Broccoli Bacon Quiche

Apparently I've been eating quiche the Weight Watcher's way my whole life, thanks to my mom. I had no idea this was a "light" version of a quiche until I asked my mom for her recipe last week. Normal quiche recipes call for heavy cream and lots of eggs, but this recipe only uses 4 eggs total and 1 cup of evaporated milk.

We've been eating variations of this quiche for brunches and holiday breakfasts as long as I can remember. Sometimes we use chopped leftover ham instead of bacon, and you could use different vegetables like red pepper or spinach instead of broccoli. I don't know what the Points+ value is for this recipe; the original cookbook is from 1981 which used an entirely different method of tracking. You could easily enter the ingredients into a recipe builder yourself if you wanted to figure it out. What is nice about a quiche is that you get to decide how many servings you want it to be, based on how you slice it, so you can raise or lower the Points+ as you'd like.

Broccoli Bacon Quiche
adapted from Weight Watchers 365-Day Menu Cookbook
Makes 1 quiche

Notes: My mom has made many tweaks to this recipe over the years. For example, it originally calls for imitation bacon bits, but we use either real bacon bits or chopped cooked bacon. You'll notice that it calls for 1 cup of evaporated milk, yet most cans are 12 ounces. I don't know what to do with extra 4 ounces of evaporated milk. If you have a deep pie pan, you could probably use the whole can. Sometimes my mom would just buy two cans and just make three quiches (8oz x 3 = 24oz). We usually made at least two if it was for a family gathering anyway, and it makes great leftovers so having an extra one was nice.

1 standard prepared pie crust (I used a frozen one, placed in the fridge to thaw that morning), or make your own from scratch
1 cup steamed broccoli (from fresh or frozen), chopped into small pieces
2-3 heaping tablespoons cooked bacon, chopped into small pieces, or bacon bits
2 green onions, sliced
8 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (8 ounces) evaporated milk, regular or low-fat
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Prepare the pie crust in a pie baking dish according to package directions, if applicable (mine came in an aluminum pie plate so I just baked it in that).

In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli, bacon, and green onions.

Sprinkle half of the cheese over the bottom of the pie crust. Top with the broccoli-bacon mixture.

In another medium bowl, mix together the eggs, evaporated milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over mixture in pie crust.

Top with the remaining cheese.

Place the pie baking dish on a baking sheet (in case there are any spills) and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. 

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

I don't do a lot of baking.  Occasionally, I'll bake a treat for a friend's birthday or other special event, but I don't bake just for the heck of it. It's not that I can't do it or that I don't like it.  I just find it hard to fit that kind of food into my diet and still maintain my weight.  I don't have the best self control when it comes to having sweets around, so I usually just don't keep cookies or cake or anything in the house if I can help it.  I'm not the type to make a batch of cookies last all week.  One day, maybe two, and they're gone.  I would bring the rest of the batch in to work, but it seems like everyone is watching what they eat these days, so I try to keep that to a minimum.

However, I always make an exception for the holidays.  I try not to go crazy, but I give in and make a few different kinds of cookies or sweets.  It's fun, it's satisfying when the end result is successful, and it makes you feel good when people ooh and aah over what you've made for them. :-)

I had a lot of molasses in the pantry (from the Thanksgiving dessert) so I decided I was going to make some kind of gingerbread cookie.  I finally settled on Martha Stewart's Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread cookies.  Incidentally, it's the cookie that is pictured on the cover of her cookie cookbook.  Let me warn you: these cookies are dangerous!  They are hands down one of the best cookies I've had in a long time.  I had a hard time restraining myself when I packaged up most of the first batch to ship away to my relatives.  They are bursting with all the classic flavors of a gingerbread cookie, due to a combination of fresh ginger, ground ginger, and molasses.  They have a delightfully chewy texture that is interspersed with bits of semi-sweet chocolate chunks.  I can't really say enough good things about these cookies.  I will be making another batch later this week to share with our families when we visit for Christmas!

Note the ooey-gooey chocolate :-)

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies
makes 2 dozen

Notes:  Another reason I love this recipe is because you can make them over the course of two days.  Make the dough one day, refrigerate, and roll and bake the cookies the next day.  You can just chill the dough for two hours, but at that point, my evening would be about over anyway.  So if you work all day and cook in the evening hours like me, baking the cookies the next day is the way to go.

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon freshly grated peeled ginger
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water
7 ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch chunks
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.  If you're planning on baking the cookies the next day, you can skip this step for now.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and fresh ginger together for about 4 minutes, or until the mixture has lightened.  Add the brown sugar, mix until combined, then add the molasses, mix until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water.  (I boiled the minimum amount of water in our electric tea kettle, about 2 cups, then carefully measured the correct amount into the bowl.  Make a cup of tea with the extra water, if you want).  Beat half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture.  Beat in the baking soda mixture, then the other half of the flour mixture.  Stir in the chocolate chunks, and turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap.  Pat out the dough into a square or rectangle-like shape, about 1-inch thick; seal with wrap.  Refrigerate until firm, 2 hours, or overnight.  Martha did not suggest making the dough into a square or a rectangle, but I found it helpful the next day when it came time to roll the dough into balls.  If the dough is in a square or rectangle, you can use a pizza cutter to make a grid of 24 squares, making sure you make the full 2 dozen cookies.

Preheat your oven to 325 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment if you haven't already.

Roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place two inches apart on baking sheets.  Do not compromise on the two inches, these cookies spread out as they bake, just suck it up and do several batches if you have small baking sheets like me.  Chill on the baking sheets for 20 minutes.  For my second batch, I rolled all the balls at once and placed them on a large platter, put that in the fridge, then removed the balls as needed when it was time to fill a sheet to bake, since I had to do a few batches.  That seemed to work fine, just be sure to let your baking sheets cool between batches.

After chilling, rolls the balls in granulated sugar.  Be generous here, even though it looks like a lot of sugar.  The cookies will spread out as they bake, so the sugar will not look as concentrated over the surface of the cookie once they are done.

Martha says to bake the cookies until the surfaces just begin to crack, about 10-12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.  Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  For my first batch, I took them out right when she said, when they were just beginning to crack, but I thought they were too soft and underdone, though definitely not inedible.  For my second batch, I let them bake until the surfaces had formed good sized cracks, still about 12 minutes or so, and they were perfect.  It could be a difference in oven temperature, or some other factor, I don't know.

Cookies are best the day they are made, but you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.  I highly doubt they will be around that long though.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

This was one of our Thanksgiving desserts this year.  There are lots of recipes out there for pumpkin trifles, but I chose this one from epicurious not only because it calls for homemade whipped cream, but the gingerbread part sounded amazing.

You absolutely could substitute a box of gingerbread mix and Cool Whip, but after tasting this trifle I would have to argue that it is totally worth it to make the gingerbread and the whipped cream from scratch.  The gingerbread was spicy, sweet, and had a light, fluffy texture.  The recipe calls for both molasses and dark brown sugar (and since brown sugar is really just molasses mixed with white sugar, that's a lot of molasses!).

It specifically said not to use blackstrap molasses so I bought another kind (I just bought the only bottle I could find that didn't have the word "blackstrap" anywhere on it).  Molasses is the byproduct of refining cane sugar into table (white) sugar.  Each time the sugar syrup is boiled, the flavor intensifies and becomes slightly more bitter.  Sweet molasses is what you get from the first boiling, and that's (I think) what I used in my gingerbread.  Blackstrap molasses is made from the third boiling of the sugar syrup.  While it is a little more bitter in flavor, it also has a higher concentration of vitamins and minerals, making it a good choice of sweetener compared to white sugar, which is completely stripped of it's original vitamins and minerals.  I bet that's more than you ever wanted to know about molasses, but I found it very interesting!    

We made most of the trifle the day before (all except the very top layer of whipped cream) and transported it to my parent's house.  Right before we were ready to serve it, I whipped up some cream for the top.  The pumpkin mousse has unflavored gelatin in it, which seems to make it hold itself together so it doesn't soak into the gingerbread very much, which I guess is why you can make it the day before.

You want to hold off on that top layer of whipped cream until ready to serve because you can't cover the trifle dish with it on, at least that would have been my problem, as you can see in the photo below.  Next time I think I would take a little more care to make the layers straighter, but that's just because I am a perfectionist.  I would arrange the gingerbread in an even layer rather than just pile them in, and then I would pipe the mousse and whipped cream into the dish instead of spooning and spreading.  If you didn't have a trifle dish but wanted a nice presentation you could also use individual clear glass dishes or goblet-type glasses. 

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle
adapted from epicurious
serves 12

Note: You can make the gingerbread the day before you assemble the trifle if you want.  Just keep it in the pan at a cool room temperature, covered.  You can assemble the trifle, without the top layer of whipped cream, 1 day ahead.  Whip half the cream just before serving. 

For the gingerbread: 
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup mild molasses (not robust or blackstrap)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk (not powdered)
1/2 cup hot water

For the pumpkin mousse:
1 (1/4 ounces) envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
15 ounces pure pumpkin (canned or homemade puree)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg (grate it fresh yourself for best flavor and aroma!)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup chilled heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the whipped cream:
1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To make the gingerbread:
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line a 13x9-inch pan with a layer of foil, then butter the foil.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt, and whisk to combine.

In an electric mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar at medium speed for 3-5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until blended.  Add the molasses and buttermilk and beat until blended.  Lower the speed and mix in the dry ingredients until smooth.  Add hot water and beat for one minute (batter may look curdled).

Pour batter evenly into pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool in pan.  Get the gingerbread out of the pan by lifting up on the foil.  Gingerly (haha) transfer to a cutting board and cut into 1-inch cubes.  They say to use a serrated knife but I had better luck with my santoku.

To make the pumpkin mousse: 
Put the water into a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over the top.  Let soften for one minute, then bring to a simmer, stirring until all the gelatin has dissolved.  Whisk this mixture together with the pumpkin, brown sugar, spices, and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.

Clean your electric mixing bowl and beaters from making the gingerbread.  Beat the cream and vanilla until they hold soft peaks, then gently, but thoroughly, fold into the pumpkin mixture.

To make the whipped cream: 
You can just use the same electric mixing bowl and beaters as you just used for the mousse.  Beat the cream with the sugar and vanilla until it holds soft peaks.

To assemble the trifle: 
You can either be very "Type A" about this or more laid back, it's up to you.  Put about half of the gingerbread cubes into the bottom of the trifle bowl.  Top with about half of the pumpkin mousse, then half of the whipped cream.  Add the rest of the gingerbread, then the rest of the mousse, then the rest of the whipped cream.  Chill for at least 2 hours, then serve.