Growing up, our kitchen held two main reference cookbooks: the Betty Crocker Cookbook and the Joy of Cooking. My mother's Betty Crocker is falling apart. The cover is completely ripped off but it still precariously rests on top of the tattered and food stained pages struggling to keep the book together. My mother has inserted many other recipes through the years among the pages. I love this book because it represents the history of my mother's cooking. One year for Christmas, my mother gave me a copy in order to begin my own cookbook collection. It is an excellent cookbook for a budding chef. It has good recipes, great tips and beautiful pictures!!! 
On the other hand, I never liked the Joy of Cooking when I was younger. It was long, boring and had no pictures! Often, I would ask my mother a cooking question and she would point me in the direction of the Joy of Cooking. I would scowl looking at the distasteful book. I just never understood the point of having a cookbook without pictures. But the Joy of Cooking almost always had the answer to my cooking questions. Slowly, this book grew on me until it has become my favorite cookbook. If you have never picked it up, I highly recommend it. It is written in a way that really helps you learn how to cook. The recipes show you how the ingredients fit together to create the dish and thus, at least for me, help me go off the recipe fairly easily. My quiches are often like this. I make up a new one every time depending on what we have in the fridge. With the Joy of Cooking by my side, I often pull off a very inventive and delicious dish. Tonight, I created a Goat Cheese-Balsamic Caramelized Onions- Artichoke Hearts Quiche. It turned out really well and both of my roommates gave their stamp of approval.
Goat Cheese-Balsamic Caramelized Onions-Artichoke Hearts Quiche
(adapted from the Joy of Cooking)
1 prepared crust (I often cheat on weekdays and buy a store bought crust...saves me time!)
1 6 oz. log of goat cheese
1 7 oz. (or close to it) marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
Balsamic Caramelized Onions (see my previous post)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup whipped cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Crumble the goat cheese on the bottom of the crust.
3. Whisk the eggs, milk and whipped cream together until well mixed.
4. Stir in onions and artichoke hearts.
5. Mix in salt and pepper.
6. Pour in prepared crust.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
P.S. Do not forget to enter my Dollar Dish Duel!!!! More details here.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
An Ode to Joy!
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15 comments:
It's always lovely to see cookbooks bringing back nostalgia :0)
Hey, on this subject, congratulations on winning the cookbook from Susan!
I loved the Betty Crocker Encyclopedia (one thick volume) from the 60's. It was an antique and I wasted a lot of my childhood looking through the pictures (I didn't know how to cook yet). Too bad someone misplaced it, now it's gone :( I don't have a Joy of Cooking, but that quiche looks great :)
I got the Joy of Cooking book two years ago with some vouchers I was given. It's such a useful reference book. When I try something new I often just check in there and take some of the tips from it and combine it with another recipe or two. I think everyone should have a copy. Your creation looks yummy.
this quiche has all the elements I like. Your roommates are so lucky to stay with you!
I concur with the others, your roommates are quite lucky to have you! That quiche looks fabulous, all the ingredients are at the top of my list of favorites!
You've had me at "goat cheese", then I kept reading and said outloud "oh there's artichoke too, could this get any better?", and it just did with this magic word: "quiche" :).
veggiegirl- Do you have one like that? I love them for that reason.
manggy- thanks! I was kind of shocked! I love the antique cookbooks. They are the best!
sylvie- thanks! it has become a valuable reference. Have you ever tried the substitutions? Those are very helpful when you find out instead of dark brown sugar you only have light brown sugar and molasses.
mandy- thank you! I don't think they mind! :)
lyb- thank you! you really can't go wrong with these ingredients.
lore- haha! thanks! Goat cheese does it for me- everything just tastes so much better! :)
Hi Ginny thanks for passing by by blog. I know what you mean with old cook books. Your quiche sounds great, love the ingredients.
I've heard the popularity of these two cookbooks. Unfortunately, I don't have either!
I have been thinking about picking up Joy of Cooking for a while now. That quiche sounds really tasty.
I think that the Joy of Cooking has to be the all time most popular cookbook in the world. It has been around for many years. I love mine!
Your quiche looks delicious.
That sounds like a tasy quiche. I love caramelized onions.
I like Joy of Cooking. It's such a good reference.
If I were a roommate, I imagine I'd be giving my seal of approval as well! Looks delicious. :-)
ivy- thank you! it was quite delicious!
pixie- I would highly recommend them as great references...I always rely on them to help me in the kitchen.
kevin- It is a keeper...although, you seem to be doing pretty well without it! Thank you!
Chuck- I'm glad you have seen the light! :)
emiline- caramelized onions make everything better! :)
cakespy- I think that is why they keep me around! thank you!
Hi! I'm your partner for Taste & Create this month, and I've just blogged my entry. Delicious quiche! And the caramelised onions are fab -- thanks for the idea!
Veronica
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