New Baby Celebration Meal

It is always fun to cook for a family that has just had a new baby!  For this dinner I made a Chicken, Spinach and Onion Quiche with a polenta crust, green salad, and Blackberry-Raspberry Crumble pie.  Half of the quiche has noodles in it for the kids.  The new family now has 3 children, so I imagine the big kids would enjoy the noodles.

Chicken, Spinach, Onion Quiche with Noodles and a Polenta Crust
serves 4-6, makes 1 quiche

Ingredients
crust
1/2 cup dry polenta
1 1/2 cups water
splash or two of olive oil
some salt
1/3 cup grated cheese of your choice.  I used Tillamook Sharp.

Insides of quiche
4 eggs
2 cups milk
2 chicken breasts cooked and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 onion
2 fully packed cups of fresh spinach, chopped
a handful of cooked noodles ( I used leftover spaghetti noodles)- optional
black pepper

Making the Crust
Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil.  Slowly add 1/2 cup dry polenta while stirring to prevent clumping.  Watch out, the polenta will spit up and bite you if the heat is too high!  Mix in about 1 TBS olive oil and a dash of salt.  Turn heat down and stir occassionally until polenta is thick.  Prepare a pie dish by oiling it with olive oil.  This will prevent the polenta crust from sticking to the pan.  Evenly spread polenta like you would a regular wheat crust.  I used a spatula and made the crust a little thicker than a regular wheat crust would be.  Bake the crust in an oven for 20 minutes on 350F.  Right before it is done cooking add the grated cheese and let it melt before taking it out of the oven.  Set crust aside and prepare the filling.

The Quiche Filling 
preheat oven to 375 Bake
1. Thoroughly mix 4 eggs with 2 cups of milk.  Set aside. 
2. Fry one chopped onion in a pan with butter for 3 minutes.  Add chicken breasts if they are not already precooked.  Cook until the chicken and onions are done to your liking.  Add some pepper.  Set aside.
3. Fill the polenta and cheese pie crust with the chopped fresh (uncooked) spinach.
4. Optional- Cover 1/2 of the quiche with cooked noodles (great for kids).
5. Cover the polenta evenly with the chicken and onions.
6. Pour the milk-egg mixture over the chicken-onion-spinach covered crust.  Leave at least 1/2 inch of the pie dish unfilled so that it won't overflow into your oven like it did mine =)
7. Cover the quiche with aluminum foil.  This keeps the pie cooking evenly.  No burned top or hard noodles!
8. Cook in preheated 350 F oven for 30 minutes or more.  I can't remember exactly how long I cooked mine, but I think it was 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Mine was really full though, so it would cook quicker the less full your pie dish is.

Now, time for DESSERT!

Blackberry-Raspberry Crumble 
When cooked right, the pie is thick enough to stay put on your spoon.  This is a very easy dessert that is sure to disappear quickly.  You can use any fruit, but the cooking times and ingredients will differ a bit.   This is my favorite dessert right now!


Makes 1 pie
Topping:
1 cup oatmeal, whole grain
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of butter melted
Mix the oatmeal and brown sugar then mix in the butter.  Set aside. The topping gets spread evenly over the pie.  I have a hard time keeping my kids hands out of the topping-- it is delicious and simple.

Insides:
2 cups of previously frozen blackberries (de-thaw before using)
2 cups previously frozen raspberries, or enough to fill a pie dish (de-thaw before using)
5 TBS flour
3 TBS lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix all the above ingredients (minus the fruit and lemon juice).  When thoroughly combined, add to the fruit and pour on the lemon juice.  Be careful not to rough up the berries too much as you mix it.  They are delicate.   Spoon the mixture into the pie pan.   Next, cover the fruit mixture with the oatmeal crumble.  Bake at 350 F for as long as it takes, making sure not to burn the crumble layer. The pie should be bubbling for a while.  Keep an eye on the topping and take out of oven before it gets overcooked.  I think it took about 45 minutes, but... don't take my word for it...I time things very intuitively.  I use my nose too and can usually tell when it is done cooking by the smells.  Good luck!  Bon Appetite!