Quiche Lorraine

'Named after the Lorraine region of north-East France, this classic quiche is delicious served with a green salad and tangy relish.  It tastes great cold, too'

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p145

One of my goals when starting this blog was to become more confident at making pastry, particularly shortcrust.  I did learn how to make it in school... memories of a scary teacher checking our hands to make sure we only had flour on our fingers, not our palms! But somehow I lost the confidence, or maybe I never had it to start with.  Lately I'd taken to buying ready made pastry, usually from Co-op's bargain shelf, and then freezing it until needed. But this always felt like a cop-out!

So, I decided to start with a quiche and was really chuffed with the result.  Here's what I think made the difference...

• My whizzy new Kitchen-Aid, which took the hard work out of mixing and did it thoroughly
• Treating myself to a good loose-bottomed quiche tin.
• And, of course, following Rachel's technique.  I'd seen it demonstrated on the TV series of 'Bake'.  Of course she made it look easy, but I wasn't sure it would work in practice.  It did!  Here's her method...

1. To make 400g (14oz) pastry, take 200g (7oz) sifted plain flour; a pinch of salt; and 100g (3 1/2oz) butter, chilled and cubed.  Whiz briefly in a food processor.  Add half a beaten egg, and continue to whiz.  Add a little more egg if necessary, but only until the mixture is just moist enough to come together.  If making by hand, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs, then add just enough egg to bring it together.
2. With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until about 2cm (3/4") thick, then wrap in cling film or place in a plastic bag.  Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
3. Remove the pastry, then place between 2 sheets of cling film, larger than your tart tin. With a rolling pin, roll out to no thicker than 5mm (1/4") or thinner for tartlet tins.  If the tin is round, keep the pastry in a round shape and ensure you have enough to line the sides of the tin as well as the base.  (Using the cling film means you don't have to add flour to your worktop when rolling out, which can change the chemistry of the pastry.  This is somewhere I'd often come unstuck in the past)
4. Remove the top layer of cling-film, then turn over and place in the tin.  You can retain a layer of cling film to help shape the pastry in the tin.  Press the pastry into the edges then, using your thumb, 'cut' the pastry along the edge of the tin.  Remove the cling film, then prick over the base with a fork.  Chill again, in the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 10 minutes (At this point, it can be frozen 'for weeks')
5. When ready to bake, line the pastry with foil; greaseproof paper or parchment paper,  leaving plenty to come up the sides.  Fill with baking beans or dried pulses.  Or, for a really smooth finish, line the pastry case with 2 sheets of cling film, add the beans and bring edges to the centre.  (Rachel must get through a lot of cling fim!)  Bake 'blind' at 180C/350F/GM4, for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry feels dry.
6. Remove the paper/film and beans, brush with beaten egg, and return to the oven for 2 minutes.  If there are any cracks or holes in the pastry, patch them up with leftover raw pastry before returning to the oven.
7. Remove from the oven, and set aside while you make the filling.  The pastry can be baked a day in advance if necessary.

Hooray, pastry made with no soggy bottom and no shrinkage. It's definitely given me the confidence to do more.  Rachel also gives variations of sweet; sour cream and herby shortcrust pastry, which I hope to try at some point.

I was pleased with the filling as well - full of flavour, and it tasted really substantial, unlike some of the shop-bought quiches with can be little more than scrambled egg.  It's made as follows...

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan.  Take 175g (6oz) streaky bacon, chopped into 1cm lardons.  Fry until crisp, remove and dry on kitchen paper.  Sweat 100g (4oz) peeled and chopped onions in the same oil for 10 minutes.
2. Whisk 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks in a medium sized bowl.  Add 250mls (9fl oz) double cream; 1 tbsp chopped parsley; 1 tbsp chopped chives; 50g (2oz) grated cheddar; 50g grated Gruyere cheese; cooled bacon and onions.  Season well.
3. Pour filling into the pastry case and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the centre has set.

I used some really nice organic eggs, which I picked up reduced in Co-op.  They had lovely rich yellow yolks, and I'm sure this made a difference to both the finished look and flavour.

I had single cream to use up (Co-op's bargain shelf again!  You get the message, we visit it frequently.  We may have contributed to their recent huge drop in profits!) Used that instead of double, and it seemed to work.

I Googled 'freezing quiches', and the consensus seems to be that they freeze very well, unless they contain a lot of vegetables which tend to go soggy.  Planning for Megan's dedication party next month, so I might make a few in preparation!

Right, this has been a long and rambling blog tonight, but I was really pleased with my creation, and hope it inspires someone else to have a go.  Until next time!