Thursday, December 30, 2010

Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Quiche Lorraine

aka: Mastering the Art of French Cooking from the Pantry

Dinner tonight was going to be Ham'n'Swiss pie made with my homemade bisquick and leftover Christmas ham. I had everything on hand for that recipe.  Then, I got to thinking how similar it is to a typical French quiche and decided to find out what Julia had to say on the subject.

Quiche Lorraine is a cream and bacon (or ham) quiche.  At first, I wasn't gonna share this little French experiment with you because I did some substituting and adding, but that is the life of a home cook, isn't it? I used the ingredients I had on hand and customized it to my tastes (something even Julia encourages when it comes to quiches, because they are so easily customizable).

You start out with a half-baked pie crust (pgs 39-46).  The recipe, per cup of flour, follows.  I used 2 cups worth, which was enough for a n 9 inch pie plate and some tartlets.
1c. All Purpose Flour (3.5 oz)  (I used whole wheat)
4 tb. Butter
1 1/2 tb. Vegetable shortening (I used palm)
2 1/2 to 3 tb. Cold Water (I wound up needing 4 1/2 but that may have been because of the flour)
1/4 tsp. Salt
pinch of sugar

I then started out with a basic quiche lorraine recipe:
3 eggs
3 or 4 oz ham cubes or boiled bacon
1 1/2 to 2 c. Whipping Cream or Half and Half (I mixed milk & sour cream)
1/2 tsp Salt
pinch of Pepper
pinch of Nutmeg
1 to 2 tb. Butter

Mix it all together and I added a little parley, a handful of mozzarella, 2 diced roma tomatoes and 1/4 diced yellow onion.

The instructions are to pour in shell and bake 25-30 minutes @ 375.  at 30 minutes.  At 30 minutes, I still had soup in a pie crust.  I added another egg, turned the oven up to 400 and gave it another 45 minutes.  Luckily, it did eventually puff up and solidify, but I was scared there for a minute, and the extra time gave the crust quite the browning.


The crust, despite being whole wheat, is incredibly tasteful and flaky.  Whole wheat can sometimes detract from more delicate foods, but not in this instance.  The filling is flavorful and fluffy.  It def gets my vote all around!

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