My Blog List

Sunday, September 21, 2014

New cookbook...and a cooking failure to recommend

Like desserts? Like mysteries? You've got a treat coming--the new cookbook, Bake, Love, Write: 105 Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Advice on Love and Writing, edited by Lois Winston--a massive undertaking. Authors often turn to something sweet for celebration or consolation--a new book contract, a fabulous review, a negative review, a rejection. Anything be an excuse to whip up a dessert. These authors, including me, share their recipes, their concerns about writing, their writing process, and provide a glimpse into their lives. Cakes, pies, cookies, candy and more--along with words of wisdom (?) on love, life, and writing. Available on Amazon, and ebooks versions for Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and iTunes.

About my cooking failure: my friend Mary Dulle is a wonderful, innovative cook, who particularly likes baking pies. She likes that so much that she taught a class in pie-baking this summer at Chautauqua and put together a cookbook for it. The other day she posted on Facebook that she had made a crustless quiche, and it looked so good several of us clamored for the recipes. In her words it sounded simple:

2 slices bacon, crisp and crumbled
1 small onion, diced
1 tomato (preferably heirloom), sliced thin and then quartered
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup shredded cheese-sharp cheddar, Swiss, Gruyere, your choice
3 eggs
2/3 cup low fat milk
1/2 tsp. herbs de Provence
salt and pepper to taste 

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Cook bacon in pie plate in microwave; remove from pan, add onion to drippings and "sauté" in microwave. Layer vegetables, bacon and cheese in pie plate. Whisk eggs into milk, add seasonings, and pour over the vegetables. Bake 35-45 minutes and then let sit to set.

I went amok in several ways: forgot the corn, used scallions instead of onions, whole milk instead of low-fat, thyme because I didn't have herbs de Provence in my vast collection. I used a 9" pie plate, which Mary suggested, but I think something smaller might have worked better--my quiche was flat, more like a frittata.
But my main problem was that halfway through the baking time, I noticed my new dog was not in the yard. Went cruising the neighborhood, found him across the street from the house. He leaped into the car with a grin that said, "Oh, Mom, I'm so glad you came along just now." But by the time I got him home and crated, the quiche had probably cooked an hour. It had good flavor but not texture--flat and chewy (I like soft eggs). But with the lessons learned and barring another runaway by my escape artist, I'll try that again. Here's Mary's quiche: I'm not showing mine.

2 comments:

  1. And this, is why my recipe in Bake, Love, Write is a no-bake :) I'm notorious for blackening good food because I get engrossed in my writing and completely forget that I'm cooking something :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kathryn Jane, this time I had a good excuse--but I do tend to burn things. Once I burned the bottom of a pizza and announced that I had burned it to a fare-thee-well. To this day my nephew quotes that as one of the funniest things he ever heard.

    ReplyDelete