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Georgian Style Sausage Quiche

After coming back from Georgia, the country not the state, I’ve missed some of the great food that I had while there. I made this recipe trying to capture the great flavors of the Georgian food that I had and make it into a quiche form. The fellas seemed to like it, but that could be just because it was different.

Georgian Style Sausage Quiche
Georgian Style Sausage Quiche

To make this Georgian Style Sausage (Abkhazura or Kupati) Quiche you’ll need some unconventional ingredients for a quiche. Specifically, Savory, Coriander, Walnuts and Pomegranate seeds. Georgian like different seasonings that are from the various cultures that are all around them, along with their own unique favorite to add to almost everything, walnuts. I also used a Cheesy Potato Crust for this one just to mix things up a little more. Most won’t have access to the flavorful Georgian Cheeses used in this so I’ve provided slightly weaker alternatives.

Serves 8 – 12 (one quiche)

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1/2 Cup Simply Potatoes Southwestern Hash Browns
  • 1 – 9 in. Pie Pan
  • 1/2 Cup Shredded Imeretian Cheese or Mozzarella (or any tasty Italian Blend)

Sausage

  • 1 lb. ground Pork or Pork Sausage
  • 1/2 finely chopped Onion
  • 2 finely chopped Garlic Cloves
  • 1/2 Tbsp Savory Spice
  • 1 Tbsp Coriander Seed
  • 1 Tbsp Chili Flakes (Ground Fenugreek Seeds if you want to be authentic)
  • 2 Tbsp Pomegranate Juice
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Pepper
  • 1/2 Tbsp Sea Salt

The Rest

  • 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1/4 Cup Chopped Pepper
  • 1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
  • 1/4 Cup Pomegranate Seeds
  • 1/4 Cup Shredded Sulguni Cheese or Smoked Gouda as a close substitute
  • 4 large Eggs
  • 1 Tsp Ground Pepper
  • 1 Tsp Sea Salt
  • 3 oz. Greek Yogurt
  • 1/4 Cup Half and Half

Preparation

I like to use fresh Pomegranate Seeds and Juice. To make this, take one whole pomegranate, cut it in horizontally in the middle. Then take each half and pull out the sides gently to loosen up the insides. Then hold the pomegranate half over a bowl and smack it sharply with a wooden spoon on the outside of the fruit. The seeds should easily drop out into the bowl. Pick out any of the white supporting tissue and discard. This will yield about 1/2 Cup of pomegranate seeds. Take half of the seeds and refrigerate them until ready for final assembly. Put the other half in a blender or food processor and turn into a juice. You can strain it if you want to really make it a juice, but I just let it set for a bit to settle out the sediment and carefully pour the juice out for the sausage. This whole process takes about 10 minutes to do.

First lets mix the sausage ingredients together. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the sausage ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Then lets get the crust done and out of the way. Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the hash browns and Imeretian or Mozzarella and mix thoroughly. Lightly coat the pie pan with olive oil. Then place the cheese and potatoe mixture into the pie pan and press up the sides of the pan and onto the base to form a crust in the pan. Pop this into the oven for 18 – 20 minutes or until the cheese and potatoes are starting to brown. Remove and allow to cool until ready for final assembly. Refrigerate if assembly is tomorrow.

In a large frying pan or pot, over medium high heat, add some olive oil. When the oil starts smoking, add in the sausage mixture chopping it into large chunks and cook until browned on all sides. Remove from heat and drain the fat off and allow the sausage to cool on a paper towel to further remove the grease. Once cooled pack it away and refrigerate until ready for final assembly.

Chop up the pepper into 1/2 inch chunks and refrigerate until ready for final assembly.

And last but not least, using a food processor or mortar and pestle, finely grind up the Walnuts and refrigerate these as well. This will make about 1/4 cup when done.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat the oven to 380 F. In a mixing bowl combine the sausage, chopped peppers and about 2/3 of the Walnuts and Pomegranate Seeds each. Mix thoroughly and place into the pie crust. In another mixing bowl, combine the Eggs, Yogurt, Salt, Pepper and Half and Half and beat until uniform and starting to froth, about 3 minutes. Pour this mixture into the pie pans to cover the sausage mixture completely. Top with the shredded Sulguni or Smoked Gouda Cheese. Then sprinkle the remaining crushed Walnuts on top. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the cheese is a golden brown. Top with the remaining Pomegranate Seeds and it’s ready to serve or pack it up for the rink.

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Crispy Street Taco Frittata

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Crispy Potato and Chorizo Frittata
Crispy Potato and Chorizo Street Taco Frittata

Trying to get a little more crunch into the meats and fillings of the frittata, we found this method works fairly good.  It’s normally used to make street tacos, but it serves the purpose here of making the taco style filling a little crisper and the bonus is that it also adds a little extra flavor too, at least that is what the Heathens that finished it off so quickly said.  Maybe they were just hungry after a 2 hour skate.

This works because par-cooking potatoes in water with a little vinegar helps them crisp more when fried in hot oil or fat.  This also works best if prepared in a cast iron skillet.

Also cooking Chorizo past where you think it’s ready makes it crisper, better browned, tastier end results.

You could also top with a few corn chips or slices of avocado to dress this up even more.

Serves: 16 – 22 (2 frittatas)

Ingredients

  • 3/4 lb Russet Potatoes, cubed to 1/2-inch (2 large potatoes)
  • 3 Tbsp Kosher Salt, divided
  • 2 Tbsp Peruvian Chile Lime Seasoning
  • 2 Tbsp Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 Tbsp White Vinegar
  • 8 Tbsp Vegetable Oil, divided (I recommend Avocado Oil)
  • 2 lb fresh Chorizo
  • 1 White Onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup fresh Cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 cup favorite Green Chile Salsa
  • 1/4 cup Lime juice
  • 1 cup Cheese, either Queso Freso, Cojito or a “Mexican Blend”, shredded
  • Base Quiche Mix with the addition of 2 Eggs and 1/4 pt Half and Half
  • 2 pie pans

Preparation

First thing to do is clean and cube the potatoes.  Add them into a large pot and cover with water until all of the potatoes are underwater by 1/2 inch.  Heat on High heat until boiling, then add 2 tablespoons of Kosher Salt, and the White Vinegar.  Set a timer for 5 minutes.  When that is done, drain and strain the Potatoes in the sink, allowing them to dry out a bit.  When they are almost dry, sprinkle liberally with 2 tablespoons Chile Lime Seasoning and 1 tablespoon of Ground Pepper, shaking to make sure all sides get a little of the coating.

In a large skillet, preferably a cast iron skillet, over high heat add 4 tablespoons of Oil and heat until it starts to smoke.  Then carefully add in the seasoned potatoes and shake to distribute evenly in the skillet.  Continue cooking, tossing and stirring occasionally, until browned and crispy on all sides.  This should take about 15 minutes.  Remove and set aside, drying on a paper towel until final assembly, refrigerating if that is more than 1 hour away.

Again in a large skillet, cast iron is better, over high heat add the remaining Oil and heat until it starts to smoke.  Then carefully add in the Chorizo, breaking it up into about 1/2 inch sized chunks.  Cook this until you think it is fully cooked.  Then continue cooking, stirring and tossing frequently, until all the liquid, except the fat the breaks out, has has boiled off.  The Chorizo is sizzling and well-browned, about 15 minutes.  Remove and allow the remaining grease to drain off on to a paper towel.  Set aside until final assembly, following the refrigeration rule above.

Whenever you have time during the above process, you should chop up the remaining Onion and Cilantro and reserve until final assembly.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat your oven to 375 F.  Add a thin coating of Oil to the pans.  In a large mixing bowl, mix together the Chorizo, Potatoes and Onion.  Spread this mixture evenly into the pie pans.  Prepare the Base Quiche Mix, and add the 2 extra Eggs and 1/4 pint of Half and Half to the Mix.  Then add in the Salsa and Lime Juice and continue whisking until fully mixed and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Slowly pour this equally over each filling making sure to fully coat all the filling.  Top with the Cheese equally to each and then sprinkle with the Cilantro.  Place in the oven and cook for 35 – 40 minutes, until the Cheese is turning golden brown.  Remove and serve, or pack up to take to the rink.

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Santa Muerte Meat Pie

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Fruity Santa Muerte Meat Pie
Fruity Santa Muerte Meat Pie

This one is inspired by a taco I had on a trip to Phoenix, from a little taco shop called La Santisima.  This is a mixture of caramelized fruits, nuts, peppers and a tasty picadillo style meat.  We took all the fun of the little taco and dumped it to another variation of the Tourtière or meat pie.  Fruity, tasty and not at all hot, even though there are some hot peppers in it.  Easy to make too.  And the name is meant to honor the taco shop’s patron saint.

Serves: 16 – 22 (2 pies)

Ingredients

Meat Filling

  • 3/4 lb of Ground Pork
  • 3/4 lb of Ground Beef
  • 2 tsp Olive Oil
  • 4 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1/2 large White Onion, finely chopped
  • 4 oz Raisins
  • 1 Tbsp ground Black Pepper
  • 1/2 Tbsp Sea Salt

Fruit Filling

  • 4 Roasted Green Chile, cleaned and diced
  • 2 tsp Olive Oil
  • 4 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1/2 large White Onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup Almonds, chopped
  • 1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds
  • 1 Pear, cubed
  • 1 Apple, cubed
  • 1 medium vine ripened Tomato, cubed
  • 1 Tbsp ground Black Pepper
  • 2 Tbsp Sage
  • 2 tsp Cinnamon

The Rest

  • 2 9 – 1/2 inch Pie Pans
  • 4 Pastry Pie Crusts, 2 for each pie
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 1/2 cup Mexican Crema or Creme Fraiche
  • 1/2 cup Queso Fresco Cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup Pomegranates (if you can get them)

Preparation

Meat Filling

In a large skillet (cast iron if possible), over medium-high heat, add the oil and allow to heat up.  In a large mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients for the meat filling, except the oil.  When the oil in the skillet is hot enough transfer the meat mixture and cook until the meat has some nice brown edges and the onions are starting to brown as well.  Remove the meat filling from the skillet and drain the excess grease off.  Allow to cool and place this meat filling in a container and refrigerate until final assembly.

Fruit Filling

First prepare your roasted Green Chile.  I pick up good Anaheim or NM Big Jim Green Peppers and roast them on the grill until the skin is turning mostly black.  Then allow them to cool until your can handle them.  Clean by removing the skin and stems.  Dice this up into 1/2 inch pieces.  If you want to skip the above step entirely, get a 1/2 cup of El Pinto or Colorado Roasted Green Chile Sauce, instead.

In an oiled large skillet, over medium-high heat, combine the Garlic and Onions and cook until they start to turn translucent.  Then add in the Almonds, Sunflower Seeds and the cubed Pear and Apple.  Saute this for about 5 minutes.  Then add in the Tomato, Green Chile, Pepper, Sage and Cinnamon.  Saute this until it starts to boil.  Then reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking for 15 minutes, uncovered and stirring occasionally, to reduce the liquid.  Remove and strain this filling too.  This liquid you want to use so drain that into a separate container and refrigerate both until ready for final assembly.

Pie Crusts

Again I used store bought crusts as this saves quite a bit of time.  Remember that you need enough for the top and bottom of the pie.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat oven to 420 F.  In a large mixing bowl and add in the Eggs, Crema and the liquid you reserved from cooking the Fruit Filling above.  Mix thoroughly, whisking for at least 4 minutes.  Then mix in the both fillings you prepared above and the Queso Fresco Cheese.  Halve this mixture and place into each of the pie crusts.  Top with a handful of Pomegranate seeds.  Place the top layer of crust on top of the filled pie.  Trim the pastry and make sure to seal the edges.  Cut some steam vents in the top crusts.  You could get creative here by making the slits look like a skull, and use some extra Pomegranates to fill the eye holes.  Wrap the edges with 2 inch strips of aluminum foil.  Put into the oven for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil strips and reduce the heat to 375 F, and bake for another 25 minutes or so.  Remove when the crust is golden.  Either serve or pack them up to take to the to the rink.

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Scotch Eggs

Scotch Eggs almost ready to head to the rink

While looking for a non-quiche breakfast idea that would meet the teams needs, we came across these Scotch Eggs quite by accident.  And the bonus was that only 2 of the guys had every heard of these before.

I tried to make these a bit healthier as most of the recipes for this are deep fried.  This is simply backed.  The risk with these is that sometimes the sausage coating opens up a bit on one side and exposes the egg.  This also goes well with either a straight English mustard for a dipping sauce, of course you could try the chutney mustard sauce included below.

I’ll present the portions for making 12 of these things.  If you want more, just make proportional adjustments.

Ingredients

  • 14 medium eggs
  • 1 package of Jimmy Dean Sage* Sausage
  • 3 cups Panko or Italian Herb Spiced Bread Crumbs
  • 3 tblspn – Fennel Seeds
  • 3 tblspn – Coriander
  • 3 tblspn – Thyme
  • 1 tblspn – Pepper
  • 1/2 tblspn – Salt
  • * 4 tblspn – Sage (Add this if your using regular sausage)
  • 1 tblspn – Cayenne (optional)

Chutney Mustard Sauce

  • 4 tblspn – Chutney
  • 8 tblspn – English Mustard of Beer Mustard

Preparation

In a large mixing bowl, combine the 2 cups of Panko and dry spices and thoroughly mix.  Then add the sausage and egg and continue mixing until you’ve got this fully mixed.  Divide this mixture into 12 equal sized balls.  Then place this in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  You’re going to want to work all of this with the meat cold so it doesn’t fall apart on you.

In a large pot, pour in enough water to fully cover 12 eggs.  To help with shelling the eggs, add 2 tablespoons of baking soda to the water.  This will help with pealing the eggs quickly.  Bring this to a boil and add the dozen eggs and boil for 8 minutes.  If you go too long the eggs yokes will be too dry when you’ve finished all the steps so this is kind of critical.  They need to be just starting to become hard boiled.  If they are soft boiled you will have trouble getting the sausage mixture around them without breaking them open.  When ready, remove from the hot water and put them in another bowl or pot filled with cold water to stop them from cooking further.  Allow them to set for at least 10 minutes.  Then peal the shells from the eggs and set them in the refrigerator until the coating is ready.

Prepare an egg wash by opening the extra 2 raw eggs into a bowl and beating with a fork to make frothy.  In another bowl put the remaining cup of Panko.  Take the each sausage ball out of the refrigerator and prepare one at a time.  Work one sausage ball into a either a cup shape or flatten into a round sheet.  I’ve tried this both ways and they take about the same amount of time and work and there is really no difference in the result.  Then wrap the sausage around the one of the chilled eggs and form the sausage with your hands to evenly coat the egg all the way around.  When wrapped, drop it into the egg wash and roll until fully coated.  Using a spoon remove the coated egg and put it into the bowl with the remaining Panko.  Roll that around using the spoon until fully coated.  Place this egg into the refrigerator until your ready to bake them all.

Chutney Mustard Sauce

In a small bowl over medium high heat, mix together the chutney and mustard until thoroughly mixed.  Cook covered for an additional 3 – 4 minutes and reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for about 5 – 6 minutes.  Remove from bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Final Cooking

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Get the Scottish eggs that you’ve prepared out of the refrigerator when the oven is ready and place them on a cooking grill, placed in a foil lined baking tray.  Give them a little coating of olive oil if you’d like them to be a little more golden brown.  When the oven is ready put them in.  Cook them like for for 30 minutes, turning them over halfway through.  If the outside isn’t a little crispy at the end of the cooking time, crank the oven up to broil at 500 deg for no more than 5 minutes.  Pay close attention so you don’t burn them.  They are ready to serve at this point.  Warm up the sauce of you choice and dig in.

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Smokey Sage Sausage Hash Quiche

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Smokey Sausage Hash Quiche
Smokey Sausage Hash Quiche

This one was developed while trying to come up with creative ways to use the Honey Sriracha sauce that we introduced a few recipes ago.  This one simply uses the sauce as a coating for the pizza style crust that is based on another old standby recipe.  We’ve taken a whole bunch of Sage and also some Peruvian Chile Lime spices and used them in a couple of different ways to add more body to this quiche.  It’s a little but of work, but it’s pretty good too.

Serves: 16 – 22 (2 Quiches)

Ingredients

Preparation

Lets start by getting the corn going on the grill.  Clean the silk out of the ears of corn and evenly sprinkle with salt, pepper and apply a good coating of the Chile Lime Seasoning.  Stick a 1 – 1/2 tsp pate of Butter in between the husk and the corn and wrap completely with foil.  Heat your grill to 400 F and cook these for 12 minutes on each side.  Remove and allow to cool.  Strip the husk off and then trim the corn off of the cobs and set aside.  Discard the cobs.

While the corn is grilling, you should start browning the sausage.  Simply cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat until you’ve fully browned it or about 15 minutes.  Drain and set the meat aside.

Then in the same skillet, over medium high heat, combine the hash browns, sage and the green chile sauce and cook until most of the moisture has evaporated and the hash browns are starting to brown.  When done and cooled you should mix together in a large container with the corn and the sausage.  Place in the refrigerator until ready for final assembly.

Make the Honey Sriracha sauce by combining Honey and Sriracha in a small pot over medium heat and bringing contents to a slow boil while stirring. You’ll use part of this to lightly coat the crust and the remainder should be mixed into the Base Quiche Mix.

Prepare 2 pizza dough pie crusts using the method from the Real Men DO Eat Quiche cookbook, and brush the top of the dough with the Honey Sriracha sauce.  Refrigerate until ready for final assembly.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Evenly fill the pie crusts with the sausage, hash brown and corn mixture.  Prepare the base quiche mix and add to it 1 tsp of the Peruvian Chili Lime Seasoning and the remains of the Honey Sriracha Sauce.  Whisk for at least 4 minutes.  Slowly pour the quiche mix over the filling and top with the Shredded Cheese.  Cook in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes, removing when thee cheese starts to brown.  Either serve or pack this up for transport to the rink.