QUICHE LORRAINE

Good Morning to you,

I am being watched.... someone is watching my every move. Each time I walk into the kitchen I can feel a pair of  eyes following me and you know who that someone is..... George.  

The day has finally arrived, as promised, I am baking a Quiche Lorraine.  George is waiting in the wings, ready to walk into the kitchen to claim his prize. Once claimed, he will exit stage left, into the garden, sit under the shade and totally enjoy his treat, but for George, that moment of enjoyment has not  yet arrived.... the Quiche has to be made.

.....and this is what all the fuss is about, George's favourite, a Quiche Lorraine.

I have not been able to make this Quiche at my usual slow, rhythmic pace. I have not been able to use my lovely pastry bowl. I have not been able to rub the flour and butter through my fingers, before adding the egg and water, oh no, this time I have had to use the food processor to make the pastry. The essence of today's exercise is speed.

I rarely use the processor to make pastry, but by using it today, it allows me to make the pastry quickly, as at the moment, George reminds me of the donkey from Shrek, who keeps saying "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" but in George's case it is "Is it ready yet?" "Is it ready yet?"

So enough is enough. George has gone to visit Sadie and I have asked him to check to see if the lawn needs cutting. By keeping him busy, he will be out of my hair for a little while, so that I can get on with the Quiche.  The sooner I start, the sooner I will be finished.

So, it is on with the apron and the music I am listening to today, is going to be calming and relaxing, an atmosphere which is conducive to baking,

and what could be more soothing than listening to Julio Iglesias.  I love his rendition of Crazy.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PASTRY

200g (7 oz) plain flour, sifted

90g (3 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, cubed

1 egg yolk

pinch of salt

2-3 tablespoons of cold water

METHOD

22cm (9 inch) lightly buttered fluted flan tin
baking parchment
baking beans

Oven temperature 180C (350F)

Place the butter, flour and salt into a food

processor and pulse until the mixture resemble

 fine breadcrumbs.

Alternatively you can use the normal

hand method.

Add the egg yolk and pulse.  If the pastry has not

combined, add a tablespoon of cold water and

pulse again, but do not add too much water

as this will make the pastry shrink when baking.

Continue until the pastry has formed a ball, then

wrap the pastry in cling film and place

in the fridge for 1 hour to chill.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and 

roll out until it fits your flan tin.

You can see that I had to patch my pastry

case, as we are experiencing a heatwave at the moment and my house is  unusually hot.

I could not keep the pastry cool, even

though I rolled it on a granite surface.

Don't worry if this happens, as you will not

be able to see the patches. Just make sure
you seal any cracks with pastry as you
do not want the egg mixture to escape
from the pastry case.

I returned my pastry case to the fridge

to cool for another hour.

It was really just as well George was busy at 
Sadie's, as the pastry case took longer
than normal.

After an hour remove the pastry case from the fridge and

prick the surface with a fork to allow

the steam to escape.

  

Place the parchment paper and baking beans

inside the pastry case and bake 

for 10 minutes, then remove the parchment

paper and beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes.

Keep checking though as you want the pastry

case to be light brown and not golden brown as you are going to return it to the oven.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING

250g (8 oz) of streaky bacon

300 ml (10 fl oz) single cream

2 eggs, beaten together

plus

3 egg yolks

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Parmesan cheese, grated

Cut the bacon into bite sizes pieces, I find it

easier to snip the bacon with a pair of scissors.

Dry fry the bacon (without oil) in a small frying pan, until the bacon becomes brown. You will

have a little bacon residue left in the

bottom of the frying pan.

Remove the bacon from the pan and place

on kitchen towel to allow any excess

fat to be absorbed.

Add the finely chopped onions to the frying pan. By using the same pan you will incorporate the bacon flavour into the onions. Cook gently until translucent.

When translucent, remove the onions from the pan and

place on kitchen towel to remove any

excess moisture.

Mix together the cream, egg yolks

and eggs.

Until combined

Place the bacon and onions into the bottom

of the baked pastry case and grate

a little Parmesan cheese on top.  If you

don't have any Parmesan cheese use

Cheddar cheese.

Fill the pastry case with the cream and egg mixture

Bake until golden brown

Allow to cool for 15 minutes
and then

cut a slice to enjoy on it's own

or make a green salad with an olive oil

and lemon dressing to turn this Quiche

into a lovely lunch.

George has returned from Sadie's, he gave a happy shout when he opened the door "yes it's ready..... I can smell it" and helped himself to a huge piece of quiche.  He is now content and a very happy chappy...... and where did he go with his Quiche.... into the garden of course.

There are many ways to make a Quiche Lorraine and the purists will wince at mine, but this is how we eat Quiche in our house, and as I have said many times before, as home bakers, we  tweak a recipe, so that it suits our families needs, for me, that is what home baking is all about.

So however you prefer your Quiche Lorraine, I hope you enjoy it as much as George.

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

This week I will be joining,

Karen from Sew Many Ways

and

Kim at Savvy Southern Style

and

Yvonne at StoneGable

and
The Ladies at Ivy and Elephants