Canadian Bacon Mini Crustless Quiche

Well, sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I was just recently diagnosed with something called SIBO - Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.  So now I have to tweak my diet.  I was gluten-free before when my doctor thought I had Celiac.  That was a tough diet to stomach.  Now, I need to cut back on not only wheat, but sugar, artificial sweeteners, dairy, soy, and most starches as well.  I'm in an adjustment period and for now, I've been eating a lot of salads, fruits, and meats, so I guess that's a good thing!

So while I'm adjusting, I'll have to post some new recipes!

Today, I made these Canadian Bacon Mini Crustless Quiches! They are so easy, and make great leftovers.

My package of pre-cut canadian bacon came with 10 slices, so I made 10 mini quiches.

10 slices of canadian bacon

10 eggs

red peppers

shallots

chives

salt and pepper

havarti cheese

Those are the ingredients I used, but feel free to play around with any combo of veggies, cheese and herbs you have on hand.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cupcake tin with some spray oil. Cut slices, about 1/2 inch, along 4 sides of the bacon. Place a slice of bacon into each muffin cup. These don't need to be perfect. Place your veggies on top of the bacon. I sauteed mine slightly, but you don't have to. Then carefully put an egg into each cup. Top with some herbs and put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how firm you like your eggs. Top with cheese, salt & pepper and voila!

Faux Turtles

These are the easiest, tastiest chocolate treats you can make!  They're salty and sweet.

Ready for this?

Buy Rolos.  Buy those square, grid pretzels.  Buy some nuts or M&M's.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pretzels on a baking sheet and top each with a Rolo.

Pop these babies in the oven for 2-3 minutes, or until the chocolate looks shiny.  Take them out of the oven and immediately top them with nuts or M&M's or whatever you fancy.  You can also top them with another pretzel to make a pretzel-Rolo sandwich!

Let them cool completely before storing them,  If you try to move them while they're hot, the chocolate will get everywhere.

Cook's Illustrated Apple Cake

I came across a picture of this cake when I was surfing the food blogs.  I found it was a recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  Most Cook's Illustrated recipes are only available to paying members of their site.  Luckily, they have a free 2-week trial.  So I signed up and grabbed as many recipes as I could find.


So, Cook's Illustrated Apple Cake can be found here for those you pay, or want to try it out free for 2-weeks.  Did you know, Cook's Illustrated, Cook's Country and America's Test Kitchen recipes are developed right here in my state of Massachusetts?  Actually, in the town next to where we live, Brookline!    I even did some cat sitting for someone who works there, and I'm very jealous of her job.  But I digress....

The first step to making this apple cake is to butter and sugar your bundt pan and add a layer of brown sugar at the bottom.

Next, chop your green apples, toss them with some more brown sugar and layer them on top of the brown sugar already in the bundt.  You could also toss the apples with some cinnamon.

Next, combine your dry ingredients, and your wet ingredients.  This recipe uses cake flour, which gives the cake the texture of a pound cake.  The batter is very thick.

And then bake!  I had a hard time figuring out if this cake was done, since the middle still looked a bit loose even after 45 minutes.  Once it's done, you're supposed to immediately invert the cake onto a foil-lined baking rack.  Well, this part wasn't so easy!  Part of the apples and cake stuck to the bundt!  I think perhaps it had something to do with sugaring the pan??  Either way, it smelled delicious, like a warm apple pie.

I just picked the stuck-on pieces out of the pan and put them in the middle of the cake.

After the cake cools completely, top it with some confectioner's sugar.  I also made some Brown Sugar and Bourbon Cream to be served alongside.  I have to say, the cake was good, but very sweet.  The Bourbon Cream, which is made with sour cream, gave it a nice tang to cut the sweetness.  The cake was good the day it was served, but the leftovers weren't so great.

Here's the recipe for the Brown Sugar Bourbon Cream - Printable Recipe