Quiche with Spinach, Bacon and Leeks

I can make quiche! I decided to try my hands at one to bring over to some friends hosting a garage sale. It turned out quite well. I’m pretty terrible at pie crusts, and even pressed into this pan sloppily, this one worked ok.

My original plan was to do a classic quiche lorraine, using this recipe, but the ham I defrosted seemed on the cusp of bad, so instead I adapted this and filled it with leeks, spinach, and bacon. Pro tip: MAKE SURE all that grit is out of your leeks, as I had a couple of eerily crunchy bites.

Summer Vegetable Minestrone with Mini Meatballs (Recipe in Progress)

So I almost totally ruined this recipe by basically forgetting about it in the pressure cooker for an hour (don’t leave pasta in the pressure cooker, people. Also, canned beans). But luckily I was able to salvage it by straining out the overcooked elements, and redoing them and finishing it on the stove. I’ve tried to adjust the recipe to make sure others won’t do the same. My broth is still probably starchier than it should be, but whatever.

My plan was to do all-veal meatballs for this, but the butcher shop was closed and I could only find meatloaf mix at the regular store. These two recipes were inspiration though I followed neither exactly. Since this ended up being so complicated, I’ll probably refine this recipe before making it again (probably not involving the pressure cooker, except for maybe to make the stock), but I wanted to get what I did down on paper on account of the Meatball Challenge.

Breakfast Balls

These were really good! Invented these as a breakfast take on meatballs for the project. I used chicken sausage to cut back a bit on greasiness, which I think was the right call. Was toasting the breadcrumbs necessary? Unclear, but that was my idea to add a “toast” component to the mix.

Pressure Cooker Beef and Mushroom Stew

Good stuff! I made this ahead for later in the week, and will try to remember to take a picture when I have it. But I tasted it and it turned out quite well.

I basically made this recipe, and then added some boiled potatoes (because I forgot to put them in initially, though they’re not in the original recipe). It makes for a lot of liquid but I’m thinking the potatoes will soak up some of that. I think I may have forgotten to add the tomato paste, in hindsight.

Beef Bowl

Keeper recipe! Loved this, and it’s really easy (well, except for the optional poached eggs since I’m not great at poaching eggs, but still). I made this as-is except I doubled the recipe and added about a cup of wild mushrooms. Will use my own measurements in the recipe below – to make for two, follow the link. We served with steamed broccoli.

Pressure Cooker Salisbury Steak Meatballs

Yum! Was excited to do my first meatballs of the challenge in the pressure cooker. These were quite good. Made a few minor changes to the recipe, which are noted. I thought the meatballs were coming apart a bit during the searing process but they ended up holding together fairly well. Make sure to stir the mushrooms into the liquid – mine kind of ended up on top and steamed, so the texture was a little off. Paired well with corn and mashed potato and cauliflower.

Recipe in Progress: Matcha Pie/Bars

So I made this matcha pie recipe. Not bad, but I didn’t love the crust and I found myself with a bunch of extra filling. I decided to make a basic graham cracker crust and use the rest of the filling to make bars. Liked those better than the pie! So next time I attempt this recipe, I’ll make the custard, and pair with a more refined version of my thrown-together graham cracker crust.

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad

I’ve been making variations on this for years so surprised I don’t have a recipe listed. This is basically what I did.

Kalua Pig Cabbage Wraps

Kind of had mixed feelings about this pressure cooker recipe on its own – pretty plain. But I thought it worked pretty well in the wraps, so maybe worth revisiting? The meat also held up well for later in the week for tacos, quesadillas, etc. I might steam the cabbage next time before wrapping so it was a bit more pliable.

Shrimp Toast

These were the surprise hit of my party. I made a pu-pu platter of appetizers including this, rumaki, purchased fried wontons, and kalua pig lettuce wraps (recipe to follow). Everyone was really high on the shrimp toast. It’s a bit of a pain to make but really tasty.

(Note: tried to make the leftover shrimp paste into shrimp “meatballs” but it didn’t really work so I’m not counting it for the project).