Ok.
The first time i ever ate quiche was at Corona Cafe – a cafe just across the road. I loved it but it was expensive @ $9.50 per slice (if i am not wrong).
So, after nearly 2 1/2 years, i’ve decided to try this out for myself. and it was a smashing success!
I had to go around the whole of Eastgardens to search for a quiche pan. Poor Fish was running around with me the whole time.. =)
Anyways, this is really simple and can be made with ingredients you already have on hand. The only small problem that you might have is not having the puff/shortcrust pastry.
Supposedly, quiches are made with shortcrust pastry, but i couldn’t find a readymade tart case and i had butter puff pastry in the freezer, so i decided to just use the puff pastry.
I had some problems with blind baking the first time, it didn’t work – i’m still having to learn how to do this properly – so if anyone knows, please let me know.. =)
Therefore, i didn’t blind bake – the only problem with not doing this is that the dough at the bottom – due to the liquids, become soggy – but it didn’t bother us, so it was of no problem. =)
The recipe below is not 100% similar to what i made – i used double the amount of spinach and although it was nice, i found the spinach too overpowering and it was really a spinach quiche.. so i decided to cut the portion by half.
Here goes…
Ingredients
250g – 500g English Spinach Leaves – from the salad section (leaves only and washed)
3 XL Eggs
3 slices of Bacon (more or less is up to you)
250g Feta Cheese (mine was a smooth version – but i think all kinds should do)
300ml Pure Cream (way more fattening – i’ve heard you could just use milk or half milk half cream)
8 pieces of white button mushrooms (optional)
2 shallots (or any onion)
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 sheets of Butter Puff Pastry
Directions
Many of the recipes suggest blanching the spinach and squeezing the water out. For me, i decided that this gets rid of too much nutrients and i do not want to use my hands and squeeze water out of my spinach! My hands will smell of nothing my spinach later. So,
1. Chop the onions and garlic finely. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Fry the slices of bacon in a big frying pan – for later. Fry till the bacon is crisp and delicious! We used Bok’s Bacon, a free range pork that was woodfire smoked. Supermarket bought bacon in Australia is lousy! In Singapore it’s okay though. After they are crisped and cooled, crumble with hands and place aside.
3. In the same frying pan, using the fat from the bacon, fry the onions first followed by the garlic (to ensure they don’t brown since they have a much shorter cooking time as compared to the onions). Add the mushrooms. Add in the spinach in batches – unless you have a really large frying pan – The leaves will wilt and you can proceed to add more leaves until all is added.
4. Keep frying over medium heat, keep frying till all liquid has been evaporated and you’re left with a dry mixture. I suppose with mushrooms the cooking time might be slightly longer for they have a higher liquid content. But it will take max 15 mins. Season to taste.
5. While frying, crack the 3 eggs into a big mixing bowl and add 300 ml of milk/pure cream. Whisk the mixture well. Add in the bacon as well.
6. After Steps 3 and 4 are done, give a little time for 3 to cool down.
7. In the meantime, slice up the feta cheese, which should come in a block. You can place this into the mixture whatever way you like, but i took half and sliced it smaller and added it into the egg mixture.
8. Get ready your quiche pan. Mine is non-stick so it was not necessary to oil the pan. Place a sheet of puff pastry over the pan, and using your fingers, press it down and over the sides of the pan slightly (nice crust there). It is slightly difficult if you’re doing it the first time, but don’t worry, if there are cracks or holes, just take excess pastry and mend it – no one will ever know. After it looks fairly decent, use a fork to prick the pastry all over. I’m not sure if this is necessary since i am not blind baking it – but whatever, it won’t hurt.
9. By now, the spinach should most possibly cooled down and you can add that into the egg feta mixture. Stir well to combine and pull apart some of the spinach as they tend to be tangled all together.
10. Pour the mixture slowly into the puff pastry lined quiche pan. Mine was pretty full around 5/6 of the pan and it didn’t over spill when baking, so i think it should be pretty safe.
11. Taking the cubes of Feta cheese, place it all over the top, pushing it slightly into the mixture.
AND… you’re done!
12. All it needs now is to go into the preheated oven for approximately 20-25 mins. But keep an eye on it to see the colour changes till it’s a shade that you like. To test if it’s cooked, use a fork/knife and poke into the centre, if it comes out clean, YOU’RE DONE!
13. Unmold and serve warm.
This can be kept in the fridge for several days and should taste good at room temperature as well.
I apologise for the above pic. I didn’t manage to take a picture of a nice slice. This was a midnight snack and i left it in the toaster for a minute too long, so it is slightly darker in colour. Still tastes really good though and i love puff pastry!
I hope you guys liked the quiche and try it out at home – it really is relatively simple. You can change it anyway you like. Just bacon, just spinach and feta, just mushrooms and bacon.. etc etc.. I will definitely be trying more variations soon!
Happy Belated Halloween and Eat Well Everyone!
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