As the week draws to a close (thank God!) and thoughts turn to the fabulousness that is the Super Bowl (go Pats!) I bet you’re starting to wonder what the heck you’re going to serve the rowdy crowd of male friends and Tom Brady ogling girlfriends who plan to congregate around your TV on the big day. Well, I’m planning to make Super Top Secret Artichoke Dip, a Baked Brie, and possibly Chicken Tikka Masala. I was leaning toward my favorite Ellie Krieger Chili recipe, but I’m still on the fence. It may end up being a game day decision. Or maybe I’ll just say screw it, order pizzas, and call it good. Either way I’ll be cheering on my favorite sexy quarterback hair plugs and all.

The internet is full of crazy, useless, cooking related stuff this week that you and I definitely don’t need but will still secretly covet and bookmark all over the place. This includes:

• Monkey Tea, which I have to admit I almost bought yesterday until I came to my senses.
• Cupcake dresses for adorable little girls with bouncy blonde curls.
• La Vie En Rose Tea which I would only buy out of guilt for not actually having seen the film.
• Slashfood linked to a website that allows you to make your own granola bars and then name them. I played with the “You Bars” website this morning and made a peanut butter, chocolate chip, and nut filled concoction. I think at that rate I’d just have to name it “Why Don’t You Just Eat a Snickers Bar.”
• In addition, they apparently make New York Style Cheesecake Hershey kisses. If you let me try one I’ll be your best friend.

I have an obsession with quiche. I seem to be on a never ending quest to find the perfect recipe. This is of course complicated by the fact that I make really terrible pie crust. I’m learning to accept that I may never perfect the art of rolled pastry dough and therefore I stock up on the pre-made stuff. It’s not that bad. In fact, I really like it. It’s crispy, browns well, and makes for an elegant presentation which is not something I can say about some of the hideous stuff I’ve created from scratch.

While I was doing my obsessive planning for the holiday party I found a recipe for a basic quiche that I had clipped and saved. I used it to make a ham quiche and a mushroom herb version, but while mixing up the eggs, cheese, and various vegetables and meats I realized that I had a ton of filling leftover. I was probably a little heavy handed with the extras I’d added but it felt like a horrifying waste when I tossed a bunch of it down the disposal.

Fast forward to earlier this week. I had a bunch of vine ripened tomatoes and zucchinis that needed to find a home (in my tummy) and two leftover pie crusts. Obviously these ingredients just screamed quiche, so I whipped up the below recipe using two pre-baked pie crusts. Remember, quiche is an all day appropriate meal. The more the merrier! Or you can just toss one in the freezer to heat up at a later time. Another thing that I really like about this recipe is that it only uses 4 eggs and 8 ounces of cheese, which you then split between two pies. So not withstanding that whole “bad for you” pie crust thing you’ve at the very least lowered your potential egg and cheese calories (or that’s what I tell myself). Plus you filled up those pastries with veggies galore. That has to count for something. So pull out those leftovers and crack a few eggs. Delicious meals don’t get much easier than this.

Note: If I were you I wouldn’t skip the step that indicates foil lining your baking sheet. Quiche have an annoying tendency to overflow and you will so not enjoy scrubbing your favorite baking sheet or (the horror!!) the bottom of your oven for a week.

What To Do…What To Do…	Dry Those Tomatoes
Slice & Chop	Cook
Fake It With Pride	Grate, No Nibbling!
Whisk	Mix It All Up
Protect Your Investment	Layer
Fill: One For Me, One For You	Sprinkle On Top
Bake	Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner

Tomato and Zucchini Quiche (Inspired by the Basic Quiche Recipe from Real Simple Magazine)

Yields: 2 Complete Quiche and 8 Large and Tasty Servings

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 tomatoes, sliced, lightly salted and patted dry
2 medium zucchinis, sliced
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
4 eggs
3/4 cup half-and-half
8 ounces Gruyère, grated
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 store-bought frozen piecrust in tins

Heat oven to 375° F.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the onion, zucchini, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Cover and cook until the onions and zucchini are softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs and half-and-half. Stir in the Gruyère, herbs, nutmeg, the remaining salt and pepper, and the onion and zucchini mixture.

Place the pie crusts on a foil-lined baking sheet. Scrape the egg mixture into the pie crusts; they will be very full. Top with sliced grape tomatoes. Bake until the filling is set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

When Chris and I spent Thanksgiving in Connecticut with his family this year I went completely gaga over his Aunt Kara’s Pineapple centerpieces and vowed to recreate them for the holiday party.

You’ll need:

• A sharp knife
• Tea lights
• Asiago cheese (Per Hänni’s directive) to pair with all of that leftover pineapple you’ll be scooping out and snacking on
• Optional: Make an appointment to borrow CK (because he actually carved the pineapple for me while I was making Pistachio Chocolate Fudge)

On three sides of the pineapple, carefully carve three oval shapes. Scoop out the excess fruit. Dry the pineapple throughly before lighting your tea lights - we stuffed our pineapples with paper towels and set them out on the deck for a few hours in the cold.

Just a moment ago I was looking up the recipe for Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Pistachio Fudge online and I came across the actual clip of her making it on YouTube. So I sat through it thoroughly enjoying Nigella in all her glory of shiny black curls and smoldering looks when it dawned on me that I’d never added any butter to my mixture when I made it for the party. Had I been so distracted by Texas Spice’s presence in the kitchen that I’d left out an ingredient? Then I checked the Food Network website and discovered that it didn’t mention butter at all in the recipe. I should have used the BBC website. At least they got it right.

My fudge came out just as sickeningly sweet as you can imagine a gigantic pot of melted chocolate and condensed milk would be, even without the small addition of butter, but it totally annoys me that it was left out. That seems to happen quite frequently actually. What you see on the cooking shows isn’t always duplicated in the recipes they provide to the public. Smarten up copy editors! Anyway, one piece of this decadent fudge will completely wreck you and probably make your dentist shutter in horror, but it will be worth it. After all, Christmas comes but once a year and obviously this gives us free reign to be complete and utter gluttons. Note: The images below are a doubled version of the recipe which I poured into a 9” by 13” pan. I also used half dark, and half milk chocolate.

A Lot of Chopped Chocolate	Serious Nutcracking
Melt	Pour, Smooth, & Chill
Give Them a Toothache

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge (Originally published by Nigella Lawson)

12 ounces 70 percent dark chocolate, chopped or 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 (14-ounce) can condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter
Pinch salt
1 cup shelled pistachios

Melt the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, butter, and salt in a heavy based pan on a low heat.
Put the nuts into a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin, until broken up into both big and little pieces.
Add the nuts to the melted chocolate and condensed milk and stir well to mix.
Pour this mixture into a 9-inch square foil tray, smoothing the top.

Let the fudge cool and then refrigerate until set. You can then cut into small pieces approximately 3/4 by 1 3/4 inches or cutting 8 by 8 lines in the tin to give 64 pieces.

Once cut you can keep it in the freezer, no need to thaw just eat straight away.

In my world a party just isn’t a party without at least six kinds of cheese, and Baked Brie is the best of the best when it comes to pleasing your wine drinking friends. Don’t worry, as pretty and “impressive” as they tend to look all dolled up on your hostess’s serving platter it couldn’t be easier to make.

Erin’s Starry Night Baked Brie

1 wheel of Brie (the bigger the better)
1 Pillsbury Pie Crust at room temperature
Cute mini star cookie cutters

Unwrap the Brie and cover it with the pie crust. Trim the excess dough carefully from the edges, smooth out the dough and close up any open seams. Roll out the remaining dough and decorate the pastry covered Brie with the cutout shapes.

Bake in an oven proof dish at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Break Out the Big Brie	Wrap It Up
Trim	Cosmic Alterations
Decorate	I Wish I May, I Wish I Might…

It’s official! An Erin Cooks Christmas was a smashing success (if I do say so myself). Be on the look out this week for recipes from our little soirée including my super “top secret” Artichoke Dip, Starry Night Baked Brie, Pistachio Chocolate Fudge, and a how-to on carving pineapple lantern centerpieces. If you’re just dying to join in on the fun then you should check out these blasts from the pasts which I also served at the party: Spanakopita, Quiche, Christmas in a Glass Cocktails, and Toll House Pie.