Margarita’s Quiche

I just made two quiches – one filled with roasted corn and asparagus and the other with roast chicken and spinach.  I used an old family recipe:

Margarita’s Quiche

2 deep dish pie crusts
6 large eggs
8 oz. Swiss cheese
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 small can green chiles
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup filling for each pie shell*

Prebake pie crusts for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. In the bottom of the crust, place filling of your choice (cooked bacon, ham, sausage and or mushrooms, peppers, onions). Put the rest of the ingredients into a blender (chop the cheese into chunks), and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into pie crust, and dot with butter or margarine. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and serve.

I ended up cooking it for a little bit longer – these should keep us going for the next week or so.

Plum Clafoutis

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a lot of time finding a recipe for something to do with the plums I bought.  I found several recipes for clafoutis, one of my favorite French desserts, on the internet.  This is the one I tried, and it’s very good.  I may have overcooked the one I just did tonight, though.  We’ll see…

Plum Clafoutis (Gourmet Magazine: September, 2008)
Serves 6

* Active time:15 min
* Start to finish:1 1/4 hr

The quintessential French home-style dessert, clafoutis is remarkably simple to throw together. Just whiz up an easy crêpe batter, pour it over fruit, and pop it all in the oven—it will puff up like a soufflé before settling into a tender, pudding-like cake. This version calls for regular black or red plums briefly macerated in sugar and Armagnac, but it’s also delicious with Italian prune plums, which reach their peak in September.

* 1 lb black or red plums, pitted and cut into eighths
* 2 tablespoons Armagnac or other brandy
* 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar, divided
* 4 large eggs
* 1 cup whole milk
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract
* Confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400ºF with rack in middle. Butter a 2-qt shallow baking dish.
Toss plums with Armagnac and 1 Tbsp sugar in a bowl and let macerate 15 minutes. Transfer plums to baking dish with a slotted spoon and pour juices into a blender. Add eggs to blender with milk, butter, flour, salt, extracts, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar and blend just until combined. Pour over plums.
Bake until puffed and just set in center, about 35 minutes. Cool 15 minutes, then dust with confectioners sugar.

To be honest, the clafoutis that I fell in love with and bought and ate compulsively in France was more of a pie, with a custard filling and cherries.  This is still very good, though!

P.S.-  I am eating some now.  FYI, it’s great!