Tag Archives: Houston food blogger

ALMOND-CRUSTED BACON SPINACH QUICHE

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I found this vintage bell at an estate sale:

It was made in Taiwan by Lago in 1979:

The bell, as you might expect, inspired me to make something for St. Patrick’s Day.  Not being Irish, however, and having lost my taste for green beer several decades ago, I don’t get all Erin Go Bragh about St. Patrick’s Day.  If I did, I might make corned beef and cabbage, like Kroger was encouraging me to:

But I don’t.  Nevertheless, this March I am excited to celebrate green.  After last month’s unprecedented winter storm (and epic grid failure), Houston landscapes, which were just about ready to explode with spring color, turned brown.

Heartbreaking.  Houston gardeners are left wondering what will come back and what was lost to the hard freeze.  Pretty sure my two little citrus trees didn’t make it.  Still hoping for the spectacular gardenia tree that straddles my yard and my neighbor’s yard to show some sign of life.  Then I saw these little green leaves peeking out on some of my other trees, and I was happy.  Hopeful.

Inspired by the bell and all things green this St. Patrick’s Day, I made an almond-crusted bacon and spinach quiche — spinach is green, after all (work with me here).  Every other quiche I ever made started with a Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, which explains why the crust was usually left behind on the plate.  I have a love/hate relationship with Pillsbury pie crusts — love how easy they are, hate how they taste.  Really need to make my own pie crusts.

This quiche has an almond flour crust, which we all really liked.  I go through a lot of almond flour these days.  I don’t favor any particular brand, but the name of this brand — Nut Up — is kinda hilarious to me (if you don’t understand why, check here):

I think if you served this quiche with a Guinness stout, there is a good chance you could get lucky this St. Patrick’s Day.

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ALMOND-CRUSTED BACON SPINACH QUICHE
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • For the crust
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • ⅓ cup butter, melted
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • For the filling
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 5 ounces fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
  • 6 eggs
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • ½ cup almond milk
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar, divided use
  • 8 ounces cooked bacon, crumbled
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9-inch pie plate.
  2. Place crust ingredients in a medium bowl and mix together until a ball forms. Press crust evenly into pie plate. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden.
  3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet.  Add spinach and saute until wilted.  Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, and almond milk.  Add spinach, bacon, ½ cup cheese, salt, and pepper, and stir until combined.  Pour into crust.  Sprinkle remaining ½ cup cheese over top, and bake for 35-40 minutes, until filling is set and a knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Allow to cool before slicing.

Ready for the oven

Bee-yoo-ti-ful

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Oops — forgot to mention that the quiche was made with farm-fresh eggs from my fabulous neighbor’s ranch.  <3

 

 

FROZEN MARGARITAS

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It’ll be a long time, maybe never, before Texans forget this past week.  Snowmageddon,  Snovid-19, whatever you want to call it, it shut down the state and left millions in the icy darkness of an epic electric grid failure.

We woke up Monday morning to a winter wonderland of sorts, at least for Houston.

Overnight, snow had fallen — enough to blanket roads and landscapes:

Jasper and Maisy had the rare opportunity to be the first to step on fresh snow, and it was so fun watching them race around in it:

Over in San Antonio, Izze couldn’t get enough of the snow:

One unexpected sight was the scores of cedar waxwings huddling in the trees with their feathers puffed up to keep them warm:

After the novelty of snow in Houston quickly wore off, and Texas’s electric grid famously failed, the 42 hours we went without electricity in below-freezing weather kinda sucked.  We were fortunate — no busted pipes, and we have a gas stove and fireplace, so we were able to cook and huddle by the fireplace for some warmth.  But it was cold.  Really cold.

These “unprecedented” Houston weather events are getting old — the unprecedented heat and accompanying drought in 2011, the unprecedented rainfall (up to 51 inches) and catastrophic flooding of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and this past week’s unprecedented snowstorms.  The next “unprecedented” weather event we see here better be springlike weather stretching from June 1 to September 30.

When it came to recipe inspiration, all I could think of were frozen things (brain freeze, perhaps?).  But they seemed so seasonally inappropriate.  But wait — today is National Margarita Day! And so, inspired by a miserable, surreal, freezing cold week, I bring you our favorite recipe for Frozen Margaritas, to enjoy whatever the weather.

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FROZEN MARGARITAS
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Ingredients
  • Kosher salt, for rimming glasses
  • Lime wedges for rimming glasses
  • 6-ounce can frozen limeade
  • 9 ounces tequila
  • 2 to 3 ounces triple sec
  • Juice of 1 small lime
  • Lime slices, for garnish
Instructions
  1. To rim glasses: Pour the salt onto a small dish. The salt pile should be about a quarter of an inch high and wider than the rim of the glass you're using. Run a lime wedge along the outer edge of the glass. Place a glass upside-down into the dish of salt, and then twist the glass gently to coat the entire rim. Turn glass upright and shake off any loose salt.
  2. Place limeade, tequila, triple sec, and juice of 1 small lime in a blender. Fill with ice and blend until smooth. Pour into the center of the prepared glasses, taking care to avoid splashing the salt rim. Garnish with a lime slice and serve.

Frozen!