Food

Bacon Mushroom Spinach Quiche

| laurenandforeign

Due to the recent Safer at Home order put in place to help stop the spread of COVID-19, many of us will be spending Easter alone or just with immediate family. If you’re in need of a simple recipe for a low key Easter brunch, look no further than this delicious Bacon Mushroom Spinach Quiche!

This recipe was adapted from a variety of quiche recipes on wisconsincheese.com, so if this recipe doesn’t quite appeal to your taste preferences, check out their website for more ideas!

Ingredients:

  • 8 eggs
  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded aged white cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup chopped baby spinach leaves
  • 1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Whisk the eggs, cream, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
  3. Stir in the cheese, spinach, mushrooms, and bacon.
  4. Pour into a greased 8×8 casserole dish.
  5. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until center is set and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
  6. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.
  7. Serve with orange slices and Beetology beet & berry juice to compliment the savory eggs, bacon, and cheese.
  8. Enjoy!

Let us know in the comments how you’re planning to celebrate Easter this year!

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Covered Strawberries

| laurenandforeign

Both Lauren’s and my favorite food is chocolate covered strawberries. So naturally this is our go-to recipe to help celebrate Valentine’s Day this year. The secret to amazing strawberries? Add a liqueur into the chocolate for better consistency and added flavor. In the past I’ve used Disaronno which is an amaretto-tasting liqueur and works wonderfully, but for this recipe I’m using Sukkah Hill Spirit‘s Besamim – an aromatic spice liqueur. It creates a much more complex flavor profile and makes for absolutely delicious berries!

What you’ll need:

  • baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper
  • 1 pint of strawberries
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 3 TBSP Besamim liqueur

The first thing you’ll want to do is wash and dry the strawberries, and I cannot emphasize this enough – make sure they are dry before dipping them in chocolate or it will not stick!

Next, you will melt the chocolate. There’s a handful of ways to do this – in the microwave, or in a double boiler – but I don’t have a double boiler and I like to keep an eye on it, so I usually do it on the stove top. If you overheat the chocolate, it will become hard and crusty and you will need to start over. A good tip to remember: heat the chocolate low and slow. On a low temp, and stirring continuously.

For added control, I like to melt it a half cup at a time. When the first 1/2 cup is nearly completely melted, add 1 TBSP Besamim and stir in as the chocolate finishes melting. Turn off the heat and immediately dip 1/3 of the strawberries in the chocolate and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper. Then melt more chocolate, add liqueur, and dip the berries until they are all coated.

Then place the tray in the freezer for about 5 minutes to help the chocolate harden.

Once the chocolate is cool and hardened, melt the white chocolate chips. Use a fork to drizzle the white chocolate onto the strawberries. Feel free to use any combination of chips to create a variety of strawberries! Store berries in the fridge until ready to enjoy.

Serve with Besamim over ice or a glass of your favorite rosé! Happy Valentine’s Day!

– Julia

How to Make a Fall Charcuterie Board

| laurenandforeign

One of our favorite snacks and drink pairings is a charcuterie board. There are so many different options for foods to include, and the variety of tastes and textures is sure to please any palate.

There are also many ways to design and create your own board — the possibilities are endless! We put one together for family and friends at Lauren’s sister’s Fall Fun Day event! Below you will find a step-by-step for the charcuterie board we built.

We started with two blocks of Toscano cheese from Trader Joe’s: one soaked in Syrah, and one dusted with cinnamon. Two perfect cheeses for fall! Then we added two small ramekins for pickles and olives and built the “salami river.” We folded the salami in half twice and then placed each piece facing opposite the last to create this beautiful river flowing across the board.

Next, we added some fall fruits: Bosc pears and dried apricots! We also added a round of Gouda cheese. You can never have enough cheese, right?

To finish it off, we added a couple of cracker varieties and the last of this season’s fresh blueberries and red and yellow raspberries! Here are a few more looks at the finished product:

This charcuterie board was absolutely delicious and was a big hit at the Fall Fun Day event this weekend, as you can see below! 🙂

Like we said before, the possibilities for your charcuterie board are endless. Aside from the meats and cheeses, other things you can include are fruits and veggies, nuts, jams, mustard, or honey. We hope this gives you some inspiration to start making your own!

If you try it out, or you’ve made and enjoyed cheese and charcuterie boards before, let us know your favorite thing to include on one in the comments below!

Fresh Summer Cucumber Melon Cocktail & Tomato Basil Bruschetta

| laurenandforeign

We’re putting a fresh, new twist on the classic cucumber melon combo. And with it, we think we’ve found the perfect summer drink to cool off with.

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

Directions:

  1. Place frozen watermelon cubes and cucumber slices into pitcher.
  2. Add gin and lemonade and stir.
  3. Top with sparkling water.
  4. Serve with mint sprig.
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We can’t think of a better summer snack to pair with this cocktail than this easy bruschetta with tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella.

Ingredients:

  • Loaf of french bread
  • Olive oil
  • Fresh garlic or garlic powder
  • 1 tomato (per 4 large slices of bread)
  • Fresh mozzarella balls
  • Fresh basil
  • Balsamic vinegar or vinaigrette

Directions:

  1. Slice bread and rub with clove of garlic if using fresh garlic.
  2. Drizzle with olive oil. If using garlic powder, sprinkle on after olive oil has been poured.
  3. Broil for about 5 minutes or until bread is golden brown.
  4. While the bread is in the oven, dice the tomato(es) and slice the mozzarella and basil.
  5. Remove bread from oven and top with tomato, mozzarella, and basil.
  6. Put back in the oven and broil for about 5 more minutes or until cheese has melted to the level desired.
  7. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar or balsamic vinaigrette and enjoy!

If you try out either of these recipes (or both!), let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear what you think!