Clean the refrigerator Quiche

Yes, periodically the refrigerator needs to be cleaned out.  I started with a package of ground pork from the freezer with about a tablespoon of Italian seasoning.  I added about a cup of shredded kohlrabi. two cups of shredded zucchini and two small cans of mushrooms.  

I had about 1 1/3 squeeze bottles of  sour cream and some horseradish sauce for a little extra flavor. I blended that together and spread it over the top of the partially cooked mixture.

I whipped 8 eggs together with about half a cup of heavy whipping cream.  Have you noticed the ingredients?  This would qualify for a paleo meal.  

I carefully mix all the layers together before putting the mixture into the oven for an hour at 350 degrees.  Then I went outside to work in the garden with my alarm set.  By the time that I made it back inside it was closer to an hour and 15 minutes.

I took the cover off then turned off the oven an put the quiche back in.  The stored heat allowed the top to brown just a touch.

The nice thing about using the Copperchef Pan is that even though the edge gets crispy brown, it still serves well.  The flavors blended together well giving our supper quiche many layers of flavor.

Another egg bake

A nice breakfast is an egg bake.  There are as many different recipes as people baking them.

Egg bake

Ingredients today were:

Hash-browns

Ground pork and Italian seasoning

Onions

Mushrooms

Sour Cream 

Dozen eggs

Salt and Pepper

Hash-browns

I put a layer of hash-browns in my Copper Chef Square Pan while I browned my ground pork with a couple tablespoons of Italian seasoning.

Browning meat with Italian seasoning

Then I put the browned meat over the hash-browns. I put a small chopped onion over the meat.

adding onions

Then I added the mushrooms. The order isn't important. It will get mixed before cooking. 

then mushrooms

Then I put in the tub of sour cream, whipped the eggs in a separate before pouring them into the pan .

Add sour cream and eggs

So with all of that nice layering, what did I do next?  Mix it all together of course!  Then I put it into an oven that was preheated to 400 degrees.  I cooked it for an hour ten minutes until it was done in the center.  I covered it for the first 50 minutes and uncovered it for the last 20 minutes.

Mix together

Bacon Cheeseburger roll

Here is a delicious Paleo supper.

1 pound bacon

1 pound hamburger

2 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 onion chopped

1 cup shredded cheese

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll

Weave the bacon together to cover the bottom of the pan. You could have bacon left in the package.  I used thick cut bacon.

Woven bacon

Press the pound of hamburger across the bacon leaving about an inch all around for wrapping together.

Hamburger with garlic and half onions added

Then sprinkle the garlic and onions evenly across the top.  For the picture, I sprinkled the garlic then I put half of the onions on.  After the picture, I continued adding onions.

Adding the cheese

This was a tricky part. I rolled it up leaving the overlapping portion down.

Creating the roll

Then I browned it and rolled it over.  I should have browned all the sides.  It started to pull apart a bit.  I've made this before in a bread pan and wrapped in foil on the grill.

Brown on one side.

I think that I needed a larger spatula to to remove it from the pan. But all in all it turned out great! 

Remove from pan

I cut this into slices before serving.   (I used the cover to keep the bacon grease from splattering in the oven. I cooked it at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.)

Corn Casserole with bacon

The ingredients are 

2 cups dry noodles

 1 can cream style corn 

1 can corn leave the juices in 

1 stick butter

 1 small onion chopped 

3 to 4 cloves garlic chopped

 1 jar of bacon bits

1 cup of cheese

Corn Casserole with bacon

I did not have the recipe in front of me. I should have started by melting the butter. Instead I started at step 2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Yes! Dry noodles

Put the noodles in the bottom (dry). Then put the cream corn in the pan.

Add cream style corn

Then dump the can of corn in.  Do NOT use frozen corn. You need the liquid from the can for the recipe.

Adding corn

Onions are optional but good at the same time.

Ah, Onions!

I guess the same thing can be said about the chopped garlic. As I've mentioned before, I almost always use onions and garlic.

Freshly chopped garlic

Everything is better with bacon.  We buy real bacon pieces but you could make your own too.

Everything is better with bacon

You are seeing two sticks of butter because I doubled the recipe. It worked out for me to melt it and add it in here.

That's a chunk of butter

But, it would have been easier and fewer dishes if I would have done this step first in the Copper Chef Square Pan.

Melted butter :^)

Mix everything together, cover and put in the oven for 30 minutes. (I always rinse the bottom of the cream corn cans with water and dump in the pan. This will add about 1/3 can of water.)

Stir and cover

Stir at 30 minutes. At this point, I added the cheese. I like a lot of cheese so I added extra.

Add cheese when you stir at 30 minutes

(I don't follow recipes very well.) Cool for 30 more minutes with the cover on the top.

Corn Casserole with Bacon!

In the past I've made this in a cake pan which has been very difficult to clean up.  Making it on the Copper Chef Square Pan was perfect. Clean up is a breeze.

This isn't something that fits well into my dietary needs but I make it as a special treat for Dale.

Saltine Toffee bars

I decided to try making these in my Copper Chef Square Pan.

Saltine Toffee Bar

The layers are different because of using one pan: Toffee, saltine, chocolate. 

Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees and chopping the nuts.  The rest will finish fast which  is why these need to be ready.

Saltine Toffee Bar

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar packed

1 stick butter

1/3 cup chopped nuts optional

Crackers to layer pan

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips 

Butter and Sugar to make caramel/toffee

Bring butter and sugar to a boil. Allow to boil for 3 minutes. 

The transformation

Sprinkle nuts into the caramel. 

Move quickly to set the crackers

Cover the caramel with crackers  (I put the cover on the pan before putting in the oven.) Bake for 5 to 6 minutes.

The crackers boil into the caramel

Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top (I covered to assist melting.)

Melting Chocolate Chips

Spread out the chocolate and allow to cool. Don't put in the refrigerator!  I did, it was a mistake.

Frosted and cooling

Once I got the corner piece out, the rest came out okay. But it was difficult to get it going. Also, the Toffee got so hard that it broke my plastic spatula. (It was over 20 years old but I  really liked it!) 

Chicken rice soup

Chicken Rice Soup

We were hungry for soup today. So I took out a chicken breast from the chickens butchered last summer to use for a soup base.Ingredients for stalk base;

1 chicken 

3 stalks celery

1 cup carrots 

1 onion

Garlic and herb seasoning 

Salt and pepper 

Begin with a chicken to create stalk

I filled the pan with water and put the skin side down to get the most amount of taste into the broth.

Add seasoning

Then I added the celery and carrots. I always cook this together to create a good base.

Time for a couple of flavor adding vegetables

After it has boiled enough to cook the chicken through, cool it down enough to remove the chicken for de-boning.

Boiling to create the stalk

I don't have pictures after this point because it was Dale's morning off and he took over. He boned the chicken, added a box of chicken broth and equal as much water. Then I  added 1 cup long-grain rice and 1/2 cup wild rice.

I brought it to a boil and turned the heat off again to allow the rice to cook. It needs a minimum of an hour. Then added a bit more salt, pepper and garlic and herb seasoning (to taste). It was brought to a soft boil right before serving.

Using my Copper Chef as a fryer

This is the first time that I have set up my Copper Chef Square Pan for deep frying. With only two of us at home, the deep frying feature probably isn't one that we will use very often.

Fried Fish

Our neighbor gave us a some fish and Dale prefers them fried. I decided that was the perfect time to try out the square cooker as a deep fryer.

Ready to use the fryer option

It worked well. I only wish that I had more to fry.  I loved not having to splash drop the fish in the oil. I loved lifting the basket instead of trying to see and catch the fish floating in the oil.

Give me some sizzle!

In the end we had a well-balanced meal: deviled eggs, deep fried fish and baked pork chops. I don't think that I forgot anything. I think that I should try a life as a dietitian!  LOL

A balanced meal ... each protein takes up 1/3 of the plate

Alfredo Potatoes and Ham

I guess this is a modified scalloped potatoes and ham. In this recipe I used the following:

Two ham steaks (1 chopped) 

1 onion 

4 cloves garlic 

4 potatoes 

1 Jar of alfredo sauce

Alfredo Potatoes and Ham ready to come out of the oven

While I let one ham steak seer, I chopped the other to go in with the potatoes.

Creating flavor by searing the ham steak

I use the drippings to saute the garlic and onions.

Sauteing Onions and Garlic

I took the chopped ham and mixed it together with the for potatoes cut in half and thinly sliced. I sliced the potatoes the same way you would for au gratin potatoes.

Potatoes and Ham chopped and ready

Then instead of making the traditional au gratin mix I used alfredo sauce. I added an extra half a jar of water to rinse out the jar and add extra moisture.

Alfredo Sauce added

I cooked it at 350 degrees for an hour and 10 minutes. The potatoes on the top or done so I removed it from the oven. But I should have left it in another 20 minutes. Despite the fact that a few potatoes could have been a little more than it did taste very good. Dale added pepper as always.

Alfredo Potatoes and Ham