Asparagus & Prosciutto Quiche

My friend Lydia LOVES quiche.  If she could eat something everyday, I'm pretty sure it would be quiche.  Ham quiche.  Spinach Quiche.  Or this recipe, her new favorite, Prosciutto and Asparagus Quiche. 

This asparagus and ham quiche is as flavorful as it is attractive: sauteed mixed greens with thinly sliced quality ham makes for a satisfying veggie-ham crunch.  Stir in your favorite seasonings (pepper, thyme, etc.) and you've got a breakfast dish that is Clearly Delicious.

Asparagus and Ham Quiche
This recipe comes from Elise Bauer and can be found here. The original calls for regular ham over prosciutto, and suggests you use Elise's all butter crust recipe (you can find it here and on Elise's blog).  However, when in a hurry, feel free to buy one of those pre-made pie crusts and just prepare the filling.  It's kind of like cheating...kind of...but makes the below process so much faster!

Ingredients
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 bunch asparagus (about 10 ounces), woody stems removed
* 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
* 1/2 pound ham, or prosciutto thinly sliced
* 1/2 cup cream
* 1/2 cup milk
* 3 large eggs
* 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
* black pepper, freshly grated, to taste
* 1 teaspoon thyme
* 1 pie crust (premade, or all butter pie crust recipe here)

1.) Preheat oven to 350F.  Line pie dish with pastry dough and prepare ingredients (chop shallots, asparagus, and ham).  Don't forget to remove the asparagus's woody ends.

2.) Warm olive oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat.  Add shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes and add asparagus, cooking for an additional 10 minutes, or until tender.

3.) Beat 3 eggs and combine with 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup milk.  Whisk together to fully integrate.

4.) Add asparagus, shallots, ham, and seasonings to egg/quiche mixture.  Once fully integrated, pour into your waiting pie crust dish.

5.) Put in oven and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean (just like when you're baking a cake).

6.) Transfer to a cooling rack and let sit for five minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

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Cinnamon Scones

The setting: Saturday morning.  The meal: Brunch.  The menu: Eggs... bacon... frittata... and SCONES.  Let's just have a moment to meditate on SCONES... SCONES... SCONES....yum.  Few people I know have ever had a REAL scone--the dense, cake-bread hybrid popular in England (and even New England) from whole wheat flour, barley, and/or oatmeal, and leavening.  Scones were originally a Scottish dish that looked like a flattened plate and were lightly sweetened.  However, today's modern version of the scone has any number of sweetened and spicy recipes--blueberry, cinnamon raisin (like this post), buttermilk, etc., but overall, the scone is a basic fruit or spice flavored baked good.  Serve with jam, and/or butter, and you'll have a treat that is clearly delicious!

Cinnamon Raisin Scones
This recipe comes by way of Alton Brown over at Food Network (you can find the recipe here).  Alton's recipe is a basic scone recipe and can be adjusted in terms of flour, fruit, and spice.  The below version of Alton's calls for cinnamon, nutmeg, and raisins.  However, you can easily substitute any other dried fruit (i.e., cranberries) or fresh fruit (i.e., blueberries).  Regular flour instead of whole wheat will work nicely as well.

Ingredients
* 2 cups whole wheat flour, and extra for dusting and dough texture (i.e., if dough is too moist)
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons shortening
* 3/4 cup cream, or half and half
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup raisins, craisins, or blueberries*
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon*
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg*
(*ingredients can be adjusted according to personal preference)

GLAZE
* 1 egg yolk, beaten
* 1 tablespoon milk

1.) Preheat oven to 375F.  Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix well.  Cut in butter and shortening (in very small pieces) and mix with hands until flour mixture resembles course meal.
2.) In a separate bowl, mix beaten egg and cream.  Stir in fruit and spices.
3.) Combine wet and dry ingredients.  If you have a Kitchenaid mixer (or other electronic mixer), mix wet and dry ingredients with the flat dough paddle.  Pay close attention to the texture of the dough during this step--if it's too wet, like a cake batter, you'll want to add more flour.  A good technique to use when making any scone or bread-like dish (i.e., a pie crust especially) is if you pinch the dough between two fingers and it holds together, but does not stick to your hands like glue, you've got a fantastic batter.
4.) Flour surface and place dough in a well molded ball onto surface.  Roll out to 1/4-1/2 inch thick and cut into circular rounds, triangular cuts, or any other shape you have available (we used a heart-shaped cookie cutter).
5.) Transfer dough to a well greased baking sheet.
6.) Prepare glaze by beating one egg yolk with one tablespoon milk.  Brush over scones in a thin, but consistent layer.
7.) Bake for 15-25 minutes, or until "done": golden brown, stiff, and clearly delicious.
8.) Transfer to serving plate or cooling rack and enjoy!

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