Simply delish: Ham, Swiss and kale quiche

This ham, Swiss and kale quiche is a nice and simple meal that can be made ahead and refrigerated for several days. The addition of kale, instead of the typical spinach, adds texture and depth to the dish. The allspice and chili flakes go very well with the greens and eggs, nicely complementing the quiche overall.

I enjoy serving this dish with a tasty salad that I top with a simple olive oil and lemon dressing. A light salad and dressing combine well with the rich egg and cheese of the dish.

Ham and Veggie Quiche with Kale

Makes: one quiche

5 eggs

1/2 cup of 2% milk

Small block of Swiss cheese (about 4 oz.), diced

2 slices of deli ham, diced

1/2 bunch of kale, diced

3 large cherry tomatoes

1 clove of garlic

1 small shallot

1 pie crust (I used a whole wheat one.)

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Dash of salt and pepper

Dash of allspice

Dash of red chili flakes

Dash of Hungarian paprika

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Saute kale, garlic, and shallot in the olive oil, seasoning kale with a little salt and pepper.

2. Add kale mixture to pie crust. (I prefer Wholefoods' store brand whole wheat crust.) Top kale mixture with diced ham and diced cheese.

3. In a mixing bowl whisk egg, milk, all spice, paprika, and chili flakes, add a little pepper. Pour the egg mixture over other ingredients in pie crust and top with slices of cherry tomatoes.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and let bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before cutting.

Tasting some of Tampa's History: the devil crab

Recently, myself and a group of eight local epicurean adventurers headed out around Tampa in search of devil crabs. Tampa was the birthplace of this snack in the early 1920s — a croquette made from seasoned, cooked crab meat which is breaded, fried and traditionally eaten with hot sauce. We tasted this indigenous dish from several different Tampa establishments known for making their own from scratch, comparing their differences and tasting some of Tampa's food history.

First things first, while I may be a native Tampanian, I learned on this day that the proper title of this edible delight is "devil crab", not "deviled crab".

• The Columbia's devil crab

Our group met up in Ybor and headed to the Columbia Restaurant who had the smallest version of the devil crab. The appetizer included six mini croquettes filled with blue crab and seasoned with paprika, garlic, and onion. The small bites had nice-sized chunks of garlic and onion in them, and were served with the restaurant’s own label of hot sauce. In my opinion, the hot sauce wasn’t really needed, as the seasoning in them was sufficient.

The next stop, Carmine’s, was my standard setting out on the crawl. Having lived in Ybor, I often ate their crabs and was very interested in comparing them to other versions. Carmine’s has been using the same devil crab recipe since sometime around 1929, the bartender told us. Their version is about the size of a softball with a crispy shell. The dish was stuffed with blue crab, and chunks of onion and green pepper were visible. While delicious, the crab overall lacked seasoning. Carmine’s serves their devil crab with Texas Pete hot sauce — a good accompaniment to add some much needed heat.

• Carmine's devil crab

The stop at La Tropicana Cafe had been negated from the crawl, as we had been informed they would be closed. However, much to our delight, they were open. On our way to Brocato’s, we grabbed a few devil crabs to go and took them with us. It was interesting to have both the La Tropicana and Brocato devil crabs on one table, as they were very different from one another.

La Tropicana’s devil crab was very bready. It had a crisp crust which when opened exposed an inner thick layer of dough. The breading was seasoned wonderfully, although I felt that the crab meat got somewhat lost when compared with Brocato’s version. La Tropicana had my favorite hot sauce accompaniment of the crawl, Jalapeno Sauce by Dixie Crystal.

• Brocatos' (top) and La Tropicana (bottom)

Brocato’s Sandwich Shop was insanely busy (which is not unusual), but after a short wait for devil crabs, we sat them next to La Tropicana’s and compared the two versions. Brocato’s had a thin crust of what appeared to be panko crumbs. Breaking into the crab, we discovered a plethora of fresh crab meat. As we all leaned over the table in excitement taking pictures, regular customers came over to brag that Brocato’s had the best devil crabs and Cuban sandwiches anywhere. I did not have a Cuban sandwich, but I concur with the regulars on the devil crab. It was wonderful: the meat tasted incredibly fresh, and the seasoning was perfect and not under- or over-whelming the meat. At first glance, I thought the crust may not be crispy enough for my taste, but the panko crumb crust was crispy, even without the darker color of other devil crabs.

We had heard rumors that many restaurants around Tampa sell Michelle Faedo's devil crabs. In fact, I called each stop to confirm that they made their own devil crabs prior to adding them to our crawl. With the knowledge that she sells devil crabs to many local restaurants, we had hoped to try them straight from the source but ,were very disappointed when we arrived at the shop to find that it had closed an hour early. Oh well, on to the next stop!

Cacciatore Brother's market had great prices on wine, cheese, and other delights, but their devil crabs were microwaved to order. They were mostly bread and the crab meat was very suspicious. One might even suspect that the devil crab was in fact a devil "krab". This was by far the least favorite devil crab of the entire group. Even loads of Texas Pete hot sauce did not help. In all fairness, though, this is a market selling prepared foods and not a restaurant that prepares them fresh.

• Alessi's devil crab

Alessi's Bakery's devil crab was arguably in the top three in most of our opinions. The crust was thin, dark and crispy, and when you cracked it open, the interior held well-seasoned fresh blue crab. Alessi's is well known for its scachatta, but frankly, I prefer their devil crabs.

I’ve long loved Castellano & Pizzo Market for its homemade mozzarella and sausages, but I had never had its devil crab. The crab was very different from any of the others, in that it had a definite Italian seasonings in it. The exterior was crispy, but the devil crab, as a whole, was very doughy. It came with a "salsa" packet, but would have tasted much better with a homemade marinara sauce. We were also harshly scolded by a man behind the counter for taking pictures, “No picturas in da stora!” leading someone (unnamed) to title this the 'crab with the most attitude'.

• Seabreeze devil crab

After the official crawl ended at Castellano & Pizzo, those remaining headed to the Robert and Helen Richards’ home in Palmetto, the former owners of the Seabreeze Restaurant on the 22nd Street Causeway. A devil crab crawl through Tampa just would not be complete without sampling the devil crab from the makers that, legend has it, put the dish on the map in the 1920s. While the restaurant closed in 2002, the Richards family continues making the restaurant’s famous devil crabs from their home which they sell by the dozen.

Although we didn’t get to enjoy fresh deviled crabs with them this day, Helen sent us home with frozen devil crabs, and invited us back for dinner and more stories.

I brought the crabs home and fried one up the following day. It was tasty and crisp, and both the shell and the interior were seasoned wonderfully. But having been frozen, it lacked the fresh crab flavor of the Brocato devil crab. I will withhold deciding between Brocato’s and Seabreeze's as my favorite until I return to the Richards’ home and Robert fries up a fresh batch.

Everyone had their favorite versions of devil crab from the various eateries, leaving it difficult to name one the ultimate "best". All in all, it was simply an enjoyable of sampling some of Tampa's unique food history.

• Columbia Restaurant: 2025 E 7th Ave, Tampa. 813-248-3000



• Carmine's: 1802 E 7th Ave., Tampa. 813-248-3834



• La Tropicana Cafe: 1822 E 7th Ave, Tampa. 813-247-4040



• Brocato's: 5021 E Columbus Dr., Tampa. 813-248-9977



• Michelle Faedo's Sandwich Shop: 3609 N 15th St., Tampa. 813-247-3020



• Cacciatore Brothers: 5610 Hanley Rd., Tampa. 813-884-8013



• Alessi's Bakery: 2909 W Cypress St., Tampa. 813-879-4544



• Castellano & Pizzo Market: 4200 Henderson Blvd., Tampa. 813-289-5275



• Seabreeze Devil Crabs: 813-623-6250

Chicken soup from leftovers

Yesterday I dug through the fridge wondering what I could make that would be warming, delicious, and would not require a trip to the market. I decided on chicken noodle soup. It's an amazingly easy dish to make, and you can have fun with the ingredients and spices, as there is not only one way to make it. I opted for the crock pot, as I had some errands to run, and the crock pot would allow me to throw in a bunch of scraps from the fridge, set it to low, and run my errands while dinner cooked.
The soup turned out delicious, and really warming both in temperature and spiciness. It just goes to show that you can use you holiday leftovers without opting for sandwiches. The below recipe is what I happened to have on-hand. Play with it and create your own fun and delicious version.

Chicken soup recipe:

2 chicken breasts

2/3 white onion

4 whole scallions

2 celery stalks

3 carrots

1/2 zucchini

pint of baby portabella mushrooms

4 cloves garlic

1 can of diced "jalapeno and chili" tomatoes

1 hand full of spinach

8 cups of homemade beef stock

1 tbsp parsley

1 tsp dried chili flakes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp rosemary

(all vegetables were diced in about even sizes)

Place all items in crock pot. Turn to low and allow to cook for five (5) hours.

Epicurean adventure: 24 hours in Manhattan

What would you do if you had just twenty-four hours in Manhattan? I was faced with this difficult question s few months ago when, on a whim, I flew to Manhattan to meet up with my boyfriend David. When an email offer of a super cheap plane ticket fell into my inbox, and with knowledge that I would not have to pay for a hotel, I quickly made dog-sitting arrangements and off I flew, no plan in hand. I knew two things going out: I wanted to eat a hotdog on the street, and I wanted to explore Eataly.

I jumped on a flight so early that I was the first person in line for security, TSA wasn’t even open yet. Tip for travelers: TSA screeners are pretty friendly at 5am. I landed just in time for brunch at L’Express. Some deliciously strong lattes and Eggs Benedict later, and we were ready for a short nap before exploring. Yes, a nap—you try getting up at 3am for a flight.

After our nap, we headed down to the Museum of Art & Design for the Dead or Alive exhibition. The exhibition was a fascinating exploration of art using death. There were sculptures made of bones, skulls made from spices by Helen Altman (at right), and a motorcycle made from the skeleton of a steer. All this made me suddenly get hungry. Luckily reentry was not an issue at the museum, so we left and found the requisite food cart in Columbus Circle. I had a New York style hotdog: cooked onions and spicy mustard; David had a chicken skewer sandwich. We sat and watched the bicycle tour guides trying to reel in anyone who passed them. We watched the traffic around the square, and the crazy pedestrians jolting out in front of cars. Ahhh, this is a New York lunch. We returned to the museum and viewed the rest of the exhibition. I think my favorite piece was a led light, bronze and dandelion installation by Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta that was beautiful and delicate. Each dandelion seed was hand placed into the piece.

Next, it was time to discover Eataly. Eataly was not that far removed from a museum. We walked in and our jaws dropped in awe at the beauty around us. It is the creation of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Farinetti. And in fact, as we perused the aisles,

we passed Lidia, who seemed to be keeping a mother's watchful eye over everyone. The 50,000 sq. ft. space is a wondrous adventure through Italian food delights. I nearly melted in the cheese aisle. And, then there were vegetables of colors and varieties I had never seen before. Fresh pastas and pizzas made while you watch. A cafe, a restaurant, and even a gadget shop. It was amazing, adventurous, and a little overwhelming.

After our adventure at Eataly, it was time to return to our friend's place, get dressed up and prepare to head out for the evening adventures. Our first stop of the evening was for drinks at a well-hidden magical mixology room, Raine's Law Room. The bar is one of the quintessential Manhattan spots, no signage, a stairwell that leads below the sidewalk ... you knock on the door, and a man menacingly peers out the door and simply asks what you want. With the mention of the right name, we were permitted into a dark room that was reminiscent of long-ago speakeasy. Groups relaxed in booths and whispered gently while sipping extravagant mixed cocktails. In the back room, we watched the bartenders expertly muddling, mixing, and shaking. And, if you venture past that room, there is a quiet outside area. One of those little few and far between delights of Manhattan, a spot to stare at the stars, and hide from the noise of the streets. Our favorite cocktails for the evening were the South Side Rickey, a combination of Beefeater gin, lime juice, simple syrup, fresh mint, and club soda, shaken and served down; and, the McHenry, which combined Plymouth gin, Dolin dry vermouth, and Marie Brizard apry, stirred and served up.

Our final adventure in Manhattan turned out to be quite a surprise. ABC Kitchen, by Jean-Georges Vongerichten was named Restaurant of the Year by Esquire magazine shortly after our visit. We knew that we were in for a treat, but we had no idea how wonderful our timing was, as it would soon be nearly impossible to obtain a reservation at the restaurant. ABC specializes in serving local and organic foods, and has a rooftop garden that supplies its greens and herbs. The food is prepared in such a seemingly simplistic way, that you immediately know there is a genius at work. The Peekytoe crab toast was light and citrusy. Radishes with butter: does it get any simpler or light? The fluke sashimi was irresistible. I could have eaten it all night. It was ever so delicately prepared with a dash of olive oil, tarragon, sea salt, pepper, and garnished with little grapes. Sauteed corn with manchego, jalapenos, and lime was delightfully spicy and covered in cheese. The sauteed arctic char swam in a bowl of summer beans, lime, and spicy corn broth. The roasted squash was comforting, and yet had a hint of spice. And, of course I could not pass up the pomme frittes with truffle and parmesan.

We departed ABC sometime after midnight, and there were still guests arriving to eat dinner. New York truly doesn't sleep. But, one thing they do well is eat. Whew, what a whirlwind of fun.

When I returned to Miami, one of the first things I did was try to recreate the squash dish. I actually stopped by the market on the way home from the airport and sought out beautiful squash. Following is the recipe I created in trying to copy Jean-George.

Roasted Summer Squash

yellow crookneck squash

zucchini squash

olive oil

salt

fresh ground black pepper

red chili flakes

cayenne

parmesan

lemon

Cut squash into even size pieces. Place in a mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil, a dash of salt, pepper, cayenne, and red chili flakes. Mix gently to cover squash. Place in a baking dish and bake uncovered at 350 until edges start to brown (about 20-30 minutes). Remove from oven and grate parmesan over it. Return to oven for about ten minutes, or until cheese is browning. Remove, plate, and sprinkle with lemon juice.

BLT & poached egg salad

I'm calling this my contracts power brunch.
I finished my civil procedure exam yesterday, and am now preparing for my contracts exam scheduled for Monday. Contracts is the course that I am most worried about. I think I am too mathematical in my contracts reasoning. It must be the science background. After the practice midterm, I was told that I need to be more creative and not miss the forest for the trees. So, I am nervous for this upcoming exam. To help quell my nerves, I made a delicious salad incorporating some of my favorite ingredients (bacon & eggs) with chamomile flowers, which are allegedly nerve calming and soothing. The recipe is below; I have to get back to my friends Epstein and Emanuel, Enjoy!
Note: there is no butter in this salad. Gasp! Boo! Hiss! Buttered toast is a nice addition.

Salad:
handful of mixed greens
six cherry tomatoes, halved
small bunch of sprouts
tsp or so of feta
1 piece of bacon, cut into half or smaller pieces
two eggs
2 tsp chamomile flowers (if you don't have them loose, you can use a bag of chamomile "tea")
Dash of hot sauce (I used Gator Hammock)
salt & pepper to taste

Add chamomile flowers to your pot of poaching water, and bring it to the point where it is just about to boil, but not to a boil. Fry your bacon and poach your eggs. If you don't know how to poach eggs, go to my prior blog post here. Layer your salad ingredients and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then top with bacon and eggs. Put a dash of hot sauce on the eggs. The runny egg yolk will mix with the hot sauce and create your dressing; no need for additional salad dressing.

Tilapia with lemon-thyme-butter sauce and sauteed spinach

I'm writing this two days before my first 1L exam. Civil Procedure. Gasp! Yes, students who are currently freaking out, I took fifteen minutes out of reviewing to do this. I came to the realization yesterday, while watching some fellow students walk around campus in a crazed-paranoid panic, that at this point in the semester either you've got it, or you don't. So, I reviewed the majority of my day, but I also ran a mile, took a fifteen minute nap, and blogged after making dinner. Two days before finals is not the time to panic, the panic will only bleed into your exam (a little forensic humor). Now is the time to review, be healthy, eat healthy, and enjoy having accomplished a semester of 60 hour a week studying. Eat well, my friends ... I have to get back to reviewing Civ Pro...

I made this recipe for one, just me. I'm stingy that way. You can share it by doubling or tripling. I don't typically measure ingredients, so use your discretion, as I am estimating what I used. If you have discretion.
For the goodness of flavor, don't over salt everything. Yes, you grandpa, I'm calling you out. Simple, delicate flavors are best.

Tiliapia:
1/2 of your typical big tilapia fillet
4 tbsp seasoned flour for fish frying
pinch of thyme
smaller pinches of salt and fresh ground pepper
3 tsp butter
1/8 cup wine
juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat a frying pan to med-high. Combine seasoned flour, thyme, salt, and pepper in a plastic bag. Add wet fish, seal and toss to coat. Add one tsp butter to pan, add fish and cook for approximately 2-3 minutes per side depending on thickness, adding one more tsp of butter when you turn the fish. Remove fish and allow to rest. Add wine, last tsp of butter, and lemon juice to pan and heat. Add a dash of the leftover seasoned flour and whisk. Pour sauce over fish.

Meanwhile...

Sauteed spinach with tomatoes
I made this while the fish cooked. Actually, I heated up this pan at the same time as the fish pan. As soon as I added the fish to its respective pan, I began throwing the ingredients for this dish into its pan.

2 small shallots, minced
2 small cloves of fresh garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 a lemon
6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
several handfuls of fresh spinach
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp bacon grease (or butter, or oil)

Add grease to pan and heat to medium. Add shallots and saute until clear. Throw in garlic and tomatoes. Cook for just about a minute-don't burn your garlic. Toss in spinach, season with salt & pepper. Squeeze lemon over the spinach. Toss gently to combine the flavors. Cover and remove from heat.

I served this with white rice. You know how to make rice. Make it, or don't.

Culinary adventure: Miami foodie meetup at Sugarcane Raw Bar and Grill

Everything is changing around here. And, I am not just talking about CL Tampa's new look, either. For those who do not know, I moved to South Florida a few months ago to attend law school at University of Miami, and entered into a sometimes scary, sometimes exciting, all the time interesting, new world of culture, cuisine, exotic fruits and food lovers.

I can now say that I have been initiated into the South Florida foodie scene.

In preparation to moving to Miami, I began following fellow food bloggers and adventurers on Twitter. After some follow-backs and back and forth tweet banter, I found myself receiving an invitation by the grand diva of Miami foodies herself, Maude Eaton, a South Florida food lover and writer. I was invited to a tweetup of the South Florida Foodies, a private facebook group of food lovers and tweeters. The secret tweetup would be a $35 prix fix menu brunch at Sugarcane Raw Bar and Grill in Midtown Miami. And, it just happened to take place the weekend after my move south.


I could not have had a more welcome diversion from a week spent getting lost and running into language barriers in a town where I had not one friend, and everyone drives crazy. Not crazy like Tampa, crazy like, well, let's just say that I have never seen driving like this outside of San Juan or Manhattan. It's really an unexplainable mix of North Easterners and foreigners. A word of caution: When you come down to Miami, pause before advancing when the light turns green; it's almost guaranteed that someone will run the red light. It was a bit of a traumatic first week for me. I had only explored a five mile radius around my condo and was already overwhelmed and feeling alone.

I didn't expect very much from the tweetup aside from finally meeting some people while snacking on hors d' oeuvres. I was even at one point contemplating canceling due to the drive I'd have to make. US 1 and I-95? Oh geez! But things were about to look up.

I was in for a surprise. Our brunch turned out to be a full sit down tasting, with free flowing specialty cocktails. We trekked the menu starting with a luscious and light lobster bisque served with mini beignets on the side.


We moved on to bacalao, which I had never had before; comprised of dried salt cod, a unique flavor that I'll have again some day. Following that were salads featuring beets and crispy poached eggs. I was amazed at how they managed to bread and fry an egg while maintaining a runny yolk.

We were then surprised by a course not on our tasting menu: duck fried in confit, with whole wheat waffles and maple syrup, served with a pickled watermelon salad; incredibly rich and interesting. A whole roasted chicken was next, served family style with corn and truffled fingerling potatoes -- I could have eaten this all day.

The meal ended with a delightful almond milk blanc-manger with drunken cherries. As we sat excitedly discussing the meal we just enjoyed, we were surprised by a visit from both the restaurant's chef, Timon Balloo, and manager, Joshua Rubenstein, who were just as excited to treat food tweeters and bloggers, as we were to eat their food. Those two are smart social marketers.

I left Sugarcane feeling welcome into my new city. I met fellow foodies who are destined to become friends and fellow culinary travelers. There was Olee, a sweetheart who helped me with the parking station before we even discovered that we'd be sharing a table; Jason, an advertising executive, and long distance runner; Jean Marc, a world traveler on his way to Cape Cod; and, of course, Maude, who was a darling diva and host, sprightly introducing everyone, and dashing around like the fairy godmother of Miami's foodie kingdom. They not only made some of my jitters disburse, they made me eager to begin my next excursion into the culinary canvas of Miami.

To leave you with a taste of Miami, SugarCane Raw Bar was kind enough to send me the recipe for my new favorite cocktail, the Spice of Love.