Bacon Mushroom Quiche Lorraine

It's the start of another busy week and soon the end of another month. Much is the hustle and bustle about Singapore presidency election this week, and the anticipated Hari Raya Pusa next. And not forgetting the term break that will be coming in a couple weeks time. I am actually looking forward to this school break. Although I don't have loads lined up to do but simply to have a little more time at hand for myself will be pretty nice. And yes, more family time will be great too. So what fun plans have you lined up this school break?

Just last weekend, I managed to have some time to bake a savory pie for my family for supper. It's Bacon Mushroom Quiche Lorraine. The name sounds a little sophisticated but in fact the preparations for it ain't that hard.

I got this recipe from one of my old favorite cookbooks, "Essentials of Baking" from William Sonoma. The original recipe only calls for bacon but I kicked it up a couple notches by adding sweet onions and brown button mushrooms to the filling. And boy was it good! Anyway, here is the recipe:

Ingredients for Flaky Pie Pastry (for single crust)

115g cold unsalted butter
4 tbsp cold vegetable shortening (I used Ghee)
330g all purpose unbleached flour
1.5 tbsp powder sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
60-80ml ice cold water


To make the Pie Crust:

• In a large mixing bowl, add flour, salt and sugar and whisk well together. Add in the cubed cold butter & shortening and rub in till the mixture resemble bread crumbs.
• Gradually add in the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time till the mixture can just able to come together. Do not add too much water as it will become sticky and the crust will not be that flaky.
• Pour the dough out on a lightly floured surface and pressed together to a a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill for at least an hour. This can be done 2 days ahead.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C and take out the chilled dough. Place on a lightly floured surface and roll into a round disc of about 13 to 14 " in diameter. (I am using 10" pie pan)
• Place the disc on the lightly greased pan and gently tug in the sides. Crimp sides if desired. Poke some holes at the base of the pie dough with a fork. Then place a piece of parchment paper over it and some baking weights (either beans or rice)

Ingredients for the Quiche filling:

4 to 5 slices of thick-cut lean bacon (~125g) (I used smoked Applewood turkey bacon)

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

180ml fresh heavy cream

180ml fresh whole milk

1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Method and Assemble: 

• In a frying pan over medium heat, fry the bacon until the edges are crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain, then pat dry with more paper towels. Cut crosswise into 1 inches pieces and set aside for use later.
• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Using the same pan, add the chopped onions and saute using medium low heat until soft and opaque in color. Add in the slice button mushrooms and let it sweat down without stirring it. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Cook until the mushrooms have soften and golden brown. Dish up and let cool for use later.
• Arrange the bacon pieces evenly in the prebaked crust. Then evenly place the saute onions and mushrooms over the bacon.
• 
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt and pepper until blended. Whisk the cream and milk together till well mixed. Pour through a medium mesh sieve and into a pitcher.
• Slowly and carefully pour the egg mixture over the mushroom bacon in the crust. Dot the top with butter pieces.
• Bake the quiche until the top is lightly browned and the filling is set when you give the dish a gentle shake, about 35 to 40 minutes.
• Transfer the quiche over to the wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

The whole family enjoyed the quiche very much. The flaky buttery crust, juicy mushrooms and the salty bacons with the creamy egg filling was delicious! My younger daughter had 2 helpings and kept asking me when will I bake it again. (*o*)''

I served the quiche with potato corn chowder. A simple and yet delicious dinner. ;)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #10: Easy As Pie ( August 2011) hosted by Janine of Not The Kitchen Sink!

Okay folks, hope you all have a good week ahead! Cheers!

Flaky Chicken Pot Pies

A new era has began....seriously? I'm not too sure. :P With all that excitement that went on during the Singapore Election in the past weekend, now is truly the cooling off time. Now that 6 oppositions candidates(only!?) have successful made their way into the parliament...out of the 87 seats, which is actually the highest number ever since independence. Whether their presence will cause any impact or political changes are yet to be known. Seriously, no hurry in there, since it's another 5 more years, ain't nothing we can do now (same old Singaporean attitude isn't it). Regardless, I just hope this election is good enough to make a wake up call to the government, a sign of the peoples' displeasure....will it? *sigh*

Enough rambling, back to today's post. Yesterday was Mother's Day, so it's very natural me (the good daughter, ha!) baked something nice for my mum. But instead of baking the usual cream cake for my mum. I decided to bake some Mini Chicken Pot Pies for her & my Dad to enjoy. One of the main reason is also my mum is not too much of a sweet tooth person, so making something savory seems like a better choice. But I did still bake her a fresh Strawberry Chiffon (less sweet) for desert as well. :) Anyway, here is the flaky chicken pot pie I'm talking about:

I have actually made chicken pies many times before when I was still in States. Somehow I just didn't get to make it again once I returned to Asia. Weird huh...for something so delicious. :P But again, there are so many different delicious food there that we can make! :)) But for now, here is chicken pie recipe:

Ingredients for Mini Chicken Pot Pies (makes about 6 of 7oz pies):

Pastry Pie Crust:

180g plain flour
120g unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp cold water (optional, not needed if already moist)

Method:
In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and salt in. Now add in the cold butter cubes and knead into the flour using just your finger tips until it resembles bread crumbs. Then adding one tablespoon of ice water to the flour mixture at a time till it just comes together. Wrap the dough into plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Chicken pie filling:
1 chicken breast, cut into small bite size
1 white onion, chopped
1 large russet potato, skinned and cubed
1 small carrot, cubed
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tsp corn flour
salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. In cooking saucepan, set the heat at medium low and add 1 tsp of vegetable oil. Add onions and potatoes and carrots in, stir fry for 5 minutes, then add a couple teaspoon of water and cover to slow cook for 5 to 8 minutes till cooked.
2. Then add chicken and cook till opaque, add seasoning and chicken stock to cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Stir in cornflour and 1 tbsp mix into the chicken mixture to thicken it. Scoop up the mixture to let cool till needed.

Assembly:

1. Weigh out about 35g of dough for each pie pastry. While the remaining dough is also equally divided into 6 portions to be used as the pie cover later. (Or you can make a large pie). It should be enough to make at least 6 of 7oz pie pastry. Press the dough into the tart pan (or you can use disposable ones like me) and shape it nicely. Prick the base of the dough and repeat till all 6 of the pastry has been pressed in.
2. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes to pre-bake it. After done, remove from oven and cool the pie shells until needed.
3. Scoop about 3 to 4 tbsp of chicken pie filling in to the cooled pie shells. Then roll out the saved 6 portions of pie pastry dough into disc just enough to cover the pie cavity. Seal the edges with either your finger tips or a fork. Brush with egg wash and prick some holes on the top pie pastry for ventilation.
   
4. 
5. Bake in the preheated oven of 180C for 10 to 12 minutes till the pie crust is golden brown. Remove from oven to cool before serving.

This is such a nice comfort food to enjoy at home with your family over the weekend. Highly recommended if you like pastry pies and savory dishes. :) I know my parents, especially my mum had a wonderful lunch eating this yummy chicken pies from me. ;)

A picture of the flaky pie crust with the yummy chicken filling. Hope you folks will give this a try...definitely will become a family's favorite comfort food. :) 

Have a great week ahead all! Cheers!

Salmon and Spinach Quiche

I am sure there are days when you feel like you want something different for dinner. I'm not talking about ice cream and pizza, lol! I was thinking in the line of pies and quiches. It's definitely not your usual rice and dishes meal, something that you would make to surprise your family. :) For me, I love pies and quiches period. But since I didn't have any left over roast chicken to make chicken pot pie, quiche was the next best thing. And furthermore I get to "sneak" a few healthy ingredients like Salmon and spinach into it. My girls were delighted and enjoyed the quiche very much, not knowing that all those good nutrients that comes along with it. :)

I always enjoy the creamy, meaty filling encased in a buttery, flaky pie crust, the combo is unbeatable. ;) Furthermore, there are so many ways of incorporating different ingredients into a quiche, from simple cheese, leeks, ham and even crab meat, yum! Think of the possibilities, lol! :D

In fact this dish can be served during dinner parties, reason being some of the steps can be done a couple of days ahead, so really no hurry when you need to serve it on that very day, just assemble and bake, vola! Okay, here is the recipe:

Ingredients for Salmon and Spinach Quiche:
1 pie crust recipe:
1.25 cup (140g) all purpose flour
125g cold butter, cubed
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 to 4 tbsp ice cold water

250g Salmon fillet (no skin)
1 pack spinach, about 200g, washed and removed stems
2 shallots, finely minced 1 garlic, finely minced
1 leek, washed and sliced thinly
3 large eggs
2 cups of half and half ( I used 1 cup heavy cream & 1 cup full cream milk)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

To make the Pie Crust:

• In a large mixing bowl, add flour, salt and sugar and whisk well together. Add in the cubed cold butter and rub in till the mixture resemble bread crumbs.

• Gradually add in the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time till the mixture can just able to come together. Do not add too much water as it will become sticky and the crust will not be that flaky.
• Pour the dough out on a lightly floured surface and pressed together to a a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill for at least an hour. This can be done 2 days ahead.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C and take out the chilled dough. Place on a lightly floured surface and roll into a round disc of about 13 to 14 " in diameter. (I am using 10" pie pan)
• Place the disc on the lightly greased pan and gently tug in the sides. Crimp sides if desired. Poke some holes at the base of the pie dough with a fork. Then place a piece of parchment paper over it and some baking weights (either beans or rice)
• 
  
  
  
• Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes till light in color and golden brown on the edges. If the edges brown too fast, wrap the sides with aluminum foil.
• Cool on the rack till needed.

To prep Salmon and spinach:

• Season the fillet with salt and pepper. Using a small sauce pan, place a bay leaf or some slices of leek, some peppercorns, 1/2 tsp olive oil and 1 cup of water. Bring this to a simmer and add the salmon fillet in. Simmer for 10 to 12 minutes till the fillet is cooked through. Remove the salmon and flake it. Set aside till needed.

• Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add the spinach leaves in and boil for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove leaves and transfer into cold water to stop the cooking. Drain after 5 minutes and squeeze out all the liquid, as much as you can. Then chop up the spinach finely and set aside for later.

Assemble:

• In a pan, add in 1 tbsp olive oil and heat up at medium low fire. Add garlic, shallots and leeks, cook till soft, about 5 mins. Remove from heat and set aside for later.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• In a small mixing bowl, gently mix together the salmon, spinach and cooked leeks. Then place this mixture into the pie crust, distributing evenly.
• Crack the 3 eggs into the half and half, add salt and pepper to taste and mix well. Gently pour egg mixture over the filling in the crust.
  
  
  Lastly sprinkle the Parmesan cheese all over the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven till the top is golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes.
• Let quiche cool a little before slicing into it. Left overs can be reheated at 140°C for 10 minutes.

I have a small slice left over and it still was good after I heated it up in the oven. So no problem in making more I guess. ;) Rushing for time, just be sure to prep the pie crust and filling ahead. ;) Hope you all will give this recipe a try...healthy, delicious and not your usual dinner. Enjoy baking!

A bunch of good stuff

Lately I am finding less and less time for blogging. *sad* Besides packing for the move, I have to keep my kids entertained during this school holiday rather then shoving them in front of the TV. And knowing the fact that I will not be able to bake as often as I can once I moved doesn't make my mood any merrier even though the holiday season is around the corner. :-P Nevertheless, I tell myself I am going to make the best out of what I have now and enjoy every single bit of it before it ends. :-) So that sort of explains the named of my post. Even though I can't blog as often, I try to consolidate a bunch my baking and post it up when I get the opportunity. So what do I have? A birthday cake, some Christmas cookies & an apple pie. The birthday cake is for a dear friend whom I was lucky to know which have helped me in many ways. :) Then I baked some cookies for a group of girlfriends since we used to have this cookie exchange thing last year. But due to everyone's busy schedule, we decided to just dine out this year. ;P But I made them some simple cookies anyhow. :) The apple pie? Well, my elder daughter loves apple pie and she has been asking me since we were on our last vacation. :D

Actually I felt kind of bad I did not do a good job with this birthday cake. *sigh* Wish there was a little more time and more ingredients which I did not find the time to buy. :-P I know, I have to do better then just excuses. Anyway, I still managed to baked up this simple butter cake using a flower mould in time for her birthday on Friday. I placed fresh whipped cream and blueberry filling in the middle and tinted whipped cream and some simple buttercream as the deco on the outside. As you can see I did not do a good job my piping, still can see tiny gaps in between. :( And since it's a gift for my friend, I did not get a chance to taste the cake or even take any pictures of a slice either. :-P Anyway, hope she has a wonderful and joyful birthday with her family. ;)
Since I was meeting up with a group of friends for dinner, I decided to grab the opportunity to bake some cookies for them. Actually this is Florence's recipe, Wheatgerm Cranberry cookies. Honestly, these cookies taste great! I just regret I did not double the recipe! So I had only a few to share with all my friends. *sorry ladies* No worries, since I still have wheatgerm and cranberries, so I can whip up more of these yummy cookies this week. :) Sometimes it feels like striking jack pot when I find tasty and yet healthy recipes like this which I know I will make it over and over again. Can't wait to try it out yourself? Head over to Do What I Like blog to check it out.

Since the cookies are already so good on it's own, I did not think it need anymore decorations or icing on it. So I merely used some Christmas cutters to make it look a little more festive. :) BTW, I did not follow the step which the dough was refrigerated for 2hrs before baking. The dough wasn't sticky, so I merely roll and cut, . :)

The last item on the list is an apple pie. It's not everyday you see kids loving apple pie. My elder daughter would choose apple pie over ice cream...yes she likes it that much. :-P And since she has been asking for it, I figured why not since I already has some apples siting in the fridge. My daughter even helped me cut out and decorate the mini flowers on top of the pie. :)

Actually I made an apple pie just last month, but using Granny Smith. This time I used Fuji instead which my girl said she likes it better. :) Sweeter the better I guess. :)

A look at the inside which I didn't deliver the previous time. :) The apples were still slight crisp and not too watery on the inside, which goes really well with the slight savory pie crust. :) My daughter actually ate 2 slices of this everyday after or between meals! :) So glad she likes it so much....probably will have to make it again next week! :-P Interested to try it out, please go ahead to the above link and check out the recipe. Have fun guys and have a great week ahead!

Thai Style Butter Lemongrass Chicken & Apple Pie

Did you feel the earth moved? I did! I'm talking about the earthquake that happened around 6.15pm just recently. No no, not in Malaysia, in Sumatra. Confirmed it with the news online after I felt it. The quake has a magnitude of 7.6 to 8.0! Yikes! I was literally swaying sideways! For a moment, I thought I'm getting giddy or something. But when I spotted my hanging ceiling lamp swinging, I knew it's earthquake. This ain't the first time I felt an earthquake...,twice in California, once in Singapore(also from Indonesia) and now this. But it is not something I DO NOT want to get "acquainted" to!! All these cases are just minor scares for me, but I always count my luck after each incident and reminded that we human are really under the mercy of nature. Now I just pray that there won't be too many casualties in this disaster.

Okay, let's get back to food blogging. Last night I decided to try out yet another new recipe that I found in my new cookbook "大牌檔菜" Book 17. It's call Thai Style Butter Lemongrass Chicken. Hearing the name itself makes my mouth water, hahaha! Browsing through the ingredients required, it seems like a simple yet sophisticated in taste dish, a must try for me!
Ingredients for Thai Style Butter Lemongrass Chicken:
Set A:
2 chicken whole legs, chopped into small pieces
2 tbsp butter

Marinate:
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Dash of sesame oil & pepper
1 egg beaten
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp plain flour

Set B:
1 tbsp chopped lemongrass
1 tsp chilli padi, chopped
1/2 tsp chopped kaffir lime leaf
1 tbsp tom yam paste 100ml water

Method:

• Mix chicken with marinate and let it season for at least 30 minutes.
• Melt better, add chicken and pan fry until gold brown.
• Add in Set B and stir fry until aromatic. Add in 100ml water and continue to to cook until dry. Dish up and serve.
  

Another "A" star for dinner dish! It's very flavorful and aromatic, coming from the tom yam paste, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Just smelling it makes me salivate! Serve it up with some steam white or basmati rice, and there you have a gourmet dinner for you and your family. The chicken is tender and not too spicy. You can add extra chili padi to spice it up further. Try it out and you will know what I mean. ;) Bon Appetite!!

Now for desert. Okay, let's go back to the basics. How about a good old apple pie for today. I guess every home baker will come upon this day that they will try baking this simple yet delicious traditional dessert. And since Autumn has come upon us, what better time then to enjoy a home baked apple pie? Almost sound like I'm back in California, haha...no seasons here in Malaysia, well perhaps rainy season. :D But with the abundance and wide variety of apples now, it's a excellent choice to make this desert.
Ingredients for Flaky Pie Crust (makes one 7"):
220g all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
75g cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
3 tbsp ghee / vegetable shortening
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 to 3 tbsp cold water

Method:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt and stir to mix.
• Add cold butter and ghee/vegetable shortening into the flour mixture. Using either a pastry knife or just your fingers to knead the butter into the flour mixture till you get bread crumb consistency.
• Drizzle the cold water in the middle and continue to knead till the dough just comes together.
• Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least 2hrs before use.

Ingredients for Old fashion Double Crust Apple Pie:

4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and slice into wedges

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
egg wash

Method:

• Take out the chilled pastry dough and let stand for some time to be pliable.
  
• In a large mixing bowl, add melted butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, apple wedges, cinnamon and mix well till all the apples are well coated.
• Preheat oven to 200°C.
• Divide the pastry dough into 2 equal portions. Roll out one option into a round flat disc enough to cover the whole circumference of the pie dish plus 1 " allowance on the sides.
• Line one pastry disk in the pie pan as the bottom crust. Gently tug in the edges but still leaving a little at the edge.
• Pour the apple filling into the crust and smooth into an even layer.
• Position the 2nd pastry disk over the pie pan and seal the edges nicely. Flute the surface top of the pie for venting the hot air while baking.
• Brush the whole pie with egg wash. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 180°C to bake for another 25minutes till it's golden brown. Let cool completely before serving.
  
• Pie can be rewarmed, uncovered in a preheated oven of 135°C for 15minutes.

It's so good served with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream or sweetened fresh whipped cream. Yummy! Sorry, no pictures of any cut out slice this time. Was in a hurry to meet up with some friends for dinner, so I left my domestic helper to cut the pie for my girls to try. And judging from my daughter's comment after she ate it tonight, I trust that it is good. :) The first thing she said was "Mummy, I ate 2 slices!", so it has to be good to go for seconds right? I pinch a small section of the crust to taste and it was buttery and flaky...plus the semi-crunch, semi soft sweetened apples inside, it was pretty good. :) It's too bad I'm all stuffed with all good food from the dinner gathering(look out for it in my next post) with my friends, else I will surely have a big slice! Guess I will rewarm it and have it for breakfast tomorrow. ;) Try it out and let me know how you like it. ;) Cheers!