Normality with a party and a root vegetable quiche

Noooo...not another quiche. Come on, be fair. I'm stuck in a hotel with limited kitchen resources. But, in a scenario not dissimilar to Dawn of the Dead, I currently reside above a shopping mall, complete with a supermarket that stocks ready made quiche shells. I do try and vary the fillings every time for a little excitement and this beauty was no exception. Wandering back from the mall to my hotel room, which requires some stealthy swiping through doors with key cards and imagining zombies on the prowl, I considered all the vegetables I had bought the day before at the farm shop. A plethora of root veg lay before me, bought in the usual child like over excitement of visiting that place. I decided to roast them all with garlic, herbs and butter, then chop them up small and throw them into the shell. What resulted was a true Autumnal tart, full of earthy, sweet flavours of beet and carrot and silky textures of long roasted eggplants and zucchini.

Salt cod and tomato quiche with cheese and saffron pastry

Salt cod is something that has always sounded interesting, but inedible. I always imagined it to be dry and overly salty, which it is when you buy it, but some effort sort of fixes that. One advantage of preserving foods like this is it's ability to happily sit in the fridge or a cupboard until you need it, even if that's a long time after you buy it. It makes sense as salting was one of the earliest methods of preserving food.

Quiche with hazelnut and Parmesan crust

Why does the addition of a crust make a quiche so much more superior than a frittata? Oh, that's right, it's the carbohydrates. As Neil and I were waking past a bakery on Sunday, he nudged me and, regarding the mouth-watering aroma coming from the shop, said "You know what that nice smell is? that's carbohydrates". Thanks Neil. The slight trace of smugness in his voice made me want to scream. So, after buying a new cookbook and looking at umpteen images of gorgeous looking vegetable quiches, I had to have one. The quest for a low carb quiche crust began.

Give me a quiche.

Prosciutto, mushroom and leek quiche with cucumber, radish and red cabbage salad

I am very conscious as a food blogger as to how limiting it can be to currently eliminate an entire food group from my eating habits.I am not an advocate of low carbohydrate cooking and eating, I certainly don't imagine I will be doing this for the rest of my life as is the apparent necessary way, and I regularly cook carbohydrates for Neil, who has no need to watch his food intake or follow any particular diet. For me, this kind of diet is far more appropriate and desirable than any other. I would rather eat a piece of belly pork with its layers of crispy, umami skin, soft fat and tender, sweet meat than a bowl of pasta with some kind of low fat sauce with a sprinkling of cheese. Therefore, I will continue with what I am doing for now but will also cook some high carbohydrate  meals for Neil, who I don't think should be denied some of the foods he loves, for example: Quiche.

Recipe below pictures

The dough

Blind baking with black eyed peas

My old but trusty weighing scales

The egg, cream and cheese mixture

Salad of radish, cucumber, bell pepper and red cabbage

Prosciutto, mushroom, leeks, butter and cider

Lots of Parmesan on top

The finished quiche

Strawberry jello with rosewater whipped cream

My dad is a retired baker and both my mum and sister have excellent instinctive cooking skills. My mum and dad owned and ran their own bakery and shop for many years with much success and my sister also ran the shop when my parents decided it was time to semi-retire. Even years before that, she used to make an excellent quiche to sell in the shop which was a far cry from the mass produced varieties which can be watery and lacking in flavour. My sister made a dense, cheesy variety with a flaky crust that shattered when you cut into it and remained a little chewy on the bottom. Our family home was part of the whole bakery and shop and constantly smelled of fresh bread, but of course, we lost the sensation of it before too long and would always feel a little cheated by our senses whenever anyone visited and sighed contentedly when they sniffed the air. Some of my dad's recipes are worth mentioning and I will publish them when I get his permission, but for now, I made a quiche tonight.

Recipe

Pastry

7oz all purpose flour

3.5 oz butter

salt

4 tbsp water

• Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, add the butter in cubes and rub together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

• Add the water a little at a time and mix until a soft dough forms that leaves the bowl clean.

• Roll out on a floured surface and preheat the oven to 400oF.

• Line the bottom of a quiche dish with wax paper and butter the sides. Cover with the pastry and press into the sides.

• Pour some rice or beans into the case and bake for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and reduce the temperature to 375oF. Remove the beans.

Filling

8 slices Prosciutto

2 small leeks, sliced

6 mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup cider or apple juice

a little salt and pepper

2 eggs

1/4 cup cream

1/2 cup cheddar

1/4 cup Parmesan

• Fry the Prosciutto in a little oil until crispy, add the leeks, mushrooms and butter and stir well.

• Add the cider or juice and reduce heat to low. Saute until the leek is soft and the liquid evaporated.

• Place this mixture into the pastry case.

• Whisk together the eggs, cream, salt, pepper and cheddar cheese and pour over the vegetable mixture.

• Sprinkle the Parmesan on top and a little chopped sage or oregano.

• Bake for 30 minutes.

I didn't eat any pastry but Neil tells me it was sufficiently flaky, he asked if I had added cheese, which I hadn't, so the vast amounts of cheese I did add to the mixture permeated through! The filling was very cheesy, the Parmesan on top adding just the right amount of saltiness, which worked well with the sweetness of the apple juice to balance the flavours.