Quiche + opera picnic
That time of year again. And again over the top with the preparations:
Two types of scotch egg
Two types of quiche
salad (tomatoes, cucumber, shallots, rapeseed oil, sherry vinegar)
radishes
strawberries
Two types of chocolate truffles
Muscat from Alsace and a sweet red from the south of France (amazing with chocolate)
The scotch eggs were surprisingly easy. At least the pork ones. We used quail eggs. Boiled to the desired doneness the night before, simply wrap in sausage meat (clingfilm helps), panée and deep fry until golden. The smoked salmon ones caused more difficulty. Off cuts didn't stick to the egg. Put in a blender, still didn't stick. Add an egg white to make a mousse, voilà! The salmon ones were a bit salty though, maybe some cream cheese to temper it out. Either in the mousse or as my cousin suggested, layer it on the egg first. Next time we'll serve them fresh with the eggs only boiled soft. They were so much better straight from the fryer, crispy and warm.
More importantly, QUICHE! Years, I tell you. Still not sure it's perfect, but it's a lot closer. First the pastry, standard short crust, 2:1 flour to fat, enough water to bind. Food processor is amazing here. 200g of flour seems to yield a bit more than necessary for one large or two medium quiches. Next time I will try 180g flour, 45g butter, 45g lard. The butter/lard combo was flakier and less rich (in a good way) than butter on its own. Blind bake at 180C fan for 15 mins pricked with a fork and lined with parchment and baking beans, then another 8 mins without the beans, then another 5 with an egg wash to seal before putting in the filling. Now this is the bit that is different than before, using as a starter the discussion I had with a friend who runs a restaurant. His filling is a dozen eggs and a litre of double cream. Obviously I'v had to scale that down! I didn't get a chance try a half dozen eggs with the big quiche, but I bet it's about right. Fill it right up. With the smaller ones, 3 eggs and 250ml of cream is the right amount of liquid. NOW, loooow heat! 120-125C on a fan oven. Standard quiche test, no more wobbles, just set in the middle, toothpick comes out clean. It was like an hour for the small ones, and strangely about the same for the large one. I tried filling mixed in the custard as well as just placed into the pastry. Not sure it makes a difference, but just placed in the pastry is much easier. The exception is cheese, which I didn't get to test. My quiche lorraine was too rich so either the cheese needs to just be in the bottom or the recipe needs to be adjusted to reduce fat... or cheese just isn't as good. At any rate, the low temp and cream/egg ratio is getting closer to my ideal.
Then truffles. Easier and more effective than I'd imagined! 120g of good dark chocolate, broken into bits in a bowl with 25g of butter. Heat 100ml of double cream with 40g of light muscavado sugar, pour onto choc & butter and stir to melt. Chill 2 hours. Scoop and roll into balls, dust with whatever then chill overnight. Spices can be heated in the milk, or booze can be stirred into the ganache before chilling. Simples. There's lots to play with there, but it they were pretty damned good. We did plain dark chocolate and also tried some with Cointreau (delish).
It was a good picnic.
Two types of scotch egg
Two types of quiche
salad (tomatoes, cucumber, shallots, rapeseed oil, sherry vinegar)
radishes
strawberries
Two types of chocolate truffles
Muscat from Alsace and a sweet red from the south of France (amazing with chocolate)
The scotch eggs were surprisingly easy. At least the pork ones. We used quail eggs. Boiled to the desired doneness the night before, simply wrap in sausage meat (clingfilm helps), panée and deep fry until golden. The smoked salmon ones caused more difficulty. Off cuts didn't stick to the egg. Put in a blender, still didn't stick. Add an egg white to make a mousse, voilà! The salmon ones were a bit salty though, maybe some cream cheese to temper it out. Either in the mousse or as my cousin suggested, layer it on the egg first. Next time we'll serve them fresh with the eggs only boiled soft. They were so much better straight from the fryer, crispy and warm.
More importantly, QUICHE! Years, I tell you. Still not sure it's perfect, but it's a lot closer. First the pastry, standard short crust, 2:1 flour to fat, enough water to bind. Food processor is amazing here. 200g of flour seems to yield a bit more than necessary for one large or two medium quiches. Next time I will try 180g flour, 45g butter, 45g lard. The butter/lard combo was flakier and less rich (in a good way) than butter on its own. Blind bake at 180C fan for 15 mins pricked with a fork and lined with parchment and baking beans, then another 8 mins without the beans, then another 5 with an egg wash to seal before putting in the filling. Now this is the bit that is different than before, using as a starter the discussion I had with a friend who runs a restaurant. His filling is a dozen eggs and a litre of double cream. Obviously I'v had to scale that down! I didn't get a chance try a half dozen eggs with the big quiche, but I bet it's about right. Fill it right up. With the smaller ones, 3 eggs and 250ml of cream is the right amount of liquid. NOW, loooow heat! 120-125C on a fan oven. Standard quiche test, no more wobbles, just set in the middle, toothpick comes out clean. It was like an hour for the small ones, and strangely about the same for the large one. I tried filling mixed in the custard as well as just placed into the pastry. Not sure it makes a difference, but just placed in the pastry is much easier. The exception is cheese, which I didn't get to test. My quiche lorraine was too rich so either the cheese needs to just be in the bottom or the recipe needs to be adjusted to reduce fat... or cheese just isn't as good. At any rate, the low temp and cream/egg ratio is getting closer to my ideal.
Then truffles. Easier and more effective than I'd imagined! 120g of good dark chocolate, broken into bits in a bowl with 25g of butter. Heat 100ml of double cream with 40g of light muscavado sugar, pour onto choc & butter and stir to melt. Chill 2 hours. Scoop and roll into balls, dust with whatever then chill overnight. Spices can be heated in the milk, or booze can be stirred into the ganache before chilling. Simples. There's lots to play with there, but it they were pretty damned good. We did plain dark chocolate and also tried some with Cointreau (delish).
It was a good picnic.