Pumpkin, Spinach and Caramelised Onion Quiche

It's been a while since I made a quiche for myself. You see, I've kinda been fascinated by millet - my new favourite ingredient (a post on millet will soon be up) which I cook for myself almost three times a week, sometimes five. :) Yeah, I guess I am obsessive that way - I find an ingredient I love, eat it till I'm sick of it and then, move on to the next best thing.

But I was reminded of how much I actually love quiche after Ivy of hungryc.com showed me photographs of a slice of quiche she had in Sydney recently.  It was a pumpkin and mushroom quiche - she sent me photos of the quiche through instant message while she was having it - talk about the wonders of technology, huh? - and all she said about it was was: "so yumm!". Now that speaks volumes, surely.

What a brilliant idea - pumpkin in quiche.

I wasn't going to Sydney anytime soon, so I decided I just had to make a quiche with pumpkin in it myself.

I resisted adding mushrooms to my pumpkin quiche though. I tend to use mushrooms as my go-to ingredient many of my dishes as it's a sure-thing, really - how can you go wrong with mushrooms, right?

Well, unless you're my husband who hates not only the taste but the smell of 'shrooms. So yes, I omitted them so that he could (and would) taste the quiche too.

I used spinach and caramelised onions instead. Sure, that meant more prep time as caramelising onions does take some time - but I roasted the pumpkins as the onions were slow cooking and also sauteed the spinach with garlic.

For the crust, I added some finely chopped hazelnuts - you should try this too (in any other quiche you may make) cos it added not only texture but flavour to the buttery pastry.

The result? It was, as Ivy puts it, so yumm.

* Check out this earlier post for a basic quiche recipe and replace the fillings with roasted pumpkin and anything else you fancy. For cheese, I used mozzarella.

Quiche it coming!

What's quick to execute, amazingly tasty and unbelievably versatile? Quiche!

I decided to single out the quiche in this week's Don't Call Me Chef (Singled Out) — the link will be up asap — because, well, its a dish that deserves the spotlight.

I remember the first time I tasted quiche. I was 27 and my boss at the time took a group of us out for lunch at her favourite cafe. I scanned the menu and couldn't decide what I wanted. I then glanced at the array of tea time treats at the counter and this lovely tart caught my eye. I had no idea what it was. I spied mushrooms and onions and I saw the lovely crust. I wanted that! I ate that!

It was love at first bite. Not surprising since I love eggs and cheese and a nice, buttery crust!

I've loved quiche ever since. Love it so much, I was determined to learn to make quiche so that I could have it anytime a craving hit.

So anyway, in the name of research for my article, I rolled out a whole bunch of quiches. I wanted to experiment with crusts (I made a shortcrust, a rough puff pastry and thin breadcrumb crust as well — more on this later). 

I also wanted to test the versatility of the quiche — using an array of ingredients not usually used like artichoke and beetroot. I also made a three-cheese quiche. And then I made a mushroom one, a broccoli quiche and finally one with tomatoes — oven roasted, of course.

I only had two pie dishes so I baked one in a rectangular cake dish. Turned out nice!

I didn't make it all at one go, of course. 

Here's what I discovered in the process:

* Bake the quiche in the lower rack of your oven so the crust at the base can cook through without browning the top of your quiche.

* Beetroot is a delicious filling. Plus, the pink is so pretty, albeit a little unsettling at first!

* A shortcrust that combines both plain and wholemeal flours is really incomparable.

* When baking an all-cheese quiche, hold back on your seasoning as the cheese are salty enough. A little pepper is all you need. Also, I'd suggest Mozzarella or Gruyere as the primary cheese and Parmesan as the secondary one. (use 2/3 mozzarella/Gruyere and 1/3 Parmesan).

* Milk is a good substitute for cream.

Here's the basic recipe for the wholemeal shortcrust (my favourite) and one for the egg custard.

Shortcrust
300g flour (200g plain flour and 100g wholemeal)
150g cold butter
pinch of salt
4-5 tbsp ice cold water

Sift the flours and the salt. Using a knife, cut the butter into the flour into small pieces so that it is well coated with flour. Then using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour till the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Add the water, a little at a time, until a dough forms. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Form into a disc, wrap with clingfilm and chill for at least 30 mins.

Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and using a rolling pin or your palms, flatten it into a circular sheet, about 1/2 cm thick. Transfer onto your fluted pie plate/dish and press the dough gently in. Trim the edges.

With a fork. puncture the base all over. Line the base with baking paper and then weigh it down with some uncooked beans or a oven proof dish.

Bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about 20 mins. Remove the beans/paper and bake for another 5-10 mins.

Egg Custard
5 eggs
1 cup milk/cream
1/2-3/4 cup cheese(mozzarella, Gruyere, emmentel, cheddar or a combination) + extra for garnish
filling

Beat the eggs with the milk/cream and add the cheese. Season.
Prepare the filling. If you're using a filling that is high in moisture like mushrooms or onions, it's better to cook them lightly on the stove top first to draw out the moisture a little.

Once the pastry has been blind baked, remove from the oven and arrange the filling in the shell. Pour the custard to cover the filling and garnish with cheese.

Bake for 35-50 mins (lower rack please!)

Pesto explosion

A pesto quiche ... but where's the egg?

Well, what started off as a pesto quiche slowly became a pesto tart. I was overzealous and made too much pesto. I just kept adding more basil, more cheese and, instead of pine nuts I added some walnuts and macadamia nuts. I kept adding and adding until I ended up with a cupful of joyfully green pesto that was a little cheesy and a lot nutty. It was too good to keep any for a rainy day so I decided right then and there to fill the crust with pesto (and cheese cause you just cannot do without cheese), leaving very little space for the egg custard.

It worked out really well because, well, you can't go wrong with pesto. I think I may have used pesto in a quiche in a previous post but it doesn't matter because the star of this here quiche/tart isn't the pesto. It's the crust.

Forget about shortcrust, baby. Here's a flaky crust that will make you quiver with enjoyment at every bite. That's right. QUIVER. It's flaky and it's so buttery it just melts in your mouth. Thank you, Dan Lepard.

See the lovely bronze crust on top and the rich, flaky base? A slice of this baby is enough to satisfy. And enough to fill you up for the night. 

Let's have another look...

Ok.... the picture is a little blur but I'd just nibbled on a piece and I was QUIVERING ...!

Ok enough with the pictures. Let's get down to the crust. Lepard was inspired by a quiche he ate at the Patisserie Miremont in France. The pastry is a rough puff pastry; which takes about half the time and effort needed to make puff pastry but without having to sacrifice too much on the richness, the flakiness or the crispness.  

Here's what you need for the pastry:

150gms plain flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional)

150g butter, cold and cut into 1cm cubes

1 egg yolk

75 ml cold milk

Sift the flour, salt and cream of tartar into a bowl. Add the butter and gently coat it with the flour. Beat the yolk and the milk together and add the liquid to the dough. Mix to form a ball, but DON'T knead as you need to keep the butter firm.

Lightly flour your work surface and quickly but gently roll the dough into a round, about 30 cm in diameter. Fold in the two sides (equal portions) and roll again to a 10x30 cm rectangle. Fold into thirds (so you get a nice 10x10 square), wrap it in plastic and chill for 20 mins. 

Repeat the process twice.  

Lightly grease a quiche/tart dish. Roll the chilled pastry thin, careful not to tear it, and gently transfer it into the dish, pressing it carefully into the edges. Place a sheet of baking paper on the dough and fill it with beads/pastry weights. Blind bake in a preheated oven (180C) for 40 mins. If your oven is too hot like mine, bake for 35 mins and cover the edges with foil for half that time. 

Once the shell is baked, it will be bubbling a little (all that yummy butter), fill it with the filling of your choice. 

Enjoyment begins as soon as the crust starts to bake and the delicious smell of  baking butter escapes the oven.

  

Thank you, Dan Lepard. 

This is getting to be a challenge

[caption id="attachment_58" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Spinach and Mushroom mini quiches"][/caption]

Am I regretting my decision to give the blood type diet a chance? Yeah.

Am I beginning to question how such a restrictive diet could work in the long run? Uh-huh.

Am I going to give up? Hell, no! Cos my pride is the only thing bigger than my craving for tofu.

Yes I know that sounds ridiculous. Whoever craves tofu, right?

Anyways, back to my progress.  I have decided to stay away from broccoli for a few days -- I''ve been having it so often, them florets are starting to invade my dreams. Me and broccoli -- I think we need some space.

And so, I've decided to turn to spinach (good for me) and eggs (good for me about 3/4 times a week) and cheese (good for me) and mushrooms (neutral -- i.e. they arent beneficial but they ain't gonna do me harm).   Mix all these up -- with salt, pepper, chilli flakes and some milk) and I got myself six pretty little muffin quiches (no pastry, as wheat is the enemy) that are delicious, healthy and type-B friendly.

Muffin Quiches (makes 6) ♣

3 or 4 medium to large button mushrooms (fresh is always better), sliced

2 tbsp leaf spinach (I used canned spinach), chopped

1 green chilli, chopped

1 tbsp crushed tomatoes (I used canned Italian tomatoes)

3 eggs

1 cup milk

leek (about a 3 inch stem), sliced.

chilli flakes

mozerella cheese, cubed small

4 black olives for garnishing, sliced

1 tbsp butter

1. Heat butter in a skillet and add leek. Saute for about 3 mins, then add mushrooms. Cook till brownish (about 4 mins) and add spinach, tomatoes  and green chilli. Cook for a few minutes and add chilli flakes, a pinch of salt and black pepper -- be generous with the pepper. Take off the fire.

2. Heat oven at 180 C

3. Whisk eggs with milk, add salt and then add in the cooked  ingredients.

4. Divide mix and half fill the muffin cups. Add cubed mozerella -- distribute evenly in all six cups. Fill with remaining egg mix.

5. Top with sliced olives and bake for 40 mins.