Quick Quiche

No school today! I'm helping my mom out by making breakfast. My Quick Quiche is perfect because it's easy and really good...even my 3-year old brother has seconds! 

Quick Quiche

(quiche without a crust)

Serves 6-8

Stuff You Need:

6-8 slices of bacon

1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I like Cheddar)

1/2 cup of corn 

2 tablespoons of melted butter

4 eggs

1/2 cup of pancake mix

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 teaspoon of salt

dash of pepper

Equipment You Need:

9 inch pie pan

tongs

fork or whisk

cookie sheet

bowl

plate

paper towels

hot pads

1. Make the bacon.

My mom's trick it to make it in the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put bacon on cookie sheet and then put cookie sheet into heated oven. It usually takes about 15 minutes for it to get crisp. Just watch it and you will see that it goes from rubber to crisp to burned pretty fast.

While bacon is cooking, layer paper towels on plate (it will absorb the extra grease from bacon). When bacon is crisp, using the hot pads, take the cookie sheet out of the oven and set on stove. Leave the oven on. Take the tongs and lift the bacon out of the grease and on to the paper towels. Let cool.

2. Take 9 inch pie plate and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

3. Crumble up the bacon and spread it on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle on the cheese and corn.

4. In a bowl, mix up the 4 eggs until they are beaten together. Take the 2 tablespoons of butter and put it in a small microwave safe bowl. Put it in microwave for 10-15 seconds to melt it. Add to eggs. Mix in the pancake mix, milk, salt and pepper and combine it all with a fork or whisk until all the pancake mix in totally blended.

5. Carefully pour the egg mixture in pie pan.

6. Put it in oven and set timer for 35 minutes. It will be done when it is kind of brownish on the top.

7. Let it cook for about 5 minutes. Cut it up and eat!!

The thing about this recipe is that you can put all kinds of combinations in it and everything turns out really good. Combos like:

Ham and Swiss Cheese

Sausage and Cheddar

Pancetta, Smoked Gouda Cheese, and Onion

Steamed Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese

Sauteed Red Pepper and Provolone

Or, if you like it plain, just throw in the cheese and call it breakfast!

I'm Back

It's been kind of a weird year for me. Well, I guess year and a half! My mom and dad got divorced and so I didn't feel like doing the blog thing anymore. I didn't want to write, but I kept cooking and playing baseball, basketball, and hockey. I won the coaches' award from my swim team last summer. They said it was because I had a good attitude and motivated the team. It was a little bit embarrassing especially since my mom cried. She always tells me how proud she is of how well I'm handling things. I guess. I think that when stuff like this happens, you do one of two things...stop or keep going. I picked the keep going option. 


My older sister went to college. I miss her a lot although I don't really tell her that. My mom and my other 3 siblings and I moved in with my grandparents. We call them Mimi and Papa. I like being around my Papa. He's kind of strict but I know he loves me. And he likes to cook, too. He's a scientist and tells me that cooking is chemistry. 


When my mom asked me if I wanted to come back and finish my cookbook and get it published, I realized that I put a lot of work into this before and I had a lot of fun doing it. So I said yes. I want to do it! 


So I'm back. I think I have enough recipes for another book, but I'll just focus on getting one book done at a time...in between my basketball playoffs, my hockey games, and my baseball practices. What can I say? Sports R Me!!

I Love Olive Pesto Pasta Salad (recipe)

Olive Pesto Pasta Salad

from the Radical Recipes 4 Boys cookbook

This pasta has most of my favorite things in it: garlic, basil, olives, and salami! Add bubble gum and I'd be set...just kidding.


Stuff You Need

For the pesto:

2 ounces of fresh basil (about 1 1/2 cups loosely packed)

2-3 cloves of garlic 

1 tbsp pine nuts

1/3 cup olive oil (I like to use garlic olive oil)

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives (Greek black olives)

1/2 cup pitted green olives

1 tbsp lemon juice

For the pasta salad:

1 17-ounce bag/13-oz box of bite-sized pasta (rotini, penne, shell)

1 chopped yellow or red bell pepper

1 cup sliced salami

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt, pepper to taste

Equipment You Need

Food processor

Measuring cup

Measuring spoon

Spatula spoon

Large serving bowl

Pot stirring spoon

Colander (big word for the thing you drain the pasta in)

Knife

Cutting board

What You Do

1. Add 4 quarts of salted water to a boil on the stove.

2. When water boils, add pasta and cook about 11-13 minutes until "al dente" which means "to the tooth". (No idea how the Italians came up with that, but it means that the pasta is a teeny bit chewy in the middle, not mushy.)

3. Drain the pasta in the colander and add to the large serving bowl. Toss in a tiny bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking together in one big blob as it cools.

4. While pasta is cooling, make the pesto by putting the basil, garlic, pine nuts, and olives in the food processor. Chop for about 30 seconds until things are roughly chopped. Slowly add the olive oil and lemon juice and blend until smooth. Add a bit more olive oil if it is too dry.

5. Chop up the bell pepper into bite-sized pieces and slice the salami into strips.

6. Mix together the pasta and pesto. You can experiment with how much pesto you like...all of it or just some of it. Add the bell peppers, salami strips, and Parmesan cheese and give it a toss. Add salt/pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6-8 depending on how hungry everyone is.

The Easiest Non-Chocolate Chip Cookie: Pecan Sandies (recipe)

PECAN SANDIES 

Stuff You Need
1 cup of butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tsp. water
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups chopped-up pecans


Equipment You Need
Mixing Bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Stirring spatula
Cookie sheet
Spatula


"Cream" the butter and sugar (which means mix it together until it is smooth). Add the water and vanilla and mix it in completely. Then add the flour and pecans.


Chill the dough for about 3 hours until firm. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.


Then take a teaspoon and make dough into balls. Put balls on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Try and let them cool before you eat 'em but I'm warning you...it's tough. These cookies are sooooo goooood!

Obama-style Hawaiian Burgers (recipe)

OBAMA-STYLE HAWAIIAN BURGERS

Makes 6 burgers

Stuff You Need

1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey

1/3 cup finely chopped onions

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup pineapple jam

1/3 cup bbq sauce

Hamburger buns

Lettuce

Equipment You Need

Big bowl

Small saucepan

Stirring spoon

Measuring cups and spoons

Cookie sheet to put patties on

Brush to spoon on sauce

Grill spatula

*Grill* (Ask your mom or dad to help with this part.)

Mix together in a big bowl the ground meat, onions, and Worcestershire sauce. Be brave. Use your hands! Form into six patties and put on cookie sheet.

WASH HANDS WITH HOT WATER AND SOAP!

In a saucepan, combine the pineapple jam and bbq sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring the whole time.

Brush the patties with the pineapple/bbq sauce mixture. Put patties on heated grill (ask an adult for help). Grill for about 5 minutes and then turn, brushing the burger with sauce again. Turn again after 5 minutes and brush patties one more time. When burger is done how you like it, remove it from grill and serve on bun or in a lettuce wrap.

ALOHA!

For added touch of Hawaii, you can add a slice of grilled pineapple. Personally, I'm not a fan of grilled fruit, but try it. You might like it.

Gabe Gross's Unbelieveable Catch

Gabe Gross is one of the A's outfilders, and is a great fielder. Watch this video and be amazed.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=8476941

Chemistry Kidz

My friend, Christian, is a brainiac and has a blog about chemistry...for kids. Chemistry Kidz teaches kids that chemistry can be fun and easy (adults, too). Make sure to check out his blog at www.chemistrykidz.blogspot.com

The Amazing Chocolate-Chip Banana Breadini (recipe)

It's like magic. I make this banana bread, and it disappears. This is one of the first things my mom let me make...the banana smooshing is really fun.

Here are my top 3 banana thoughts:

1. How is a banana on the street like music? If you don't C sharp, you'll B flat.

2. What is yellow and goes buzzzzzz? An electric banana.

3. Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas.

CHOCOLATE-CHIP BANANA BREAD

Stuff You Need
3 super-ripe bananas (the mushier, the better)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
Dash of salt
1 egg
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Cooking spray

Equipment You Need
Loaf pan
Large bowl
Fork or potato masher
Small microwave safe bowl
Stirring spoon or spatula
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with cooking spray. (Here's a cooking spray tip: the drops from the spay will make the floor very, very slippery so always spray over the sink.)


Peel and mash the bananas in a large bowl. Add flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and egg.


Melt butter in microwave and add it to bowl. Stir all of the stuff together until it is mixed up.


Pour the batter in greased loaf pan and sprinkle on the chocolate chips. If you absolutely love chocolate like my sisters do, add a few more chips. Bake for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick put in the middle of the loaf comes out without any gunk on it.

My Hockey Buddy, Mitchell (recipes)

My buddy at school is an amazing hockey player. He is a goalie and I saw him play between periods at a San Jose Sharks game. Totally cool!! Mitchell likes to cook and gave me some of his recipes so I could share them on my blog.

GOAT CHEESE AND HERB CHEESEBURGERS

(serves 3 people)

Stuff You Need

2/3 pounds of ground chuck

1 tbsp chopped basil

1 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tbsp goat cheese

1 egg

1/2 tbsp olive oil

Equipment You Need

Bowl

Grill

Adult (to help you with the grill)

1. Throw all of the ingedients into a bowl and mush it together with you hands until everything is mixed up. Make into 3 patties.

2. Have adult start and heat up grill. When it's ready, put patties on grill. Cook them until you like them (we like our meet cooked until it's brown all the way through or the technical term "medium well").

3. Add cheese or gilled bacon to the burgers, if desired. Grill buns slightly.

4. Serve and enjoy!!

SCALLOPS WITH CARMELIZED ONIONS

(serves 3 people)

Stuff You Need

1 onion

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

6 scallops

Equipment You Need

Knife

Cutting Board

Frying Pan

Spatula

Slotted Spoon

1. Chop onion into chunks and place in frying pan with brwn sugar. Add balsamic vinegar and cook until onions are soft...5-7 minutes.

2. Using a spoon with holes (slotted spoon), scoop onions out of the pan leaving juice.

3. Cook scallops over medium heat until the vinegar soaks in and the scallops are cooked through. Don't cook too long or they will taste like hockey pucks!

4. Serve and enjoy!

FRIED BANANAS OVER ICE CREAM

(serves 3 people)

Stuff You Need

3 bananas

6 scoops of ice cream (your choice)

Caramel sauce

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

Equipment You Need

Small bowl

Knife

Cutting Board

Frying Pan

Spatula

1. Put brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and mix up.

2. Chop bananas into "coins"...about 1/2 inch thick

3. Coat bananas with the cinnamon sugar mixture (dipping bananas in bowl).

4. Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add bananas and cook until sugar mixture makes a hard crust.

5. Scoop ice cream into bowls and spoon bananas over the scoops. Drizzle caramel sauce over bananas.

6. Serve and enjoy!

Mango A Go Go (recipe)

Mangoes are my favorite fruit. I love the dried mango from Costco, the Mango A Go Go Jamba Juice, fresh mango, mango sorbet...you get the picture.

I did a twist on my mom's pineapple glaze for ham this year and added mango jam. Outrageous!

Mango-Pineapple Glaze

Stuff You Need

8.5 ounce jar of mango fruit spread

6 ounce can of pineapple juice (about 3/4 cup)

Equipment You Need

Saucepan

Spatula

Spoon

1. Pour fruit spread and juice into saucepan. Heat to slow boil and reduce heat to simmer (lowest setting on dial). This gives the chance for the stuff to "reduce" or as my Papa explained "lets the water evaporate from the sauce".

2. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring a lot, until the sauce is thick.

3. When the ham is about 15 minutes from being done, take it out of the oven and drizzle the sauce in all the layers of ham. Bake uncovered the last 10-15 minutes until the ham is done.

Cooking is Chemistry (scalloped potato recipe)

My Papa is a scientist...a biochemist: biology + chemistry = biochemist. He likes to cook and on all the holidays, he is in the kitchen with my mom. He always says "cooking is chemistry" but my mom just rolls her eyes. She's more of a give-it-a-try cook. My Papa is exact. For Easter, mom wanted scalloped potatoes, so Papa and I got to work. I was going to try to slice the potatoes with a knife until Papa showed me how to use a mandoline slicer. Very cool tool.

Papa's Exact Scalloped Potatoes

Stuff You Need

5 large Yukon Gold potatoes, skin on

1 medium onion, sliced in rings

3 tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour

1 /3/4 cup milk

Cooking spray

pinches of salt and sprinkles of pepper

Equipment You Need

2 1/2 quart baking dish

Mandoline slicer

Knife

Cutting board

Measuring cup

Measuring spoon

Aluminum foil

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease baking dish (I sprayed mine with that cooking spray stuff).

2. Peel onion and slice into thin rounds, separating out the rings.

3. Wash potatoes and pat dry. Figure out the mandoline tool (ask your Papa) and slice potatoes into disks. Slices should look like skinny hockey pucks.

4. Make a layer of potatoes covering the bottom of the pan. Layer over the onion slices. Add small chunks of the butter. Sprinkle over flour. Continue the layering until you reach 3/4 of the baking dish.

5. Pour the milk over the layers making sure the potatoes are covered with liquid. Use pinches of salt and sprinkle the pepper over the top.

6. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until tender.

(*We cheated this Easter since we didn't have a lot of time. We covered dish with plastic wrap and put in the microwave for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes were just soft. Then, took off the plastic, covered with foil, and baked for 30 minutes. We uncovered it for the last 10 minutes of baking. Turned out soooo good.)