Baked Pineapple Casserole

Who doesn't like pineapple with ham!  I know people who eat that combination on pizza!  This baked pineapple casserole has been a favorite side dish to serve with baked ham at Easter time.  It has a texture similar to those breakfast strata recipes that so may people make and, as a matter of fact, it does make a nice brunch dish.  This is another one from my mother-in-law--though I have no clue as to where she got it.  I hope to make it for Easter dinner tomorrow. 

Baked Pineapple Casserole

printable recipe

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 can crushed pineapple (20 oz.)

4 slices white bread, cubed

Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  

Stir in drained pineapple, then fold in bread cubes.  

Place in 1 1/2 quart buttered casserole.   

Bake, uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Choose Your Filling Quiche

We had a huge vegetable garden when the kids were growing up.  As such, I loved recipes that allowed me to add things from the garden.  Quiche was good for that.  We always had spinach, cherry tomatoes, various peppers, asparagus . . . the list goes on.  I used the same basic quiche recipe with different veggie fillings based on whatever the harvest was.  I found I really liked having bacon or ham along with the veggies.   One thing I did so that I could make this whenever I wanted was to buy a large block of Jarlsburg cheese and shred it with the food processor.  I then bagged 1 1/2 cup portions in ziploc bags in the freezer.  I also made sure to keep a couple of cans of evaporated milk on hand.  That's probably how I ended up using that in lieu of cream or half & half, which I typically didn't keep.  Just pull your cheese out of the freezer a few hours ahead of time and save your trip to the store.  Ready made pie crust sheets also come in handy in the freezer!

Choose Your Filling Quiche

Printable Recipe

Adapted from Quiche Pan, Potpourri Press 1976 (out of print)

Filling for 1 ½ inch deep quiche pan

Serves 6 - 8

Using pie crust of your choice, precooked for 10 minutes at 400 degrees and cooled.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients:

½ lb. bacon, diced and fried until crisp

1 ½ cup shredded Jarlsburg cheese

4 eggs

1 Tablespoon flour

12 oz. can evaporated milk

¼ tsp. Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

⅛ tsp. Nutmeg

2 Tablespoons butter melted

Place the bacon and cheese in the partially baked pastry shell.

Place the eggs in a bowl.  Add the flour and stir with a wire wisk.  It will

Appear lumpy, but do not worry about it.  It will be alright. Stir in all

The remaining ingredients.

Pour the custard into the pastry shell.  Bake for 35 minutes or until the quiche

has puffed slightly and the custard is lightly firm in the center.

Serve hot or cold.  (It is better hot!)

Other fillings:  My favorite is to add sliced cherry tomatoes and scallions to

the bacon.   You can also add cooked spinach, diced ham, asparagus.

Use your imagination!

Spinach Pie

Some years ago--probably about 32-- I received a Greek cookbook for my birthday.  I was thrilled.  The first dish I set out to prepare was Spanakopita.  I love the stuff.  I discovered that Filo dough is a pain to work with and since I was cooking for a family, I just didn't have time to deal with it on a regular basis.   So I experimented with ingredients to come up with a family friendly recipe that I could throw together after work.  This recipe turned out to be a family favorite and was often served for brunch.  Emily requested it every year for her birthday dinner as well.

I hadn't prepared this recipe for a few years but I had some leftover puff pastry so I thought I'd make a half sized recipe of it for the spouse and myself.  It was as good as I remember it.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Spinach Pie

Printable Recipe

Serves at least 8.

Ingredients:

1 box frozen puff pastry, thawed (2 sheets)

3 - 10 ounce boxes frozen chopped spinach (or 2 - 1 pound bags)

1 - 15 oz. container Ricotta cheese

½ cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. Ground nutmeg

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll out one sheet of puff pastry to
fit the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch glass baking dish.  Cook spinach
(I cook in microwave for about 5 minutes) and drain.  Combine
spinach, cheeses, egg and nutmeg in large bowl.  Stir until mixed well.  
Spread spinach mixture over the puff pastry.  Roll out second sheet of
puff pastry to fit on top of spinach mixture.  Seal the top pastry to the
sides of the dish.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 - 35 minutes or until pastry is golden.

Christmas Breakfast

As I mentioned in my inaugural post--we've been enjoying this Christmas breakfast since 1989 when I found both recipes in the holiday food section of the Washington post.  I clipped and saved the whole section, which was about make ahead Christmas morning recipes, and have made these ever since.

Our Christmas breakfast consists of Country Puff Pastries which can be made any time ahead and frozen or they can be refrigerated for a few days, and Providence Hot Apples, which are prepared the night before and cooked in the morning.   Our routine was to get up, turn on the oven to preheat and make coffee.  We'd pop the apples and pastries in the oven while we all opened our stockings.  Then we'd eat.

After breakfast, it was time for presents--and Mimosas or Sweet Sparkling Wine (usually Asti Spumante) mixed with blueberry juice and Chambord.  That drink doesn't have an official name, but I like to refer to it as a Berry Merry. 

The pastry recipe makes 27 pastries so we'd save some for New Years Day breakfast as well.

Country Puff Pastries
Printable Recipe

--These savory treats come from the Springdale Country Inn in Lincoln, Va.   The entire family will love them--even the kids!  Think of them as an elegant version of an Egg McMuffin.   For ease, buy frozen puff pastry at the grocery store and thaw in the refrigerator.  I get my ham from the deli--usually Virginia baked ham, and the Canadian bacon is the packaged one from the grocery store.

Makes 27 pastries

3 sheets frozen puff pastry (1 1/2 boxes of the most readily available brand), thawed
4 ounces grated Swiss cheese (1 cup)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 ounces silvered country ham (about 1/3 cup packed)
2 ounces Canadian bacon, chopped (about 1/3 cup packed)
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
black pepper to taste
1 egg
1 teaspoon water.

Mix cheeses, ham, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, heavy cream and pepper in a large bowl.

Using one pastry sheet at a time, roll out sheet to a 12 inch square.  Cut pastry dough into 4 inch squares (3 rows of 3 squares) and place 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each square.   Make an egg wash by mixing the remaining egg with 1 teaspoon of water. Brush the edges of each pastry square with a little egg wash, then fold each square top left corner to bottom right corner and press to seal the edges together with the tines of a fork.  Trim the edges with a knife if they need evening up.  Repeat with the other 2 sheets of pastry.  If you don't plan on baking them immediately, wrap each individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze.

When ready to bake, place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or longer if pastries have been frozen.  There is no need to thaw the pastries first.

Providence Hot Apples
Printable Recipe

--adapted from Breakfast with Friends by Elizabeth Alston, 1989

10 servings

4 pounds (about 8) Granny Smith or other tart apples
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Mix sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Peel and core the apples then cut them in 1/2 inch chunks.  Add the apples to the sugar/cinnamon mixture in the large bowl and toss so that the apples are coated with the sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate over night.

One half hour before serving, heat oven to 400 degrees.  Butter a 9 X 13 inch baking dish and add the apples, including all the sugar mixture and juices.  Spread them out and bake for 20 minutes, stirring 3 or 4 times until the apples are tender but not mushy.  Serve very hot.