Zucchini and Mushroom Crustless Quiche



Zucchini and Mushroom Crustless Quiche

I've decided to dive into the world of baking through instructions rather than pay money for a class to learn the basics. I've still got my eye on the cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu's Masterchef classes at Boston, will be fun to learn something decadent or difficult. But the basics of baking - quiches, pies, pastries, muffins et al, I plan to learn on my own.

My first effort at baking a dish from scratch - my very own crustless quiche that I spent a very happy hour preparing and another 50 minutes baking.

Pinterest helped me gather the recipes I was most willing to try and this looked relatively easy to follow: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/zucchini-and-goat-cheese-crustless-quiche-recipe/index.html

Of course, my kitchen did not have everything as desired - I substituted feta for the montrachet and used a combination of zucchini and mushroom to make up the amount for this recipe as I didn't have enough zucchini on hand. The result wasn't bad at all - I loved biting into a piece of mushroom every now and then. The next step for me in making quiches is to make individual mini quiches in the muffin pan but I suspect will need a finer shredded goat cheese rather than feta crumbles.

Do you remember the recipe you used when baking for the very first time?

One-Pot Wonders: Veggie Vermicelli

Veggie Vermicelli

The best thing about it is it's a one-pot dish.

1 cup pre-roasted vermicelli

1/4th cup small, black lentils (preferably soaked overnight or over a couple of hours)
1/3rd cup french cut green beans
2 pods garlic (crushed) - feel free to reduce the number to 1 if looking for a light garlic flavour
1/2 an onion chopped
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground chilli powder or paprika
1/2 tsp garam masala spice (optional)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Salt
Boiling water enough to cover the vermicelli - process comes after all ingredients have been mixed together.

Cooking process.

First, heat some cooking oil in a pot (regular olive oil's great too) or wok - medium heat. Add garlic and let it brown a little bit (don't overcook or brown them completely). Add chopped onion and saute for a bit until translucent. Next, add the spices - turmeric, ground chilli powder/paprika, garam masala (if using), ground cumin. Mix it around for a bit.

Then add the lentils and green beans with a little water enough to cook the lentils for a while (cover the pot) until they are soft. Check by carefully extracting a few lentils with a spoon, letting them cool a bit and then checking softness by trying to squish them under your thumb. They should be soft but not squish completely.

Once cooked, turn the heat to low and add the vermicelli. Give it a stir and add the boiling water enough to cover the vermicelli but not over the level as they can get overcooked. Stir once and cover for a few minutes. When the water level reduces and you can see the change in the vermicelli (they start to plump up a little as they absorb water), add salt. Cover the pot again keeping the heat low so the vermicelli doesn't burn as the water gets completely absorbed. Check again after 5 minutes and remove from heat once the water is fully absorbed.

Serves 2 with seconds/thirds depending on portion size. It's very addictive, though.

Substitutions - you can add carrots/bell peppers/shelled corn/peas any veggie you like. You can also substitute black lentils with pre-cooked red beans/lima beans/black beans. This is a very versatile dish and you can tweak the flavours by adding different spices (the next time I make it, will try a combination with thai spices, coconut milk and peanuts).

So, how do you rate this one? Do let me know whenever you try it in your kitchen.