I made a carrot cake yesterday.  It is basically a cross between Ina Garten’s recipe and David Lebovitz’s recipe.  I brought it to school, and some of the teachers asked for the recipe, and anyone who ate it said it was amazing.

ingredients for the cake (basically from Ina Garten)

• • 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (Ina uses 2 cups)

• • scant 1 1/4  cups vegetable oil (Ina uses 1 1/3 cups but this cake is moist enough without the extra oil.  I used corn oil, but canola would be fine too)

• • 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (if cold from fridge, place in bowl of warm water for a few minutes)

• • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• • 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour (you do not need to sift it)

• • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• • 2 teaspoons baking soda

• • 1 teaspoon baking powder (not in Ina’s recipe)

• • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• • 1 cup chopped walnuts (I use, but optional)

• • 1 cup raisins (I did not use)

• • 1 pound carrots, grated (I use organic, I peel them, and then grate them in the food processor using the grater attachment)

• 1 8 oz. can Dole crushed pineapple in natural juice, which I lightly drain pretty well (Ina uses 1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple- which I would use, but the crushed in the can is perfectly fine)

ingredients for cream cheese frosting (this is basically from David Lebovitz):

2- 8 oz. packages of regular Philadelphia cream cheese at room temperature

1 – 4 oz stick of salted butter (he uses unsalted)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (he says a few drops)

about 3 3/4 cups of sifted confectioners sugar (sift first, then measure) (he says 2 to 3cups)

***updated icing (March 2016)- oh my gosh this is amazing and I like it better than my original above)  This has no nuts in the icing!

• 1 stick salted butter (room temperature)
• 1 8oz. package Philadelphia (full fat) cream cheese (room temperature)
• about 2 1/2 – 3 cups confectioners sugar (I didn’t sift as it seemed very fresh and lump free.)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

directions for the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 by 13 pan with butter.  I use the rectangular pan because it’s so easy, but you could make this as a layer cake as well (which Ina does).

Place dry ingredients- flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and mix with rubber spatula- just to blend everything together.

Beat sugar, oil, and eggs in large mixing bowl of electric mixer with paddle attachment till it becomes light and a little fluffy.  Then  add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just till blended.  Add crushed pineapple and nuts and mix a few seconds till blended in.  Add carrots, and fold in by hand.  Pour all into greased pan.

Bake about 50-60 min. till toothpick comes out clean and sides of cake are separated from the pan.  Cool on wire rack.

Frost when totally cool.  I like to put the cake in the fridge after it’s cool and get it really cold before I frost it because if the cake is still slightly warm when you frost it, the frosting starts to  melt into the cake.

directions for the frosting:

When cream cheese and butter are totally at room temp (this will prevent lumps in the frosting), put them in large bowl of mixer with the wire whisk attachment if you have it- otherwise use the regular beaters or paddle attachment.  Mix on medium speed till light and fluffy. On very low speed add the sifted confectioners sugar and salt. Gradually raise the speed and blend until lump-free. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix till light and fluffy.

Use a rubber spatula to frost the cake.  Even though this makes a ton of icing, I use it all. You will have a nice thick layer of icing on the cake, but that’s what makes the cake.

Note:

I have eliminated the nuts in the cake and used them in the icing.  That’s really good, too.

These days most of my desire to cook revolves around cooking for my daughter and her family, and for my sons Danny and Benji.  My daughter had gone to Whole Foods and she and her family had eaten the shepherd’s pie from the hot food bar.  She told me it was the best thing she’d ever eaten and that I had to make it for her family.  I found a recipe on the Food Network site which looked pretty good.  I made it last week, and everybody loved it, but my daughter said it still wasn’t quite as good as Whole Food’s.  So I made it again this week, and basically added a  little more seasoning.  This time, my daughter said it  was just as good as Whole Food’s version. And my son Danny went totally crazy for it.  Yesterday, watching my two grandsons eating this and loving it was so gratifying.  I was “kvelling” from their reaction!

adapted from Food Network “Mummy Boome’s Traditional Shepherd Pie”

meat filling:

• 2 3/4 lb. 85% chopped meat (I used Nature’s Promise or Whole Food’s grass fed beef)
• 5 organic carrots, small dice
• 3 organic celery stalks, small dice
• 1 large onion, small dice
• 8 garlic cloves, chopped
• kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
• almost all of a small can of organic tomato paste
• 1/2 cup organic beef broth or stock
• 3 tablespoons organic worcesteshire  sauce (Annie’s)
• 2-3 cups organic frozen peas

mashed potatoes topping:

• • 5 lbs. organic russet, idaho, or yukon gold potatoes
  • 1 1/2 to 2 sticks organic salted butter
  • about 1/2 cup  organic whole milk

• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Pour a few tablespoons of  organic olive oil (you can find organic extra virgin olive oil at Costco) in large sauté pan.  Add salt and pepper.  Sauté  onion, carrot, celery till soft and just starting to brown.  Add garlic, and sauté a few minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix in.  Add the meat, salt and pepper, and break up with fork as you brown. Add the worcesteshire sauce and the beef broth.  Mix and add the peas.  Taste for seasoning. Transfer meat mixture to large baking dish- at least a 9 x 13 (I have one which is a little larger). Refrigerate.

Make your mashed potatoes.  I peel 5 lbs. and cut them into medium pieces, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Boil over medium heat until soft.  Drain in colander and then put back in pot over low flame for a minute to get rid of excess water in potatoes.  Turn flame off.  Add butter, kosher salt, and a little fresh cracked pepper.  Mash, and start adding the whole milk until nice and fluffy.

Spoon the potatoes over the top of the meat.  You should have a hefty amount of potatoes topping the meat.  Refrigerate until dinner time.  Then preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for about 35-45 min. until hot.

Note:  If you are not baking this right away, and you don’t have time to make the mashed potatoes right away, refrigerate the meat mixture  until you have your mashed potatoes.  I have refrigerated this for up to a day before I made the potatoes.  When I make the potatoes, I let them cool to warm and then I put them on top of the meat (which is cold from being in the fridge).  Then I put the dish back in the fridge till I’m ready to bake it. If you are baking it right away, then just it won’t matter if the potatoes are still hot when you put them on the meat.

My grandson Noah’s third birthday was coming up, and my daughter Randi asked me if I wanted to make the cupcakes.  I think she knew what my answer would be.  I just needed to find the perfect recipe.  After reading many blogs about cupcakes, I couldn’t decide between a recipe from the Hershey’s website which Hershey’s calls, “Perfectly Chocolate Cake” and a recipe called “that Chocolate Cake” on the Scharffen Berger web site.  It was then that it dawned on me that they were literally the same, except that on the Hershey’s site, the recipe calls for 2 tsp. of vanilla, and on the Scharffen Berger web site, their recipe calls for no vanilla.  I compromised and settled on using 1 tsp. of vanilla.  I also changed the recipe by using extra large eggs and corn oil rather than canola oil.  No reason- I just grew up in a house where corn oil was used.  I used Hershey’s cocoa as that’s what I’ve got in my pantry-  I have both Hershey’s natural cocoa and Hershey’s special dark cocoa, so I used a combination of both- using a bit more of the natural than the dark.  I was “perfectly” happy with this recipe for the “Perfectly Chocolate Cake.”  This is so easy to make- I think just as easy as a mix- because you are doing it all in one bowl- practically just dumping the ingredients in.  The batter is very thin, so I ladled it into my muffin cups.  The result was very dark chocolate cupcakes, and very light- which was exactly what I was looking or.  My daughter compared the experience of eating these to eating Hostess chocolate cupcakes- only much better!  I used a standard recipe for vanilla icing which I adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook.  These cupcakes are amazing!

Ingredients:

I like to keep a  one pound bag of split peas in the house just in case we’re in the mood for pea soup. We just had the big blizzard the day after Christmas, and I was snowed in with my son Benji.  I couldn’t have been happier.  He loves soup, I love him, so I made him a pot of delicious, warming soup.  It was a great day.

1 pound bag of green split peas

1 pound bag of yellow split peas

2 large  onion

4 quarts water

about pound of organic carrots, cut into smallish chunks

kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Rinse the peas.  Put in large saucepan.  Pour the water over.  Peel onions and then pierce with a fork, and place in pot whole.  Put sliced carrots in pot.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Simmer covered about 2 hours over low flame, adding your salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with thin egg noodles, matzoh balls, cooked Kosher hot dogs pieces, or just plain.

My son Benji spent a few months in Greece and Turkey as part of his college study program.  He came home a huge fan of the cuisines of those countries and especially of lentil soup.  I made the following recipe which he really enjoyed.  I’ve been making lots of it for myself –  a bowl of this soup makes a great dinner for me when I get home late from work.

for the soup:

• • half of one very large onion, diced
  • about 3 carrots, organic if possible, cut lengthwise and then sliced very thinly

• about 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 28 oz. can peeled plum tomatoes, chopped fine -organic if possible (reserve the juice)
• 1 small can tomato paste, organic preferably
• 1/2 cup olive oil, extra virgin or light
• 2 1/2 quarts of water
• 1 1 lb. bag of brown green lentils (I’ve used Goya and Stop and Shop brand)
• kosher salt and black pepper to taste (about 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to start)

Rinse well the lentils in collander.  Put into a medium-large pot.  Cover with cold water.  Cover, and bring to a boil over high flame.  When water is boiling, take off lid, and boil over medium flame for about 6-7 minutes.  Drain in collander (do not rinse lentils with water).

At the same time you are starting the process bringing lentils in the pot with the water, get your soup pot going.  In large pot saute onions, garlic, and carrots in olive oil (sprinkle with salt and pepper), till soft (I cover the pot to expedite).  Then, pour the drained lentils from the collander into the pot.  Add the chopped tomatoes, the tomato paste, and the water.  Add the reserved juice from the tomatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, lower flame – soup should be simmering, adding more salt and pepper as necessary.  Cook about an hour.  I freeze the leftovers in quart containers.

To me making ice cream is very exciting.  It seems like a little miracle to be able to make from scratch something I’ve never made before.  And it’s been so much fun for my family to eat this delicious homemade confection.  So, I made the chocolate, so it was time to try making vanilla.  But, since my favorite flavor has always been chocolate chip (Grunnings chocolate chip – now extinct, and second to that Baskin Robbins), I decided to make the vanilla base, freeze half of it in the ice cream maker for about 1 and a half pints of vanilla ice cream, and then use half of the base to concoct chocolate chip ice cream.  I basically used a recipe I found on line for David Lebovitz’s vanilla ice cream.  Oh my god- both turned out great.  I served the ice cream for my son Danny’s wonderful friends, Stephanie and Emily, along with my homemade hot fudge.  Their exclamations of glee and ectasy were beyond music to my ears.  For me, I like to eat the vanilla ice cream with the hot fudge, but I enjoy the chocolate chip  without the fudge so  I can savor the contrast of the vanilla with all those chunks of bittersweet chocolate.

Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream – (adapted from, “The Perfect Scoop” by David Lebovitz)

• 1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
• 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
• 2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
• pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
• 5 large egg yolks
• a few drops of vanilla extract (I used 1/2 teaspoon and that was perfect)

for the chocolate chip ice cream:

• • about 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate ( I used King Arthur bittersweet chips)

Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk with a paring knife, then add the bean pod to the milk. Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour ( I skipped this 1 hour infusing step, and the ice cream had plenty of vanilla flavor for me).

To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the cream into the bowl.In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Remove bean pod from milk.  Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula and temperature is about 170 degrees.

Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.

Pour half of the custard into your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  I put the bowl with the other half of custard back in the fridge, covered with plastic, and churned the vanilla  for 1 hour, then spooned it into a freezer proof container, and froze it.

Then I moved on to making my chocolate chip ice cream.  I poured the remaining custard into the ice cream maker and started the machine.  Then I melted about 8 oz. of bittersweet King Arthur chocolate chips on low power in the microwave in a microwave proof bowl.  Then I stuck the bowl in the fridge to cool the chocolate a little.  After about 30 min. of churning, I started drizzling the melted chocolate right in the ice cream maker.  The chocolate froze on contact and didn’t mix in with the vanilla.  That is what I was looking for.  After I used about 1/3 of the chocolate up, I took the ice cream in the churning canister and stuck it in the freezer.  I did this because I noticed that the ice cream was getting a little melty from the chocolate.  After about 15 minutes, I took the canister out, starting churning again, and drizzled about 1/3 more of the melted chocolate right in as it was churning.  Then, I took the canister and put it in the freezer for another 10 or 15 minutes.  Then, I took it out of the freezer, started churning it again, and drizzled the remaining chocolate in as it was churning.  I probably churned for another 15-20 minutes, then transferred the ice cream to a freezer container, and froze it.  For some reason, I ended up with a lot more of the chocolate chip ice cream than the vanilla, even though I had divided the custard in half for each.  I think what happened was that the longer churning process- going in and out of the freezer resulted in creating more volume in the chocolate chip ice cream.  But the end product was beyond amazing!

I got the idea for drizzling the melted chocolate right into the ice cream as it churned from two places.  One was from reading the description of how Baskin Robbins makes their chocolate chip ice cream right on their container.  The other place I got this idea was from a blog called Technicolor Kitchen.

My daughter Randi and her husband Dan bought me an ice cream maker for my birthday last year.  I just never got around to using it until last week. I used a recipe I found for chocolate ice cream from a blog called amandascookin.com, and she got her rccipe from David Lebovitz’s book, The Perfect Scoop.  I followed the recipe she posted on her blog almost exactly.  The ice cream came out chocolaty, creamy, and absolutely delicious!  And it was very easy to make as well, which is surprising when you taste how delicious this is.

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used King Arthur’s Dark Dutch Cocoa)
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used King Arthur’s Bittersweet Chocolate Chips- and I did not chop them)
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks (I used extra large, as that was what I had on hand)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (I used pure)

Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

In small saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, and salt.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula ( I used a wooden spoon), scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (170°F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Cover and chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  (I followed the directions on my Cuisinart ice cream maker which said to churn for 30 min.) (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.)  Then spoon into freezer-proof container or containers, and freeze until firm- a few hours.)

Yesterday, my daughter Randi got back from a great summer vacation with her husband Dan and his  family in Mantoloking, New Jersey, a beautiful shore town next to Point Pleasant Beach at the Jersey Shore. I knew that Randi wanted Nana (my mother) and me to pick up some incredible fried fresh flounder platters (the best!) from the amazing Keyport Fishery (Keyport, NJ) for dinner tonight.  When Randi called me yesterday she put Noah (now 2 years old) on the phone to tell me what he wanted me to bake for our dessert.  He said in his sweet baby voice, “peach pie.”  So Randi asked me if I would oblige, or if it was too big a deal to make it.  I said I would love to make it for Noah.  Luckily, I was just about to set foot in Trader Joe’s where they happened to have beautiful looking peaches.  So last night, I made some pastry, and this morning, I made the filling, and I actually made 1 12 in. crostada, and 2 mini crostadas, and 2 turnovers with the filling and the pastry.  I was just fooling around to see how the turnovers would come out.  The reason I made the 2 mini crostadas and not 2 more turnovers is because when I cut the dough, 2 pieces just weren’t squared enough to make the turnovers, whereas you don’t have to worry about that with the crostadas. The large crostada just came out of the oven, and the rest are baking.  Oh my god, the crostadas are gorgeous, and so are the turnovers! the dough looks super flaky. Yes!

for the dough:

•     2 1/2 cups unbleached organic (King Arthur) flour (carried by Stop and Shop and A&P or kingarthurflour.com)
•     2 Tbs. granulated sugar
•     1/2 tsp. kosher salt
•     1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (3/4 cup), cut into pieces (I take butter right from the freezer)
•     6 oz. cold cream cheese , cut into pieces
•     1/2 cup cold light cream, half and half, or heavy cream

for the filling:

•     about 6 large peaches or nectaries (I did not peel them to save work and to add a bit of the rustic), about 2 lbs.
•     scant 1/4 cup granulated sugar
•     juice of 1/2 lemon, about 1 tablespoon
•     about 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
•     1 tablespoon flour
•     1 tablespoon cornstarch
•     1 large organic egg yolk, beaten with 2 teaspoons light cream (substitute half and half, heavy cream, or whole milk)
•     granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

make the dough:

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Pulse.  Add the butter and cream cheese and pulse till the mixture looks like very coarse meal, 10-15 pulses approximately.  Add the cold cream and pulse, just until the dough starts to come together, about 10 pulses.  Turn dough out onto clean work surface or waxed paper, gather dough together, cut it into 2 pieces, form into 2 disks, and wrap in plastic, refrigerate at least 2 or 3 hours, or overnight as I did.

when ready to bake:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Position oven racks in middle of oven.  Line heavy duty baking sheet with parchment paper.

Make your filling.  Slice peaches into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick wedges and some smaller pieces with remaining parts of peaches into large mixing bowl.  Add sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, flour, cornstarch, and salt.  Set aside.

Take out 1 disk of pastry.  Roll out disk on waxed paper which you dusted with flour till you have about a 12 inch round (doesn’t have to be totally round)  Every once in a while, lift dough up, and sprinkle a little more flour underneath, or sprinkle flour on top as I do, and flip pastry so that the newly floured top is now on the bottom.  When dough is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/8 inch thick, transfer it to parchment lined baking sheet (fold in quarters, transfer, and unfold).  Place about half of your peach mixture on round, leaving about 1 inch on edges that you are not putting the peach mixture on.  Begin draping dough up and over, making pleats, pressing to seal.  Place back in fridge right on baking sheet so dough gets cold again before you bake it- that will keep it flaky.  Take out when cold, in about 15 min., and brush dough with egg wash, sprinkle lightly with sugar.  Then dot the filling with just about 1/2 tables. of butter.   Bake for about 30 min. or a little more till crust is beautifully browned.  If you think crust is browning too quickly, reduce temp to 400 degrees midway.  Let cool on baking sheet, either serve warm or at room temp.

Then take out remaining disk of pastry from fridge.  At this point lower temp. to 400 degrees.  (I felt I would lower temperature, because these smaller turnovers seemed a little more delicate, so I decided they would do better with 400 degrees rather than 425 degrees.) Roll out pastry somewhere between 1/4 in. and 1/8 in. thick, try for a large rectangle, about 12 by 14 in. if you want to make the turnovers, otherwise roll out into another big circle if you wish to make a second crostada, again sprinkling with flour as you go as explained above..  I did the rectangle.  Then with pizza cutter, cut into 4 squares or rectangles, if possible.    Tranfer first square or rectangle to parchment lined baking sheet.  I actually at this point cut my largish peach slices in smaller pieces.  Spoon a few tablespoons of peaches onto half of rectangle, on half of your square- making a triangle, or on middle of round if that’s what the quarter of your dough turned into.  Leave a border of about 1/2 inch in square or rectangle, and about 3/4 inch for round.  Brush border of square and rectangle with egg wash to be a sort of glue.  Then fold over the dough for your turnovers- your square or rectangle, and pleat the dough over the mini crostada.  Brush tops of turnovers all over with some of the remaining egg wash, brush dough of crostada, and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-30 min. till beautifully browned.  Take out and serve either warm or at room temperature.

an easy variation for the crostadas:

one box of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry- defrost it in fridge, then break sheets into thirds along line that is present, then roll out each third till about 1/8 to 1/4 in. thick, form into squares, rectangles or circles, and fill with above filling, fold over to make either triangles, rectangles, or half moons.  When ready to bake, brush with melted butter and bake on parchment lined cookie sheets at 400 degress until browned.

I love quiche, but I don’t often make it because, let’s face it, it’s not exactly healthy.  When I happen to have a frozen pie crust in the freezer, either fresh or frozen asparagus or some mushrooms, some half and half or light cream, and swiss cheese in the fridge, I decide it’s time to treat myself and my daughter Randi, who loves my quiche.  I have these items handy more often now, because I’ve become a real Costco shopper, and I like to buy their fresh asparagus or mushrooms, and their lite gruyere cheese- which is delicious. This morning, I realized I had all the ingredients with about and hour and a half to spare, so I decided it was time to make some quiche.

for one quiche:

• 3 extra large eggs or 3 large eggs plus one egg yolk (or 4 large eggs-3/2011)
• 1 1/2 cups of light cream or half and half –  or 3/4 cup heavy cream plus 3/4 cup whole milk (March 2011, only used about 11/4 cups light cream)
• about 1 pound or a little more fresh asparagus, roasted or 1/2 box of frozen asparagus spears, defrosted
• 1 frozen deep dish pie shell, Oronique is my preference
• 4 – 5 oz.  Swiss or Gruyere cheese ( I like to use lite gruyere or alpine lace, but any swiss is fine)(Used about 1/2 lb. 3-11)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cover sheet pan with aluminum foil.  Cut ends off asparagus spears.  Place on pan.  Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  Drizzle a tablespoon of  light olive oil over, toss asparagus with oil.  Roast for about 20 -25 min. till asparagus is cooked.  Set aside to cool.  Then cut spears into bite sized pieces.  Or defrost 1 16 oz. box of frozen asparagus spears,  pat dry, then cut into bite sized pieces, use about 1/2 of the asparagus or more if you wish for one quiche.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.Take a frozen deep dish pie shell in its aluminum pan and place it in a pyrex pie plate to prevent any mess in the oven.   Prick pie crust all over with fork.  Bake for about 10 min.  Then take out of oven.

In medium bowl, whisk or beat with fork, eggs with cream, add salt and pepper.  Spread asparagus (or mushrooms-see instructions below) over bottom of crust, tear cheese into medium to smallish pieces and place over asparagus, pour egg and cream mixture over.   Place on sheet pan in preheated oven, and bake 45-55 minutes until knife inserted in center comes out clean, and quiche is nicely puffed and lightly browned.  Serve.

for mushroom quiche:

Saute 10 oz. of sliced white or baby bella mushrooms with or without 1/2 chopped onion, with little kosher salt, papper, optional 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, in 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil or only olive oil till caramelized.