frugal – Page 6 – OwlCat Designs

December 6, 2011December 16, 2017

Lighter Asparagus Quiche

Asparagus Bacon and Cheddar, what better combination could there be? Oh I know, a crispy pie crust to encase it all. A Quiche in this country a lot of times feels like an ‘egg pie’ to me, which can make it pretty heavy and rich. So for this recipe I only used 1 egg, and by adding greek yogurt, we up the protein content without adding a ton of fat or weighing down the filling. Serve with a big salad for a light lunch or dinner or with a side salad as a first course for a leisurely, sit down dinner.

Okay so after all that pretty talk, here’s the truth: I made so many different traditional Swiss cookie dough recipes (you know, for Christmas I get homesick if I don’t have ‘my’ cookies), that I ran out of eggs, well, besides the one used here. So I had to make due with what I had on hand: 1 egg, flour/pie crust (there’s always pie crust), asparagus and some odds and ends.

Well, as so many times, when you find yourself in a tight situation, it leads to the discovery of something much better than expected…

Ingredients:

Single pie crust
1 lb asparagus
1 oz Speck *, diced
2 oz Gruyere (or cheddar), grated
1 cup milk
1 egg
salt to taste
2 heaped tbsp Greek yogurt

Directions

Preheat oven to 380°F
Roll out pie crust 1″ bigger than pie pan, fold to place into pan, and roll edges under to make a thicker edge.
Mix milk through Greek yogurt
Cut any hard ends off of asparagus, then place them into the crust in two layers, the second layer at a right angle to the first. Break any asparagus that are too big into smaller pieces
Distribute the Speck over the asparagus, then pour the milk egg mixture over everything, and sprinkle with the grated cheese.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 min
Serve hot or warm

*often translated as bacon, it however has much more meat than fat on it, but plain old bacon would do as well, just have the butcher cut you a thick piece you can then dice into cubes)

Serves 4 as a lunch/light dinner, or 8 as an appetizer.

November 20, 2011December 16, 2017

Savory Sweet Potato Cheddar Pie

Make something different this Thanksgiving!

Ingredients

2 Pie crusts (either home made or store bought)
6 oz cheddar cheese, grated (using the coarse side of a grater)
2 cups chopped onions (from 2 med cooking onions or 1 lg sweet onion)
3/4 lb (about 1 md) sweet potato, grated using the coarse side of your grater
1/4 cup milk or half-and-half
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, beaten, plus 1 egg for glaze (total 4)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 F
In a large skillet, heat 2 table spoons oil over medium, add the chopped onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 8 minutes.
Add the grated sweet potato, cook stirring to mix contents for an additional 5 minutes, to soften the sweet potatoes slightly. Remove from heat, let cool slightly
In a bowl, combine the grated cheese, 3 eggs, milk and spices, stirring with a fork to combine.
Combine the cooled sweet potato mixture with the cheese, eggs and milk mix, using a fork to stir until mixed evenly.
Place crust in a deep 9″ pie pan, fill with sweet potato cheddar mix. Beat remaining egg, brush edges with egg wash, then place second pie crust on top, crimp edges to seal, cut 6-8 steam vents into the top crust and brush with remaining egg wash.
Bake at 425 for 40 min or until the top is golden brown and filling is set.
Serve warm or at room temperature with a large green salad or as part of your Thanksgiving dinner.

October 22, 2011December 16, 2017

Pumpkin Goat Cheese Ravioli

As always, I am looking for creative ways to use seasonal produce and after getting some real life pumpkin (the convenience of canned could not keep me from trying this in the end) I had to use the resulting puree up, and trust me, it makes quite a bit. I had extra to put in the freezer! And it’s really easy to do (Tasty Yummies has a more detailed set of instructions, if you like), cut the pumpkin in half, scoop the seeds and stringy ‘innards’ out (keep the seeds, clean them and keep for roasting later) place halves cut side down in a baking dish, adding 1/2″ water, and bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 40-50 minutes, (depending on the size of your pumpkin), or until the flesh is soft when pierced with a fork. Scoop the flesh out, purée and voila!
Alternately, if you got a smaller pumpkin, you can also cut, scoop the seeds and cook it in the microwave until the skin is soft when pierced and peel the skin off the slightly cooled halves using a vegetable peeler!

Keep any seeds to make roasted pumpkin seeds later!

You can use the ravioli right away or freeze them for later use

Serve with Roasted Red Pepper ‘Cream’ Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh pumpkin puree (you can use canned)
2 1/2 to 3 oz fresh goat cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 pack Pot sticker wrappers or Wonton wrappers

Directions

Mix the first four ingredients in a bowl
Using 4 wrappers at a time, place them on work surface, place one teaspoon of filling in the center, brush edges with water and fold over and seal, crimping edges using the tines of a fork
place all the ravioli on a wax paper lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying while you complete step 2 with the rest of the wrappers
Either cook right away: Bring a pot of water to a boil and drop ravioli in, cooking until they float to the surface, about 3 minutes.
You can also freeze them for later use: Freeze on the sheet and once frozen store in zip top bags until ready to use. Do not defrost, but cook from frozen
Serve with Roasted Red Pepper & Pumpkin Cream Sauce.

or try a Tarragon Cream Sauce…