Leek and Asparagus Quiche, Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

I'm writing to you through a cloud of smoke. I received my new caste iron grill pan yesterday and today I decided to make chicken. The heat may or may not have been way too high... ahem... well, at least the chicken has stunning grill marks, but our lungs are suffering. :) More on that later!! Right now, I'm sharing two recipes that were a big success in our house. The first one is a leek and asparagus quiche with Swiss cheese. I will most definitely be making this again. You can add almost any veggies you want, or just add one. The original recipe called for leeks only, but I had asparagus to use up as well. The other recipe is from the Gluten Free Goddess. Yes, all of my gluten free followers, this recipe is for you! It's a flourless chocolate cake, but I'm not sure I would call it a "cake." For me, it seemed like a dense brownie --- and it was heavenly (and even better after sitting in the fridge overnight). The amount of eggs put me into shock temporarily, but you're not using flour, so it's expected and worth it. 

P.S. For the pie crust, I made a butter only crust, no shortening. I don't think shortening is healthy, so I avoid it.

Start by making a pie crust.

Place it into a pie pan and crimp the sides
(Crimping was much harder than I thought.  Note to self: Make more pies.)

Butter Pie Crust
Original Recipe
Serving Size = 1 (9-inch) crust

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced (keep cold)
• 1/4 cup ice water (roughly, just add a few tablespoons until it comes together in a ball)

1. Add the flour and salt to your food processor (use the blade). Pulse to combine. Add the butter quickly and pulse until the mixture resembles course crumbs. While pulsing, add the water one tablespoon at a time until the mixture forms into a ball.
2. Remove the dough and place onto some plastic wrap, flattened slightly. Refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight (I refrigerated mine for 30 minutes).
3. Preheat oven to 350F.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the crust to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Place the crust in the pie plate, pressing the dough evenly in but not stretching. Cut the excess dough off around the sides.
5. At this point, I did pre-bake the crust. I covered the crust with parchment paper and added some white rice (1 cup or so) to weigh the crust down. You could use beans instead. I only use this rice to bake with. I baked for around 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. 
6. NOTE: I skipped this step, but I've read that after you roll out the crust and place it into the pie plate, you should freeze it for 30 minutes before pre-baking and this will keep the pie crust from sliding down the sides. I skipped this step and the crust did slide down a bit, but not much.

Chop up the veggies.

In the pre-baked crust, place the veggies in first, then the cheese.

Pour the egg/cream mixture in and top with the tomato slices.

Leek and Asparagus Quiche

Original Recipe
Serving Size = 8

• 1 (9-inch) pie crust
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups sliced leeks (I probably had 3/4 cup, or 2 leeks)
• 1/2 cup or so of asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup grated Swiss cheese, or anything similar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Melt butter (and a touch of oil, I used grape seed) in a skillet over medium heat and saute the leeks and asparagus until tender and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place the sauteed veggies into the pie crust, spread out evenly.
3. In a bowl, mix together the Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese and flour. Spread over the sauteed veggies.
4. In another bowl (I used the cheese bowl), beat together the eggs and heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the cheese layer in the pie crust. Top with the tomato slices.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325F and continue to bake for 20 minutes. The crust should be lightly browned and an inserted knife into the middle of the quiche should come out clean. This is even good reheated the next day!

Pulse the chocolate and sugar until it resembles sand.

Add the coffee, eggs and such. Batter will be runny.

Pour into the pan.

The cake is puffy, but it will deflate.

Tada!

Enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Original Recipe: Gluten Free Goddess

Serving Size = 1 (10-inch) cake

• 16 oz Belgian dark chocolate (Chocolate pieces are cheap and the bars are expensive, either one)
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup very strong hot coffee (or espresso powder in very hot water)
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 8 large eggs at room temperature (I use free range)
• 1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla extract (I used plain vanilla extract)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper that has been buttered. Note: A small cake pan will result in a longer baking time and the edges might brown too fast.
2. Break up the chocolate and place into a food processor (I have a 12-cup processor, but a 9-cup would probably work as well..... I'm not sure about anything smaller though). I used dark chocolate pieces (60% cocoa, I think) because they are cheap. The bars are usually more expensive and better quality. Pulse the chocolate until it breaks up into small pieces. Add the sugar and pulse until the chocolate and sugar look like sand.
3. Pour in the hot coffee through the feed tube while pulsing. The chocolate will melt.
4. Add the butter pieces and the cocoa powder, pulse to combine. Add the eggs and vanilla, pulse until smooth. The batter should be creamy, but runny.
5. Pour the batter into the springform pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with foil. Bake at 350F in the center of the oven until puffed and cracked -- about 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Place the cake pan on a wire rack to cool. The cake will deflate. After the cake cools, cover and chill for 3 hours. Remove the edges and serve.
7. Note: This cake is VERY rich, dense and chocolatey. Also, the edges were a bit rough looking. I'm not sure if I did something wrong or if that's normal. I like it though because it looks rustic.

Linking to: Hearth and Soul, Real Food Deals, Full Plate Thursday, Your Recipe/My Kitchen