Savoury quiches – the perfect lunch dish

Now the weather is warming up a little in the Orne, we look forward to something other than soup at midday. Quiches are the perfect lunch dish, served warm or cold. Whatever the filling, and I’m always experimenting with whatever vegetables I have in the basket, they go really well with a simple accompaniment of mâche (lambs lettuce) lightly dressed with olive oil or vinaigrette.

I love the french pâte, sold in the supermarkets, ready rolled and cut to the size of a large quiche dish. You can use the baking paper it comes wrapped in which makes it very convenient to use and keeps the mess down. I’m not great at making pastry so I figure, why bother, when I can get it so easily. My favourite is feuilletté (flaky pastry) which is perfect for savoury quiches.

I usually start with a basic mix which consists of 4 eggs (depending on size of egg and dish) and milk, or cream, with salt and pepper. I put these in a bowl and lightly mix together with a hand whisk. I layer the vegetables I’ve chosen over the base of the pastry and then carefully pour over the egg mixture. I bake for about 30 minutes at about 200 degreesC, until firm to the touch and golden brown.

Three pepper quiche: chopped and de-seeded peppers (green, red and yellow) spread in the base of the dish and the egg mixture poured over was enthusiastically received by H. when I made it for lunch one day last week.

Other variations I tried last summer include:

• spinach, cooked and squeezed of as much moisture as possible, with grated cheese;
• broccoli, broken into small florets, and blue cheese (my favourite is Bleu d’Auvergne) but any will do;
•  finely sliced leek and grated cheese;
• finely chopped courgette and peppers, (make sure you put the courgette on top of the peppers as it has a tendency to soak into the pastry otherwise);
• as well as the traditional lardons (finely chopped bacon) and chopped onion, to which I sometimes add grated cheese.

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Here’s a photo of ‘one I made earlier’, which first appeared on another blog I wrote last year about moving to France.

                                                                                            

 

Runner beans – update

My earlier post about finding runner beans at the market (17 February) may not have been quite right. While they certainly looked like young runner beans, H now thinks they may, in fact, be flat French beans. Not that it really matters as they tasted lovely anyway. However, if anyone knows what ‘coco plat’ are, it would be interesting to know.

H is determined that we shall have some runner beans this year, though, and has bought some seeds and is waiting for the right time to plant them. He put his tiny pea seedlings out under pea sticks yesterday and now it’s raining again quite heavily, so I hope they don’t drown. Still, the rain is doing his leeks good, he says.

 

Spring Recipe – A Savoury Crumble

Although we British tend to think in terms of fruit when someone mentions the word ‘crumble’, the French have no such inhibitions. Many recipes can be found in modern french magazines which feature crumbles over meat or vegetable based dishes. This is one I found; where it came from I cannot remember. One of those things that I’ve had for years and always meant to use. Pulled the recipe out the other day, well, actually, it fell out of an old folder when I was looking for something else, but it looked good so I made it for dinner. Makes enough for four, so H had the left overs for lunch next day. Delicious!

Lamb and Vegetable Crumble

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 450 gms (1lb) lean minced lamb
• 1 stick celery
• 2 medium onions
• 2 carrots
• large sprig rosemary
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 3 tablespoons tomato purée
• 1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce (use your own judgement here)
• 3/4 pint lamb (or vegetable) stock
• salt and pepper
• 1 tin (150-200gms) sweetcorn (drained)

Crumble mix

• 75gms (3oz)wholemeal flour (I used farine de complét)
• 75gms plain flour
• 75gms butter
• 100 gms (4oz) mature cheddar, grated (I used 6 month old Comte, which worked well.)
• 2-3 tablespoons chives

Preheat the oven to 180-190 degreesC (350-275 degrees F).

Heat the oil in a large pan over a moderate heat. Add the lamb mince and cook for 5-8 minutes until browned. Finely chop celery, peel and finely chop onions and peel and dice carrots. Add all vegetables to mince. Cook for five minutes. Finely chop rosemary and add to mince. Stir in flour, tomato purée, Worcestershire Sauce and stock. Add salt and pepper to season. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Add sweetcorn and cook one minute.

 Spoon the lamb mixture into a 1.2litre (2 pint) oven proof dish. If you like, you can use 4 individual serving dishes, oven proof and approximately 300ml (1/2 pint).

Place wholemeal and plain flours into a large bowl. Cut butter into cubes and add to flour. Rub the butter into the flour until it is like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in cheese and finely snip chives. Mix well and sprinkle over the lamb mixture.

Bake the crumble until bubbling; for 25-30 minutes if one dish is used or 15-20 minutes for individual dishes

 

Saturday Market in Bagnoles de l’Orne

A lucky find in the market at Bagnoles de l’Orne on Saturday morning, although the market was much reduced in size from its normal buzzing and bustling state. Only seven or eight stalls this week and no cheese lady! Must have been the intense cold keeping everyone at home.

A stall I usually visit, as the chap often has things which are a little exotic, had runner beans. Now, I know that to most British folk, runner beans are anything but exotic but it’s the first time I’ve seen them at any market here in Normandy. H says they’re out of season so we wondered where they came from. They appear to be called haricot coco plat, (that was what was on the box) although my french food dictionary says they should be called haricot d’espagne.  Anyway, whatever they are called, they are very popular with H and my mother-in-law, so I was pleased to see them.

I don’t know how popular they are with the French. All the French women around me were buying haricots vert, so perhaps not so very. When I did a search on the name later, I found a French site where someone was asking how to cook them – was it the same way as haricot vert? Seemed to suggest they’re not common.

Certainly the stallholder seemed a little surprised when I asked for a kilo. Or perhaps it was just the amount; I know most of the French just buy small amounts of things. But having seen them, I’d decided to buy enough to freeze some. 

They were so young and tender, hardly any beans to speak of inside, and no ’strings’ to remove. My mother-in-law thought they could have been left on their stems a bit longer to develop more flavour but they were a far cry from the too often harsh-skinned, solid beans to be found in the UK.

I just topped and tailed them and cut them into long thin strips. I cooked some for our dinner today and blanched the rest, enough for three meal-size bags, to put in the freezer. They cost 3 Euros 60 a kilo, so about £2.

A good result, I think.

Anyone else found anything they thought they never would. Love to hear from you.

 

How to make tasty homemade sausages

After cold, frosty nights and lovely warm, blue-skied days here in the Orne, we woke this morning to a pale grey palette. The bud tips on the trees and the tall thin grasses shone silver in the light. The daytime temperature is much colder than it has been for some time and we have both wood-burning stoves lit: something we haven’t done for ages. Already, we miss the sun.

It’s on days like this that H starts thinking of comfort food and for him that means sausages and mash. One of the things H really missed when we moved to France was English sausages. When it was possible, we used to bring out fresh ones and freeze them for later use. Or rely on English friends to bring them over for us. It’s not that he doesn’t like the french ones, but you can’t use them the same way, or so he’s convinced himself.

 I’ve started making our own. Not the same, either, no skins for one thing. H was kind enough to say the last time I served them, that he didn’t miss English sausages anymore.

 I start with minced pork from the supermarket, ’chair nature’ or ‘chair persille’, and usually between 500 and 700gms. I put the minced pork into my food processor, or you could use a mincer, and then add whatever ingredients I have to hand or feel like using. If it’s a large amount of meat, I do it in two or more batches. The idea is to mince it up more finely without letting it become too mushy.

In Recipes  you will find some of the mixes for sausages I’ve made, as well as a mix for meatloaf, pie and sausage rolls. Yes, I know, but we’re talking comfort food here. I have given estimated measurements, largely based on amount of pork and taste. I’ve used dried herbs but you could experiment with fresh ones. I intend to. It’s still very much under trial.

 Do let me know if you try any of these, especially if you use fresh herbs, I’d love some feedback. Look forward to hearing from you.