Mexican Quiche and Learning to Share

Good morning! Trying to whip out a quick post in order to remind everyone that when you SHARE one of my posts in order to help us get up to 200 shares, you must COMMENT on the post so that I know who has entered the contest!! 🙂 I can see lots of views and whatnot in the past day, but I am unable to see WHO has shared unless you comment.  So please, comment away.  All day long. I love comments.  They make me feel like we’re actually communicating (a far cry from it, I know, but please, help me with my fantasy that I actually spend a good portion of the day talking to adults), so show me some comment love! 🙂  I just finished my protein shake and need to head out the door for a run.  Chop chop!!  Here’s a recipe, though, which I prepared a few months back from the Best of the Best from Texas Cookbook.  I’ve had it for years but regularly only make a few of the items, since we aren’t really into “spicy” around here (or dishes that elegantly make use of Velveeta Cheese.)  This one’s definitely a keeper, though.

The cookbook

oh….yum.

Incidentally, after I broke out the goggles for fun in the bath the other night, Greer has now found my stash and just brought eight pairs of diving masks and swim goggles downstairs, with one on her head for good measure (too heavy to carry them all, she said.)

Make this quiche ahead of time and freeze it if you want something simple and tasty to serve up on a Sunday or a busy weeknight.  It’s a bit labor-intensive due to the cooking of the corn tortillas in oil (the part that takes the longest), and I find that quiche is ALWAYS best the next day, otherwise it’s a bit too soupy, no matter how long it’s been cooked.  Unlike every quiche I was fed in the UK, at the Armstrong house, we serve our quiche hot.  And for dinner, not breakfast.

With that being said, here’s the recipe:

building the “crust” with the tortillas

Layering cheese into the “corn tortilla” crust

Layering on the refried beans

smooth the beans out, if possible

Layering on the sausage

MEXICAN QUICHE

Crust: 

8 Corn tortillas

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Dip each tortilla briefly into the hot oil to soften it, then press between paper towels to remove excess oil. (Usually I have them in the oil about 30 seconds, then flip them over for another 15 seconds.)  Grease a 9-inch pie pan then line with prepared tortillas, overlapping them, extending abotu 1/2 inch over the pan edge.

Filling:

Layer in this order into the dish on top of tortillas:

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

1 cup refried beans

1/2 pound sausage, cooked and drained

2 Tbsp mild green chiles, diced (I omit these and make sure to season my dish in some other way – usually with homemade taco seasoning.)

In a small bowl, combine:

2 eggs

2 cups half-and-half or condensed milk

1/2 tsp  salt

Pour this mixture over the filling and then top with:

1 more cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

condensed milk, eggs

pouring the egg/milk mixture over the base

more cheese on top…

into the oven!

Back to work around the house now – here are the kiddos hard at work:

Ages 8 months to 8 years, working on the same toy.

A quick reminder about the GIVEAWAY, in case you missed it yesterday. 🙂

I WILL DO A RANDOM DRAWING from amongst the people who participate.  IF we make it to 200 shares before I reach 210 blog posts, THEN I will draw for a winner, but we must all band together to get there!  You can pick ANY post from my blog and share it on Facebook or somewhere else in a way that is verified (any time someone shares one of my posts it shows up on the blog details for me), and then COMMENT on that post as well to tell me that you’ve shared it.  Just my “normal” readers sharing it won’t get us to 200, but if you share it with someone else who will share it, then we can make it!  I will update the share totals each day on the blog to let you know how it’s going!  I’m only doing this to “celebrate” sticking with “blogging” for this long (I just started at the end of last May), to hopefully have one helpful post – a recipe, a running tip, infant potty training, pictures of a levitating Yoda in Edinburgh [those could be helpful to someone, right?] – shared with a person who might find it useful, and to say “Thank You!” to everyone who shares our lives reading this blog.  Makes me feel “affirmed” a bit on days when my little army of minions is lacking a bit in the “positive feedback” category and insists on giving me a run for my money. 🙂

WHAT AM I GIVING AWAY?  Well, that depends on where you live.  LOCALS: 1st place will receive three things from me in the way of baked goods or meals – just take your pick from things I’ve mentioned on my “Recipes” page.  I’ll work hard before the day comes (if we get 200 shares) to update the page so all my recipes are represented.  2nd place will receive a baked good or two of my choice. 🙂  NON-LOCALS: I don’t want to give you something better than the LOCALS (because what if it made them sad to hear I was giving you a Starbucks card or something?!!?) so I’m thinking it should be some sort of healthy food item.  Depending on where you’re based, I will figure out how to get you a gift card to either a store like Whole Foods or a restaurant like Great Harvest Bread Company.  We’ll wait to find out if there is even a winner, and then where the winner resides to finalize that.  It would be $20 for first place and $10 for second in that case, to an aforementioned healthy joint.  Expect to see this same “summary” of the GIVEAWAY every day this week.  All for now –