Ham & Veggie Quiche

Dinner last night? Quiche. Easier than expected. And slightly healthier because I opted out of the traditional flaky, buttery crust. It was a pretty easy dinner and that's that. Read all about it...

What You'll Need:

• Red-skinned potatoes
• Ham steak
• Small zucchini
• Cherry tomatoes
• Cheese (your choice -- I used cheddar & mozzarella)
• Eggs (about 5)
• Milk (I used 1% with a splash of half & half)

Put it All Together:

• Set your oven to broil. Thinly slice enough potatoes to line the bottom of your baking dish. You're going to put these in the oven just until they get a little brown and crispy to act as a kind of crust. Don't use olive oil, or it'll be too greasy/slippery. I just sprayed the pan with cooking spray and then gave the top of the potatoes a good spray too. Sprinkle with S&P and some garlic powder.
• Cut up the zucchini into small chunks, put the pieces on a paper-towel lined plate and salt them. They just need to sweat out some of their water a little. 
• Dice about a third of an onion and cut your cherry tomatoes in half.
• I browned half of a ham steak on the stove before cutting it up, but I really don't think it had any redeeming factor for the whole dish. So you can skip that and just chop it up.
• Whisk 5 eggs with milk... probably about a cup to a cup and a half. (You know I don't measure, so...) Also add some half & half to make a little thicker. (I also whisked in a little mascarpone because I had leftover and can't let it go to waste!) Pepper too!
• On top of your browned potato slices, add ham, zucchini (dredge in some flour first! It will make the quiche less runny/watery!!), tomatoes and cheddar cheese. Pour egg mixture on top and then sprinkle some shredded mozzarella on top of that. 
• Bake at 350 for about an hour. 

*When the quiche has about 20 minutes to go, throw some asparagus (coated with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic chunks) into the oven as well. They make a great side... as well as a nice slice of quality bread. (I used a rustic loaf with pancetta and provolone -- courtesy of Eataly once again!)

(That first piece looks like a mess because I didn't let it cool enough before I cut it -- I just wanted to get the photo out of the way so I could eat it! "Patienncce, Iago...")

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Beef & Beer

What You Need:

• Butter. About half a stick.
• Beef (whatever cut you prefer… I get the cheap stuff) cut into chunks.
• 1 Onion. Sliced into wedges.
• A few cloves of garlic. Crushed.
• 1 small apple, or half a regular sized apple. Peeled and diced—small.
• Flour. About 3 tablespoons.
• 1 bottle of Guinness. (Or something dark, Guinness is just my preference.)
• Beef Broth. 3 cups.
• Bay leaves.
• 3 Yukon Gold potatoes. Chopped into big chunks.
• 5 carrots. (Depending on size, though.) Chopped into chunks.
• And S&P, of course.

Now Put Them All Together:

• In a big soup pot, melt about a tablespoon of butter. Season the meat with S&P, brown in the pot on medium-high heat. Don’t worry if it sticks a little and the bottom of the pot gets coated — that’s good! Once the meat is browned, remove from the pot and put it aside. (I kept a second pot on the burner (it was off) next to me.)
• Turn the heat down to about medium and add some more butter to the pot (just under a tablespoon) and soften the onions. When they’re about halfway done, add garlic and apples. (The onions needn’t be overly-soft, they’ll simmer in the broth later.) Remove them from the pot as well.
• Add yet another pad of butter to the pot — a good sized tablespoon. Melt. Sprinkle the flour over the top and whisk together. Let this cook together for a few minutes (keep whisking). Whisk in about 3/4 of the beer and then the beef broth. Bring it to a boil. Drink the rest of the beer while waiting.
• When your broth is boiling, add bay leaves, the meat and onions you set aside, carrots and potatoes. Season with S&P. When it comes to a boil again, turn the heat down and let it simmer for at least an hour — or until the carrots and potatoes are softened and the meat is fork-tender. 

I served it with cornbread muffins. Delicious. I should have taken some photos, but my boyfriend didn’t get home until around 8 so we were both too hungry to wait. Plus, the lighting in my kitchen is atrocious.

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