PolitiCook.net

AAF’s Recipe of the Day

Real men don’t eat quiche! I’m not crazy about them, but if it’s well made, sure, I’d eat it.

 And if it’s made with Gruyere cheese & proper bacon lardons, then I devour it!
This is for 4 to 6 persons.

Pastry: 175g/6oz strong white flour, plus extra for dusting, salt: a large pinch,  75g/2¾oz butter, plus extra for greasing

Filling: 250g/9oz Gruyere cheese, finely cubed, 200g/7oz smoked lardons (fancy bacon) 6 free range eggs, beaten,
100ml/3½fl oz milk, 200ml/7fl oz double cream, salt & cracked black pepper to taste, and if you can get some, 2 or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.

To make the pastry, sift the flour together with a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until you have a soft breadcrumb texture. Add enough cold water to make the crumb mixture come together to form a firm dough, and then rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes. You can also make this pastry in the food processor, but folks, it’s not as much fun!

Roll out the pastry on a light floured surface and line a 22cm/8½inch well-buttered flan dish. Don’t cut off the edges of the pastry yet. Chill again. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F

Remove the pastry case from the fridge and line the base of the pastry with baking parchment and then fill it with baking beans (we call this blind baking). Place on a baking tray and bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and return to the oven for another five minutes to cook the base. Another trick is to brush the pastry with an egg white, it will act like cling film . Reduce the temperature of the oven to 160C/325F/ Sprinkle the cheese into the pastry base and fry the bacon pieces until crisp and sprinkle over them over the top. Combine the eggs with the milk and cream in a bowl and season well. Pour over the bacon and cheese. Sprinkle the thyme over the top and trim the edges of the pastry.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool and set further though I never seem to be able to do that. I eat a quick slice!