A Winter Meal for A Winter Day

With February came snow to the prairie -- 18 inches the first go round -- 8 inches the second. And temperatures in single digits and below following the snow.

Linderhof's front walk -- definitely a sea of snow!

And the back garden -- covered in snow . . .

Husband Jim (and sometimes Oliver) waded through the snow faithfully twice a day to fill feeders and scatter seeds on the ground. Last week we went through 50 pounds! There were hungry birds (and a lot of them) to be fed at Linderhof!

And with snow outside, comfort food inside. From Dorie Greenspan's newest book, around my french table, a quiche maraichere.

A real winter quiche with carrots, celery, leeks and red peppers instead of the vegetables of summer.

Big slices for dinner. I had notated that it would be a recipe to try and then on friend Carolyn's blog, A Southerner's Notebook, she made one and I knew that I, too, had to make one and soon!

The quiche was wonderful warm from the oven for dinner and great the next day for lunch at room temperature -- served simply with a salad of mixed baby greens.

But for this winter night -- a winter salad -- of citrus fruits.

Mark Bittman's Sunshine Citrus Salad -- found on a food board that I'm a member of. Friend Mary made it for a brunch and it looked so yummy that I immediately went out and bought the citrus fruit needed to make the salad!

A winter meal -- citrus for salad and root vegetables in the quiche. A perfect meal for a snowy winter day!

QUICHE MARAICHERE

1 T. butter

2 stalks celery, trimmed and cut into small dice

2 slender leeks, white and light green parts only, quartered lengthwise, washed and thinly sliced

2 slender carrots, trimmed, peeled and finely diced

1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely diced

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 (9 or 9 1/2") tart shell, partially baked and cooled

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2/3 cup grated cheese (I used Cheddar -- we are on the prairie after all!)

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat in a large skillet. Toss in the vegetables and cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes or until they are tender. Season with salt and pepper, then scrape the vegetables into a bowl and let cool.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the crust on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Spoon the vegetables into the tart shell and spread them out -- they will just about fill the crust. Whisk the cream, egg and egg yolk together, season with salt and pepper and carefully pour over the vegetables. Depending on how your crust baked, you may have too much custard -- don't push it. Pour in as much custard as you can without it overflowing and wait a few minutes until it's settled into the crannies, then, if you think it will take it, pour in a little more. Very carefully slide the baking sheet into the oven.

Bake the quiche for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cheese is golden, and most important, the filling is uniformly puffed (wait for the center to puff), browned and set. Transfer the quiche to a rack, remove the sides of the pan and cool until it's only just warm or until it reaches room temperature before serving.

SUNSHINE CITRUS SALAD

2 whole Ruby Red Grapefruit

1 whole Blood Orange

1 whole Tangerine

2 Whole Naval Oranges

1/2 whole shallot

4 leaves Fresh Mint

3 T. olive oil

1 T. fresh lime juice

1 T. champagne vinegar

1 t. honey

1 t. kosher salt, divided

Take a grapefruit and hold it on it's end, standing up and remove the skin and pith by slicing strips from top to bottom. Lay it on its side and slice the grapefruit, laying it on a platter in a circular pattern. Repeat this process with the second grapefruit, and then the tangerine and oranges. Sprinkle 1/2 t. salt over the citrus. Chop shallot, sprinkle over the top of the platter and tear up or julienne the mint and add that to the top of the fruit.

In a medium bowl, add the olive oil, vinegar, lime juice and honey and salt and whisk together. Spoon over the plated fruit and shallot.

It's Friday and time to join Michael at Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday.