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strange_raptors) wrote2009-05-18 10:57 am
strange_raptors) wrote2009-05-18 10:57 am
Entry tags:
The rain pounds harsh against the glass
Although the weather has been somewhat variable these past few days, on Thursday I decided that what I really wanted was some light food to brighten up the evening. We had some spinach in the fridge, and I had a vague idea to put it in some form of quiche. In anticipation of this I even went out and bought a quiche tin (the ones with the removable bases).
I made the shortcrust pastry (avoiding the issue with softened butter by using some from the freezer), and whilst it was resting in the fridge I steamed the spinach until it had just began to wilt. A couple of eggs and an entire (small) pot of creme fraiche formed the basic mixture, to which was added a large quantity of nutmeg, a bit of salt and pepper, and the spinach.
I followed Delia's thoughts on baking pastry, whereby you line the tin with the pastry and bake it (without beans or such-like) for 15 minutes, then brush it with egg and give it another five minutes. Then the quiche was baked for half an hour or so.
At this point I, perhaps rashly, decided to make a potato salad. I'd got some little Jersey royals from the shops, and they had a lovely waxy texture. I boiled them whole and then let them cool down on some kitchen towel. I then attempted to make mayonnaise! It was very hard work (as I made it by hand and not in a mixer), but it tasted really really good (even though I added too much garlic). It was beautifully golden and thick - not a patch on the shop-bought stuff. My plans are to make more of it throughout the year and give up buying it ready made. I didn't have a lemon to add a smidge of acidity to it, but I added the juice of a lime which seemed to work just as well, and gave it an interesting after-kick.
To cut through the creamy of the quiche and the potato salad I quartered a few small tomatoes and seasoned them with salt. The resulting meal was very colourful and just the thing to take my mind off the weather (and my thesis!). Here is a photo:
I made the shortcrust pastry (avoiding the issue with softened butter by using some from the freezer), and whilst it was resting in the fridge I steamed the spinach until it had just began to wilt. A couple of eggs and an entire (small) pot of creme fraiche formed the basic mixture, to which was added a large quantity of nutmeg, a bit of salt and pepper, and the spinach.
I followed Delia's thoughts on baking pastry, whereby you line the tin with the pastry and bake it (without beans or such-like) for 15 minutes, then brush it with egg and give it another five minutes. Then the quiche was baked for half an hour or so.
At this point I, perhaps rashly, decided to make a potato salad. I'd got some little Jersey royals from the shops, and they had a lovely waxy texture. I boiled them whole and then let them cool down on some kitchen towel. I then attempted to make mayonnaise! It was very hard work (as I made it by hand and not in a mixer), but it tasted really really good (even though I added too much garlic). It was beautifully golden and thick - not a patch on the shop-bought stuff. My plans are to make more of it throughout the year and give up buying it ready made. I didn't have a lemon to add a smidge of acidity to it, but I added the juice of a lime which seemed to work just as well, and gave it an interesting after-kick.
To cut through the creamy of the quiche and the potato salad I quartered a few small tomatoes and seasoned them with salt. The resulting meal was very colourful and just the thing to take my mind off the weather (and my thesis!). Here is a photo: