INTRODUCTION

I seldom issued Western dishes recipes because I seldom cook this at home. My mother in law do not really able to take Western food and when she is staying with us, I have shelved the idea of cooking Western food.

Since she is back to her home, I have decided to prepare quiches for dinner. I love quiches for its rich cheesy taste and I am very sure that my kids will love this since they like all types of diary products from milk to cheese to yoghurt to butter….

In fact, in my home town, Kuching, there are shops selling chicken quiches. However, they termed it as chicken pies. They sell in a cupcake sizes and we used to buy this and eat as a snack or breakfast items.

I did not go until the extend to look for gruyere cheeses, the cheese usually used for the preparation of quiches. Since I have lots of cheddar cheeses at home, I have use cheddar cheeses instead..

Just like any savoury recipes, variations are many. I have used spinach, mushrooms and ham for these quiches. But you can always used onion and bacon to make it into the famous Lorraine quiche.

Other possibilities are many: salmon, crab meat, asparagus, artichoke or any other things that suit your taste buds.. What you need to remember is the ratio of beaten egg mixture and the pastry recipe, all the other side ingredients are easily adjusted to suit your taste buds.

Per Wikipedia,

“Quiche (/ˈkiːʃ/ keesh) is a savoury, open-faced pastry crust with a filling of savoury custard with cheese, meat, seafood, or vegetables. Quiche can be served hot or cold. It is part of French cuisine but is also popular in other countries, particularly as party food. Although known as a classic French dish, the quiche originated in Germany. The word quiche means “cake” which came from the German word Kuchen. Today, quiche is considered as typically French. However, custards in pastry were known in English cuisine at least as early as the 14th century. Recipes for custards baked in pastry containing meat, fish and fruit are referred to Crustardes of flesh and Crustadein the 14th-century” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiche)

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 5-6 adult servings (about two 8” diameter pie baking tin)

Pastry

• 300 grams of plain flour (sifted)
• 150 grams of cold butter
• 1 egg yolk (lightly beaten)
• 1-2 tablespoon of cold milk

Fillings

• 100 grams of ham (cut into small pieces)
• 100 grams of spinach (chopped into small pieces)
• 200 grams of button mushrooms (cut into small pieces)
• 150 grams of gruyere cheese or cheddar cheeses (in the diagram below)
• One big onion chopped in small pieces
• 10 grams of butter
• Dashes of black pepper
• Pinches of salt to taste
• Pinches of sugar to taste

Custard Mixture

• 1 cup of cooking cream
• 1 cup of fresh milk
• 6-8 eggs lightly beaten

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Preparing the short crust pastry

• Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.

• Cut the cold butter into butter cubes. In a big mixing bowl, put butter cubes and sifted plain flour together. Use the finger tips to rub the butter cubes and flours together until it become crumby.  Add in eggs and milk bit by bit, mix slowly until it become a dough. Put it in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes. Note that if you are able to handle soft dough, you can by pass this step. In fact I have bypassed the step due to time constraints.

• Put the dough on a flat surface. Use a rolling pin to roll it into a flat sheet with about 0.5 cm thickness. Transfer the dough to the pie tin and use your hand to press the dough against the sides and make it as even as possible.  In this illustration, I have prepared it into different sizes so that I can give it to my friends.

• Baked in the preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 10-15 minutes or until the pastry shrinks from the sides of the pastry tin. Set aside for later assembly.

Preparing the fillings

• In a frying pan, put butter and sauté the onions until fragrant. Add in mushrooms followed by ham and chopped spinach. Stir fry for a few

  2-3 minutes until the ingredients are soft. Add dashes of black pepper, pinches of salt and pinches of sugar to your taste. Set aside for later assembly.

Preparing the egg mixture and assembly for baking

• Crack the eggs in a big bowl. Add milk and cooking cream. Stir until well combined.

• Transfer the filling to the baked pastry, even out and sprinkle sparingly with the cheeses.  Pour the egg mixture over the pastry. Bake in the pre-heated oven of 180 degree Celsius for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden and set.  Timing is for reference and very much depends on the tin you used. Cover with foil if the pastry becomes too brown before the filling is fully set.

CONCLUSION

If you are able to get ready made pie crust, you can use that and it will save you lots of time. What is in the filling will depend on your family’s preference. Do give it a try and let me if this simple quiche is what you are looking for.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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