Hashbrown Quiche

Here is another good one to add to your breakfast arsenal.  It comes together very quickly and tastes delicious!   It comes from our good friend Ms. Paula Deen and with a 5 star rating and over 300 reviews on the Food Network website, this recipe is definitely well received. 

I added about 1/4 of a large onion and one small green bell pepper in place of the green onion.  I also defrosted the frozen hashbrowns in the microwave instead of waiting for them to thaw.  It worked out wonderfully.

Here's to brunch!

Hashbrown Quiche

3 cups, shredded frozen hashbrowns, thawed and drained
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup diced cooked ham

1/2 cup diced green onions (or 1/4 of a large onion)
1 small green bell pepper

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Gently press the drained hashbrowns between paper towels to dry them as best as possible. In a 9-inch pie plate, toss the hashbrowns with the melted butter into the plate. Press them into the bottom and up the sides to form a crust. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and starting to crisp.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. When the hash brown crust is ready pour the egg mixture over it and return to the oven.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for about 30 minutes until the quiche is light golden brown on top and puffed.

Source:  Paula Deen, Food Network

Mini Strawberry Pies

There are some gorgeous strawberries in season right now and after making strawberry shortcake, and just eating them by the handfuls, I was itching to try my hand at making a strawberry pie.  Strawberry pie doesn't seem to be as common as say an apple pie or cherry pie, and I was a bit curious as to why.  I do see the fresh glazed strawberry pies, but not really any of the baked variety.  For some reason I wanted to try it anyway! haha.  Hey, and to make it even more interesting, why not make it mini!  There is just something appealing about food made "mini".  Maybe it's the cuteness factor, who knows.  But this pie needed to be mini.  :)   And I figure with summer get togethers, what better way to serve pie than in individual portions.  That way you can avoid all the messy cutting and serving.

These mini pies were delicious!  I hope everyone gives strawberry pie a chance.  Served warm with ice cream, it screams summer.  I used a muffin pan to make the mini pies and chose a 3 inch round cookie cutter as a template for each crust.  Then I cut five 1/4 inch strips for the lattice design.  Simple as that!  I raised my eyebrow a bit at the pinches of cinnamon and nutmeg because those flavors can really come to the forefront in many dishes, but in this case they complemented very nicely and hid in the background while adding a depth of flavor.

For the pie crust, I used to my go-to recipe found in the Pineapple pie post.

Happy Summer!

Mini Strawberry Pies

CRUST:
You will need a double pie crust recipe, but will have extra leftover.


FOR THE FILLING:
½ cups All-purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
½ cups Brown Sugar, Not Packed
¼ cups White Sugar
1 dash Cinnamon
1 dash Nutmeg

4 cups Halved Strawberries
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Directions:

In a small bowl mix together the 1/2 cup flour, cornstarch, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a larger bowl, toss the strawberries with the vanilla extract and then toss them in with the dry ingredients.

To assemble the pies:

Preheat oven to 400F. Place a cupcake pan in the freezer.

On a clean surface, roll out 1 recipe for pie dough until it is about 1/8″ thick. Keep the remaining dough to the fridge.

Cut circles in the rolled-out dough using a cutter that is approximately 3″ in diameter to make a total of 9 circles. Remove cupcake pan from fridge and lightly grease 9 of the cups with butter. Gently press each dough round into greased cups, coming all the way up the edges and leaving a small rim of dough at the top. Patch any holes with a pinch of extra dough from the second recipe of dough.  Return pan to the fridge.


Cut about 1/4 of the remaining dough and begin cutting 1/4 inch strips (5 for each pie).  Remove cupcake pan from the fridge and overfill each crust with strawberry filling.  Place lattice design over the tops and press into the bottom of each pie.


Place the cupcake pan on top of a baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes. If at anytime the crust is becoming too brown, cover pies with aluminum foil and continue baking. When done baking, let the pies cool in pan a wire rack before serving.  Makes 9 pies.

Source: Tasty Kitchen