cooking with mel gets faintsy (or "what, you think you're better than me?!?")

this week i made 2 yummy things that are so simple to make it seems worth sharing. in my continuing tradition of using (with apologies to dave matthews and my friends who had to drink that awful cocktail that one time) "the best of what's around," i looked in my fridge and saw that i had several things which were on their way out. when asparagus goes bad, it goes real bad, and it's kinda expensive. it's getting to that time of the semester where i buy stuff with change from my change jar and eat a lot of noodles. so these recipes seem fancy and are rather cheap.

asparagus, ham, and gruyere quiche
[i should preface this one by saying that gruyere is not cheap. but it is a v. flavorful hard cheese and a little goes a long way, so i had a ton of it leftover from a recipe i made a while back. the other good thing about hard cheeses in general is that they last forever, so if you do make the investment and don't use it all at once, you'll have it laying around later to make quiche with. anyways...]

1# fresh asparagus, cut into small bits and steamed for about 5 min.
3 or 4 slices of lunchmeat ham (or bacon if you wanna get real faintsy)
1 to 1.5 c. shredded gruyere cheese (or whichever kind of cheese you have, but it was good this way)
2 9" ready made pie crusts (in your grocer's freezer section)
5 eggs plus 1 egg white
1.5 c. half and half
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

preheat oven to 400*. steam the asparagus till it gets soft, about 5 min. while that's happening, brush the pie crusts with the egg white. whip the remaining 5 eggs lightly with the half and half, just until it's all mixed pretty well. add s&p. cube the ham. now sprinkle the asparagus evenly over the bottom of the 2 pie crusts, then the ham, then the cheese. dump the egg mixture over the top--for this, i poured it back into my big measuring cup to make sure it was fairly evenly divided, and because it has a spout which makes for easier pouring with less waste and cursing. bake on the center rack of the over for 35-40 minutes. remove and cool for about 30 minutes. enjoy!

(note-it's just as easy to make 2 at once as it is to make one, it freezes well if you slice it first, and the pie shells come in a 2 pack. in case you're wondering why make 2.)

vegetable soup
[these two kinda go together]

2 cans chicken stock (i had some home made stock on hand in the freezer from the last time i boiled chicken for chicken salad)
1 lg. can crushed tomatoes
1 lg. carrot, sliced
a couple potatoes, cubed
1 lg. onion chopped
1 yellow squash and 1 zuccini, sliced
1 can corn (they were outta fresh)
a few ribs of celery
a handful of fresh green beans, chopped (ends removed too, duh)
a bunch or parsley or cilantro, diced
1/2 a regular can of spicy V8 (the soda can size)
several cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt
a shake of whatever herbs and spices you have on hand (i used some basil, crushed red pepper, oregano, sage, and a pinch of curry)

put the stock and tomatoes in a big pot and get it simmering while you prepare the rest. add the stuff in as you go. just cut it all into soup-sized pieces and dump it in the pot. simmer for about 2 hours, adding more water if necessary. when everything appears to be sufficiently soft, kill the heat and let it cool on the stove before transferring to tupperware and refridgerating. even better the next day.

i made both of these yesterday in less than 45 minutes, and after spending less than $10 at the grocery store. granted i had a few things on hand, but even buying everything would still be fairly cheap. the quiche recipe is adaptable to whatever filling you want. the plan is to have this kinda stuff on hand so i eat healthy-ish rather than subsisting on fast food and gaining 10# during exams (my usual modus operandi).

randomness (brought to you by fall break and copious mimosas)

w and i are watching the skeleton key. this is the movie that kate hudson was filming when i saw her in new orleans (and yes, she is as radiant as her imdB bio purports her to be). incidentally, john hurt was staying at the hotel where w worked and he regularly "ate" at the restaurant there (let the record show that the witness made the drinky drinky motion). it's decent as movies go, but i have notoriously low standards--ask my friends.

anyway, there's a scene where the intrepid kate is strangled from behind with a cord of some kind. i figure there has to be a trick to getting out of a situation like this, but google won't tell me. i know from my experience doing legal research on westlaw and lexis that i most likely just haven't found the right search terms yet. any suggestions?

new rules (from w)

1. all beers must be placed on the bistro table

2. no bringing laptop outside balanced precariously on one hand with a dog leash in the other hand.

3. no fast food.