Leftover Tortillas? Make A Quiche

I hate wasting food. I really do. But sometimes, I stash things in the freezer merely to avoid the guilt of trashing food at the present moment. By “things” I mean 4 tortillas or 6 egg whites or the heels of a loaf of bread. I have good intentions. I really do. With the tortillas, I envision making a quick wrap for lunch one day. With the egg whites, an angel food cake. With the bread, homemade croutons.

These things sit — preserved, certainly — but effectively, trashed. Inevitably, I clean out the freezer several months down the road and toss the cracked tortillas and frost-encrusted heels of bread into the garbage can.

Anyway, last weekend, I rescued four flour tortillas from meeting their cold fate. When I spotted them in my fridge, I recalled a recipe I had seen on the Blue Heron Farm Web site for asparagus quiche that used tortillas as a shell. And then I played a game called “use every possible item of food in your fridge that can be sautéed and packed into a quiche shell.” Never played? Give it a go. It’s a great time. What’s most fun about the game is that there are no rules: Expiration dates should be overlooked; mold, scraped away and sent down the disposal; shriveled, wilted vegetables, scrubbed and chopped as if they were new.

I wish I could say I were exaggerating. I’m not. I cut off serious mold from a pepper. I gave a block of cheese a chemical peel. I browned a questionable piece of several-days-old hamburger meat. The result? A yummy yummy quiche.

• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 2 chipotles in adobo, minced
• 1 hot chili pepper, diced
• 1 tomato, chopped
• leftover sautéed leeks, sliced
• grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• cilantro, minced
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Sauté peppers and onions and such together. (I also had a leftover uncooked hamburger patty, so about 6 ounces of ground beef.) Season with salt and pepper. Add zucchini and tomatoes and cooked leeks. Add cilantro at the end. Note: This is just what I had on hand — use anything you have.
3. Line a buttered dish, such as a 9-inch round baking or pie pan, with about 4 tortillas.Whisk together 3 eggs with 1/2 cup of milk in a large bowl. Add the prepped ingredients. Add the cheese and stir.
4. Pour into prepared tortilla-lined pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until set. Mixture should jiggle just slightly when shaken.
5. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before cutting. Ta-da! A simple simple quiche.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes

• Cook Time: 30 minutes

• 1 bell pepper, chopped

• 1 zucchini, chopped

• 2 chipotles in adobo, minced

• 1 hot chili pepper, diced

• 1 tomato, chopped

• leftover sautéed leeks, sliced

• grated Parmigiano Reggiano

• cilantro, minced

• 3 eggs

• 1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Sauté peppers and onions and such together. (I also had a leftover uncooked hamburger patty, so about 6 ounces of ground beef.) Season with salt and pepper. Add zucchini and tomatoes and cooked leeks. Add cilantro at the end. Note: This is just what I had on hand — use anything you have.
3. Line a buttered dish, such as a 9-inch round baking or pie pan, with about 4 tortillas.Whisk together 3 eggs with 1/2 cup of milk in a large bowl. Add the prepped ingredients. Add the cheese and stir.
4. Pour into prepared tortilla-lined pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until set. Mixture should jiggle just slightly when shaken.
5. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before cutting. Ta-da! A simple simple quiche.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2008/09/25/leftover-tortillas-make-a-quiche/

What do you get when you combine heavy cream, half and half, egg yolks, sugar, fresh mint and dark chocolate? Absolute, pure, utter and complete deliciousness. I don’t know what else to say about this mint chocolate chip ice cream except that it is one of the best things I have ever tasted. Ever.

Description

Adapted from Alice Q. Foodie’s recipe

• 1 cup half and half
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups lightly packed mint leaves
• 5 egg yolks
• ¾ cup sugar
• pinch salt
• pure peppermint oil* (not extract), optional
• 1 cup chopped dark chocolate, such as Valrhona 70%, chopped with a chef’s knife into ¼ -inch pieces

*Peppermint oil can be found at specialty cookware shops. I found mine at Fante’s in Philadelphia, but Alice Q. Foodie says Henry’s Market carries it as well.

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the cream and half and half with the mint leaves until it’s good and hot but not boiling. (You can just touch it lightly with your finger to test it.) Cover pan and set aside to steep for 30 mins. Strain out mint and discard (or compost) it.
2. Whisk yolks in a large bowl. If your cream mixture is still relatively hot to the touch (which it should be after only 30 minutes), slowly ladle the mixture into the egg yolks whisking constantly. Transfer yolk-cream mixture back to the saucepan and add the sugar with a pinch of salt.
3. Cook the custard over medium heat for about ten minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or heat proof spatula. When the mixture begins to coat the back of the spoon, remove the pan from the heat. (If you have a thermometer, it should be about 170 degrees.)
4. Strain the hot custard into a bowl. If using the peppermint oil, take it and drip one or two drops into the cap of the bottle, then dip a toothpick in the oil and swish it through the custard mixture. (This stuff is powerful and can easily ruin a batch of custard if restraint is not used.)
5. Chill the mixture until completely cold. Churn in an ice cream maker. During the last few minutes of churning, add the chocolate chips. Freeze mixture until ready to serve.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: Ice Cream
• Method: Freeze
• Cuisine: American