Ham and Mushroom Quiche

This is another one of my mother-in-laws great recipes.  We have this for dinner but it is also a great dish for a brunch or breakfast.  It makes two quiche and is easy to freeze and reheat later.


Ham and Mushroom Quiche:
click here for printable version 
adapted from Mary Hubbell


2-10 inch pie crusts
1/4 cup butter
1/2 ounce garlic, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
2 cups (8 ounces) ham, chopped
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 (6 ounce) can black olives, chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound Baby Swiss, grated
2 cups 1/2 and 1/2
Egg Beaters equal to 8 eggs, or 8 eggs beaten


Preheat oven to 350.
Melt butter in a large skillet.  Saute the garlic and mushrooms until soft.  Add ham, green onions, olives and pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Divide in half.
Put crusts into pie pans.
Assemble each quiche as follows:
1) 4 ounces cheese
2) the ham mixture
3) 4 ounces cheese
4) Mix seperately 1 cup 1/2 and 1/2 with 4 eggs or Egg Beaters equal to 4 eggs.  Slowly pour over the filling.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Chex Mix

Sure you can buy this in the store but homemade is SO much better!  We always had this during the holidays and I continue to make it, but have made some adjustments.


Chex Mix:
click here for printable version



8 cups rice, corn and wheat chex (roughly 2 1/2 cups each)
1 cup stick pretzels
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup butter
2-3 teaspoons seasoned salt
4 1/2 teaspoons Worcester sauce


Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
Melt the butter in a microwave safe measuring cup.  Add the salt and Worcester sauce.
Put cereal, pretzels and pecans on large rimmed baking sheet.
Pour butter over and gently stir to coat. 
Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Yellow Rice and Black Beans

I like making this meal when we need something cheap and filling.  It has really good flavor and is a great side to burritos.   


Yellow Rice & Black Beans:
click here for printable version 
adapted from Tyler Florence


Yellow Rice:
2 cups long-grain rice
4 cups water
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 bay leaf


Put all ingredients in a large pot, stir well and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat, let sit 5 minutes.


Spicy Black Beans:
2 cups dried black beans
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, choppped
1 jalapeno pepepr, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 1/2-2 teaspoons salt
sour cream


Quick soak the beans:  Put the beans in a pot and cover with water by 2 inches.  Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes, cover and let soak for 1 hour.  Drain the beans.
Heat olive oil in a large pot, add the onion, jalapeno, garlic and bay leaf and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the beans and cover with water by 1 inch.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 2 1/2-3 hours, until the beans are tender.
Serve the rice with the beans and topped with sour cream.

Turkey Tetrazzini

This is actually one of my mom's recipes and I remember eating it often!  It is also another way to use up some of that turkey that is still hanging around.  I also make this with chicken.  


Turkey Tetrazzini:
click here for printable version



2-3 cups cooked, shredded turkey or chicken
8 ounces spaghetti, cooked according to directions 
1/4 cup butter, plus 1 tablespoon
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
dash nutmeg
1 cup grated parmesan cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Boil water and cook spaghetti.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat in a small skillet and saute mushrooms until tender.
In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat, add flour and stir until thickened.  Stir in chicken broth until thick, add milk and stir.  Add parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

Remove from heat, stir in turkey and spaghetti.
Spray a baking dish  (9 x 13) with non-stick spray and put mixture in dish.
Sprinkle 3/4 cup parmesan cheese on top.
Bake 30-40 minutes.

Molasses Cookies

These cookies are a staple from my childhood and I am continuing the tradition with my kids. When I think of Christmas cookies I think of molasses cookies.  This is simliar to a ginger snap recipe but does have a couple of differences.  Ginger snaps are too hard for me, I prefer a softer, chewier cookie.  If you find that these get too hard you can add the heel of a loaf of bread in the cookie container and it will soften them again.  The cookies can be rolled and cut out and also rolled in colored sugar, as opposed to white sugar.  

Molasses Cookies:

click here for printable version

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cloves

sugar for coating

In a mixing bowl add oil, dark brown sugar, egg and molasses.  Mix well. 

Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

Chill for 20-30 minutes.

Roll into balls and roll in sugar.  Put on a greased or lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies crack.  Let cool on sheet for 1 minute.

OR

Roll out dough on a floured surface, cut out using cookie cutters and decorate with colored sugar.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

YUM!  Honestly, this is the best cookie I have ever made.  I usually make them a little bit bigger than the ones in the picture, but in any size they are delicious!


White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies:
adapted from For the Love of Cooking
click here for printable version



2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts, chopped, if desired
2 cups white chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  In another bowl, beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla until creamy.    
Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture.  Stir in the nuts and chips.

Roll into balls, or drop by the spoonful, onto a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges look golden brown. 

Turkey and Andouille Gumbo

Looking for something to do with that leftover turkey?  We make this every year with our Thanksgiving turkey.  This is a family recipe that has been tweaked over the years.  We save our turkey carcass and boil it down and make a homemade stock.  We save all of the meat from the stock and use it in the gumbo.
If you can't find andouille sausage, or it is too spicy, you can use smoked sausage as a substitute.  FYI, this makes A LOT of gumbo.  We usually end up freezing half of it and saving it for a quick dinner.
We used Aidells Cajun Style Andouille Sausage because that is the only kind we can buy here, it is pretty hot, but has good flavor.

Turkey and Andouille Gumbo:
click here for printable version



2 cups celery, finely chopped (about 1 bunch of celery)
2 cups onion, finely chopped (about 2 medium onions)
1 1/2 ounce garlic, minced (about 1 bulb)
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
2 cups green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup flour
1 cup olive oil
3-4 quarts warmed turkey stock (can substitute canned chicken broth)
3 pounds Andouille sausage (or substitute)
6 cups shredded turkey meat 
4-6 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste
white rice, prepared


Chop and slice all vegetables.  Begin warming the stock on low.  Cut the sausage into rounds and brown on both sides over medium-low heat.  

When finished, deglaze the skillet with some of the stock.
In a very large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat and add flour to begin cooking a roux.  Stir constantly, until the roux is the color of peanut butter, this takes about 20-30 minutes.

Add the onions, celery, garlic, parsley and 1 cup of the green onions.  Saute 5 minutes.
Slowly add the stock.
Add bay leaves, thyme, sausage and turkey meat.

Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer, cover.  Simmer on low for 1 hour.
Add remaining green onions and simmer for another hour.  
If the gumbo needs to thicken, simmer uncovered for all or part of the last hour.
Serve over white rice.