Mushroom and Cheese Omelet

The secret ingredient for this month's Weekend Wokking is a fungi! A very good fungi at that... it's the mushroom! The Asian people, specially the Chinese, love mushrooms. When I was young, I thought it was simply the flavor. But apparently, it has a lot of healthy benefits as well. Mushrooms has no cholesterol, no fat, no sodium. It is rich in Vitamin B. It is a rich source of potassium, almost equal to banana in that aspect. It is also mineral rich: selenium, copper, iron, etc. Mushrooms have started to grow in popularity among the health conscious. In fact, modern science are studying the possible cancer-fighting properties of mushrooms.

Mushrooms, in this country is considered a delicacy. It is an expensive ingredient. Especially the dried varieties which had to be imported from Hong Kong or China. However, there are some organic farms that are starting to grow frresh mushrooms, so mushrooms are slowly becoming more and more available.

I found some fresh shiitake mushrooms at the supermarket and thought of using them in a special dish. However, the following morning, I simply came up with an omelet. But take note, Hubby loves omelet. For this family, an omelet in the morning is a luxury dish, since making a real good and fluffy omelet would really take slow cooking. And I think you would agree that time is very short in the mornings. :)


I made two versions. The one pictured above is made using mushrooms, mozarella cheese and tomatoes.

Here's the ingredients:

2 eggs, well beaten
2 T fresh milk (or cream)
mozarella cheese, grated (as much as you prefer)
2 tomatoes, seeded, cubed
4 pcs shiitake mushrooms, sliced
some fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste


1. Place the sliced shiitake mushrooms in an oven tray. Spray or brush the slices with olive oil. Sprinkle some chopped fresh dill. Roast in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes until fragrant.

2. Add the fresh milk to the eggs and beat well. In a non-stick pan, heat up just a little oil. Pour in the eggs. Let the eggs cover the pan. Lower fire. Let the eggs slowly cook.

3. While slowly cooking the eggs, arrange the sliced mushrooms on top of the (still cooking) eggs. Add the cheese and tomatoes, and some salt and pepper to taste. Wait for the eggs to set. When cooked, flip the half of omelet over, or serve the omelet open-style as I did.





The second version here is made using mushrooms, feta (goat) cheese and dill. The method is basically the same with different topping ingredients.

2 eggs, well beaten
2 T fresh milk (or cream)
grated feta cheese (as much as you prefer)
4 slices fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced, roasted as above
fresh dill, chopped


I have written a post before on how to make good and fluffy omelets. You may want to refer to that page here.




Here are some more mushroom recipes:

Spiced Mushrooms in Olive Oil
Prawn and Mushroom Quiche
Pork Bones with Ganoderma (LingZhi) Soup
Pork Stew (Adobo) with Mushrooms
Shrimps with Mushrooms and Bell Peppers
Cream of Portobello Mushroom Soup
Grilled Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms
Shrimp Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms



Sharing this healthy mushroom dish with the Weekend Wokking community. Weekend Wokking is a world-wide food event launched by Wandering Chopsticks to celebrate many different ways we can cook up one ingredient. This month's host is Marija of Palachinka. To see last month's delicious ways to cook broccoli, please check out the round-up done by Wiffy of Noobcook.

Taiwanese (Japanese?) Style Cold Tofu with Century Egg

Pardon me for the title. I was not sure of the nationality of this dish. Here in Manila, this is known as the Taiwanese style cold tofu. Actually, this dish is only available in Taiwanese-style restaurants. So we have always called this Taiwanese tofu.

Then a Japanese chilled Tofu dish called Hiyayakko came out in the Round-up of Regional Recipes #2 featuring dishes from Japan. It makes sense actually, for this dish to be Japanese. It is very simple and elegant, very easy to prepare, all distinct qualities of a Japanese dish. The ingredients used - the tofu and bonito flakes are also Japanese.

So maybe we should call this Asian Cold Tofu instead. :)

Or perhaps, what made this dish different from the Japanese tofu is the addition of century eggs. True enough, when I googgled for century eggs, Wiki explained that this version of chilled tofu with century eggs is the Taiwanese version of the Japanese one.

Get it? Without the century eggs, the nationality is Japanese. With the century eggs, the nationality is Taiwanese. :)

What a big difference the simple addition of century eggs can make.

Century eggs are preserved eggs, made by wrapping duck or chicken eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rice straw straw for several weeks to several months. At least that is what they do traditionally. Nowadays, the traditional method is still being used, but modern production have discovered certain curing methods can be used to imitate the chemical process used to produce century eggs. This can speed up production to as fast as ten days. That's a great improvement - from a hundred years to ten days! Seriously, it does not take a hundred years to produce century eggs, not even when made traditionally. :)

To think that when I was young, I refuse to eat century eggs. There was this persistent rumor that century eggs were made by soaking the eggs in animal dung. And it is easy to believe this rumor, century eggs have a strong odor when opened... not exactly a bad one.

Century eggs are almost always served as appetizer. Even if their color is not exactly appetizing. It can actually be eaten as is, straight from the shell. Well, wash the egg for a while to remove the odor. Or maybe it is just me :) It can also be added to Chinese barbecue dish like barbecue pork and slivers of jellyfish. Yes, the Chinese eat jellyfish. It is quite yummy, too. But that will be for another post. Century eggs is usually added to tofu as in this dish.

This a a very easy to prepare, no-cook, healthy and fuss-free dish. Very nutritious and delicious.


1 block Japanese silk tofu
1 (or 2) century eggs, shelled, sliced
sprinkling of bonito flakes
soy sauce ( I used the thick Kekap manis, but any good quality soy sauce will do)
dash of sesame oil
green onions, chopped


Just arrange all the ingredients on top of the tofu. Serve.


Tofu or Beancurd is touted as the protein of the future. It is definitely Chinese in origin, though Japan, Korea and other countries also produce their own tofu. Here in the Philippines, there are generally 3 kinds of tofu. There is the Japanese soft and silken tofu. There is the Chinese or Asian tofu which is a bit firm. The third is the dried tofu, which is more firm and is often used for frying.

Beancurd is made by coagulating soy bean milk and pressing the curds into blocks. Sometimes, pre-made soy milk can be bought and made into tofu, but more often than not, most tofu producers begin by making their own soy milk, which is produced by soaking, grinding, boiling and straining soybeans. Of course modern processes can speed up the process. Machines are available for making soy bean milk and tofu.

Tofu is low in calories, contains fat and no cholesterol. It is full of good protein making it an ideal food. It has a high amount of Vitamin B and Calcium. It is soft, and easy to digest, making it a good food for kids and elderly. Though, some people are known to be allergic to its components.



Sharing this tofu dish with the Weekend Herb Blogging community, now headed by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once. This week's host is Chriesi of Almond Corner. To see last week's delicious dishes, please click on the wonderful round-up done by my friend, World Food Day event and BloggerAid chief Ivy of Kopiaste.

Chinese Preserved (Salted) Mustard Vegetable Stir Fry with Eggs

This is one ingredient that brings back memories of my grandmother's kitchen -- the Salted Mustard vegetable, we call Kiam Chay in Fookien Chinese.

There are actually many kinds of Chinese preserved vegetables. Some made of mustard greens, some made from cabbages, some from radish. And then different spices for preserving the vegetables are added, some are pickled in heavy brine, some has lots of chillies added. But one thing is common, they all undergo some kind of fermentation process that preserves the vegetables without need for refrigeration.

My grandma says life in China during her time (she was born in the 1920s) was hard. It was difficult to grow plants as the soil were not rich. They did not have modern technology then. They do not even have refrigerator back then. It is an old Chinese tradition to preserve the vegetables they harvested during the summer for the winter season or for lean months when they do not have food to eat.

Nowadays, we have preserved vegetables not for lean season, but for the taste. I have to admit preserved vegetables may smell a little pungent. What do you expect after the fermentation process? But the taste is something you would be looking for again and again. Specially since this ingredient is connected with good memories of the days in grandma's kitchen.

This salted mustard green is the simplest preserved vegetable to make. Simply add tablespoons of salt to raw whole mustard greens and leave it (covered) to ferment for a few days. When ready to use, simply wash off excess salt, chop to bite-size pieces and it is already ready to eat!

That does sound a little bit crude for the modern generation. What about the germs and other health concerns? Well, grandma would say, simply wash it several times... nobody got sick eating preserved vegetables... :) Maybe science will say that salt preserved the vegetables that no bacteria nor germs can thrive in such environment. But grandma could not explain it that way. She just had years of experience to prove her claim!

Anyway, if you do not want to make your own salted mustard, you can simply purchase some from any Asian groceries. It is a common ingredient and is not expensive.

In its simplest form, these bite sized pieces can simply be viand to a simple bowl of hot steaming congee. Oooohhh! This is the ultimate comfort food for many Chinese!

But if you really want to cook these greens, to be sure your food is totally hygienic, salted mustard greens can be used in a lot of dishes: from soups to stir-fries to flavoring hotpots.

This is one simple stir fry you can do with the preserved greens. With this dish alone, you can eat up a bowl of congee or a plateful of rice :)


1. Wash and chop some salted mustard greens.

2. Chop up garlic and some green onions as well.

3. Beat 2 to 3 eggs well.

4. Heat up some oil in a non-stick pan. Saute garlic until fragrant. Add the chopped salted mustard greens. Stir fry for a while.

5. Add the green onions and eggs soon after. Stir and push the eggs around to get a scrambled style dish. It is done when the eggs are cooked. Serve immediately with congee or rice.


No need to add salt as the preserved vegetables are already salted. However, I love to add dashes of powdered red pepper for some spicy kick. This is entirely optional, of course.

I still have some salted mustard greens left. I was thinking of frying them up with bacon. That is how versatile these salted greens are. Will do another dish and another post on salted greens soon!


Sharing this Chinese traditional dish with the Weekend Herb Blogging Community, where we feature herbs and unique plant ingredients and the dishes we create using these ingredients. WHB is now supervised by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Last Once. This week's host is my dear friend and blogging inpiration - Ivy of Kopiaste. To see last week's delicious dishes, please check out Scott of the Real Epicurean.

Broccoli and Parma Ham Quiche

This is my continuing love story with Quiche :)

You may find this quaint or worse, weird... that I am making a big deal out of making quiche. I know quiche is something ordinary in western kitchens. I hope you understand that this is an Asian kitchen, where it would be easier and simpler to stir-fry the parma ham with broccoli. This is also a tropical country, where the tropical heat will affect the texture of the crust if I do not work quickly... But for Wandering Chopstick's Weekend Wokking, where we present different ways to cook an ingredient, I try to make it something more special, something different, something I do not normally do.

And I love quiche. :) I love the flaky, buttery crust. I love this all-in-one complete dish, perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

I love broccoli, too. For my family, broccoli is considered one of the super-veggie. Packed with all anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals incomparable to other veggies. To see the complete nutritional value of Broccoli, please hop over to NoobCook's site. She did a thorough research on the healthy benefits of broccoli.

So the marriage of broccoli and quiche in a dish is just perfect for me!!!

Can you tell I am biased for broccoli? Of course! I had the honor of picking the secret ingredient of the month! :)

This month the Weekend Wokking community will explore different ways we can cook broccoli. If you have any broccoli dish that you would like to share, please join us and submit your dishes to the newly crowned master chef who cooks a lot - Wiffy of Noobcook, who is hosting this month. Email your dishes to weekendwokking (at) noobcook (dot) com.




For the crust recipe and the tips on how to get the flaky, buttery crust, please see my previous quiche dish here. Although, this time, I experimented and and substituted 1 cup of plain four with 1 cup of soft whole wheat flour. Here is the final ingredients I used for the crust: (Instructions and baking tips here.)

1 C soft whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 C plain flour
1/2 t salt
1 C cold butter, cut
1/3 C cold water


After the dough is ready, roll out dough on the quiche dish. Press the dough to conform to the shape of the dish. Prick the dough with a fork. Prebake at 350F for 10 minutes.


Chop up some parma ham, onions, garlic, bell pepper and broccoli and spread out on top of the pre-baked crust. See the picture above? Isn't it very colorful? You may add in as much (or less) ingredients as you like. This is what makes the quiche a versatile dish - you can add in whatever ingredient you have in the fridge. :) But since the Weekend Wokking event is featuring broccoli, I added lots of healthy broccoli!




For the egg mixture:

6 eggs
1 C cheddar cheese
2/3 C all-purpose cream
1/4 C fresh milk
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
dash of nutmeg, optional (tip from my German missionary friend)


Whisk all the ingredients together and pour into the quiche dish (with prepared crust and broccoli and parma ham). See the picture above? The broccoli looks as if they are swimming... :)

Bake in the preheated 350F oven for 60 minutes or until it tests done in the center.






Sharing this yummy, tasty and healthy dish with Weekend Wokking, created by Wandering Chopsticks, to celebrate the many different ways we an cook one ingredient. The ingredient for the month is broccoli, hosted by the lovely Wiffy of Noobcook. To see last month's delicious ways to cook the pumpkin, please see the round-up presented by yours truly! Check out the previous round-ups (featuring different ingredients) here.

Scrambled Shrimp Omelette

This blog truly promotes healthy food, and healthy eating habits. As part of that, we are also for choosing fresh and organic food, if available. Fresh food, meaning, we have to consume the produce and fresh food we buy as soon as possible.

But of course, sometimes, I goof up. Sometimes, tiny little bags of 'I don't know what' gets pushed to the back of the freezer, and promptly forgotten. Just like this tiny bag of shrimps! I probably used some of the bunch a few weeks ago, and then poof! Good thing it reappeared today :) Actually, I make it a habit every week to check what else I have forgotten inside the "deep freeze." Or else, these little bags may never surface at all!




So, I am making this shrimp dish for the Deep Freeze Summer Challenge, year 2 by Chris of Mele Cotte.






When using frozen shrimp, sometimes we are not sure if they will turn "fishy" (malansa) when cooked. You know, they might not smell fresh anymore. The same may be true for other frozen seafood. So, what do we do to remove the "fishy" possibility? Let me share with you a trade secret. We can immerse the shrimps and/or the fish in Chinese cooking wine first. Take a bowl, put in the shrimps, and pour in the Chinese cooking wine. Make sure all the meat are covered. Marinate for around 15 to 30 minutes. Drain the wine and cook the seafood as usual. :) The fishy smell will be gone!

What to do with the small amount of shrimps? I turned it into an omellete. How uncreative can I be? Actually, we love omelette. Omelettes are very versatile. We can have them any time of the day. So Omelette it is.

I have shared with you our family secret regarding cooking soft, fluffy omelettes. You may want to refer to the post again. That is also the technique I used here. Only, I made a scrambled version today.


1/4 Kilo shrimps, shelled
2 T canola oil
2 eggs
2 T milk
salt and pepper to taste
4 T julienned carrots
4 T chopped green onions


1. Marinate defrosted shrimps in cooking wine, as described above.

2. Beat the eggs with the milk and salt and pepper. Beat very well and for a long time. Then add in the shrimps, carrots and green onions. Mix everything very well.

3. Heat up the oil in a non-stick skillet. Pour in the egg mixture. When the bottom (of the omelette) is starting to set, push the eggs around with a spatula. Keep pushing all the eggs while cooking, until all the eggs and shrimps are cooked.


Simple, fast, easy, yummy!





Also sharing this dish to the 101 Omelet Recipes launched by Sangeeth of the Art of Indian Cooking.

Secrets of Making a Good Omelet

The picture above was actually taken in January, during my early days of blogging. It was an early attempt at food styling. Original post here. Whether we, food bloggers admit it or not, we do take a whole lot of effort to present delicious food pictures for the blog. Which is not often the case when we present everyday food for our families. Shhh, don't tell. :) Anyway, one thing good about blogging is that now, I am trying to present food "beautifully" to my family, to encourage the kids to eat more; whereas before, I would just dump all the food in the serving plate... :)

Back to Omelets. Do you know that I used to spell Omelet as Omelette? And I thought that was the correct spelling, until the spell-check function of blogger informed me that was wrong. Maybe that is the way French spell it? Does not "omelette" sound more sophisticated than "omelet?" :) Anyway, since this blog is in English, I better stick to Omelet.

Omelet is a very versatile food. If you cannot decide what to cook, just cook an omelet! If there are left-overs in the fridge, cook them in an omelet. At least that is what my grandmother used to do. That is why we always have trays of eggs in the house at any given time.

How do you prefer your omelet? What do you consider a good omelet? For my family, there are two factors. One, the filling should be healthy, a combination of meat and vegetables. Two, the egg should be soft, moist, fluffy and tasty; not hard nor dry.

The fillings are easy enough, you can just combine whatever ingredients you have on hand, season them according to the taste you prefer. If you're an omnivore, add lots of meat. If you're a vegetarian, you can limit your fillings to your veggies. That is how versatile this omelet is!

The secret of making a good omelet is in the cooking of eggs! That is, if you want soft, moist, fluffy and tasty eggs...

For reference, the original recipe of the Ham Omelet can be found here.

Secret No 1. Before cooking, add a dollop of cream or milk into the beaten eggs, and beat like crazy. :) The more air that is incorporated into the egg, the fluffier it is going to be. Cream makes the eggs, well, creamier, richer, tastier and moist.

Secret No 2. Slowly cook the eggs. Cook the eggs in low fire, scatter the filling ingredients on top of the "still-cooking" eggs and wait for the omelet to set. This might take as long as 15 minutes, but it is going to be worth the wait, I assure you.

Secret No 3. Since we like our omelets to be cheesy, choose good quality mozarella cheese. This will provide the chewy, gooey texture. Omit this step if you do not like cheese.


That is our family secret recipe, handed down by my grandmother. She still has some more egg recipes that I want to share (So please watch out for those!)



This post (with the original post here) will be joining Sangeeth's 101 Omelet Recipes. If you have omelet recipes you want to share, please check out her invitation to the 101 Omelet Recipes. :)

Seafood EggDrop Soup

My family loves soup. Don't you? We love all kinds of soup. It can be clear soup or thick soup. It can be cream soup or Sinigang (Sour soup) or Chinese soup or Japanese soup or Filipino soup... Of course a soup can be comforting on a rainy wet day. Do you find it wierd that we also love to have hot soups in the middle of summer? But we do love soup regardless of the weather! I'm sure almost every Filipino and Chinese have one kind of soup or another with all their meals, rain or shine. We do not consider the soup as a mere starter. For us, the soup itself is already a viand (ulam). We spoon the soup over our rice and eat the contents - usually meat and veggies (laman) with our rice.

Here is another easy to do, nutritious thick soup. Need I mention it is flavorful and yummy?

200 gms fresh shrimp meat, chopped
300 gms fresh fish fillet, cut into small cubes
5 pcs kani sticks, cut
a bunch of chinese spinach (polunchay), washed, chopped
2 eggs, well beaten
4 slices ginger
4 T garlic, minced
4 C water
salt and pepper to taste
3 T cornstarch dissolved in 3 T water

1. In a lightly oiled wok or pan, saute ginger until light brown. Sute garlic until fragrant but not burnt.

2. Add in the seafood. Stir fry for a while. Then add the water. Cover and let boil. Simmer until the seafoods are cooked.

3. Add in the spinach. Stir the dissolved cornstarch into boiling liquid until thickened.

4. When the soup boils again. Add the beaten egg while slowly swirling the laddle in the soup to spread the egg around. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.






This easy to do and delicious warm soup with its high protein seafood and eggs is another entry to this month's Eat Healthy:Protein Rich event launched by Sangeeth of The Art of Indian Cooking. Please check out her round-up of healthy recipes by the end of the month.

Stuffed Eggplant

Hubby does not particularly like eggplants (also known as aubergine or talong). For him, a vegetable should be leafy and green. And the eggplant is neither leafy nor green! In a way, he is partially correct. The eggplant is not a vegetable. It is a fruit! It belongs to the berry family, distantly related to the tomato. The eggplant is the glossy, deep purple fruit that grows on vines. It is almost always available throughout the year.

This fruit is commonly cooked as a vegetable, as it cannot be eaten raw. It is so versatile it can be cooked in a lot of ways. It can be stewed as in the French ratatouille or the Philippine Pinakbet, or it can be made into a parmigiana. It can be roasted where the pulp can be used for a varitey of dishes or sauces and chutneys. It can be sliced, battered, stir fried, mashed, etc. Because of its versatility and availability, most people just take it for granted!

Do you know that studies have shown that the eggplant is effective in the treatment of high blood cholesterol? It can block the formation of free radicals, as it contains phytonutrients that have antioxidant properties. It helps in preventing cellular damage that can promote cancer; and lessening free radical damage in joints, which is a primary factor in rheumatoid arthritis. It is a source of folic acid, potassium, Vitamin B1 and B6 and fiber. For more information on the eggplant, please click here.


200 gms ground lean beef
4 pcs long oval eggplants
2 T minced garlic
2 T chopped onions
2 T soy sauce
2 T corainder leaves or cilantro
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil eggplants in water until wrinkled and softened. Remove or peel off the skin. Flatten each eggplant by open the eggplants into half, and spreading the meat out.

2. Marinate the ground beef in soy sauce and pepper.

3. Heat up a wok or a skillet. Add some cooking oil. Saute the garlic and onions until softened and fragrant but not burnt. Add in the ground beef. Stir the mixture. Season with salt and pepper and more soy sauce (if preferred). Cook until done.

4. Put some meat mixture onto the flattened eggplant. Dip into the beaten eggs. Lightly skillet fry in some oil until egg is cooked. Dish up and drain in some paper towels to remove some of the oil.

5. Serve warm garnished with chopped leeks or parsley.



Although stir frying or stewing are easier ways of cooking eggplants, my picky eaters prefer their eggplants cooked like this. Hubby and kids are more willing to eat their eggplants this way because it is now made more flavorful by beef. Maybe my repertoire of cooking eggplants are limited. Do you have any flavorful ways of cooking eggplants?



This is my entry to the Weekend Herb Blogging, a word-wide foodie event launched by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen to celebrate different herbs and vegetables available around the world and the dishes we cook using these ingredients. This week's host is Archana of Archana's Kitchen. Please check out last week's round-up beautifully done by Simona of Briciole.

Brocolli and Cheese Egg Bake

This is such an easy breakfast or brunch dish to prepare. Very tasty and healthy too! I got the recipe from South Beach proponent and Weekend Herb Blogging chief Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, original recipe here. Of course her picture is much prettier than mine. :)

I did the oven toaster version. Also, I think my oven toaster is much smaller than hers. I couldn't find a small baking dish for my toaster so I used a disposable foil baking dish. With one small head of brocolli, I was able to make 3 small casseroles. Here's my retake on the Brocolli and Cheese Casserole. Recipe for 1 serving casserole.

3 eggs
3 T fresh milk
a bunch of brocolli florettes
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese
salt to taste
some dashes of ground red pepper
some dashes of onion, ginger and chive seasoning

1. Blanch the brocolli florettes in boiling water. Drain immediately and immerse in cold water bath.

2. Lightly spray or coat the baking dish with butter or cooking oil.

3. Arrange the blanched brocolli in the dish. Top with grated cheese.

4. Beat the egg with the milk, salt and pepper and the onion-chive seasoning. Pour this egg mixture over the brocolli and cheese. This is what it's going to look like.


5. Bake in the oven toaster on high power for 10 to 15 minutes. Check for doneness. It is cooked when browned and slightly puffed up. (But it will deflate when cooled...)


You can use any kind of cheese you have on hand, or even a combination of cheeses will do. I think mozarella cheese will be perfect, but I didn't have any on hand. Hubby called this a quiche without the crust. But I think the texture is different from a quiche. However, I think this can be as versatile as the quiche. I think we can add and/or change the brocolli to mushrooms or bell peppers and we can probably add seafood or ham. Hmmm... many possibilities to do next time.

Prawn and Mushroom Quiche

Truth to be told, most Asians are not familiar with Quiche, much less pronounce it. :)

Although I knew of a dish called Quiche, I never bothered to make it nor learn about it until a German missionary friend introduced me to this dish more than a year ago. She brought a quiche dish with bacon and cauliflower to our Couples@Work fellowship and it was an instant hit! I loved the flaky crust. I loved the texture and the flavorful filling. It was yummy!

She gave me her recipe, and then I also combed the internet for more recipes. I found out that a quiche is basically a dish made with egg and milk (or cream) baked with a pastry crust. Although some quiche can be made without the crust (for those on low carb diets). However, I thought a good quiche should have the crust because it provides the nice crunch and flavor to the dish. A variety of ingredients can be added; usually a combination of meat and vegetables.

I bought a 27 cm quiche dish just specially to make quiche. I remember I made one before I started blogging. It was a bacon and spinach quiche. It was a big hit with my family! But for one thing or another, I never made it again. Until last Tuesday... This is because my Tuesday group has been asking me to bake one for them ever since they found out that I knew how to make one!

And so, last Monday, I started preparing the crust...

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1 C cold butter
1/3 C cold water

1. In a bowl, mix together the flour and salt. using a pastry cutter, or a large-tinned fork, cut the chilled butter into the flour until it resembles coarse sand with a few pea-sized pieces of butter still visible.

2. Sprinkle water evenly over the mixture and toss gently a few times, just until a ball holds together.

3. Separate the dough into 2 balls. Flatten it slightly into thick disc shapes. Wrap in plastic and chill overnight (or a few hours before working on it.)

4. When ready to use, prepare the table, clean and dust with flour. Roll the dough to flatten it, into 1/8 inch thick round crust. Place the dough in the quiche dish. Pat down with clean fingers to follow the mold of the dish. Cut off the excess dough and crimp the edges.

5. Prick the dough with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F.



I have read these tips from the internet, which I followed to the letter, and the resulting crust is flaky and buttery (which we like):

1) The secret to a flaky crust is to handle it as little as possible. When mixing the dough, stop once it sticks together to form a cohesive dough.

2) Run your hands under cold water for a few minutes and pat dry before handling the dough. This prevents the dough from melting together and being 'processed' by body heat.


On baking day, I assembled my ingredients. I wanted to make a prawn and spinach quiche. But probably in haste, or excitement, (or is it forgetfulness?) I was not able to buy spinach at the grocery! (Huh? How can one forget a major ingredient???) What to do? I then spied my pot of onion leeks... hmmm...

I am quite proud of my leeks. They are a product of my being a cheapskate. One day when I bought some leeks, I just thought of cutting off the roots with a little part of the stem - probably an inch of the white stem, and just planted them in a big pot. It was just an experiment. I was not even sure if leeks can re-grow themselves or if they have to grow from seeds... I was so happy they started to slowwwwwly grow new leaves. Admittedly, these new leaves were scrawny, but tall. Yes, they were not photogenic. But, they are still leeks! Edible and organic!

So, here is the recipe for Prawns and Mushrooms and Leeks Quiche. With this recipe, I was able to make one 27-inch quiche, which I brought to my Tuesday Bible Study group (no picture was taken because everybody was so hungry then) and a small 12-inch quiche (photo above).

8 eggs
1 C all-purpose cream
1 C cheddar cheese
20pcs medium sized prawns, shelled, deveined
1/2 C white onions, chopped
5 T garlic, mined
1 C chopped leeks
1/2 C fresh Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
1/2 t salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Whisk all the eggs, cream and cheese together. Add salt and pepper. You may set aside some cheese for the topping later.

3. Distribute and spread the prawns, onions, garlic, leeks, and mushrooms into the prepared quiche crust. Pour the egg-cream mixture into the dish. It will be enough to cover the prawns and mushrooms, etc.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for around 60 minutes, until it tests done in the center. After around 45 minutes of baking, sprinkle the cheese (you have set aside earlier) on top of the nearly-done quiche. Continue cooking until done.







This is my entry to Andrea's Grow Your Own, a monthly foodie event that celebrates the foods we grow or raise ourselves and the dishes we make using our own homegrown products. Please check out Andrea's Recipes for her round-up in a few days!

Baked Eggs and a Sunday Brunch

I got this recipe from Gay, the Scientist in the Kitchen. It is so easy to do, and yet it tastes so wonderful. I made some little tweaks though. I used Italian seasoning, which is already a mixture of different herbs: marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, etc. . I also added a sprinkle of garlic salt. I used the oven toaster instead of the big oven (saves on cooking gas?) and it still came out beautifully.

2 T fresh milk
1 large fresh egg
sprinkle of garlic salt
sprinkle of Italian Seasoning

1. Pour fresh milk in a rameskin (or any small bowl you can use for baking). Bake in the oven toaster for 8 minutes, on high power.

2. When the time's up, take out the rameskin and add in the egg. Sprinkle with salt and seasoning. Place back in the oven toaster and bake for 8 minutes more.

3. Serve immediately. This recipe makes 1 serving.

This is what we had for today's Sunday Brunch:

garlic rice
baked herbed eggs
fried fish with tomato/onion/calamansi salsa
brewed Benguet coffee

Ahhh... the joys of weekends!

Potato Salad

As CEOs of the kitchen, I am sure you are keenly aware that the cost of food is rising. This is a world-wide concern. Here in the Philippines, rice is our main staple on the table. And yes, the increase in the rice prices is enough to make our hearts palpitate and sweat even when we are not doing any heavy work-outs. What you read (and saw) in the news is true. Many of our people are lining up for government-subsidized rice. Otherwise, we have to pay almost double the price!

Mary Hunt of Everyday Cheapskates suggests we try potatoes. She said there are some who predict potatoes will emerge as the solution to world hunger. Potatoes will grow almost anywhere, require very little water and mature in just 50 days. They are nutritious, have only 5 percent of the fat content of wheat (provided they’re not loaded up with butter and sour cream). They also have one-fourth of the calories of bread and, when boiled, have more protein than corn and nearly twice the calcium, according to the Potato Center. They contain vitamin C, iron, potassium and zinc.

No wonder the United Nations named 2008 the International Year of the Potato, calling the vegetable a “hidden treasure.”

I saw some very nice potato marbles at the grocery and I could not resist the cute petite little balls. Is anyone out there like me? I do not know why I couldn't resist baby veggies. ie. baby bok choy, little potato marbles, baby spinach. Aside from the cuteness factor, I know the little ones taste better. Am I correct? Or do I just have a bias towards little stuffs?

Here is a simple Potato Salad recipe. The picture above was taken using natural light. The reason why it is yellow because I added mustard. I know many people don't like the taste of mustard. But I love the taste of mustard. If you do not like it, simply omit mustard from the recipe and you will still get a tasty salad. This will make a nice side-dish to a fish or meat entre.

1/2 Kilo potato marbles, washed very well

2 eggs, boiled

1 stalk celery, washed, chopped

2 T mustard

1/2 C fat-free mayonnaise

salt and pepper

1 stalk green onions, chopped, for garnish


1. Boil the potatoes in a pot of water for 15 minutes or until cooked. Drain.

2. Slice the potaotes in half (if you want bite-sized pieces). Slice the eggs.

3. Mix potatoes, eggs, celery, mustard and mayonnaise in a bowl.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve in individual platters. Garnish with chopped green onions.

This is my entry this week to the Weekend Herb Blogging Event where different herbs, vegetables, plants and produce are featured around the world. This event was launched by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. This week's host is Wandering Chopsticks. To see last week's round-up, please check out Sweet Nick's.

Ham Omelette

Hubby and I usually enjoy heavy breakfasts as we believe this would jump-start our day with enough energy needed for our everyday tasks. We received a lot of hams this holiday season. (Thank you very much to all our friends and families who shared the blessings of the season with us.) So, I thought of making Ham Omelet.

This Omelette recipe is very versatile. You can add any topping you want. Sometimes, I would just add sliced olives, chopped mushrooms and sliced bell pepper for a healthy vegetable omelette. Sometimes, I would use the left-over chicken or pork from the previous night dinner. For a real treat, I would stir fry some de-shelled shrimps in garlic and olive oil and use this as topping. I usually use grated mozarella cheese in my omelette as this would melt and provide a nice chewy texture. But I think the regular grated cheddar cheese would do as well. Enjoy!

Omelette

2 eggs
2 T cream (but I usually use fresh milk)
1 T chopped garlic
2 T sliced onion
2 T diced bell peppers
3 T sliced button mushrooms
4 T diced tomatoes
4 T grated mozarella cheese
4 T diced cooked ham (substitute with cooked shrimps,or chicken or pork)
salt and pepper

1. In a bowl, whip eggs with fork. Add the cream or milk. This gives eggs a fluffy mixture. You can omit this if you want less calories. Season with salt and pepper. Please take note that cooked ham is already salty, so you might want to lessen the salt in this case. Continue whipping until well blended.

2. Pour egg mixture into a warm non-stick skillet. You can put a little oil first to prevent sticking. Spread the egg mixture evenly over the pan, lower the heat and maintain low heat throughout cooking.

3. Spread the ham over egg mixture, then all the rest of the ingredients, with mozarella cheese last. Cook slowly until eggs are set.

4. Fold egg over, serve warm, topped with grated cheese, if desired.


This omelette is quite versatile because you can use whatever topping ingredients you prefer, and in any amount you prefer. My listing of the ingredients above is just an estimate. For example, you do not particularly like garlic, then you may lessen the amount or totally omit it. Or if you prefer more tomatoes, then simply add more. If I am making an omelette for hubby, I have to put in more mushrooms. But for the kids, I have to totally omit the mushrooms. This recipe is also a good way to recycle the left-overs.


Update: August 27, 2008

I think Omelette spelled with the "tte" at the end is the French spelling. That is how I usually spell Omelette, until the google spell-checker suggested "Omelet" without the additional "tte." Since we are writing in English, maybe I should stick to the "Omelet"... but I don't know, "Omelette" sounds more sophisticated, doesn't it? :)

This updated post is my entry to the First 101 Recipe Series featuring Omelets. To join this foodie event, please check out Sangeeth's Art of Indian Cooking. You will definitely learn a lot from this blog!