Quiche Lorraine

When cleaning out the cupboards a year or so ago, Food Guy happened upon a bunch of recipe cards that he used to have and wanted to try. Quiche Lorraine was one of these recipes.

---

1-1/4	cups	all-purpose flour
1/3	cup	butter
2	TBSP	ice water
3		eggs
1-1/4	cups	whipping cream
1	tsp	mixed herbs
	dash	salt
	dash	black pepper
1	cup	diced, smoked ham
1-1/2	cups	shredded cheddar cheese
	dash	paprika
For pie shell: Measure flour into a bowl. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form. Add ice water, mixing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Wrap. Chill for 1 hour. Roll dough out to fit bottom and sides of a 9-inch quiche pan. (We used a 9-inch tart pan.) Prick dough with a fork. Bake pie shell at 425 F for 10 minutes. For filling: Beat eggs and cream. Add spices, ham, and cheese. Pour mixture into pre-baked pie shell. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 400 F for about 25 minutes or until set. Yield: 4-6 servings

---

Food Guys says: I really enjoy omelets and eggs, so I knew I would like this going in. It didn't disappoint me, and it was cheesy and had a good amount of ham and spices to add to the flavor. I rank this one:

Food Gal says: I don't know about this dish, in general I don't really like ham. I used basil and thyme as the spices, and I found them somewhat over-powering. The dish itself was extremely rich. The filling was way more than what the pan could hold (so keep that in mind when pouring). It has potential, but I think I would use bacon instead of ham next time, add some type of veggie, and either cut the spices or choose a different spice mix. I left the paprika off. Could be more to my liking with alterations:

Pumpkin Bars

We had a lot of pumpkin pie filling left over after the pumpkin zucchini bread. Food Gal looked through our cookbooks for some uses and found this Pumpkin Bars recipe in Ann Arbor's Cookin' II.

---

4		eggs
1		small can pumpkin (~14 oz)
2	cups	sugar
1	cup	oil
2	cups	flour
2	tsp	baking powder
1/2	tsp	salt
2	tsp	cinnamon
1/4	tsp	cloves
1	tsp	baking soda
1	TBSP	milk
2-1/2	cups	powdered sugar
6	TBSP	margarine
1	tsp	vanilla
3	oz.	cream cheese, room temperature
For bars: Preheat oven to 350 F. Beat eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and oil together. Add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda and beat well. Put on greased cookie sheet and bake 20-30 minutes. For frosting: Combine remaining ingredients. Spread over bars once they have cooled. Yield: 16-20 servings

---

Food Guys says: My family makes a lot of desserts similar to this, and they are normally sweet and tasty. This was very much the same thing. The pumpkin kept it moist and the icing added a good flavor. The icing was similar to that on the zucchini cookies that we made. I rank this one:

Food Gal says: Light, fluffy, and moist. This dish was very easy to make. It makes a ton though! Very pumpkin-y. Good Dish:

Masters

Food Gal has had this restaurant on her list of places to go for a few years now. It is located at 13 mile and Dequindre in Madison Heights. This is a golf themed restaurant that serves steak, fish, and chicken. We had snacked before we came to the restaurant, so we skipped the appetizer. Food Guy ordered the Cajun Marlin and Cream of Broccoli Soup. Food Gal ordered the Fish and Chips and French Onion Soup. Again, we skipped the dessert because of our snacking.

---

Food Guys says: I had been here once before on a business lunch, so I knew what to expect. The decor is all golf themed and can border on the cheesy, but it isn't horribly overdone. This trip was pretty quick. We ordered, ate, and were on the road again in well under an hour for under $30. My soup was ok, but I realized I was expecting Broccoli and Cheddar Soup and the lack of cheese in a Cream of Broccoli makes it sort of blah. I enjoyed my fish. I had never had Marlin before, and this came with a cajun spice rub. Food Gal found it overly spicy, but I wolfed it down without a problem. I rank this restaurant:

Food Gal says: The French Onion soup was pretty good, a little salty. There weren't too many onions, it was mostly broth. The bread and cheese were good. The fish in and of itself was good, but the breading was way too oily! Good fries. Tartar sauce was just OK. The restaurant decor was all golf (ala the Masters). Restaurant was really hopping, and service was good. Even though it was busy we were promptly seated. The food itself was inexpensive...menu contained a variety, but was mostly classic American fair. Overall I rank the restaurant:

Shrimp and Orzo with Cherry Tomatoes and Romano Cheese

This is one of our long ago recipes. For a few years, whenever we find a dish that both of us like, Food Gal has saved the recipe for future use. This dish is one of the few, the proud, the re-used recipes. For shrimp recipes, we used to use the pre-cooked, deveined frozen shrimp. We have since found that the cleaned and deveined but not cooked frozen shrimp work better and taste less fishy.

---

1	cup	uncooked orzo
2	TBSP	olive oil, divided
3/4	tsp	salt, divided
1/4	tsp	black pepper, divided
1	lb.	medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1	cup	Vidalia or sweet onion, chopped
1	TBSP	bottled, minced garlic
1/4	tsp	crushed red pepper
2	cups	cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3	cup	grated Romano cheese (we use the Kraft mixture with Asiago)
1/3	cup	chopped fresh basil
Cook pasta according to directions, omitting salt and fat. While pasta cooks, heat 1 TBSP oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper evenly over shrimp. Add shrimp to pan and cook for 1-2 minutes per side or until done. Remove from pan. Add remaining 1 TBSP olive oil to pan. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes. Cook 3 minutes or until tomatoes begin to soften, stirring occasionally. Stir in pasta and shrimp. Cook 1 minute more until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in remaining salt, black pepper, cheese, and basil. Yield: 4 servings

---

Food Guys says: This dish is one that I enjoy quite a bit. The pasta makes it filling and the red pepper and basil add a decent amount of spice and flavor. Served in a bowl, the cheese gets to seep down into everything and give it a nice, uniform flavor. We'll be eating this again and again, especially since our cherry tomatoes do well every year. I rank this one:

Food Gal says: This is one of our staple recipes. Food Guy burned the shrimp a little, so we could have done without that. Unfortunately we were low on olive oil due to all the zucchini usage, and the pan was coated with olive oil spray instead of straight olive oil. This is a good dish, the flavors all go together well. A dish we will repeat:

Frosted Zucchini Cookies

Another recipe from All-Recipes as we are finally getting to the end of the zucchini.

---

1/2	cup	butter, softened
1	cup	sugar
1		egg
2	cups	all-purpose flour
1	tsp	baking soda
1	tsp	ground cinnamon
1/2	tsp	salt
1/4	tsp	ground cloves
1	cup	finely shredded zucchini
1	cup	raisins
1/4	cup	butter, softened
3	oz.	cream cheese, softened
1	tsp	vanilla extract
2	cups	powdered sugar
For bars: Preheat oven to 375 F. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and cloves; add to creamed mixture alternately with zucchini. Stir in raisins. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks. For frosting: In a mixing bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Frost the cookies once they have cooled. Yield: 30 servings

---

Food Guys says: It's amazing to me how vegetables like pumpkin and carrot end up tasting good once you add sugar and flour. These cookies are no exception. The cookies end up being like mini zucchini cakes and the frosting adds a hint of extra sweetness. I rank this one:

Food Gal says: Tasty use of zucchini! I left the nuts out, and this may have been a mistake, they may have been a good contrast to the raisins, but we are not big nut in cookie fans. The cookies were like small zucchnin cakes with frosting. Tasty:

Oak City Grille

Oak City Grille is a relatively new addition to the Royal Oak restaurant scene. Located on Sixth, between Main and Washington, it is always packed when we drive by. Our neighbors were interested in going out to eat, so we suggested this place since they hadn't been there yet either.. We wolfed down on the bread that came to the table, so we skipped the appetizers. Food Guy ordered the Pesto Gnocchi. Food Gal ordered Chicken Enchilada Soup and a Spinach Wrap. The food was filling, so dessert was skipped by everyone.

---

Food Guys says: This restaurant is always busy. After being inside, I can see why. The decor is nice and they have an extensive wine list. Since, we weren't drinking though, we had to rely on the food menu. This is where the restaurant is really lacking. They offer only about 12 entrees. This doesn't give you much choice when you compare it to other restaurants in the area. My food was excellent, though. The gnocchi were a good texture and the pesto, cream, and cheese were all excellent. And it was filling, I had to bring some home, which isn't a typical problem for me. I would have ranked this restaurant higher if they offered more choice. As it is, I won't frequent it because I can't get much variety. I rank this restaurant:

Food Gal says: The Chicken Enchilada Soup was good, but too spicy for me (my taste buds are extremely mild). If you enjoy any sort of spice, I think this would be a winner. The feta on my wrap was very good, although overall I thought it was a little on the bland side. The fries had a slight freezer burn taste. The atmosphere of the restaurant was nice though, open windows, wood decor, bustling clientele. Service was good, our drinks were perpetually refilled. The menu itself was not very extensive. I don't know that I would be dying to eat here again, I think I would rather try somewhere else:

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

As we are living on nothing more than water and zucchini lately, we have been giving a ton of zucchini away. Food Gal's sister found a recipe on All-Recipes for this Blueberry Zucchini Bread and we decided to give it a try, too.

---

3		eggs, lightly beaten
1	cup	vegetable oil
3	tsp	vanilla extract
2-1/4	cups	sugar
2	cups	shredded zucchini
3	cups	all-purpose flour
1	tsp	salt
1	tsp	baking powder
1/4	tsp	baking soda
1	TBSP	ground cinnamon
1	pint	fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 2 loaf pans. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared loaf pans. Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves

---

Food Guys says: This has been the best of the zucchini breads, by far. The blueberries do their duty as the sweet/tart portion of the dish and the rest of the cake tastes like typical zucchini bread. I feel that the blueberries add that something extra that is lacking in the usual recipe, though. I rank this one:

Food Gal says: Yum, a really good modification of zucchini bread, the blueberries are a great addition. Believe me, we have been having a ton of zucchini filled dishes lately, and this one stands out as a winner. A dish to be repeated:

Birthday Dinner for Food Gal's Mom

We live fairly close to Food Gal's parents. As a result, they get a choice of restaurant or home-cooked meal for their birthdays. Typically, they choose a home-cooked meal and we try and accomodate with a multi-course meal of new recipes. For Food Gal's Mom, Food Gal created a menu of Balsamic Bruschetta, Eggless Caesar Salad with Croutons, Cider-Basted Chicken, and Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler for dessert.

Balsamic Bruschetta

The appetizer for this dinner was this little recipe for Balsamic Bruschetta. It seemed to be a hit at the party.

---

8		roma tomatoes, diced
1/3	cup	chopped fresh basil
1/4	cup	shredded parmesan cheese
2		cloves garlic, minced
1	TBSP	balsamic vinegar
1	tsp	olive oil
1/4	tsp	kosher salt
1/4	tsp	black pepper
1		loaf French bread, sliced and toasted
In a bowl, toss together the tomatoes, basil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. Mix in the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Make sure to let this mixture sit for an hour or two so the flavors can blend. To toast the bread, place this slices on a baking sheet for 10 minutes in a 450 F oven. Serve tomato topping on toasted slices. Yield: 8 servings

---

Food Guys says: This was an ok appetizer. I don't typically like bruschetta, but this was better than most. The balsamic vinegar taste was lacking, which is a negative in my book. I rank this one:

Food Gal says: Not bad, but not great. I have a feeling I might not be a brushcetta person. Some nice touches were the fresh from out garden ingredients, tomatoes and basil. If you like brushcetta, I think this is one to try. My ranking is middle of the road, only because I don't think this type of dish is my thing: