Besides the amazing architecture of Al Andalus (the name of southern Spain during the times of the Islamic rule from ~700 – 1492, the area now known as Andalusia), the area is also known for tapas.
Tapas
Tapas are generally served in most bars and restaurants. Some only serve tapas, and are known as a tapas bar. With each drink that you order, you get small bites of food that come with the drink. This is tapas. I described it to others as a Spanish dim sum while drinking. It’s a whole culture in Spain. And it’s fantastic.
The type of tapas that come with your drinks can vary widely. From the very basic potato chips with your beer to a small plate of calamari with your sangria.
I’ve made several different sets of this since the first time I shared this recipe (click here for the first post on it), and both settled on a preferred base of ingredients, and eaten enough of them to stop making them for a while (what, about a month of eating them every weekday is not enough?) I have put in my additional updates in blue font below.
the last iteration of tasty egg cups (a.k.a. mini-quiche).
Chardegg Cakes for Breakf*st
*So fast you can eat it while you run out the door and skip the ‘a’.
Original inspiration from: Paleo Living Magazine‘s Paleo Kale and Chives Egg Muffins + I Breathe I’m Hungry’s Swiss Chard & Ricotta Pie.
Ingredients:
4 eggs
1/4 cup almond milk
1 cup chard, finely chopped (or whatever palatable veggie you have on hand such as kale, finely-diced broccoli, zucchini, etc).
1/4 c onions, finely chopped
1 roma tomato, sliced
1/2 tsp minced garlic (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
6 slices very thinly cut deli ham, orplus coconut oil to grease cupcake cups
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sauté onions 4 minutes on medium, add garlic (optional), fry 1 minute more until garlic is golden.
2. Grease 6 cupcake molds with coconut oil, line thinly with half a ham slice in each cup.
3. Whisk together eggs, almond milk, chard, and onion-garlic mix.
4. Filled 6 cups with mixture, top with one tomato slice each.
5. Bake 30 minutes, then pop out egg cups to eat for the week. Storage Note: if you make a double portion, these also freeze for a pretty decent breakfast later (defrost the day before you want to eat them). If you are a toaster oven devotee, you can pop them in to toast and it crisps them right up.
Today’s Recipe Rating:
Novelty Rating: 4 of 5 stars.
The is the second round, I may update if I find the ham was even better (or maybe tasted more virtuous to eat than turkey bacon, which may or may not be better for you than using prosciutto). Likelihood of Repeat: 98%
This has been a household hit too, increasing the chances of repeat. It’s also so portable and satisfyingly filling! Lesson Learned:Just always oil the pan, otherwise you’ll be scraping forever and ruining the finish on your cupcake mold. Also, they are so much prettier with tomato slices on top (and the egg rises through it when baked, neato).
I feel like using thinly sliced ham is both less fattening than prosciutto and less of a waste of prosciutto (and less tedious than pressing sausage into the molds).
Picked up another recipe from A Beautiful Mess for mini quiches (original recipe is here, I added a couple things). Tried it yesterday during the Seahawks v. Saints game.
puff pastry (I took out a piece and set it in the fridge in saran wrap to defrost overnight instead of having to add 30-40 minutes’ lead time from the freezer)
3 eggs
2 Tbs half and half
salt + pepper
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
1/8 cup chopped ham
1 Tbs chopped scallions
1 tsp dried thyme
Butter
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, cream, ham, scallions, thyme, salt and pepper. Buttered 2 large ramekins (4.5″ diameter). Cut puff pastry into large squares that will slightly hang over once placed in the baking dishes. Fill 2/3 full with the egg batter. Fold the edges in toward the center. Sprinkle on the cheese and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the egg looks set.
The final product.
Today’s Trial Recipe Rating: Novelty Rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a brand new combo to try, and the ease of using defrosted puff pastry really appealed to me. However, as I made it, it reminded me more and more of the baked eggs I’ve been baking the last few months, which involves very similar ingredients, minus the pastry and scrambling and whip up faster. The novelty also wore off quickly as I ended up timing it for a post-lunch snack, but me and my partner were still full from a delicious late lunch. Likelihood of Repeat: 20%
I had to wait a day and reheat before I could finish a whole ramekin, and the whole thing really turned out to be very heavy on the pastry side, and it felt like most of the egg mixture disappeared. Adding some fresh tomato and basil made it feel renewed a little, but I will be looking for other methods to finish the leftover puff pastry in the freezer, probably something involving jam..
If I did try it again, I’d up the egg ratio, add tomatoes, and maybe roll out the pastry more so there’s less of it to balloon up and take over. This is definitely a carb-rich recipe.
Do you have other favorite combos for puff pastry? Let me know.
the competition in my stomach that made it there before the quiche: steak-frite lunch on spring mix salad.
