Steak on the Grill for Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day.  We never go out to eat then, because it's crowded, noisy, frenzied, even,  and the food deteriorates accordingly.  We have a Mother's Day meal on Saturday at a restaurant of my choosing.  This year it was the Garden Restaurant at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA.  Always a treat with decent food at reasonable prices and lots of good exhibits at the museum. 

For THE DAY itself, I had some sale-purchased $5 each strip steaks which we grilled.  Also grilled Vidalia onions and I made cherry tomatoes Provencal and a salad of baby spinach and avocado.  Delicious, and husband did the grilling and set the table.  The onion recipe is a keeper: Grilled Vidalia Onions

We each ate half a steak (plenty, believe me) so there's steak-fried-rice tonight.  I'll cook some Basmati rice and add scallions, the rest of the spinach and some Asian spices, garlic and a bit of cilantro.  Easy, delicious and now bordering on cheap. 

Baby lettuces have sprouted.  We eat the thinnings in salads, too, and the chives are rampant.   Sage, hit hard by the winter is recovering, and oregano is coming along.  Thyme also took a beating from winter.  Will have to replace. 

The hummingbird is back, and lots of nesting is going on right now.  The titmice are pulling the stuffing out of my wire planter and using it for nesting materials.  They are so cute (and the liner is so old) I can't be angry.


The Cheeseparer 

Hummingbird at feeder with Clematis in background

Real Men DO Eat Quiche

We had a classic quiche Lorraine for dinner the past two nights.  I make a shortbread crust of 1 cup flour, 1 stick unsalted butter, 1/2 t. salt and 2 T. half and half  Use  your fingers to blend the flour and shortening, then add salt and half and half.  Press into a 9 inch pie plate.

I used the classic bacon and swiss cheese filling.  Used more like 1/4 lb of bacon than half of pound which seems excessive although delicious.  That (sauteed until done but not crispy) goes into the bottom of the chilled crust  which you have pierced with a fork a few times.

On the bacon, add 1/2 pound grated (or cubed) Swiss cheese (I use Emmental or Jahrlsburg).  The recipe calls for 2 oz. Gruyere, but I had some leftover Mancheco and Iberico (both from Spain) and used that.  Put it on top the bacon. 

My filling calls for 4 eggs and 1 1/2 cups half and half, beaten together with a little more salt, some pepper and a pinch of cayenne.   Pour on top the cheese. 

For ease of cleanup, I line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper, and put the quiche into the oven on that.  400 degree preheated oven.  Bake about 40 minutes or until done in the center.  A bit of parsley or chives on top the filling add a bit of color but are not necessary.  Serves 4 or maybe 6 for lunch, but not at our house.

You can experiment with broccoli, spinach, mushrooms and any number of veggies, although I draw the line at zucchini.  Onion is good.  Combos are better.  With a salad, it's a complete meal.  We had salad AND broccoli last night.  Yummy.

I made a dessert of ricotta
cheese, a soupcon of sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder and instant espresso coffee powder, thinned with a bit of cream.  This is a South Beach Diet dessert and quite good.  You can use artificial sweetener if you like.

The weather is warming up and thoughts of main course salads and grilling are upon us.  Put up the hummingbird feeder yesterday.  Ah, spring! 

Classic Quiche Lorraine with a short bread crust