Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Quiche

For the past few weeks I've been on a comfort food kick and have been dying for some rich food. Last week I happened to pick up a cookbook loaded with comfort foods which had a beautiful picture of a chicken and leek quiche. Unfortunately, the recipe had about 20 ingredients and a ridiculously long prep time so I decided I would take matters into my own hands and come up with an easier recipe that required little effort and yet still fit into the comfort food category.

Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Quiche
1 tbs olive oil
1 leek cut into 1/4 inch semi circles
12 mushrooms sliced
2 chicken breasts cut into 1/4 inch cubes
4 eggs
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (low sodium is best)
a splash of white wine (optional)
1 shortcrust pastry shell

Heat the olive oil and saute the leek and mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture into a bowl. In the same pan brown the chicken for about 5 minutes (it doesn't need to cook through but should be browned on the edges) Add the chicken to the vegetable mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Beat the 4 eggs thoroughly using a whisk. Add the can of soup and wine to the egg mixture and whisk until fully blended. Pour the mixture on top of the chicken mixture. Bake the pie at 180 degrees C (350 F) until the top is golden brown (about 40 minutes)

Prep time: about 15 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Turkey Jambalaya

2 weekends ago I held my annual British Thanksgiving dinner, with the world's largest turkey as the main course! Every year after everyone has gone home stuffed from the thanksgiving dinner, I get to work cutting up the leftovers and making a meaty turkey stock that I can use with risottos and soups. To be honest after all that is done, I'm usually so sick of turkey that the last thing that I want is something that tastes like turkey leftovers. This year I discovered a new recipe and it is now my favorite way to use the left over turkey stock and turkey meat.

Spicy Turkey Jambalaya
1 1/2 cups of brown rice
3 cups of turkey stock
1/2 cup of cooked turkey
6 creole sausages (if you can't find creole use plain and add 1/4 teaspoon thyme, 1/4 teaspoon chili powder 1/8 teaspoon paprika)
1/2 an onion roughly chopped
2 portabello mushrooms roughtly chopped
1/3 cup of frozen sliced peppers (or 1 roughly chopped green pepper)
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/2 courgette roughly chopped

Boil the turkey stock and add the rice and turkey to it. Turn the heat down to low and cook until all the water has evaporated and the rice is soft (about 30 minutes) Remove the sausage meat from the casings and brown it in a large pot. Add the onion, mushrooms and peppers to the sausage meat and cook for 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes and the rice to the large pot. Bring to a low boil. Add the courgette and cook a further 5 minutes.

Serves 4
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Active time: 10 minutes