Quiche Lorraine

So I have got a new challenge on my hands, prepare healthy, yummy and easy to transport lunches for my boyfriend who just started a new job!

Here is what he requested, a Quiche Lorraine, lovely and simple French dish, and very cheap too!

My cupboard ingredients

• 1 roll of puff pastry dough
• 3 whole eggs
• 30 cl of fresh cream
• 25 cl of milk (if you don’t have both fresh cream and milk, use 55cl of just cooking cream)
• 300 grams of smoked lardoons or pancetta
• 150 grated emmental cheese
• Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg

Equipment needed

• 1 whip
• 1 round pie dish
• 1 salad bowl
• 1 knife or fork

Pre-heat your oven at 250°C for 10 minutes

In the pie dish, spread the puff pastry and with a sharp knife or fork make little holes at the bottom. Set aside.

Cook your lardoons or pancetta cubes in a hot pan.  Once golden and crunchy, drain to take away melted fat. Set aside.

In the bowl break the 3 eggs and top with fresh cream.  Mix well with the whip.

Add the milk progressively whilst still whipping.

Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg.  A pinch of each.

Spread evenly the lardoons on the puff pastry dough.

Pour the mix on top gently and top with the emmental cheese.

Cook the Quiche Lorraine for 25 to 40 minutes at 250°C depending on your oven’s strength.  I recommend that after 25 minutes you check with a knife if it is cooked.  If it is liquid, put back for 5-10 more minutes.  If the knife comes out clean, it is ready.  If the quiche is not golden you can grill it for 3-5 minutes but stay close by to make sure it does not burn.

Serve along side a nice arugula salad with an olive oil and balsamic dressing with a few walnuts.

Enjoy!

D.

Fresh summer snack: toast with chive and lemon yoghurt topping.

Hey guys,

It’s often that around 5:30-6ish we have a little pre-dinner craving and it’s always hard to find something not too filling to eat so that at 8ish we are still hungry enough for dinner.

Tonight my little cupboard creation was:

1. Toast bread
2. Mix plain yoghurt with chopped fresh dill and a quarter lemon juice
3. Spread on bread and drizzle some Sel de Guérande atop to give it a little crunch.

It would also make a great little canapé cut in little circles or squares.

Enjoy!

D.

Fridge’s leftovers rice casserole

I often have lying around enough rice to make a lovely casserole with left over veggies, rice and lime juice.

Pan-fry spring onions, courgettes, 1 tin of tuna, salt and pepper and at the last moment, spinach leaves with 1/2 lime juice and salt & pepper.

Serve on top of the rice that has been heated up!
Bon appétit!

D.

Sunday delight: strawberry and frangipane tart

For our Sunday summer afternoon “tea-time” a home-made strawberry tart with frangipane.

Can’t wait to taste once it will have cooled down.

Potato, sausage and ham salad

Bonjour,

So the good weather has finally settled, it calls for nice fresh yet filling salads.

The other night we literally had nothing left in the kitche but a few sausages, 2 slices of ham, 3 potatoes, and onion and garlic parsley.

Right there you have got yourselves a base to make a great salad.

How to:

Chop your potatoes however you like them to be and boil them until tender.

Once they are cooked, take the water out, set them aside at room temp for about 30 minutes them put them in the fridge for a good 2 hours if you can.

Then cook in a pan the sliced sausages, half a chopped onion, 2 garlic cloves and the parsley with salt and pepper.

I like to mix hot and cold to create a chaud-froid salad so if you like that too, mix the cold potatoes with the warm other ingredients, add the sliced cold ham and mix all with 2 spoons of olive oil, 2 spoons of mayonnaise, salt&pepper, a few fresh pasrley leaves and voilà.

If you prefer to wait for the ingredients to cool down that is fine too.  Simply set them in the fridge for about 30 minutes and mix all when cold to your liking.

You can eat that with a nice baguette tartine with some semi-salt butter on it.  Delightful!

Enjoy.

D.

What’s cooking tonight? Chicken, prawn and pork sausage paella…

Have a glimpse!  With my left overs of chicken and pork sausages as well as last night’s rice, making a lovely paella.  I am sure we’ll have loads of yummy leftovers too…

Stuffed lemon roast chicken

Hello everyone,

So I have kind of become this expert at roasting chicken ever since my parents gave me a couple of years this great dish:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First off, the dish you roast your chicken in will make a big difference.  I trully love cooking with the above dish.  I suggest you get yourself one if you don’t already have it, such a great investment.  I cook most of my meats in there (roast pork, etc).

When I buy a chicken I never really do it by looking at the kg., I just have a sense of the size and go from there.

However, for this example, just get an average size chicken.

Pre-heat your oven for about 30 minutes at about 450 farenheit (230C)

Meanwhile, make sure the chicken is well emptied.

I stuff my chicken with lots of different things depending on my mood and also on what I have in the fridge.  I find it gives it moisture.

But here is one that I love and I think it’s a perfect spring-summer option.  Stuff your chicken with half a lemon (and you can also add some coriander leaves if you have some).

Then the other half of the lemon, squeeze it all over your chicken once you have set it in the dish.

Add on top of that olive oil and on the top of the breasts put some oregano and quite a lot of pure sea salt like “sel de guérade”.  This is what is going to help your chicken to become crispy. Add some pepper too.  Don’t be afraid to use your hands to rub in the lemon, oregano, oil, salt and pepper.

And lastly, this is the secret of a tender chicken, add about 300-500 ml of water around your chicken.  The water should go almost half way up the chicken’s side.

Set your chicken in the oven with the lid on for 1h.

Once the hour has passed, take off the lid, check if there is still some water, if there is very few left add about 150ml.  Put the chicken back in the oven for another 30 minutes WITHOUT the lid on the dish.  Once that time is up, check if your chicken is golden, if you like it more crispy, you can put your oven on grill mode for about 3-5 minutes but stay close by so that it does not burn the chicken, that depends on the oven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And voilà!!! You should have a well cooked tender and moist chicken with a nice cooking juice.  Serve a nice chicken breast with some rice, cooking juice and full spoon of green plain yoghurt.

Let me know how it goes =)

D.

 

What’s cooking tonight? Green lentil, curry, paprika and coconut soup.

Check out the video!

Oh and sorry about the dirty looking stove, the soup has kind of been over flowing for the past 25 minutes, oops, just reduced the heat.  A good scrubbing awaits for me!

 

My chosen herb for the summer: lemon thyme!

Each summer I like to try and enjoy a new herb.  This year’s pick: lemon thyme.

I discovered this herb in my parents’ Provence herb garden over 10 years ago but never really tried to cook it myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can enjoy it with your salads or incorporate it in a butter sauce while cooked a pork chop.  It really gives a lovely fresh and summery flavour to your dishes!

Go buy yourself a little pot, it also provides your garden a great aroma.

D.

Poached pear and raspberry coulis

I love this dessert in the summer – warm poached pear and chilled raspberry coulis.

Here is my simple recipe.

My cupboard ingredients (for 2 people):

2 pears

A cup of fresh and/or frozen raspberries

Water

Vanilla flavoured sugar

1 lemon

4 fresh mint leaves

A few chopped walnuts

How to poach the pear:

Put a pan of water to boil with 2 bags of vanilla flavoured sugar (in French it is called “sucre vanillé”) and half a lemon’s juice

Peel the pears and add them to the water

Leave them to poach for 45 minutes

How to prepare the coulis:

In a bowl put the raspberry, 70ml of water and half a lemon’s juice

Mix with a mixer to your liking (in this case I like it when it is not completely smooth, with some pieces of raspberry left)

How to serve:

Serve the warm poached pear with on top the cold coulis, a couple of mint leaves and sprinkle the walnuts to top it off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be careful, take out the pear pit before eating.

If you decide to make this let me know how it went.

Bon appétit.

D.