REPOST: Chorizo and Goat Cheese Quiche

Recipe source: FoodNetwork.com


Image credit: Johnny Miller

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cubed
3 tablespoons cold lard, cubed

For the jalapeno pesto:
6 jalapeno peppers
1 1/2 cups packed fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the filling:
4 ounces soft goat cheese
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 pound Mexican chorizo, casings removed
1 1/2 cups grated fontina cheese
1/4 cup finely grated cotija cheese
2 to 3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream

Directions

Make the crust: Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times. Scatter the butter and lard over the flour and pulse until the mixture forms large crumbs. Add 1/3 cup ice water a few tablespoons at a time, pulsing, until the dough just comes together. (Pulse in up to 2 more tablespoons ice water if the dough is too crumbly.) Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll out into a 12-inch round. Fit the dough into a 10-inch deep-dish fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, gently pressing it into the sides; trim the excess dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the pesto: Preheat the broiler. Put the jalapenos on a baking sheet and broil, turning, until charred, about 5 minutes. Remove the stems and seeds. Pulse the jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil in a food processor until the mixture has a pesto-like consistency. Add the parmigiano, and salt and pepper to taste; pulse a few more times. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet, line the dough with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edge is lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment and bake until golden, about 20 more minutes. Let cool slightly on a rack.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Put the goat cheese in the freezer for 10 minutes (this makes it easier to slice). Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the chorizo and break it into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon; cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate using a slotted spoon and let cool slightly. Slice the frozen goat cheese into 1/2-inch-thick rounds.

Scatter the fontina, cotija, scallions, chorizo and thyme over the crust. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl; add the milk and cream and whisk until smooth. Pour into the crust and arrange the goat cheese evenly on top. Bake until the crust is deep golden brown and the edge is set but the center still jiggles slightly, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool at least 20 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges and serve with the jalapeno pesto.

REPOST: How chefs can end food waste

This article, written by by Olivia DeWolfe, was taken from www.chef2chef.net.

Though most professional chefs are passionate about feeding people, the world needs more chefs that are just as excited about ending hunger. Anyone in food service knows that a huge amount of food gets wasted between the delivery dock and the customer's plate. If you need further proof, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations commissioned a study that found that about "one third of the food that gets produced in the world for human consumption…is lost or wasted" and this number rises to almost one half in the United States. Ending food waste is one of the ways chefs can battle hunger.

Why do we waste so much food in the United States?

In her blog on Civil Eats, Amber Turpin makes relevant connections between the way food is handled in the United States and food waste. She points out that because food (from vegetables to seafood) is farmed in massive quantities that must be stored and trucked all over the country, it leads to spoilage and is often thrown out before it can be safely consumed.

Turpin also discusses the consequences of food being so cheap in the United States. It's just too easy to order an extra large french fry for $1 more and then throw out most of them. Alternately, in developing countries where food is often very expensive, it is rarely wasted on the consumer level.

Rather than using what we have, Americans like cooking with recipes calling for very specific, often far-flung ingredients that may not get used up before being tossed. We also have a cultural need for "perfect food" so a lot of perfectly good food gets tossed on the delivery dock for having visual imperfections.

Solutions to ending food waste

Some of the ways chefs can end food waste include creating direct relationships with farmers and offering locally-made food, changing expectations around visually perfect food, offering reasonable portion sizes (or letting consumers choose their own portion size), composting, and educating themselves about storing fresh food for maximum usage.

For further ideas, the Environmental Protection Agency has created a this hierarchy of principals to help food services eliminate food waste (and save money):

1. Source reduction (decrease purchasing costs)
2. Feed hungry people (increase revenue from tax breaks for donating food)
3. Feed animals (decrease spending on waste disposal fees)
4. Create bio diesel with waste oils (decrease spending on waste disposal fees)
5. Create compost to amend soils (decrease spending on waste disposal fees and increase revenue by selling compost)

Culinary schools also have a vital role to play in ending food waste. They are implementing programs to educate students and staff about preemptive techniques to keep food from being lost, as well as ways to use leftover food once it has been prepared. Programs include using food scraps to create compost that gets sold or used in the campus vegetable gardens, converting used vegetable oil for bio diesel fuel to power campus vehicles, and donating leftover food to food banks.

Food waste is a natural concern for chefs who love to feed people. Not only can eliminating food waste help end hunger, but it can also save other resources as well: up to 10 percent of landfill space, as well as the fuel used and emissions created to transport it. Do what you can as a chef to keep good food from going to waste.