QUICHE LORRAINE

Being a Personal Cook to a well to do family has it's perks. I get to try new recipes from all  over the world as they are world travelers. When the lady of the house asked me to make her husband's favorite quiche for his Father's Day lunch I eagerly took to the task ahead. 

The recipe itself came straight from the Cordon Bleu School of Cooking located in Paris, France.

It's really a simple recipe consisting of ham, Swiss cheese, eggs, milk, heavy cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie shell-baked
1/2 lb. sliced ham
1/2 lb. sliced Swiss cheese
2 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup scalded milk (I used evaporated milk)
1 Tbsp. heavy cream
salt, pepper, nutmeg

Heat oven to 350. Beat 2 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk together. Add pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Scald 1 cup milk then temper the eggs by pouring the hot milk just a little at a time into the eggs. This makes up the custard. Place ham slices over the bottom of the pie crust. Top ham with the slices of Swiss cheese. Pour the custard mixture over the ham and cheese. Cook 20 minutes or just until the custard is set. The top of the quiche should only be tanned in spots. Allow it to stand for 6 to 8 minutes to give it time to set up. Cut into wedges to serve.

Serve with French-style green beans and a lovely red tomato which has been peeled and sliced. You can get 6 large servings out of it or 12 hors d'-oeuvres servings. You can also use cooked bacon and cheddar or any other cheese you like with this recipe. Enjoy!

"I am convinced that I am the one who introduced quiche to America."~James Beard

LOW-CARB PEANUT BUTTER MOUSSE IN CHOCOLATE

Yes my butt is big. Big as a watermelon. Big as two large cantaloupes. Big as a basketball. Big as the side of the house. Big as my head on both sides. Big as the moon. Big as a dinner plate dahlia. BIG! BIG! BIG! So I have been on a low-carb diet now for a week or so and have already dropped 5 lbs. It's the only diet that has ever worked for me so I am sticking with it this time around and we'll just all see together what happens with that. Wish me luck.

1.5 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Tbsp. Hershey's Lite Chocolate Syrup or Sugar-Free
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. heavy cream
3 tablespoons Splenda
 Place metal mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer. In a different bowl, combine cream cheese, peanut butter and chocolate syrup. Add two tablespoons heavy cream to the chocolate peanut butter mixture, stir well. Remove the mixing bowl from the freezer and add remaining heavy cream and Splenda. Beat sweet cream mix on low speed until sweetener is completely incorporated and then increase to medium speed. Beat on medium about 1 1/2 minutes or until you see the cream starting to thicken. Add 1/4 of chocolate peanut butter mix at a time to the whipped cream until it is just fully mixed, being careful not to over mix.
2 servings~5 grams carbs each of billowy delightfulness

"“I could make the whole of Manhattan disappear into that [Jennifer Lopez's] amazing butt.”~David Copperfield

ICICLE PICKLE MACARONI SALAD

My husband, Mr. Larry Forbes, loves him some macaroni salad. Love may not even be the right word. Actually, he worships and adores macaroni salad. So every now and then I break down my barriers and make him a big bowl full. I know he will be highly grateful when I place a bowl of it in front of him.

I have used a lot of different pickles through the years when I make macaroni salad but it turns out now that our favorite pickle for this dish is Icicle Pickles that we buy a case of each year at a church yard sale in Holden Beach. The church ladies make and resale them every year and I just have to tell you that they are 'to die' for. I've never seen another icicle pickle like these anywhere. And that is why I buy them by the case. They are especially nice in potato salad as well.

2 cups elbow macaroni
1 tsp. olive oil
1 cup sweet onion, chopped
1/4 cup each of diced red, orange, and yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped icicle pickles
1/4 cup icicle pickle juice
salt and pepper to taste
 Cook the pasta in salted boiling water just until al dente. Drain well and then drizzle with the olive oil, mixing well. Place in a large bowl and add remaining ingredients.
DRESSING: 1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise, 2 Tbsp. icicle pickle juice, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard, 1/2 tsp. salt.
Mix all together then add to pasta ingredients in the bowl. Chill well in the refrigerator before serving or try to at least. Mr. Forbes wants to eat it whether or not it is chilled.

"Me and Mr. Forbes have never met an icicle pickle macaroni salad that we did not like."~Adele Forbes

CHICKEN STUFFED CHIPOTLE JALAPENOS

Now don't be scared...these jalapenos have some fire in them, yes sir-e they surely do but not to the point of blistering your tongue. They're just kind of like the hot pop-rocks that explode in your mouth and leave a tingling sensation.

But I can personally guarantee all of you jalapeno fans that these beauties deliver not only in some semi-mild-hot taste bud explosion but in a rush of savoriness...yes savoriness...say that twice.

 If you get the munchies then these here stuffed jalapenos should fill your bill. I had a 24-Hour Layered Salad chilling in the fridge and it paired beautifully along side of the peppers. Took some of the heat off so to speak.

8 big old jalapeno peppers
1/2 cup finely chopped rotisserie chicken
4 ozs. softened cream cheese (you can use low-fat)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (I love that stuff)
1 to 2 tsp. chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (yeah baby you get some heat there too)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and coat pan with butter or olive oil cooking spray. Place the peppers in the pan and cook about 8 minutes, shaking the pan now and then, until charred nicely. Cool for a few while you prepare the chicken-chipotle mixture.
Combine the chicken with the cream cheese, cilantro and chipotle peppers.
Slice the jalapenos into, remove the membranes and seeds.
Fill the peppers with this mixture and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, or just until cheese is lightly browned.
Serves 6 to 8 people
 "I never met a jalapeno pepper I didn't like."~Adele Forbes

THE EASIEST PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE EVER!

What makes this the easiest peanut butter ever you may say? 4 ingredients. Nothing less, nothing more.

Simply throw 2 cups of sugar into a saucepan along with 1/2 cup milk (I used evaporated). Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Allow to boil for 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract and 3/4 cup Jif creamy peanut butter.

Pour into dish/pan. Let it cool for awhile on the counter and then when it has cooled off to a luke warm place it in the refrigerator to finish chilling. Cut in small slices to serve. It took me approximately 5 minutes total to make this from start to finish and believe me when I tell you that it is delicious.

"I never met a peanut butter fudge I didn't like"~Adele Forbes

SUNDROP POUND CAKE

My husband absolutely adores a pound cake. So every so often I like to greet him with one when he comes in from a hard day of working out in the cold. Being that today is National Pound Cake day I thought this would be the perfect time to present him with one. And what did he do...absolutely nothing. Didn't look at it, didn't ask what it was, not even a little sniff of it. Fine! Didn't smell the Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet & Spicy baby back ribs swimming in the crock-pot either. Do I look like I care?????????????????????????????????

So maybe you yourself will appreciate it. 

Here's the recipe.....
3 sticks butter
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups sifted cake flour
1/3 cup Sundrop
2 tablespoons pure lemon extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour pan. Combine butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Slowly add flour, but try to not over beat it. Add the Sundrop and lemon extract. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes. Do not be tempted to open the oven door. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a serving dish. Allow it to cool completely then drizzle with a glaze made from powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice and Sundrop. You want it to be just of pourable consistency. Share it with someone who appreciates it!

"If you want peace in the house, do what your wife wants."~African Proverb

BANANARAMA WAFER PUDDING

Just thinking about a Banana Pudding makes my tongue slide out of my mouth and lick my lips...my maternal Grandmother, Mama Joe, made the best banana puddings this side of culinary heaven. Hers was  in the form of a homemade boiled custard type pudding which she always made on a Saturday and when she had finished putting it all together it got 'put away' in the 'modern' refrigerator in the dining room until dessert time on Sunday. As a young child I would sneak peaks at it in the fridge when nobody else was around and I dang near grieved my fool self to death waiting for that 24 hours to pass until I could have my own bowl full.

These days I have to think about my health and my waistline so I lean more towards a Weight Watchers view of things. What that means is that I make a No-Fat version of the dish  which in no way measures up in my mind to my Mama Joes 'knock-your-socks-off' masterpiece. But hey...it is still mighty good when it's rolling across my taste buds. So my best advice for you is not to knock it until you have tried it.

2 cups fat-free milk
1 small (4 oz.) pkg. Jell-O Sugar-Free Instant Vanilla Pudding
30 Reduced-Fat Nilla wafers
3 small bananas or 2 large ones, sliced
Cool Whip Free or Fat-Free

Combine milk with pudding mix in bowl. Beat with a whisk for 2 minutes. In an 8X8 baking dish layer half of the wafers and then top with a layer of banana slices. Pour half of the prepared pudding over allowing it to sink down in among the wafers and bananas. Repeat by making another layer of wafers, bananas and the remainder of the pudding. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. Place a dollop of Cool Whip on each serving.
Weight Watchers 1/2 cup serving = 3 Points

"I never met a banana pudding that I didn't like."~Adele Forbes