Elaine left me a head of broccoli. I put it to good use and made a broccoli cheese quiche. I made the crust from scratch because Jewel Osco doesn’t sell one single frozen pie crust (you have to buy 2).
Pie Crust (from New York Times)
Recipe: All-Butter Pie Crust
Time: 15 minutes plus one hour’s chilling
1¼cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, preferably a high-fat, European-style butter like Plugra, chilled and cut into ½-inch pieces
2 to 5 tablespoons ice water.
1. In a food processor, briefly pulse together the flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms chickpea-size pieces (3 to 5 one-second pulses). Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until mixture is just moist enough to hold together.
2. Form dough into a ball, wrap with plastic and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before rolling out and baking.
Easy Broccoli Quiche (from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, minced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
- 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 eggs, well beaten
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic and broccoli. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft. Spoon vegetables into crust and sprinkle with cheese.
- Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in melted butter. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until center has set.
Did ya hear the news? They finally installed the spire on top of trump tower this afternoon. That makes the Donald’s building the 2nd tallest building in Chicago. The tower installation has been delayed for several months so when I heard that it was finally done, I wanted to see if with my own eyes. Also, you can watch this 2 minute video which shows the construction and has some weird audio of Donald’s voice and sound bites from media coverage of the building.
Last night, Ben and I were planning on having dinner at Mercat a la Planxa on South Michigan Ave. However, we found out that they were doing a fancy New Year’s Eve celebration with DJ, dance floor and a $125 per person minimum (not including drinks) but included “party favors” and decided we’d go there another time. Instead, we had dinner at Province again. It was kind of hectic and our server was inattentive (he forgot to bring Ben’s dessert wine even though he charged us for it). But it was still a nice excuse to get dressed up and go out. We even saw the chef (Randy Zweiban) talking with some other customers.
In 2009, we plan to go check out this some restaurants in Chicago such as
Mercat a la Planxa
Schwa
Mado (we’ve been here but we love it and can’t wait to go back!)
Today Ben and I walked to Michigan Ave., shopped in the mall (bought some cards at Papyrus) and watched a movie at the AMC (Quantum of Solace). We both enjoyed it and had low expectations because several friends had given it bad reviews compared to the previous James Bond movie (Casino Royale). However, we decided it wasn’t bad at all. Very similar in quality to the previous JB movie and I enjoyed it more because it was shorter (I have a very short attention span). It was kinda cold walking the mile to and from Michigan Ave. but I felt very lucky to live so close to downtown.
I’m also planning on cooking some broccoli this weekend. I have a nice recipe for Broccoli Cheese Soup. Elaine left me a head of the vitamin-rich vegetable and I bought 5 pounds of frozen organic broccoli at Costco in Middleton on our way home from La Crosse (after Christmas). In addition, we had a nice under $10 Cabernet Sauvignon (Santa Rita, Medalla Real 2005) with our dinner (chili made in a crock pot). This is one of my favorite chili recipes. It’s very easy to make and full of spices and flavor!
