If you haven’t noticed, I enjoy cooking. I write about cooking here on my blog and I post cooking videos on my YouTube channel. To me, cooking is just another way to be creative. My favorite recipes are the ones that allow me to experiment with seasoning and switching out ingredients. It allows me to make it my own way. Usually, that’s a good thing. Usually.

Baking, on the other hand, is my Achilles Heel. The thorn in my side. My kitchen nemesis. Yes, it’s still cooking, mixing ingredients together, using heat or cold to meld them all together into something interesting. And believe me, I try to bake. Working from a box of mix is a no-brainer. Anyone can make brownies from a mix.

My trouble begins when I try to bake from scratch. For some reason, no matter how hard I try, I can never seem to get the recipes to come out right. There’s always something off about them. Too gummy, underdone, or maybe too dry, a little overdone on one end. Drives me up the wall.

However, this past week I tried to bake bread using the instructions in The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Basically, I make a large batch of bread dough to keep in the fridge and pull a handful out every couple of days to bake a small loaf. It’s simple and specific, and while I don’t deviate from the recipe, it’s been fun.

But the loafs…well, I may not be as precise as I need to be when mixing the dough. I’m switching between measuring by volume and measuring by weight. Using weight is supposed to be better, but for me using volume has worked better. I have no idea why.

So I made enough dough for three loafs. The first one turned out okay, but I needed to let it brown more. The second loaf browned nicely on top, but I forgot to pull the parchment paper out from underneath it midway through, so the bottom didn’t cook as well as it should.

But the third loaf…ah, that was were things came together. In fact, I was so pleased with it I took a few pics to share. Unfortunately, my partner got ahold of it before I could grab my phone, so a piece is missing. Not to worry, it was still warm and covered in fig jelly. And no, she didn’t share.

The only thing I forgot (because I ALWAYS forget something when baking) is to score the top. Other than that, it turned out almost perfect. Nice thin, crispy crust and a decent crumb.

Once I get this recipe under control, I’m going to try my hand at baguettes. And pretzels. And seeded bread…

I may have an addiction.

RB

This isn’t a fancy recipe by any means, but it’s a quick and easy way to prepare shrimp. Plus, only a handful of ingredients!

All you need is:

• 1 lb of shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 TB of butter
• 1 TB of Worcestershire Sauce
• black pepper
• Juice from half a lemon

First, melt the butter in a 10 inch pan over medium heat until it’s nice and foamy.

Next, season the shrimp with the black pepper and add them, along with the Worcestershire Sauce and lemon juice.

This only takes a couple of minutes, so watch them so they don’t overcook.

And voila’!

A couple of thoughts on this recipe: First, I thought using salted butter would be enough. I was wrong. I suggest you season the shrimp with a pinch of salt.

Also, while the flavor was nice – how could it not be since it was cooked in butter? – it could have used a little more…something. Next time I’m going to add maybe a bit of garlic powder (or cook the shrimp with some minced fresh garlic!), maybe a little cayenne pepper, or a bit of curry powder. It just needed a little extra something to make it kick.

Give it a shot. It’s quick and easy and you can customize the flavors. I think this goes well with some thick, crusty bread or over some rice or pasta. Let me know if you make this. I’m interested in what flavor combinations you tried.

RB

Before anyone is offended by the post title, it’s a joke. Back in 1982, Pocket Books published a satirical book titled, “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche.” Basically, it made fun of male stereotypes and was popular enough to be on the New York Times Best Seller list for fifty-five weeks. The best part was that a segment of the U.S. population thought the book was serious (because they didn’t actually read it). There were actually marches by men who didn’t want to eat quiche because they considered it too feminine. Good thing we don’t have to deal with that kind of craziness any more.

Personally, I love quiche. I like to make a couple of them on a sleepy Sunday morning, then have a piece for breakfast every morning over the course of the week. Just toss it in the microwave for a minute and it’s a quick, warm, and mostly healthy breakfast.

One of the best things about it is that it’s versatile. As long as you have your base ingredients – eggs and milk – you’re good to go. Everything else depends on you and what appeals to your tastes. In fact, even the base is adjustable. So if you’re vegan or lactose-intolerant, you can switch out the eggs and milk for alternatives.

Me, being me, forgot to pick up pie crusts when I was grocery shopping this past weekend, so I ended up making crustless quiche. Which I guess you could simply call an egg casserole. But I made it in a pie pan, so I’m going to call a technicality and claim it’s still a quiche.

Pretty, isn’t it?

Here’s the recipe I used. It’s enough for two quiche, with or without crust. If you do go with a pre-made pie crust, I recommend you use a deep dish one. Less chance for spillage.

10 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup of Almond milk
12 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 bag frozen spinach, heated and drained
Salt
Pepper
1 pound bacon, cooked, degreased with paper towels, chopped

Start off by sautéing the peppers and onions. Microwave the spinach while you’re sautéing, then put it in a colander to drain (you can also use some paper towels to get out the excess water). I’ll also cook the bacon at the same time (in the oven).

Once all that is done, let it cool off for a few minutes. Tossing the hot veggies and bacon into the raw egg will start to cook it, and you don’t want that. Also, set the oven for 350f (176c) and put the rack in the middle.

Crack your eggs into a good-sized bowl and whisk until well-blended. Add the milk and blend. I then add some salt and pepper and the cheese, blending it all together. Once the veggies and bacon are cooled off, toss them in, as well, and blend it well with a whisk or spoon.

Grease or oil your baking dish with some olive oil, butter, or if you’re feeling frisky, bacon grease. I used a couple of glass pie pans, but you can use a casserole dish. If you have pie crusts, you obviously don’t need to do this.

Pour the mixture into the pans/casserole/pie crusts, then put in the oven and set the timer for about 45 minutes. When the alarm goes off you can check to see if they’re cooked in the center. You can do this with a toothpick or a knife. Just stick it in the center of each quiche and see if it comes out clean. If not, give it another ten minutes and check again. Once it comes out clean, remove from the oven and let cool for about ten minutes before digging in.

Like I mentioned above, you can do so much to personalize quiche. Try adding a tiny pinch of cinnamon or some fresh herbs. Switch out kale for the spinach, or use fresh greens instead of frozen. Use different veggies, like tomato or thinly sliced carrots or parsnips. You can omit the meat if you’d like, or switch it up by cooking some ground sausage, shredded cooked chicken, or maybe some cooked crab meat. The options are limitless so let your imagination run wild.

If you try the recipe, or a variation of it, let me know how it turns out.

RB