Book Review - Moosewood Cookbook

Remember a long time ago when I said that I was a nanny for a year with a family in Washington DC? Remember when I said that the family was vegetarian and I was in charge of cooking dinner for them during the week? Remember when I said that I loved that year and found some of my favorite cookbooks? Well, if you don't remember me telling you that the first time, just pretend you do.

One of those cookbooks is the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. Today, just about everyone has heard of the Moosewood cookbooks (there are nine of them put out by the restaurant), but back in 1988 when I received it, I had never heard of the books or the restaurant. A couple of the recipes that I cooked for the family came from this cookbook and I really liked the recipes. The Benton's (the family I lived with) bought me a copy for my birthday. Twenty-one years later, I'm still awfully glad they did.

This book is a vegetarian cookbook and so, of course, has no meat recipes in it. There are a lot of recipes that could easily be adapted, by adding cooked chopped chicken or beef, to be meat-ish. But most of the recipes are perfectly satisfying the way they are.

One of my favorites from this book is the recipe for Swiss Cheese and Mushroom Quiche. We make this all the time. Sometimes I substitute bacon for the mushrooms (a classic Quiche Lorraine) and sometimes I just add bacon to half of it (so my veggies can eat the non-meat half). This recipe is a good way to use up all those eggs I have from my chickens.

Swiss Cheese and Mushroom Quiche

Make your favorite pie crust recipe (or buy a pre-made crust) You will only need a bottom crust, not a top.

Place the crust in a pie tin. Cover bottom crust with 1 1/2 c. grated swiss cheese.

In a pan, saute in butter:

1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 lb mushrooms, chopped
salt, pepper to taste
a dash of thyme

Cover the cheese with the above mixture.

Make a custard by mixing together well:

4 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
3 Tbs flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry mustard

Pour the custard over the mushroom layer.

Sprinkle with paprika and bake at 375 degrees 40 -45 minutes or until solid in the center when jiggled.

Variations:

• substitute cheddar for swiss
• use fresh tomato slices instead of mushrooms (tomatoes don't need to be sauted first)
• substitute 1 cup chopped scallions for the onion
• add 1 tsp prepared horseradish
• add chopped cooked meat - bacon, chicken, ham, etc

And remember, real men do eat quiche.

Enjoy!

Jill