A Storm of Swords: Crustless Sauerkraut Quiche

I'll take you out for a meal with Mr and Mrs. Pain. Order up some violent quiche.

Howard, The Mighty Boosh

Although we used our sauerkraut on Ruebens all last week, we still had some left.  Stoney whipped up an omelet with sauerkraut that was outstanding, so that gave me the idea to put together a quiche with it.  We also had some horseradish cheese in the fridge from the Farmer's Market which is outstandingly delicious, so that really sealed the deal for me.

What you need:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup egg whites
• 1/2 cup 1% Milk
• 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 small red potato, cooked and mashed
• 6 oz. horseradish cheese, shredded
• 6 oz. white cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup sauerkraut
• 4-5 white button mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 8.5oz jar Sun Dried Tomatoes, patted dry

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and sauté onions, sauerkraut, and mushrooms until onions are translucent, 3-5 minutes.

Whisk together eggs, egg whites, milk, flour, baking powder, mashed potato, and horseradish cheese.

Cheese and eggs... yum!

Stir the sautéed mixture into the egg mixture and pour into a greased 8" pie dish.

Sprinkle white cheddar cheese on top, and then place the sundries tomatoes on top of the cheese.

Bake for 40 minutes or until the top of the quiche has browned slightly and a knife comes out clean.  Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

This recipe serves 6-8, and it goes wonderfully with a simple salad.  

Mushroom's Sweet and Savory Spaghetti Squash

Tony: Aha, okay. Hey, Joe! Butch-a he say he wants-a two spaghetti speciale, 

heavy on the meats-a ball.

Joe: Tony, dogs-a don't a-talk!

Tony: He's a-talkin' to me!

Joe: Okay, he's a-talkin' to you! You the boss! 

-Lady and the Tramp

Stoney and I survived Snowmagedden here in Nashville.  It was a good thing we had plenty of leftovers, though, because when we finally emerged from the apartment on Sunday to take our weekly grocery shopping trip, we were amazed at what we saw when we arrived at Kroger (the farmer's market was, predictably, closed).  Most of the produce was gone -- vast, empty shelves stood before us.  At this point we were starting to get nervous.  Nearly everything we needed to make dinner, which was to consist of spaghetti squash, mushrooms, and brussels sprouts, was missing.  We were able to find a small spaghetti squash on the shelf, but the other items were conspicuously absent.  Eventually, we stumbled on a restocking cart with a few containers of white mushrooms.  While not ideal for our sauce, we grabbed them.  We also struck out on one of the key ingredients for another recipe we will be making this week - homemade ruebans using sauerkraut that we made back in October!  The missing ingredient?  Rye Bread.  Le sigh.  After checking out at Kroger, we made our way over to the small, very nice (but also expensive) grocery store near our apartment.  Luckily, they had some beautiful brussels sprouts, so I was able to make dinner as planned.  

We even grabbed a handful of shiitake mushrooms to add to the white mushrooms.  However, we ended up having to settle on the bread for the ruebans, buying a multigrain bread instead.  Oh well.

Our "spaghetti" dinner was perfect for a cold winter's night.  Slightly sweet thanks to a little maple syrup on the brussels sprouts, and earthy and savory, thanks to the mushroom sauce.  The only issue we ran into was that we ended up with a very small spaghetti squash, and I had planned for a bigger squash, so my sauce to squash ratio was a little off.

What you need:

• 1 large spaghetti squash, halved, with seeds scraped out
• 1 lb Brussels Sprouts, quartered
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 4 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1 large shallot, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1.5 cup raw cashews
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1.5 cup water

Although this recipe has a lot of moving parts, it's actually pretty simple.  Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F.  Rub the inside of the spaghetti squash with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and place face down on a greased baking sheet, cooking for 45 minutes.  

While the spaghetti squash is cooking, melt 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a bowl large enough to hold your brussels sprouts.  Stir in the maple syrup, and then toss in the brussels sprouts and 1 tsp sea salt, making sure the sprouts are thoroughly coated.  Set the bowl aside.

When there is 20 minutes remaining on the spaghetti squash, place the brussels sprouts on a greased baking sheet (one layer) and place in oven, cooking for 20 minutes.

When everything is done, let the squash cool (or don't, we usually just use heat gloves for this part) and scrape the spaghetti-ness out into a serving bowl.

Next, heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and shallot, cooking until the garlic is fragrant.  Add in the mushrooms and cook until they have browned slightly.  

After the mushrooms have cooked, add mushrooms, water, nutritional yeast, and cashews to the vitamix and blend well.  Pour your sauce over the spaghetti squash, and garnish with brussels sprouts.

Castle Black: One Pot Stroganoff

The boys. The beef-witted featherbrained rattleskulled clod-pated dim-domed noodle-noggined sapheaded lunk-knobbed boys. How could anybody accuse her of stealing them? Why would anybody want them anyway?

William Goldman, The Princess Bride.

This hearty, easy, one-pot dish was inspired by beef stroganoff, which was traditionally a Russian dish of sauteed beef with sour cream.  These days, stroganoff recipes vary wildly from the original dish, but they are undeniably tasty!  My recipe isn't quite as easy as some of the one-pot pasta recipes floating around, because it involves some browning of meat before-hand, and some stirring-in of ingredients later on, but it was still pretty darn easy.

Stoney and I decided to make this recipe to use up a small bison steak that has been in the freezer for awhile and to give us something tasty and filling to eat the night before a color run! Serves 4.

What you need:

• 6 oz. Bison filet (a lean cut of steak would also work), cut into small pieces
• 12 oz. package Extra Wide egg noodles. 
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp reduced fat sour cream
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, halved
• 1/2 lb baby bella mushrooms, halved

 Heat the oil in large pot over medium-high heat.  Add in the garlic, bison, and worcestershire sauce and cook until the meat has browned. 

Add the onions, nutmeg and paprika and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and cook another few minutes.

Now, put all of the other ingredients into the pot except for the sour cream and parsley.  At this point, the noodles will most likely not be submerged in the liquid, so stir as best you can, cover, and let everything simmer for 5-10 minutes to let those noodles soften up. 

Once the noodles have softened, stir them into the broth and let everything simmer, uncovered until the liquid is mostly gone and has taken on a nice saucy consistency, approximately 40-45 minutes.  Make sure to stir frequently while it cooks to keep the noodles from sticking to the pot. 

Stir in the sour cream at the very end.  Garnish it with parsley, and enjoy!