Quiche Lorraine

QUICHE LORRAINE IS NAMED FOR the Lorraine region of France.  I am not an expert on France, French cooking, and especially the French language. From growing up in the south, I learned that trying to speak French words with a southern accent just does not work. But I can pronounce Quiche Lorraine. And so could the B-52's. In fact their song about a French poodle named  Quiche Lorraine jumped into my head while I was making this.

Variations on the recipe are many, of course. I used what I had on hand including fresh chives which are growing abundantly in our border garden.

I made Pastry Brisee for the crust, a very buttery, crumbly crust, which was practically shortbread. It was perfect with this savory, cheesy pie. I usually rely on the convenience of those rolled up pre-made crusts in the red box but I didn't have any. I weighed my options and decided it would be easier to make pastry than drive to the store to buy it.

Pastry Brisee
2 cups flour
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
2/3 cup butter (10 Tbsp. + 2 tsp)

Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in or rub in butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Work into a ball, wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

The pastry is too crumbly for rolling out, so press it into a buttered pie plate with your fingers until you have a smooth crust of even thickness. Finish edges as desired. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees.

Quiche Lorraine
1 pie crust
5 slices bacon
8 oz. Swiss or Gruyere cheese
4 eggs
1 cup creme fraiche
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. fresh chives, thinly sliced
small grating of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pastry brisee as above or if using a pre-made crust, prick it with a fork and bake for 5 minutes only at 450 degrees.

Cut bacon into 1-inch pieces and cook in a small skillet over medium-high heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Cut cheese into small cubes.

In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs until well blended. Add the creme fraiche and milk and whisk until smooth. Stir in the chives, nutmeg, and salt and pepper.

Place cheese cubes in bottom of partially baked crust. Sprinkle bacon over the cheese and then pour the egg mixture over all. Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake about another 10 to 15 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Apple Amber

GRATED APPLES ARE COOKED briefly before baking in this traditional Irish dessert. Apple Amber (don't you love the name) is a lightly sweetened apple mousse topped with meringue and can be made with or without a crust.

Any apples can be used to make this pie. I used three different varieties--Fuji, Pinata, and Opal because that is what was in my fruit bowl.

Apple Amber
Pastry dough for single pie crust
4 medium apples (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
2 Tbsp. water
Juice of 1 lemon
3 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar, or to taste, divided

Line pie dish with the pastry dough and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grate the apples on a coarse grater. Put the water in a heavy pot and heat until steaming. Add the apples and cook over medium heat until reduced to a puree, about 15 minutes. The apples do not have to completely disappear into the puree; some texture is fine. Remove from heat.

Beat egg yolks slightly. Add the lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar to the apple puree, then add the egg and stir well. Spoon the mixture into the pie shell and bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, start beating the egg whites, adding 1/4 cup sugar gradually as you continue beating. Whip until stiff peaks form. When the pie has baked 20 minutes, remove it from the oven and spread the meringue over the top of the pie. Return to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Serve hot or cold.

Rather than spread the fluffy egg whites on the pie, I piped on little mounds of meringue.

I love the little landscape it created.

Baklava

GREAT NEWS! BAKLAVA is easy to make.

If a restaurant we choose is open all afternoon, and many are not, we often like to dine around three or four o'clock for a late lunch early dinner. It seems to fit our schedule and we are hungry then. The restaurant will be quieter and we can linger without feeling pressured to turn the table.

On a recent afternoon, at a neighborhood Greek Restaurant, we arrived at the same time a woman was delivering desserts. Pritchard Parker spotted the tall dark chocolate cake. I spied the tray of Baklava.

I hadn't eaten Baklava in years and I knew before I ordered that I was going to save room for dessert. Indeed, I loved that little morsel of buttery phyllo with sticky cinnamon scented chopped nuts.

I told my husband on the way home I was going to try my hand at Baklava. I even had a box of phyllo dough in the freezer. And nuts leftover from Christmas baking.

I looked at many recipes before proceeding. Some had too much butter and some too little. Some used bread crumbs mixed in with the nuts but I didn't like that idea. Some used too much or too little syrup.

Working with phyllo is not as difficult as some people want you to think. It is very thin and tears easily but it is also extremely forgiving. The final result matters not if some of your sheets tore; just fit the pieces in the pan and keep going.

Phyllo sheets also dry out quickly, so keep them covered with a piece of parchment then a damp towel as you work.

Some recipes also tell you to cut the phyllo leaves to fit your pan. Nay, I say. What are you going to do the the excess? Phyllo is not cheap, so just wrinkle, fold, pleat, scrunch, and make them fit--the more layers the better.

Taking concepts from different recipes, this is what I did.

Baklava
One (1 pound) box frozen phyllo dough
1 cup butter, melted
4 cups chopped nuts (I used a mixture of pecans, walnuts, almonds, pistachios)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. tangerine zest
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 large strips tangerine peel
1 cinnamon stick

Move phyllo from the freezer to the refrigerator 24 hours before you want to make the Baklava. Remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter.

Combine the nuts and ground cinnamon.

Open and carefully unfold the phyllo sheets. Lie flat and cover first with a sheet of parchment then a damp kitchen towel.

Using a clean (preferably new) pastry brush, butter the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish. Remove one sheet of pastry from the stack and fit into the pan. Brush with butter. Repeat until about one-fourth of the sheets have been used. Top with about one-third of the nuts. Then start layering more phyllo sheets, buttering each one. Proceed in this manner, making 4 layers of buttered phyllo and 3 layers of chopped nuts, ending with a layer of pastry. If you have an odd number of sheets in your box, layer more at the bottom of the dish to make a good foundation.

Cut through all layers into serving pieces before baking. If you want traditional diamond shapes, cut diagonally from corner to corner.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown.

Meanwhile, make the syrup: combine sugar, water, honey, vanilla, lemon juice, tangerine peel, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until slightly thickened.

Remove the Baklava from the oven and evenly pour the syrup over the top. Let set for several hours for the syrup soak into the layers before serving. Better the next day.

Lightly cover the pan with wax paper or parchment for storage; don't seal or it will become soggy.

Sour Cream Apple Pie with Streusel Topping

This recipe may look complicated, but it is really as easy as. . .um, pie. Easy as pie, that's it.  I tried to find out who should be credited for it, but no luck. Many claim this pie as their own, including Gourmet Magazine and Martha Stewart. I have seen credit given to the Amish which seems more likely to me.

The sour cream and eggs are unusual for an apple pie, but really they only serve to uplift and glorify the apple slices. The pie doesn't taste overly rich or custardy. It is a very light apple pie--not too heavy or cloyingly sweet. 

If your knife skills need honing, apples are a great way to practice. They are easy to peel with an ordinary vegetable peeler, they slice easily even if you don't have a great or a really sharp knife, they are fun to nibble on while you work, and they don't make you cry. 

Use any apple or a mix of apples for this pie. The fresher your apples, the better your pie will taste. I used my preferred apple--Gala, which is quite sweet so I didn't use much sugar. Taste and add sugar as desired.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Fit your favorite pie crust into a 9-inch deep pie dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Streusel Topping
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. flour

Mix together until well combined. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Apple Filling
1 1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup (or more to taste) sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. flour
4 -5 large apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

Whisk together the sour cream, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and flour until smooth. Add the apples and stir together.

Spoon the filling into the prepared pie crust and crumble the streusel topping evenly over it. Bake for 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours. Cool completely before slicing.

Fresh Blueberry Pie with Lattice Crust

On Memorial Day, Alice wandered into the kitchen and asked what she could do to help. When I asked if she wanted to make the blueberry pie, she jumped at the chance.

The crust was already chilling in the fridge and the blueberries were washed. When she asked how I wanted her to make it, I said I was planning to make a lattice crust, but she could do it any way she wished.

With only the slightest coaching, she did a great job. The pie turned out beautiful and delicious. She brushed the finished top with an egg wash and sprinkled it with turbinado sugar before baking. The sugary crunch on the finished pie was a nice textural contrast to the buttery, flaky crust and the tender, juicy blueberries.

Fresh Blueberry Pie
6 cups fresh blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. butter

Place bottom crust into 9-inch pie plate letting the crust hang over the edges. Mix together the blueberries, sugar and flour. Pour into the crust. Sprinkle the blueberries with lemon juice and dot with butter. Top with lattice crust. Seal and crimp edges of pie.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 35-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbly.

Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche

This is a recipe from another one of my old hippie cookbooks, Cabbagetown Cafe Cookbook. I have spoken before about my love of quiche. Quiches are very forgiving and as simple as you like to make. You can make your own pastry, buy a pre-made crust, purchase one of those roll out crusts from the dairy section of the grocery store, you can even make it crustless, if you prefer.  You can use any combination of cheeses and any vegetables or combinations of ingredients.

I skipped the other herbs listed in the recipe and chose to use 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, finely minced. It was perfectly complimentary to the broccoli and blue cheese.

I also used more cheese than called for in the recipe and made this quiche very cheesy. It was delicious!

And you know? I have never heard anyone say, "No, I don't like quiche". 

I am linking this post to Mom's Sunday Cafe for Melynda's Cookbook Sundays.



First Lady Michelle Obama's Apple Cobbler

A couple of days ago, Pritchard Parker told me he would like pie.  I had been baking many, many cookies, then a cake, then brownies and he was in the mood for a change of pace.  Of course, I immediately started quizzing him: What kind of pie? A lemon meringue pie? A chocolate cream pie? A coconut pie? A cherry pie? He replied, simply, "A fruit pie."

As I contemplated this request (don't you love it when people you enjoy cooking for actually make a request) and knew fresh fruit is in short supply, here in the middle of winter, I considered frozen fruit. Finally, I decided on apples, which are available all year round.  And who doesn't like apple pie? 

I remembered this post from Lisa's blog,  The Cutting Edge of Ordinary.  I made the pie once before and everyone loved it. Plus it makes an extra large pie, and as alert readers of this blog know, my husband has a huge eating and fuel burning capacity. 

This pie is quite easy to make but it does take some planning ahead and also up to 3 hours of baking time.  Fine with me. Running the oven for 3 hours when it is freezing cold outside works out just fine.

I do hope you will jump over to Lisa's blog, to read her post about this pie, and also to enjoy her gorgeous photographs of it.

First Lady Michelle Obama's Apple Cobbler
8 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup flour

Mix these ingredients together and refrigerate overnight so the spice goes all the way through the apples.

3 sheets refrigerated pie crust
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter and flour the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Roll out 1 1/2 pie crusts really thin, as thin as possible. Layer the bottom of the baking dish with the pastry and prick a few holes in it.

Pour the apples with their liquid into the crust. Dot 3/4 of the stick of butter over the apples. Roll out the remaining 1 1/2 pie crusts and cover the apple mixture entirely.  Pinch the edges of the dough around the sides of the dish so the apple mixture is completely covered.

Melt the remaining 1/4 stick of butter and brush over the top of the crust.

Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.  Bake for up to 3 hours until the crust is golden brown and flaky.  Start checking the cobbler after 2 1/2 hours to prevent over browning.

Spinach Cheese Pie

I must like triangle shaped food.  I didn't realize this about myself until I was organizing some of my photo files. I kept seeing more and more foods cut and formed into triangles and wedges. Over 30 such shaped items have been appeared on this blog and there are more! These include pies, quiches, tarts, pizza, sandwiches, frittata, turnovers, claufutti, wedges of cake, cheesecake, cornbread,  wedges of cheese, even cookies. 

I saw this recipe at All Recipes and decided to try it. I suppose my initial attraction was the shape, but it is also very cheesy and I love cheese. Also Pritchard Parker loves spinach. He is especially fond of those dense packages of frozen spinach, which is great because fresh spinach, in this area, is quite expensive. I usually only buy fresh spinach for salads. 

Spinach Cheese Pie

(adapted from allrecipes)

2 (9-inch) pie crusts

1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

15 ounces lowfat cottage cheese

4 oz. mozzarella cheese, freshly grated

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

2 cups diced sharp cheddar cheese

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fit one pie crust into  a pie plate. In a large bowl, mix together the spinach and cheeses. Mix together well and season with freshly ground black pepper. Pour into the bottom pie crust and place the second pie crust on top of the filling. Trim and crimp edges. Bake for 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.



Old Fashioned Candy Roaster Squash Pie

 Last fall, I posted about the heirloom Candy Roaster Squash, which is native to the Southern Appalachian Mountains, here and a Candy Roaster Pie here. 

Saturday, on a visit to the Western North Carolina Farmers Market in Asheville, I bought another Candy Roaster. These squash are very, very large.  The one I bought weighed about 12 pounds.  That is a lot of squash!

To approach this statuesque squash, cut in half crosswise, then cut each half again lengthwise.  Scoop out seeds and place the quarters face down on a lightly oiled baking pan.  Bake at 375 degrees approximately 45 minutes, depending on size, until tender, the skin is beginning to char and blister, and it is completely pooped.  Be sure you use a rimmed pan because these squash are juicy.





Once the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out all the flesh from the rind.  If desired, puree in a blender until smooth. 

Pies are the traditional use of these squash and I have experimented with a few different flavor combinations. The one that seems most popular in my circles, is this one.  It is very simple and lets both the delicate flavor and the beautiful golden color of the squash shine through.

Old Fashion Candy Roaster Squash Pie

2 cups candy roaster squash puree

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3 Tbsp. melted butter

Your favorite pie crust

Stir all ingredients together, then beat at medium speed of electric mixer until smooth and creamy.  Pour mixture into unbaked pie crust.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 - 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Farmhouse Chicken Pot Pie

Remember the folder of old recipes I brought back last summer from a trip to my Parent's home, and my hometown, in Alabama? When I was looking at this one, Mama told me it was a very good recipe.  She clipped tore the recipe from The Atlanta Journal on Wednesday, October 9, 1968.

The recipe calls for a very unusual ingredient--powdered creamer.  I suppose it was a hot, new item at that time.  I bought the smallest size of  "original" Coffee Mate, started reading the ingredients, and made myself stop it at once!  Some things you just don't want to know.

I was most intrigued by the cheese pastry.

Ready for the Oven



Farmhouse Chicken Pot Pie

1 4-pound stewing chicken, cut into pieces

4 sprigs parsley

1 stalk celery, cut up

1 bay leaf

1 onion

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

1 cup powdered creamer

1 cup cooked sliced carrots

1 cup cooked peas

1 cup cooked small white onions

Cheese Pastry

1/4  cup soft butter

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 cup sifted flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

Place chicken in large kettle with parsley, celery, bay leaf and onion; cover with water.  Bring to boil; cover and simmer until chicken is tender (45 minutes to 1 hour).  Remove from heat.  Allow chicken to stand in stock until cool.  Remove chicken, discarding skin and bones.  Cut meat into large pieces.  Strain stock; measure 2 cups and reheat to boiling. In saucepan, melt butter over low heat until frothy.  Blend in flour, cook and stir 1 minute without coloring.  Add powdered creamer and hot chicken stock all at once, beating with wire whip to blend.  Increase heat to moderately high; cook and stir until sauce comes to a boil and thickens.  Adjust seasonings.  Add chicken and the cooked vegetables.  Spoon into a deep-dish pie plate or 1 1/2 quart casserole.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Combine all ingredients for pastry; roll about 1/4 inch thick. (Cheese pastry will be more moist than normal pastry). Cut into strips; arrange lattice fashion over top of casserole and secure edges.  Bake 10 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake 30 to 40 minutes. or until crust is golden brown.

Mama was right.  This is a very good recipe. My husband and I both loved it very much



Unusual Apple Pie

This is a recipe from allrecipes.com and is called "Apple Pie by Grandma Ople". Moshasmama, who submitted it states: "This was my grandmother's apple pie recipe. I have never seen another one quite like it. It will always be my favorite and has won me several first place prizes in local competitions. I hope it becomes one of your favorites as well!" The recipe has a five star rating on the site, with 2,473 reviewers. I couldn't resist. . .

Apple Pie by Grandma Ople

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Fresh Cherry Strudel with Phyllo

This is a July 2002 recipe from Gourmet Magazine. The recipe claims to be easier than making a cherry pie, but I beg to differ. Two pie crusts would be infinitely easier to handle than sheet after fragile sheet of phyllo, in my opinion. These little cuties were, however, big fun to make.

I love fresh, juicy, summer cherries.

Messy and fun to pit. Buy extra so you can munch while you work as you won't be able to resist, and why should you? When I finished, my lips, tongue, and fingers were stained. Just like being a kid again.

Cherry Strudel
5 cups fresh, pitted cherries (about 1 1/2 lb.)
3/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
15 (17 by 12 inch) phyllo sheets, thawed if frozen
1 stick unsalted butter

Bring cherries and any juices, sugar, and cornstarch to a boil in a heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally, then simmer for 2 minutes. Transfer filling to a bowl and cool completely.

While cherry filling is cooling, arrange 3 phyllo sheets into 1 layer, on a work surface, and let dry for 15 minutes. Keep the remaining sheets stacked, then cut in half, crosswise. Cover with plastic wrap, then a dampened kitchen towel. Crumble the dried phyllo sheets into a small bowl.


Place 1 sheet of phyllo on work surface (I'm using a sheet of parchment) with the short side nearest you, keeping the remaining sheets covered. Brush with butter, then top with 3 more sheets, brushing each with butter.



Sprinkle about 2 Tbsp. of the crumbled, dried phyllo over the lower third of the buttered phyllo, leaving a 2 inch border across the bottom and sides. This extra phyllo absorbs juices from the filling, keeping it inside the strudel rather than oozing out onto the pan.


Top with 1/3 cup of cherry filling.



Fold bottom edge of phyllo over filling, then fold in sides. Contine to roll up to form strudels. Place seam side down on a lightly buttered baking sheet and brush with a little more butter. Cut two, 1 inch vents in each strudel. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden and crisp.

Transfer to a rack to cool.
The cook's sample.


Mmmmm.

Pork Pie with Apples and Cheddar

With extra pulled pork, I made a pie. I placed the first of two piecrusts into my favorite pie plate. I put 4 cups of pulled pork into a mixing bowl and added 2 cups of leftover homemade applesauce. I also chopped a couple additional apples and stirred those in.

I poured this mixture into the prepared crust and topped with about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese. I covered that with second crust, crimped the edges together, brushed with half & half, cut a few slits for steam to escape, and baked at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.