Hey Sweet ones,

I hope you are staying safe and well out there. I'm back with another recipe for you, it's a quiche with Manchego cheese, spinach, garlic and pancetta. You could simply skip pancetta if you are vegetarian too.

Quiches and frittata are my favorite because you can eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and all the in between meals. Cold or hot. Alone or maybe accompanying a soup. Yes takes a bit more time, but totally worth it. And bonus kids will actually eat it, it's simple to do ahead as well before the busy week.

For substitutions, you can make this with regular All Purpose flour or The Blue bag of Bob's red mill / or King Arthur GF flours. Be sure to use the blue bags because they have more binding agents than the others. Of course if you are adventurous you could also use a mix of your own flour.

Also, I look forward to hearing from you, or seeing your photos of any of the recipes you create of mine.

Happy cooking xo

Nicole

**BE SURE TO MAKE THE TART DOUGH AHEAD OF QUICHE

RECIPE TART DOUGH
MAKES TWO 9inch TART DOUGHS

DOUGH INGREDIENTS :

½ cup + 2-4 Tbsp Cold water
3 ½ cups ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
1 ⅓ cups SALTED BUTTER ( cold, put in freezer 30 min prior to making)

METHOD :

1.In a large bowl put your flour, with a large cheese grater grate your frozen butter over the flour. With a fork mash up any large chunks. Combine the flour and butter until it looks a bit grainy. It's okay if there are pea sized amounts, you don't want to overwork it. If the butter feels like it's getting warm, pop your mixture in the freezer. Add your ½ cup of cold water to the bowl. Gently, mix with a fork until combined until it looks like a shaggy mess. You should be able to see some chunks of butter. On a clean work surface, dust with flour, pour your dough onto it and gently work into a ball form.

2.Split the dough into 2 with a knife to make two dough balls. Wrap one up with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator while you prep the tart pan.

3. Roll out the other dough into a large circle. Place over a prepped 9inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim the edges and fold the sides in. With a fork poke scattered holes over the bottom of the tart. Then cover with plastic wrap and put in the freezer until you are ready to make your quiche. ( minimum chill time 10 hours)

QUICHE WITH PANCETTA, GARLIC, SPINACH AND MANCHEGO

INGREDIENTS:

1 PIE TART (SEE RECIPE ABOVE)

* FOR FILLING:

4 oz pancetta
1 garlic clove thinly sliced
1 cup cooked spinach ( about 3oz uncooked)
¼ cup all purpose flour
6 eggs divided
1 cup creme fresh
1 cup whole milk, plus more for egg wash
1 cup manchego cheese ( grated)
1 tsp fine kosher sea salt
pepper to taste
EVOO as needed

TOOLS: Sheet pans, parchment paper, pie weights or dried beans

METHOD:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 F. Place your tart onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Blind bake your tart filling for 20-25 min. While that's going prep the filling.

2. Place a large skillet on your stove, in the cold pan place the pancetta and turn to medium heat. When the pancetta starts to brown add your garlic, dollop of evoo, cook until fragrant, then add the spinach to the pan. Salt + pepper to taste. Cook until wilted. Drain your filling onto paper towels. After it's cooled, squeeze out all the excess liquid and set aside.

3. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, put one egg and the flour. Mix on medium speed until combined. Then add in the remaining 4 eggs, mixing in one by one scraping down the sides until combined. In a separate bowl whisk your creme fresh until silky smooth. Whisk in the milk. Over a metal strainer or mesh sieve, pour eggs over milk mixture, give a quick whisk, add in the grated cheese, spinach filling, salt + pepper to taste.

4. Reduce your oven to 375 F. Add your egg custard to the blind baked shell. In a small bowl, whisk remaining egg + 1 Tbsp of whole milk. With a pastry brush, brush your tart crust. Bake your tart for 10 min, reduce the oven to 325 F and bake for a remaining 30-45 min until filling sets and tart is golden. 5. Let cool for 10-15, serve warm or cold.

This recipe was originally developed for Hayden flour mills and can also been seen on their website.

The sun is beaming through the curtain window onto my keyboard this afternoon. Currently, sipping on a doppio blonde espresso from starbucks, because my love affair with them is still flourishing. I’m trying to conjure up some profound words about this apple spice cake I made. But for whatever reason I feel stuck, yet a thousand thoughts seem to fill my mind. In my best attempt to quiet the thoughts, I pound my fingers on the keyboard and keep going.

This season has been filled with full-ness, and I think I’ve finally surrendered to it forever being this way, because that is the art of raising kids, having a partner and running a business. Deep down, I think I may go a little crazy if things weren’t always in a state of bustle. In an effort to “ground” myself I made a gluten free apple spice cake, with whipped cream of course... And Scotch, because why not? My fridge was bare last week, because I was taken out by a nasty flu, which unfortunately I feel is still lingering around. I did however have apples, nutmeg, ground ginger, eggs and scotch whiskey. I must confess to you that I felt lazy, and didn’t peel the apples for the cake. Which, I feel it gives the cake a bit more bite to it. And best part, since the cake is baked at 400 degrees, feel free to roast your Sunday Chicken with it. Now lets bake a cake…

lifestyle portrait apple spice cake recipe

Apple Spice cake with whipped cream (Note: this cake is gluten free and dairy free. If for some reason you have an allergy to Scotch Whisky I would switch for another option, like 3 tablespoon of applesauce, or apple cider and Vegan whipped cream tastes just as good as the “real” stuff. )

INGREDIENTS:

3 medium organic honeycrisp apples
4oz ( ½ cup ) grapeseed oil
2 eggs room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tspn date syrup
⅓ cup “vegan buttermilk” (to make mix 1 cup of full fat coconut milk, whisked with 1 tbspoon Apple cider vinegar)
3 tablespoons Irish Scotch Whiskey
½ cup plus ¼ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup tapioca starch
¼ cup potato starch plus more for dusting apples
¼ tsp kosher salt
2 tsp grated ginger
¾ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp aluminum free baking powder
¾ cup organic cane sugar
9inch metal cake pan
Parchment Paper
Non-stick spray
Stand mixer
Confectioners sugar for the top
Whipped cream ( vegan or traditional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.PRE-HEAT YOUR oven to 400 degrees F. Crack your eggs and put them in a bowl and set aside. In a 9inch metal cake pan spray with non stick spray, and line with parchment paper. It will need to come up the sides of the pan.(Press it down too). Measure all your dry ingredients, except the sugar into a bowl and whisk. Measure out the rest of your ingredients and get them in front of you. This is called “Mise en place” if you do this before you bake your cake it will go so much easier!

2.Dice and core 2 of your apples. Then thinly slice the 3rd one. Place your diced apples in a bowl, and coat with 1 tablespoon potato starch and 1 tsp brown rice flour. Toss around a bit with your hands.

3.In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk your eggs until light and frothy about 2-3 min. Stop the mixer and add in your sugar, vanilla, scotch and mix for another 1-2 min until incorporated. Then add in half your flour mixture, and half the grapeseed oil, mix for about 1 min, repeat the last step.

4.With a spatula scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is mixed well, then fold in your diced apples. Pour your cake batter into the lined cake pan, and place your sliced apples on the top in whatever form you'd like.

5.Bake for 46 - 50 min until golden or a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on a rack for 10-15 min until cutting open. Enjoy with confectioners sugar and whipped cream on top. **