spinach and cheese quiche

Quiche! Perhaps the most underrated breakfast food. Unless your name is Al Rose. And then you live and breathe by it. Seriously, if I make quiche for Al he considers me a Godsend. So I bake quiche a lot because why not? It is so darn easy and if I get elevated to Sainthood because of it, I might as well. 

I've been using a basic quiche recipe from our very good family friend, Jackie for a long time. Here I took her basic method and added in our favorite egg-related ingredients: spinach and cheese. You can really use any ingredients though - ham and cheese, bacon and onion, cheese and more cheese (Al's first choice).  

So save one of those pie crusts you've made (or bought) this holiday season, fill it with egg goodness and watch your adoring fans come running. This would be a great addition to your Christmas morning menu! 

It couldn't be easier. Here's how you make it (full recipe written out at the bottom of the post)...

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, half and half, season salt, pepper, and nutmeg. 

Add in your thawed and drained frozen spinach, cheddar cheese, and goat cheese. I add the goat cheese in little pieces. 

Mix until combined. I use more of a folding method with a spatula rather than whisking - the spinach gets stuck in the whisk. 

Pour egg batter into prepared pie crust (store bought is fine here people!). Sprinkle with a little more cheddar cheese if you fancy cheese.

Place on cookie sheet and bake  in 350 degree oven for 45 - 50 minutes until egg has set. 

Let rest and cool to room temperature. 

Serve on a pretty Christmas plate! 

Spinach & Cheese Quiche

Recipe by Katie Rose of The Rose Record

Serves 6 - 8

Prep time:  10 minutes (not counting if you need to make your own pie crust)

Cook time:  50 minutes

Ingredients:

• Pie crust - homemade, pre-made, store bought - anything goes
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and wrung in paper towels to remove water
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 oz. goat cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon season salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• few grates of fresh nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, half and half, season salt, pepper, and nutmeg. 

3. Add thawed and drained spinach (I put my frozen block in the microwave for 5 minutes then wring out in paper towels), cheddar cheese, and goat cheese.

4. Mix until combined.

5. Pour into prepared pie crust and place on a cookie sheet in the oven. 

6. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes at 350 degrees until the egg mixture is set. 

7. Let cool to room temperature before serving. 

Enjoy! We are totally having this Christmas morning!

thanksgiving inspiration

How in the world is it already the middle of November? No, really. I feel like it was July and I blinked and now we're talking turkeys and gift guides and I've already seen a few Christmas trees up!  

If you've been reading for awhile you know we don't travel home to Kansas for Thanksgiving. Instead, I spend Thanksgiving day prepping for our annual Friendsgiving party that takes place the Friday after (see more here and here). Our guests at Friendsgiving always bring a dish, making it fun to taste something new each year. As my friends are signing up for what dishes to bring (I give them guidelines of side dish or dessert or hors d'oeuvres), it is funny to me to see what dishes are traditional for different families.  For example, many of my friends talk of corn pudding. We never had corn pudding, but we did have baked beans (this recipe)! 

I like to try a few new dishes each year, but I do have my go-tos that will never change. This year, in particular, I seem to be seeking inspiration for new and exciting takes on Thanksgiving this year.  Here are some great roundups that have me 'pinning' every last recipe and tablescape...

stuffed pepper soup

It has been rainy here the past few days and well...dark. The dreariness can get to you real quickly, but there's always a silver lining. And in the case of dark, dreary days, the silver lining is big bowls of hearty, hot soup. 

I love soup both for its comforting ability and its simple cook methods. It really can't be simpler - cook veggies/meat. Add liquid. Simmer. Blend if required. You really can't mess up soup. I also love it for the leftovers - its one of the only leftovers I'll eat because it just gets better each day. 

I have a lot of go to soup recipes, but on Sunday I was mentally going through my repertoire and felt like I wanted something new. Something meaty and flavorful, but not quite a chili. I thought about some dishes I cook regularly and remembered that Al loves my stuffed peppers. Seemed easy enough to turn in to a soup and it was! The peppers become less sharp in flavor and are just soft enough. The hot sausage adds a bit of a kick, and the rice makes the soup filling enough to serve all on its own. It is almost like a gumbo - chunky and full of flavor. I ended up liking it better than stuffed peppers!

This is a great one to whip up on an Sunday and eat from all week. It makes a LOT of soup. If you're cooking for one or two you might want to halve it, although we seemed to have no problem eating all of it throughout the week.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Serves:  12 (I told you it made a lot!) 

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper
• 1 lb. 90% lean ground beef (you could easily substitute ground turkey here)
• 3 links hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 - 14.5oz. can diced tomatoes ( I used the kind with green chilies in them because we like a little heat)
• 1 - 28oz. can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon low sodium Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard (not Dijon. You want the regular bright yellow stuff)
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• splash of apple cider vinegar
• 16 oz. beef stock
• 2 - 14 oz. cans fat free low sodium beef broth
• 4 cups cooked white rice (Originally I was going to use only 2 cups, but we tend to like less brothy soups so I added more rice to make it chunkier. I suck at rice so I cheated and used two packets of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice)

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot (I started out in my dutch oven and quickly realized it wasn't going to be large enough), heat olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Once hot, add in the diced peppers and onions. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Saute until tender.
2. Once the peppers and onions start to soften, add in your beef and sausage and the minced garlic. Stir to combine and continue sauteing until meat is browned and peppers and onions are soft.
3. Add in tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and ketchup. Stir to combine and allow to cook one minute so the flavors melt a little.
4. Add in stock, broth, and vinegar. Season again with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for at minimum 30 minutes. (I made mine early in the afternoon and I think it simmered for about an hour total.)
5. Add cooked rice (make sure you cook it - or in my case microwave it - first!!) and simmer another 15 - 20 minutes. 
6. Eat leftovers for lunch and dinner for next several days. ☺

Nutrition: (per serving)

• Calories:  261
• Carbs:  26g
• Fat:  11g
• Protein:  15g

Enjoy!

P.S. Other yummy soups - chicken enchilada soup // steak soup // crock pot potato soup // broccoli cheddar soup // tomato paremsan bisque // minestrone with tortellini

french onion soup pasta

It's been awhile since we've had a real deal Wine Night recipe up on The Rose Record. And boy do I have the recipe for a comeback. A few weeks ago it was finally starting to feel like fall. A little bite in the air. Just a hint of that dead leaf smell (love that smell btw). I wanted something comforting and fall-ish for dinner. But I also was ready for my weekly dose of pasta.

And then in this clever brain of mine I envisioned a bowl of French onion soup running smack into a box of penne pasta (my brain frequently operates in cartoon-mode). I took the beginning method of cooking french onion soup and added pasta at the end, topped it all with cheese per tradition, broiled it, and then immediately devoured it. You know you've made a good dish when you can barely stand to spend a few minutes photographing the finished project because you must. eat. it. now.

This is a great one for a Sunday supper or a weeknight when you have a bit more time. Caramelizing onions can take some time and cannot be rushed so don't try to cram this entire recipe into half an hour. We liked it for Wine Night because as the onions did their thing we opened a bottle of wine, chatted about the upcoming weekend, and played fetch with the worlds best french bull dog. Moral of the story - enjoy the process with this one. The slower pace and hearty outcome are just what this season is all about. 

French Onion Soup Pasta

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 3 medium-sized yellow onions, sliced thin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• leaves from two sprigs of thyme (about 2 teaspoons)
• 2 cups unsalted stock (chicken, beef, or vegetable - whatever you have on hand)
• 16 oz. short cut pasta (I used mostaccoli because in the freak world that is NYC grocery stores, I couldn't find penne)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups grated gruyere cheese (or any Swiss cheese is fine)
• 1/4 cup reserved pasta water (you may not need this)

Directions:

1.   Set a Dutch oven to medium heat and add the oil and butter. 

2.   Once the butter is melted add all the onions (it looks like a lot but they will cook down – trust me).

3.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, throw in the thyme and stir. Let simmer for a total of 40 minutes. Stir them every five minutes or so. Don’t stir too much; you want them to get that good caramelization from the heat of the pan. They’ll be ready when they’re golden brown and taste sweet. 

4.  Meanwhile, while the onions are cooking, bring a pot of water to boil. Once boiling, salt the water and add the pasta. You want to cook the pasta a few minutes shy of al dente - it will still have a bite to it. (Don't worry; we'll finish cooking the pasta in the onion broth because that is the juice of the Gods).

5.  Once your onions are brown, add the garlic and thyme and allow to cook a few minutes until fragrant.

6.  Once your garlic is softened, add the stock to the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom. (This is a process called deglazing. Deglazing is fun!) Turn the heat up to medium high and bring to a boil. 

7.   Once the onions and stock are boiling, add the pasta. Stir to combine and cover with a lid. Cook five minutes until pasta is al dente.

8.  Once pasta is cooked through, stir in half of the cheese and season with salt and pepper. If the pasta doesn't seem 'saucy' enough, add in some of the reserved pasta water. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and pop the whole thing under the broiler for five minutes.  Or you can spoon the pasta and onion mixture into individual bowls or gratin dishes and top with cheese and then broil (just make sure your bowls are oven safe). 

Nutrition: (per serving)

• Calories:  520
• Carbs:  63
• Fat:  22
• Protein:  21

^^ P.S. This is what caramelized onions look like and that brown stuff on the side of the pan is all the flavor that you get after deglazing. To some this picture is awful. To those of us who know the power of onions, this is a masterpiece.

Bon appétit! 

dinner: the playbook

Make sure to read down to the end for a giveaway where you can win your own copy of Dinner: The Playbook!

I cook quite a bit. Especially during the week. I'd say I cook about four nights a week and we have one "leftover" night thrown in the mix. It's our way of sticking to our budget - by only dining out Friday and Saturday (especially with NYC restaurant prices - sheesh!). And while we've been eating at home five nights a week since we first moved NYC over six years ago, lately I've tried harder to make our meals from scratch. Less pre-packaged mixes filled with chemicals and preservatives, and more fresh foods prepared simply and smartly to allow us to eat fresh, healthy meals each week night.

Which is why I was elated when I saw on one of my favorite blogs, Dinner: A Love Story, that she had a new cookbook out (I already had her first book and use it weekly) that focused on preparing family meals that are fresh, fast, and easy. Jenny, the author, wrote on her blog that she and her publisher were seeking readers to test out her new book and do a "challenge" to cook at home more. I commented on the post and was chosen and shortly thereafter a "trade paperback original" copy of the Dinner: The Playbook was at my door. 

I devoured the book. It was like Jenny was up in my head writing out my thoughts on the family meal. Jenny writes, "Sitting down to a meal together had always played a disproportionately large role in my relationship with my husband, Andy". Yes! That's me and Al! Jenny goes through how she and her husband maintained their dinners through having two babies and eventually two slightly picky kids. There's more of there family story in her first book, but this book is set out as a real game plan. It's not just about the ritual and calming effect of family dinner, but about how some days (most days it seems), "dinner, more than anything, just has to be...done." 

...Make sure to read down to the end for a giveaway where you can win your own copy of Dinner: The Playbook!...

Some of my favorite tips and tricks from Dinner: The Playbook are: 

Plan, plan, plan! On the same calendar as your week's activities (especially critical for those with children in various activities), plan your meals. If you know you have a late meeting or a soccer game until 8:30, plan an easier meal that day. But no matter what, plan for the week and then shop for the week. It will make your grocery shopping much easier when you know what you'll be making. I used my planner and little tabs to mark the recipes for each day of the week. 

Prep, prep, prep! As soon as you get home from the grocery store, start prepping. This is where an extra 30 minutes to an hour can really pay off for the week. Wash your greens. Chop your veggies. Marinate chicken. Cook a side of barley or rice for the week. Got more time? Make your marinara sauce and dressings for the week. The more front-end prep you put in to it, the easier it will be that week.

^^ Weekend prep: washed and dried greens, homemade barbecue sauce, homemade marinara

Re-purpose, reuse, reinvent! When planning for the week, have your dinners and ingredients make sense and be reused from one meal to the next. So if you're making a batch of marinara for chicken parm meatballs, save some and use it for whole wheat pizzas. Jenny does a great job giving a few examples of this on pages 28-39 where she gives 10 weeks of meal plans. 

Get the whole family involved! Jenny uses this as a way to help picking eaters and get the family behind the idea of eating home-cooked meals each night. In my case, Al was my "kid". I'd have him come to the store with me and help decide the menus. We had plans for him to cook one of the easier meals (Shrimp Rolls page 74), but somehow that never occurred ☺. By getting the entire family - kids and spouses - involved it takes the pressure off of one person and helps create that ritual that makes family dinner so nice.

Recipe layouts! This is less of a tip or trick, but something I LOVED about this book. The recipes are arranged in an easy to read manner. Ingredients on one side, steps on the other. All on one page. And my most favorite part was little tips underneath each recipe for how you can get ahead for dinner that night. What you can do the morning of (as simple as setting out the pots, pans, and canned ingredients you'll need) to what you can do the weekend before (make your dressing or sauce). She also lists what sides (pages 154 - 162) go well with each meal.

And here are some of the meals we made from Dinner: The Playbook. Happy to report we added every single one to our "make again" list. 

...Make sure to read down to the end for a giveaway where you can win your own copy of Dinner: The Playbook!)...

 Grilled Thai Steak Salad (page 182)

 Cornmeal-Crusted Fish with Homemade Tartar Sauce (page 108)

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas (page 70)

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Spinach (page 80)

Chicken BLTs (page 110)

 Basic Barbecue Roasted Chicken (page 72)

Roasted Salmon and Asparagus with Spicy Mayo and Chives (page 66)

Sloppy Joes (page 98)

Chicken Parm Meatballs (page 134)

Dinner: The Playbook hits shelves TODAY! You must go get it. For all of you with kids that are just going back to school, what a perfect time to start your own challenge to cook meals at home that don't come from a box. And for those of us without children, the fall always gives me that sort of back-to-the-grind and set-up-new-routines feeling. A perfect time for The Playbook. 

And thanks to the lovely people at Random House, one lucky reader can win their own copy of Dinner: The Playbook. All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post by clicking the comment link down there ↓. Tell me how you plan to use the Dinner: The Playbook, or a good tip for weeknight meals, or what family dinner means to you. Anything! Just leave a comment on The Rose Record between now and Monday, September 1st and you'll be entered into the drawing. The winner will be contacted on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Thanks to Jenny and the team at Random House for letting me be a part of such a fun experience. I truly stand behind the messages in Dinner: The Playbook - that family dinner matters and can be stress free and I'm happy to support it.

asparagus, goat cheese, and chicken sausage pasta

Although I'm usually pretty good at menu planning and having a clear idea of what I want to cook for the week when I do my grocery shopping, sometimes I only have an idea or ingredient in mind. In this case, I knew I wanted to have pasta with asparagus for Wine Night. I also knew I was going to need to add in a lot of flavor, as asparagus and pasta alone are not all that exciting. I grabbed some chicken sausage while at the store and figured I'd wing the rest once Thursday rolled around. 

I was originally planning to make this dish with just the asparagus, chicken sausage, and pasta. But it still needed something. I had a little round of goat cheese in the fridge, so I tossed that in at the last minute and it made all the difference. The pasta turned into a creamy-coated, bright, and flavorful dish. Al's not a huge fan of goat cheese so I didn't tell him it was in there until after he gobbled up a bowl. After I told him he said, "oh, well the saucy lemony part really complimented the sausage". My little food critic.

This one is easy. One pot, 20 minutes, and you've got a fresh-tasting meal. And turns out it's pretty low in calories too, as long as you don't eat three serving sizes. ;) Make this for your Wine Night tonight!

Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Chicken Sausage Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. short cut pasta (I used the fun curly-q shape, cellentani)
• 1 lb. asparagus, cut into one inch pieces
• 12 oz. fully cooked chicken sausage, cut into pieces (I used Aidells’ sun-dried tomato)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 5.3 oz. goat cheese
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• Salt and pepper
• Red pepper flakes 

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Once boiling, add a few pinches of salt and the pasta.
3. Cook the pasta to al dente.
4. During the last two minutes of the pasta cooking, add the asparagus into the pot of boiling pasta water and cook until pasta is cooked through and asparagus is soft, but still has a bite to it and is bright green in color
5. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water (you may not need it, but always better to have some just in case)
6. Drain pasta and asparagus and set aside.
7. In the same pot used to cook the pasta (hello! Saving dishes here), add olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and heat over medium heat.
8. Once the oil is hot, add the sausage pieces and sauté until slightly brown. (Remember, they’re already cooked, you just want to them to get heated and a little seared on the edges.)
9. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice, lemon zest, pasta, and asparagus to the pot and stir to combine.
10. Crumble in the goat cheese with your hands and stir to combine. It will melt quickly and coat the pasta.
11. If the “sauce” feels too thick, add a little pasta water and stir.
12. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
13. Serve immediately. (It also tastes great cold the next day!)

Nutrition: (per serving. recipe serves 6)

• Calories:  480
• Carbs:  62
• Fat:  17
• Protein:  23

freshly-baked croissants

Whenever I have guests stay with us, I like to stay up well past midnight the night prior to make a nice pastry dough from scratch. I spend time to cut the cold butter into perfectly square cubes. I let the dough refrigerate a few hours, and then I roll it out. Finally, I form it into beautiful croissants and pop them in the fridge to bake off fresh in the morning. I just think that extra homemade touch really makes my guests feel welcome their first morning in our apartment. And who needs sleep anyways?!

PSYCHE! I don't do that. That's insane. Who has time for that? 

cinco de lily mayo

^^ My Clip Art skills at their finest.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! 

Or as we like to call it in our home, Cinco de Lily Mayo. Which means nothing other than the coincidence that Lily's middle name is Mayo (named after the condiment, not the Spanish translation of 'May'). 

We have plans to eat leftover Mexican food from last night.  Are you making anything special?  Here are two quick and easy Mexican recipes that you can easily whip up tonight.  They're some of our favorites.  

Cheesy Chicken & Spinach Enchiladas

^^ Cheesy, goey, and still contains a vegetable! My favorite ever.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

^^ Tastes just like Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup!

And how good do these grapefruit margaritas look?!

Back tomorrow with our full weekend recap.  Mexican food always takes precedence in my book. ☺

-Katie-

radicchio, mushroom, and three cheese baked pasta

I have some weird quirks when it comes to ordering when we are out to eat. First of all, I really dislike it when more than one person orders the same thing, but that's a whole separate issue for another post. Secondly, I don't like to order dishes that I can easily prepare myself. For example, I probably wouldn't order cacio e pepe at a restaurant since I know how easy it is to make at home. Because of this little rule of mine, I end up trying new flavor combinations, and more often than not, the new flavors get stuck in my head for awhile, until I try my own hand at them.  That's exactly what happened with this dish. 

weekend recap

Spiffy little weekend we had. How was yours? We had an extremely productive Saturday followed by a record braking lazy Sunday thanks to me finally agreeing to watch Game of Thrones. We might have watched nine episodes. Go ahead, judge us. Also, we now only refer to Lily as 'Daenerys', 'Dragon', or 'Your Grace'. 

Enough of that.  Here are a few photos...

Friday afternoon field trip to Milk Bar for cake truffles and ice cream.

T'was a beautiful day for an afternoon walk. Just look at a budding Park Avenue in the sunshine.

Al and I were both able to escape work at a reasonable time on Friday night. We walked around the West Village for awhile and decided to stop for Mexican food at Tortilla Flats - one of the few restaurants in NYC that serves queso dip (and therefore one of my favorite restaurants in NYC).

^^ West Village town houses. We're moving into the one on the left! Just kidding. But wouldn't that be awesome?

^^ Trifecta (Friday. Margs. Cheese Dip) = Happy Katie

Saturday morning we had plans of taking a long walk along the water, but it was far too cold. So we did what you do when you can't exercise. We got bagels. And Lily waited patiently for her scraps.

Spent our afternoon at the park listening to a Sinatra impersonator, followed by crossing off several errands from our to do list.  He was pretty good and had quite an impressive set up.

Went home and baked the cake I mentioned on Friday. Here she is ready for the oven.

And here it is after I tried to flip it out of the pan when it was still cooling. I was so mad at myself. "ARGH! I knew that would happen! Why did I do that? &*$% *#*(&" (Don't you hate those moments?) With only an hour to go to our dinner party (and having not yet even showered) I had no time for a new cake.  Ina's brownie pudding to the rescue - although even that wasn't my best work. But it was something. Seriously, just looking at the crumbled cake now gives me heart palpitations.

All was fine once we arrived. I calmed down and we had a great time with friends and all four - yes FOUR - dogs.

^^ Lucca, Chewy, Shorty, Lily

Sunday we slept in. I was awake early, but decided just to lay awake next to my sleeping family. Sometimes you just need to lay in bed, you know?  And besides, I couldn't break up Al and Lily. Sweetest photo ever.

And somehow Al sucked me in to Game of Thrones so the rest of the day was spent watching season 3 while doing some work, laundry, cooking in between. It's so much easier to get in to it after Al's watched the first two seasons. That way I don't have to pay attention to who everyone is at the beginning, we just pause and Al gives me the CliffsNotes version. So much easier (for me, not so much for Al). Here is Lily doing her best dragon impersonation:

We did make it out for a few walks. And I cooked an awesome new recipe. I could eat this every single night. Coconut rice with roasted sweet potatoes, spicy crispy kale, and roasted salmon. Recipe from Food52. You have to make this. The dressing is amazing.

And as if we hadn't watched enough TV, I managed to stay up late for Mad Men. How great (and by great I mean down right mean) was Betty's bit in last night's episode? And her ensemble? Chicest field trip chaperone I've ever seen.

Have a great week everyone!

xo,

K

{Betty Draper source}