Riffs on a crustless broccoli cheese quiche
Apr. 3—PLATTSBURGH — Signs of spring are purple crocuses, yellow daffodils and spring green asparagus.
My daughter Nicole is a master of quiche, whipping up inventive recipes with whatever she happens to have on hand. And, they’re crustless.
Recently, I pondered if asparagus would work, and she said yes.
I wondered if I could do it in a slow cooker, and she told me to go online.
I found a “Slow Cooker Crustless Broccoli Cheese Quiche,” on The Magical Slow Cooker website.
It was pretty straightforward, and the initial hiccup for me was I didn’t have an oval slow cooker. Mine was a vintage, red orange Rival Crockpot, that was a wedding present from my in-laws in 1979.
Maybe it could work if I stacked it, sort of like a souffle, but this was the first attempt so I didn’t know. I borrowed an oval slow cooker from Cindy, a colleague, and cooked the quiche in the break room.
I blanched the asparagus and couldn’t bear to throw away all that beautiful stock. I used it as a vegetable broth for a Canadian ham, spinach, carrot, green onion and pasta soup. It was yummy all week.
Instead of the recipe’s Colby Jack cheese, I selected four different types of shredded Cheddar. I didn’t have a hand mixer, so I tried to mix the cream cheese with a wooden spoon with less than stellar results aesthetically. But the clouds of cream cheese in the end product was a tasty surprise.
Also, I didn’t use nonstick spray to coat the surfaces. I used unsalted butter, and it browned up the quiche making a crispy crust of sorts. Yum-yum.
When I plated the quiche, I drizzled spicy garlic hot sauce over the top. Overall, the quiche was easy, and I quite prefer asparagus to broccoli.
Next time I attempt this, I’m going to replace the cream cheese with Ricotta cheese to see if it will be more uniform. And, I’m going to halve the recipe, and try it in my baby Crockpot.
Time to dig out my late grandmother’s hand mixer.
Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
Twitter@RobinCaudell
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