Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Indian Spiced Spinach and Chicken Quiche

Yum
The Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program was kind enough to send me coupons to try out Land O Lakes Eggs.  The chickens that lay these eggs are cage free and fed an all natural vegetarian diet with no antibiotics.  These are simply eggs that you can feel good about feeding your family.  I had to do something special with these eggs, although they did taste great hard boiled with a little salt and pepper.  I decided the dish I wanted to showcase with these wonderful eggs is an Indian Spiced Spinach and Chicken Quiche.  I made two 9inch Quiches with this recipe and it's plenty to feed 8-10 people for brunch, lunch or dinner. The Land O Lakes eggs provided a wonderful canvas for my spicy filling and the quiche made a delicious satisfying meal.   

 Ingredients:
6 large Eggs
6-8 slices of bacon diced
1 medium onion chopped
1 tsp curry leaves chopped (optional)
1 tsp mint leaves chopped (optional)
2 Tbs ginger/garlic paste or 1Tbs of each separately
2tsp of Garam Masala
1 tsp of cumin seeds ground by hand (use a mortar and pestle)
1 (8oz) brick of plain cream cheese (room temp)
1 cup shredded Colby or Mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of milk
8oz of frozen chopped spinach
2 (9inch) frozen pie crusts or your own homemade pie crust
1lb of lean ground chicken
red chili flakes to taste
seasoning salt and black pepper to taste 


Notes:  Season with salt, but remember the cheese will have some salt in the final dish.
If you would like to make only one quiche, just 1/2 the ingredients.

Directions:

Fry up your diced bacon until crispy.  Once fried, drain on a paper towel. Remove all but 2Tbs of the bacon drippings to fry the rest of the ingredients.






Take your cumin seeds and grind it into a coarse grind.  I like using a mortar and pestle for this step.





 Add your ground up cumin, mint and curry leaves and chopped onions to the pan.  Saute for 1 minute.
 Next add your 2Tbs of ginger and garlic. Saute for 1 minute.
 Next add your ground chicken, chili flakes, seasoning salt and pepper and Garam Masala powder.  Cook for 5-7 minutes.
Add your frozen spinach. Cook until spinach is cooked through and taste for seasoning.  Turn off the stove
 Now add your room temperature brick of cream cheese and allow the hot meat filling to melt the cream cheese well.

 Finally stir in the bacon bits.  Allow the mixture to cool down a little.





 Beat your eggs and milk together well.  Then add your shredded cheese. Leave 1/2 a cup of shredded Parmesan for the top of the quiche.  Mix well.




 Add your meat filling to the egg mixture.  Mix well. 







 Pour the filling into frozen pie crust and top with remaining cheese.  I like to place the pie on a baking sheet for stability and easy maneuvering.  Place in a 400 degree oven for 50-60 minutes or until the quiche has set. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing into pie wedges.  Enjoy with a light salad to complete the meal.  I also like this savory pie with some sweet mango chutney.  



Disclosure: I received a coupon from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program courtesy of  Land O Lakes.  I was not compensated in any way for writing this post.  The opinions stated in this post are my own. Thank you.

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