Further experiments in quiche

The quiche Lorraine with added broccoli was good,  but I was looking for something a little bit more interesting for my new niece's naming day. I found pictures of this carrot and courgette tart,  but no recipe, so I've had to make it up as I went.  It's actually worked out pretty well,  but it could use a bit of refining.

As an added bonus I got to buy some new kitchen toys;  a mandolin, which I've wanted for ages,  and a large flan case,  which I really needed.

I used the rest of the pastry from the last set of quiches and blind baked in the same way. 

I then took two courgettes and two carrots, peeled them and used the mandolin to slice them into long thin ribbons.  These were used to layer in alternative ribbons around the flan case to create a flower effect.  This could probably be neatened up on a second attempt by trimming the vegetable slices to a more similar widths.

For the filling I used the same two large eggs, 250ml single cream combined with a bit of salt and pepper as last time,  but this time I added in 150g of finely grated pecorino.

Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180C, or until set and golden. 

Experiments in quiche

I've never made quiche before.  I've eaten it,  I'm a big fan of its work.  But pastry isn't really my strong point; mine always tends to shrink inside the flan case and I never leave enough hanging over the edge to counteract this. 

However,  this didn't stop me offering to make quiche for my little sister's daughter's naming day. My youngest niece is getting named in April, so only three months to perfect some sort of recipe. I thought I would start with a basic quiche Lorraine. I'm making mini quiches, partly because I only have mini tart tins and partly so they'll fit in the tolerant husband's lunch.

Pastry
85g butter cubed
175g plain flour

I made double quantities for a future experiment, if it works it'll be a future post; if it doesn't we'll never speak of it again.

Rub together with your fingertips until breadcrumb consistency, add about 3 tablespoons of water until it comes together in a ball. You can do this in the food processor if you don't want to do it by hand.

Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes,  roll out and line the tart tin(s). Prick the base all over with a fork,  line with foil and fill with baking beans.
Blind bake for ten minutes, remove beans  and bake for another ten minutes at 220C.

The filling
3x rashers of bacon
1x onion diced
Broccoli  (because I love it, it's not in the recipe)
250ml single cream
2x large eggs
Grated cheese
Salt and pepper

Fry off the sliced bacon and diced onions in a little olive oil,  remove from heat and add in finely chopped broccoli.

Mix together the eggs, cream and salt and pepper.

Place the bacon, onion and broccoli mixture in the bottom of the flan case,  top with a handful of grated cheese and then pour over the cream/egg mix.  Return to the oven and bake foe 25/30 minutes at 180C until golden and set. 

Mine actually look ok for a first attempt. The pastry could be neater which isn't really a surprise,  but otherwise I just hope that they taste as good as they smell.

Breakfast of champions

As usual, the very tolerant husband and I have been doing dry January.  But without the irritating insisting people sponsor us part and just not drinking.

Obvious upsides of dry January are always getting more done at the weekend, better sleep and more enthusiasm (from me) when it comes to cooking first thing.   I've been  trying out a new breakfast this month. It's taken a couple of goes to perfect it, but I think I'm nearly there. 

The first time I tried this I did individual hashes in ramikins but they were too deep to get the whites of the eggs cooked while retaining the runny yolk. If you want to make it veggie just leave out the bacon.

Baked eggs with sweet potato hash
1x sweet potato, peeled and diced
1x onion diced
2x rashers of bacon sliced
2x eggs
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Pinch of sugar
Coconut oil

Peel and dice the sweet potato, toss with coconut oil and half a teaspoon of paprika.  Preheat the oven to 180C. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until soft and golden.

Caramelise the onion and bacon in the butter, with the sugar and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Mix the potatoes with the onion and bacon mix and set to one side.  I normally do this the night before.

Preheat the oven to 220C. Place the potatoes/onion/bacon mix in a cast iron frying pan. Make a small dip in the middle and crack in the eggs. Put in the oven and cook for 10 minutes or until the eggs are baked to your liking.  Serve with strong coffee.