!), so I'm going to bust out those for this.

Pork Katsu Donburi
2-4 pork loin chops
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs (try not to substitute or the result will not be the same)
1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken broth
6 shitake mushrooms, sliced into strips (you can substitute regular button mushrooms)
1 carrot, julienned (I am using a frozen Asian Veggie Blend with carrots instead)
2 tbsp white sugar
4 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped green onions
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups cooked rice

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Cover the pieces of pork in plastic wrap and using a meat tenderizer, bash the meat until the piece is about 1/4 inch thick. Make sure you flip it over and do the other side as well. Do this to all your pieces. Then cut pork into cutlet sized portions, if needed. Now that your pieces of pork are cut and tenderized, season both sides with salt and pepper. In three separate bowls put flour in the first, beaten eggs in the second and Panko breadcrumbs in the third. Dredge each piece of pork in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, and place on a baking sheet with a baking rack on it. Drizzle lightly with oil and place in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, flip the pork, drizzle the other side lightly with oil and then place back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

While pork is cooking chop veggies (or follow stir fry directions for cooking frozen veggies). In a large frying pan set to medium-high heat saute the onion in oil for 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and carrot and stir-fry a couple more minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, sugar, soy sauce and salt and let simmer for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle in half of the green onions, stirring gently.

When pork comes out of the oven, cut into strips.

Turn the heat down to medium-low for the veggies and pour beaten eggs over the mixture, stirring a bit to incorporate the sauce and egg. Gently add the pork over the top and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked. You may need to add a lid for part of the cooking time to get the eggs to cook through on top.

To serve, scoop rice into four bowls. Divide pork and veggie mixture into four, and place on top of rice. Garnish with a little more chopped green onion. Serve immediately!

*****

I'm only modifying it a little. Jen mentioned she had used some chili paste in her egg wash, so I bought some at the store today to mix in because I thought the last time I made it, the pork could usse a little more flavor. I'm skipping the mushrooms and carrots and just using a frozen stir fry blend. I think last time I microwaved the veggies, and they were a bit soggy, so this time I'll stir fry them so they stay crisp and yummy. Oh, and I didn't add the pork back in because I thought it might get too soggy. I don't think I'll make any side dishes with this since there's rice and veggies in it already.

Pork Katsu Donburi

I have a sick kid in my house. We've spent yesterday and today on the couch watching TV and movies. Normally I don't let him sit and zone out to TV all day, but I figure lazing around will help him get better. I think I've watched enough Disney Channel, PBS Kids, and Noggin over the past two days to last me quite awhile. Actually I've just been hanging out reading food blogs, playing on Facebook, and basically being incredibly unproductive. Plus being home for two days straight is helping me get the baby in a routine which I've been dying to do, so that part of it all has been pretty nice.

I'm super excited for the dinner I'm making tonight. Jen B. made it last week and got it from the blog Meal Planning 101, which thanks to Jen, is now one of my favorite cooking/food blogs. Good find, Jen! When I saw the recipe on Jen's blog I knew I had to make it--and soon! Luckily I was planning on buying pork chops at Costco this week, so I knew I'd have everything for it. There was a little Japanese take-out restaurant near my house growing up, and they had awesome chicken katsu donburi. My whole family loved it. I don't know if I've ever had it with pork, so I'm excited to try this.

I have to mention the benefits of meal planning since I linked to a meal planning blog. I've been doing it for years now. It used to be--back when the husband and I were DINKs--I'd make whatever sounded good on the way home from work, which a lot of times meant stopping at the store to get ingredients. It got very expensive. It wasn't that we couldn't afford to eat like that, I just thought it was ridiculous how much we were spending on groceries each month for two people. So I started planning out meals for the week. Then after awhile I took it one step further and planned out our dinners based on what was on sale at the grocery store that week. That's how I still do it. Normally I spend around $50 a week on groceries, if I'm buying meat (which I only buy when it's on sale) it's usually around $70. I try to match coupons to items that are on sale as well, but I don't buy a whole lot of packaged/processed foods, so I don't always use that many.

Anyway, on to the recipe. I'm so excited for this!!!

Pork Katsu Donburi
2-4 pork loin chops
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs (try not to substitute or the result will not be the same)
1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken broth
6 shitake mushrooms, sliced into strips (you can substitute regular button mushrooms)
1 carrot, julienned (I am using a frozen Asian Veggie Blend with carrots instead)
2 tbsp white sugar
4 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped green onions
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups cooked rice

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Cover the pieces of pork in plastic wrap and using a meat tenderizer, bash the meat until the piece is about 1/4 inch thick. Make sure you flip it over and do the other side as well. Do this to all your pieces. Then cut pork into cutlet sized portions, if needed. Now that your pieces of pork are cut and tenderized, season both sides with salt and pepper. In three separate bowls put flour in the first, beaten eggs in the second and Panko breadcrumbs in the third. Dredge each piece of pork in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, and place on a baking sheet with a baking rack on it. Drizzle lightly with oil and place in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, flip the pork, drizzle the other side lightly with oil and then place back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

While pork is cooking chop veggies (or follow stir fry directions for cooking frozen veggies). In a large frying pan set to medium-high heat saute the onion in oil for 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and carrot and stir-fry a couple more minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, sugar, soy sauce and salt and let simmer for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle in half of the green onions, stirring gently.

When pork comes out of the oven, cut into strips.

Turn the heat down to medium-low for the veggies and pour beaten eggs over the mixture, stirring a bit to incorporate the sauce and egg. Gently add the pork over the top and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked. You may need to add a lid for part of the cooking time to get the eggs to cook through on top.

To serve, scoop rice into four bowls. Divide pork and veggie mixture into four, and place on top of rice. Garnish with a little more chopped green onion. Serve immediately!

*****

Doesn't this sound sooooo yummy?! I seriously cannot wait for dinner tonight! I have a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies I'm going to use, and I bought regular button mushrooms because they were on sale. Although I don't think I bought green onions this week, so mine will just have to do without. Jen said that she toasted some sesame seeds and sprinkled those on the top before serving, so I may give that a go. If we weren't all wearing jammies today I'd maybe run to the store and pick up some green onions, but that would require me wearing something other than yoga pants, a t-shirt, and fluffy pink socks.

*****

Mmmmm...this was really good!! I will definitely be making this again. Jen had said she mixed some chili paste into the egg wash, and I think next time I'll try to remember to do that. The pork was good on its own, but a little extra kick would have made it even better. I used half a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies which worked out fine. Under normal circumstances I think this would all come together really fast, but the baby needed to eat, so I fed him while the pork was cooking, which meant I didn't start on the veggie/egg mixture until after the pork was done. Overall we really liked it. The boy didn't eat much, but he's had a nasty cold, but I think under normal circumstances he would eat it and enjoy it.

Blintz Souffle

Now, on to shower food. My friend Jen A. is having her second baby--another boy just like everyone else I know--in March, so I threw a baby shower for her today. It was very fun, if I do say so myself. I was lucky and a lot of our friends offered to bring food to help out, which was a huge lifesaver. It was quite the feast...egg casserole, potato casserole, blueberry muffins, scones, orange cinnamon rolls, Amish friendship bread, fruit with dip, baked brie, and this blintz souffle. All I had to do was this, the brie, and the punch. And clean my house--which was probably the most daunting task but a very much needed one.

I was at my mom's a couple weeks ago, and we were talking about what food to have at the shower. Well, I was talking about it and she was suggesting things. She said that a friend of hers had made this, and it was really good. I'm not usually big on trying out new recipes for the first time on big groups of people, but I trusted my mom.

Filling:
1-16 ounce carton small curd cottage cheese
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp sugar
1-8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

Batter:
1-1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup orange juice
6 eggs
1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cherry and blueberry pie filling

Grease a 9x13 pan. Beat all filling ingredients until well blended. Set aside. LIghtly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In blender or food processor with metal blade, place the sour cream, orange juice, eggs, margarine, flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth, scraping sides often. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Drop filling evenly over batter; spread carefully and evenly. FIlling will mix slightly with the batter. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, uncovered 50-60 minutes or until puffed and light, golden brown. Serve topped with pie fillings. Yields 8-12 servings.

*****

I mixed it all together last night and then threw it in the oven this morning. Mine baked for close to an hour. I was pretty disappointed last night that I over-estimated the size of my food processor AFTER I got half the ingredients in it and realized it was too small. You know how I hate doing extra dishes. I broke out my blender instead.

This ended up being pretty good. Although I'll admit I didn't really taste it as much as I should have since I was mostly interested in the baked brie. There's less than half the pan left, so it was received pretty well. I'll have to try more once I'm ready for sweets again. I have a ton of the pie filling left, so I may have to look up cherry or blueberry pie recipes. There's more of the blueberry left than the cherry, and I do have a pie crust in the freezer. Hmmmm...a project for tomorrow!

Breakfast Casserole

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Here I promised to get back to blogging and haven't posted anything. what can I say...I've been busy caring for a newborn and toddler and having my in-laws in town. I figured I'd start with the egg casserole I made for breakfast this morning and work my way back from there as I have time. My in-laws go home tomorrow morning, so then I'll for sure have to get back to cooking. And doing dishes. And picking up toys. And all the other household things they've been doing for us while they've been here. Sigh.

I hope everyone's having a nice Christmas! We're heading to my mom's for dinner, and I'm off the hook for taking anything except my brood and presents. My husband calls it "Second Christmas" with my family because there's an insane amount of gifts...especially for the boy. He's the only great-grandchild (well, he and the baby now) for my two grandmas, the only grandkid for my parents, and my aunt & uncle and our family friend that celebrates with us don't have grandkids either, so my kids are surrogate grandkids for all of them. You can imagine the gift insanity. We had a great Christmas morning at our house; Santa brought the boy roller skates, which he loves. He took a twirl around the block in them...sort of. They're "learn to skate" skates, so one of the wheels stays locked so he can walk in them and get the hang of it. he looked so cute in his skates, helmet, and knee pads! My entire downstairs looks like a Toys R Us puked in it. The husband and I got each other GPS so that wasn't too exciting since we already knew what it was. I bought myself a Coach purse recently and had the store wrap it so I could put it under the tree. Oh, and my in-laws got me a fantastic cookbook. I've probably mentioned how I love cookbooks that are from churches or moms groups or whatever group where people submit their own recipes. I figure every recipe is good because no one is going to go to the trouble of submitting something that sucks. My mother-in-law is a teacher at a Christian school, and she gave me a cookbook the school put together. I'm chomping at the bit to read through it and get cooking!

On that note (since I want to be reading my cookbook), here's the breakfast casserole we had. I've made it before, so it's really nothing exciting.

Weekend Brunch Casserole
1 pound Bob Evans or Owens® Original Recipe Sausage Roll
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
8 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Crumble and cook sausage in medium skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain.

Line bottom of greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish with crescent roll dough, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Sprinkle with sausage. Combine remaining ingredients in medium bowl until blended; pour over sausage.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares; serve hot. Refrigerate leftovers.

*****

I've found if you use Eggbeaters instead of real eggs, the cooking time is 5-10 minutes longer for whatever reason.

and with that, I'm off to read! Merry Christmas to all!

French Toast Souffle

I figured I'd update my blog as I'm waiting for dinner to finish cooking. Sigh. More on that later. I spent pretty much all day cleaning my house because my awesome mom took the boy for the day. Of course, I didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped since I kept getting out of breath. Darn pregnancy and being out of shape. Oh well, at least the upstairs of my house is something like 80% awesomely clean.

I've been wanting to have brinner (breakfast for dinner) for quite awhile now, and I found this recipe in a cookbook my mom gave me from a women's club she belonged to when they lived in El Paso. It sounded soooooo good. It's an overnight French toast recipe, but I figured making it in the morning and letting it sit all day would be comparable. I figured wrong. Again, more on that later.

French Toast Souffle
4 ounces butter (that's one stick)
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup maple syrup
12 eggs
3 cups half and half
2 tsp vanilla
1 (9x13) pan of bread/rolls/croissants/etc. torn into pieces
Cinnamon to taste

Melt butter, cream cheese, and syrup in microwave. Whip eggs, half and half, and vanilla together. Tear bread, rolls, croissants, etc. into a 9x13 buttered baking dish, fairly well packed. Pour egg mixture over bread. Pour butter/cream cheese/syrup mixture over. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake in 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes uncovered. Makes 10 servings.

*****

Doesn't that sound yummy? I made a few modifications in an effort to make it more healthy. I did half eggs and half egg beaters. I also used two cups of half and half (fat free) and one cup of skim milk. Other than that, everything was as called for.

(Note: I'm no longer waiting for it to finish cooking...it's the next day and I was lazy last night and never finished posting this.)

Vegetarian Frittata

I buy Egg Beaters at Costco. I'm thinking I might stop doing that. I have four cartons of them with a sell by date of August 6th. Look for lots of egg dishes over the next week or so! Or baked goods. I don't know what, but I don't want to throw them all away! When I was figuring out meals for the week I realized we hadn't had a frittata in quite awhile...especially this one! Since I have so many freakin' eggs, I figured now was a good time to make it.

Vegetarian Frittata
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch crescents
2 cups fresh spinach leaves, cut into a chiffonade
1 bell pepper, preferably red, roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch die
6 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
8 grinds cracked black pepper
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Generously butter a 9 or 10 inch pie plate. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add onions and saute until browned. Add the spinach and cook just until wilted. Stir in the roasted pepper and remove from heat. Spoon the vegetables into the buttered pie plate, distributing evenly. Let cool.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a larege bowl just until yolks and whites are blended. Add salt, pepper, parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly.

When vegetable mixture has cooled, pour egg mixture over it, again making sure that the ingredients are evenly distributed. Dish can now be set aside, covered and refrigerated, for up to 8 hours before baking.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 450. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until the edges of the frittata are golden brown and the center is set but still slightly creamy. Do not overbake. Remove frittata to a rack and let cool approximately 15 minutes. Carefully loosen frittata from the paln with a metal spatula. Slide out and continue to cool on rack. To serve either hot or at room temperature, slide frittata onto a flat surface and cut into wedges.

*****

I added in some fresh oregano and basil to the egg mixture because I had them in the fridge and they needed to be used. I also used mozzarella instead of parmesan because I just didn't feel like grating up the parm. It smells really yummy, and I'm really hungry! We're just going to have hash browns and toast with it. THe boy is having chicken nuggets because he doesn't like eggs. If I know he doesn't like it, I'm not going to force it on him. It's just not worth ruining my dinner. ;)

Green Chile Frittata

We are finally back in the land of the living!! Took long enough. The boy is still kind of fighting the virus, if he has milk he throws up again. Yuck. I'm still hovering between sick and well. Sometimes I feel great, othertimes I feel sick again. Food is a bit of an issue, too. A lot of stuff still doesn't sound good, so it was really hard to come up with dinner ideas for the week...especially since I was still sick when planning them.

So tonight I think I'm going to try this recipe I found on allrecipes.com for Green Chile Frittata. There are a couple things on my menu plan for the week that sound better, but I'm missing a couple ingredients. This doesn't sound stellar to me right now, but I don't have many other options. Hopefully by dinner time it will be more appealing.

Green Chile Frittata
10 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chile peppers, drained
1 (16 ounce) container low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the green chile peppers, cottage cheese, Cheddar cheese, and melted butter. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C), and continue baking for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool slightly, and cut into small squares.

*****

I think I'm going to cut it in half because I don't need a whole 9x13 pan of this. It said it makes 10 servings which is way too many anyway. We'll see how it turns out. I hope it starts to sound better to me because it sounded really good when I first came across it. I don't know what we'll have with it, I can't think that far ahead right now.

Deviled Eggs

We had to do something with the Easter eggs we colored, and this was all I could think of. My aunt is bringing deviled eggs to Easter dinner already, but the husband loves them, so we figured more is fine. Although the husband thought DEVILED eggs were kind of ironic for Easter. Oh well.

Seeing as I'd only ever made these one other time (not a big egg fan...I always have to look up how to cook hard-boiled eggs), I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that sounded good, so I went with that but tweaked it a bit.

Cajun Deviled Eggs
6 eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared Dijon-style mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1. Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool and peel.
2. Slice eggs in half lengthwise. Remove yolks and place in a medium bowl. Set aside egg whites. Mashing with a fork, mix mayonnaise, Dijon-style mustard, salt and black pepper with the egg yolks.
3. Fill the hollowed egg white halves with the yolk mixture. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper, adjusting the amount to taste. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

*****

Instead of cayenne pepper I used Tony Chachere's, and I mixed it in with everything else, then I sprinkled some on the top, too. I think I maybe used a bit too much mayo. Oh well.

Tomato Basil Quiche

I had some pie crusts in my freezer, so I thought I'd make a quiche because I also had Egg Beaters to use up. We were going to have this on Wednesday night, but since grandma was keeping the boy, we couldn't pass up going out! We had it last night after the boy went to bed. Believe it or not, this was my first time making quiche. It was so easy, I'll definitely be putting more quiche (quiches?) into rotation! I found the recipe on allrecipes.com and used some of the modifications suggested in the reviews.

Tomato and Basil Quiche
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dried basil
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese, divided

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake pie shell in preheated oven for 8 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until soft; remove from skillet. Sprinkle tomato slices with flour and basil, then saute 1 minute on each side. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. season with salt and pepper.
3. Spread 1 cup shredded cheese in the bottom of pie crust. Layer onions over cheese, and top with tomatoes. Cover with egg mixture. sprinkle top with remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until filling is puffed and golden brown. Serve warm.

*****

So, instead of slicing tomatoes I diced them after taking out all the seeds so they wouldn't be too soggy. I also used fresh basil. I put the tomatoes and basil into a bowl and added in some Italian breadcrumbs (didn't measure, just poured) and mixed them around until the tomatoes were coated with the breadcrumbs. I also cooked the onions so they were more caramelized than just soft.

We both really liked it! The husband had three or four servings, actually! There wasn't a whole lot left for today (the recipe said it was for six servings). The nutritional information was given on the website, and it seemed really high to me...383 calories and 26 grams of fat per serving! I'm thinking mine was healthier since I used Egg Beaters instead of regular eggs, skim milk, and 2% cheese.

Vegetarian Frittata

Phew...finally I'm all caught up! My husband always makes dinner for me on Valentines Day, so I was off duty last night. It was such a treat! Although, he made what I had planned on having tonight, so I had to do some quick thinking. I had some spinach from the portobello pitas earlier in the week, and we haven't had this frittata in quite awhile, so that's what we're having. I also have a red pepper I need to use up. I'm excited, this is always so good!

Vegetarian Frittata
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch crescents
2 cups fresh spinach leaves, cut into a chiffonade
1 bell pepper, preferably red, roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch die
6 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
8 grinds cracked black pepper
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Generously butter a 9 or 10 inch pie plate. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add onions and saute until browned. Add the spinach and cook just until wilted. Stir in the roasted pepper and remove from heat. Spoon the vegetables into the buttered pie plate, distributing evenly. Let cool.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a larege bowl just until yolks and whites are blended. Add salt, pepper, parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly.

When vegetable mixture has cooled, pour egg mixture over it, again making sure that the ingredients are evenly distributed. Dish can now be set aside, covered and refrigerated, for up to 8 hours before baking.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 450. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until the edges of the frittata are golden brown and the center is set but still slightly creamy. Do not overbake. Remove frittata to a rack and let cool approximately 15 minutes. Carefully loosen frittata from the paln with a metal spatula. Slide out and continue to cool on rack. To serve either hot or at room temperature, slide frittata onto a flat surface and cut into wedges.

*****

I think I'm just going to saute my red pepper instead of roasting it. And instead of parmesan, I'm going to use feta. For one thing, I'm out of parmesan, and for another I have feta to use and think it would taste really good with this. The husband was going to happy hour after work, so we'll probably eat after the little man goes to bed.

Baked Egg Tchoupitoulas

Today was my friend Laura's baby shower. My friend Jen B. was in charge of food, and I asked if she needed help with anything. She said she needed another egg dish, so I said I'd make this one. We had it for Christmas breakfast last year, and it was really good. It's a lot of work and soooooooooooooo unhealthy, but it was a special occasion. I told the husband as I was finishing it up this morning that the amount of cholesterol in it must be staggering. You'll see why! I found this recipe on a website my mother-in-law sent me from a Lousiana tv station. I had kind of forgotten about it until I thought of this egg dish. I need to check out the list of recipes and see what else is on there.

Baked Egg Tchoupitoulas
2 pats butter or margarine
2 cups French bread, broken into small pieces
1 cup whole milk
8 large eggs
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. salted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup fully cooked breakfast sausage links, thinly sliced
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 lb. Lorraine or baby Swiss, shredded or sliced
10 slices bacon, fried, drained and crumbled
1-1/2 cup soft bread cubes, sauteed in butter

First, grease a 9 X 13-inch (2-quart) baking pan with butter or margarine and set it aside.

Then, almost as if you were making a bread pudding custard, mix the milk with the bread, gently knead it together with your fingers, and set the mixture aside to soak and form a slurry.

In the meantime, whip the eggs gently with a whisk or electric beater. Then stir in the salt, pepper, and butter until they are fully incorporated and gently combine it all with the milk and bread slurry.

Next, pour everything into the pre-greased baking pan and gently swirl into the eggs the sausage pieces and the cheddar so that they are uniformly distributed. Then cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight.

Then when it's time to cook, evenly layer on the bacon, top it with the Swiss cheese slices, and crown it all with the sautéed bread cubes. All that's left is to bake the casserole at 400 degrees on the center rack of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the eggs have set. When you're ready to eat, just spoon out a generous helping right from the pan and chow down.

Most New Orleanians prefer to serve this breakfast dish with a hot cup of cafe au lait, a chilled glass of milk or orange juice, and a stack of toasted and buttered English muffins.

*****

I received a lot of compliments on it at the shower. It really was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. I left what was remaining for Laura to take home becuase John can't eat this, and I didn't need to eat how much was left on my own.

John had a boys night out tonight, so no dinner at our house. Will had some tortellinis, and I don't know what I'll have. I'm still kind of full from the feast at the shower this morning!

Spinach, Mushroom, and Provolone Cheese Quiche

Forgot to post my recipe for yesterday! We waited until Will went to bed and had dinner while we watched Pirates of the Carribbean 3. I think we're probably the only people in the world that hadn't seen it. Anyway, this recipe was in one of my Pampered Chef cookbooks, and I came across it the other day while working on my cookbook indexing project (which I'll get back to if the boy keeps napping for awhile!).

Spinach, Mushroom, and Provolone Cheese Quiche
3 eggs
1/2 cup half and half
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
Dash of ground black pepper
1/2 package (10 ounces) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed, well-drained, and patted dry
1/3 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Spray small baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk together first five ingredients in medium bowl. Set aside. Combine remaining ingredients, spoon into bottom of dish. Pour egg mixture over filling ingredients. Bake 30-35 minutes or until middle is set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Cut in half and serve.

*****

The thing I hate about Pampered Chef cookbooks is how the recipes use the names of their products. So this one uses the "Small oval stoneware baker," so I'm not sure what that equates to. It's about 8-10 inches long and 4-5 inches wide, I would guess.

I changed a few things about this recipe. I used Egg Beaters instead of eggs, roasted red peppers, and Italian blend shredded cheese instead of provolone. And I've been inspired by Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook and had just pureed some cauliflower, so I added in a spoonful. I think that and the Egg Beaters caused an increase in the cooking time, mine probably baked for closer to an hour I think.

It was okay. I don't know if it would be better without the cauliflower, but you couldn't really taste it. I like the Vegetarian Frittata I make a lot better. Not really sure what the difference is between a frittata and a quiche except that this had flour mixed in with the eggs?