Quiche Lorraine

With its few, simple ingredients and easy-as-pie preparation, quiche Lorraine livens up any meal, giving it a French twist without all the culinary expertise normally associated with la cuisine française.

I have come across several recipes that substitute some of the cream with milk...and tasted some of these results...yukkkkk.....tasted of scrambled eggs! A real quiche uses cream - or even better crème fraîche.

Never use a pre made crust - always make your own.

Also, (and I did not know this) shredded cheese is an absolute no no in the authentic Quiche Lorraine.

Oops, i always used cheese...so today I will be trying out an authentic recipe from Amelie.

Vive la France!!!

Shortcrust pastry:

To make the pastry:

Rub 1 1/2 cups of plain flour,

a pinch of salt and

31/2 oz of butter into 'breadcrumb' type consistency. (you can also use half vegetable shortening for a light pastry)

Add a very small amount of milk, and knead that in (The milk can be replaced by a beaten egg if preferred).

Add a tiny bit more milk if necessary but always a very small amount at a time. If you add too much it will suddenly go sticky and unworkable (if this happens add a little more flour).
Method
Leave the ball of pastry in the fridge for an hour, then get it out and leave it another half an hour to reach room temperature.
You can now roll out the pastry and put in your flan tin. Prick the base of the pastry all over.

easy no???!!!

Now for the filling:

Lardons are traditionally used but you can use cubed bacon, grilled and drained instead

Ingredients:

7 oz thick smoked bacon cut into cubes

4 eggs (separated)

10 oz cream, whipped

salt and pepper.

Method:

Beat the egg yolks and the cream.

Add the bacon cubes

season to taste

Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour the filling into the pasty. I prefer to blind bake the pastry for about 15 mins, to be sure it will be nice and crisp.

Bake at 430F for 20-30 mins until done.

You can always make your own variation, using cheese, scallions, herbs, onions etc. etc. I was actually amazed at how light and tasty the original was!

Chicken Liver Pâté

This is a great pâté and one of my favourites. Its great with toast, crackers or melba toast.

We would often have "Dip" parties - everyone would bring a dip and a bottle of wine and we would spend a great evening!

I know some people are scared of liver, or dislike the taste but they should give this a try!

Ingredients

1kg of chicken livers ( washed, trimmed and cleaned)

some olive oil,

1 tsp fresh rosemary, very finely chopped

1tsp sage very finely chopped

zest of one small orange,

2 cloves garlic, crushed,

salt and pepper to taste

100ml of brandy,

100ml of red wine,

250g of butter,

2 bay leaves.

About 8 bacon rashers (fry - or grill - and put on paper towels to remove the oil. Don't let the bacon crisp however, it has to be cooked just enough)

Method

Fry the chicken livers in the olive oil, and add the herbs, orange zest and garlic.

Do not over fry or the livers will get tough. they should be brown on the outside but left pink inside.

Season, remove from the pan and put into a blender

Put the pan back heat and pour in 100ml of brandy, 100ml of red wine, and bring to the boil, stirring and scraping any residue from the sides.

Pour this into the blender along with 200g of butter and process until smooth.

Line a terrine with the cooked bacon strips

Pour the pâté into a suitable terrine and decorate the top with a bay leaf or two, a couple of sprigs of rosemary and some curls of orange zest.

Melt 50g of butter very gently over a low heat – do not allow it to bubble – and carefully pour the clear part of the butter over the top of the pâté, making sure all is under a thin layer of clarified butter.

Leave it to cool, and then put it in the refrigerator, covered with a lid or foil.

You can turn it out to serve, it looks rather pretty - or else just leave in the terrine.