Recipe: Leek, Bacon, Cheese and Asparagus Quiche

I love the feeling when you happen to have two or three amazing ingredients in your possession and a recipe is born. This happened to me recently, I had a mysterious episode where I mislaid a box of eggs. Being in the pub might have had something to do with it, because I lost my copy of Grazia around the same time. After recovering my sanity somewhat, new eggs were bought, a requirement for a weekend breakfast. By the end of the weekend, I had  a box of lovely eggs, some English Asparagus and a hunk of Lancashire cheese. What else could I do but make a quiche? Lancashire cheese and asparagus are a match made in heaven, if I do say so myself and if Nigel Slater says so, it must be true ( I love how he calls asparagus 'Spears of the realm'). The creamy, crumbly cheese works so well with the delicate spears of greeny goodness and asparagus is delicious in a quiche.

So how, I hear you cry, did leek and bacon come into it? Well, I love leeks and thought they would complement the flavour better than an onion or similar and the bacon was on offer. If I were to make this over again,  I would probably skip the bacon but it made it salty and tasty - all the better for a workday lunchbox.

I've never made quiche before and I honestly thought that it would be a lot easier to make than it turned out but I neglected to take the whole pastry thing into account. So, the first thing you have to do is blind bake your pastry crust which firms up the pastry in your quiche tin so it cooks properly and doesn't turn to mush when you add your filling. I'll admit, I didn't make my pastry - I used ready made own-brand supermarket stuff. the trouble was that it was ready rolled a bit too thin so blind baking wasn't that successful - the pastry just didn't firm up as expected however, I carried on regardless.

For the filling I first cooked the bacon in a frying pan with a bit of garlic - the bacon really took on the garlicky flavour which was really tasty in the quiche but if you don't like a strong garlic taste, you can omit this to no bad effect - I tend to get quite carried away. Once the bacon was cooking and nicely I added the chopped leeks. I then blanched the asparagus for about three minutes in boiling water and when I removed them, I plunged them into ice water - a tip I saw somewhere I can't remember that helps the spears to keep their nice green colour. I wouldn't usually bother but I thought it would be a nice idea so that I can arrange them nicely on top of the quiche.

In a mixing bowl, I whisked together three eggs and about 200ml double cream, seasoning with plenty of salt and pepper. I then added about 150g smushed up lancashire cheese (it's so crumbly, it doesn't really grate). Once all the goodies for the filling were cooked, I mixed it all in the bowl and turned it out into the pastry case. Arranging additional blobs of cheese on the top along with the asparagus spears to make it look pretty. Baked in the oven at 180 degrees for about 25 - 30 minutes or until just firm and golden on top.

Once, out of the oven a certain someone crumbled even more cheese on top which did no harm (except to the waistline!). Served with a side salad and with plenty leftover for lunches, this was a really nice sunday supper. In fact, I would say this was even better after a night in the fridge and tasted mighty fine hot or cold.

Adaptation Station

Like a lot of people out there, I own quite a lot of recipe books. I like to flick through them and get ideas. I like to just look at the pictures of all the nom, many books are well designed for this exact purpose. One of the most recent additions to my collection has been ‘Jamie’s Great Britain’ the book that accompanies yet another successful TV show for The Naked Chef on channel 4.
More often than not, on flicking through the books I not only pick out the recipes I want to cook over the next week or so but I also use them as inspiration for my own twist on it. This, for me, is what cooking is all about and I’m pretty sure it’s how a lot of people go it. For me, adapting recipes in this way is as much about what ingredients I already have as well as personal preferences. More than that though, it's also a good way to gain confidence with unfamiliar ingredients which will enhance your cooking in the long run especially for those occasions when you do improvise.
I’ve had my eye on a particular recipe from ‘Jaimie’s Great Britain’ (JGB) for a while now and that is the baby Yorkshire puddings with Smoked Trout pâté. Although I missed the episode on tv where this was made, I saw the snippet on the trailer where he ate it and nearly cried with happiness. When any chef ends a recipe with the words “To. Die. For.” you know it’s going to be good!
So how did I adapt it? Admittedly, not significantly! This was for a midweek supper for me and T rather than a starter as is suggested in JGB (it would be a fantabulous starter) but although the change is not that big, I did want to see how this could work as a main meal. Firstly I only had cold smoked haddock, rather than hot smoked trout as stated in the recipe. I can’t say for sure that I’ve had hot smoked trout so I couldn’t really tell you the difference in flavour, but cold smoking leaves your fish or meat raw whereas hot smoking would cook it.
So firstly, we heated the oven so it was really hot for the Yorkshire puds. Make sure your oven is quite clean if you want to do this, or that your kitchen has a window. The oven gets very smokey otherwise, add to that hot, smoking oil and it’s really unpleasant. One task for my weekend? Clean the oven!

To cook the fish fillets (there were two), we melted a little butter in pan and added some milk and heated it through. Then we added a bay leaf and a touch of salt and pepper, added both fillets and simmered very gently for about 5 mins or so. Meanwhile, we prepared the pate mixture and yorkie batter and put some water on to boil for some peas to accompany it. My only issue is that the horseradish pate mix ended up being slightly too acidic. I think this is because I used really hot horseradish which is basically pure, grated horseradish in a jar as well as the juice of half a lemon as stated in the recipe. I didn’t need to add that much lemon with such an acidic horseradish but I wanted it to be a strong flavour, it turned out too strong, and a bit runny! It was still delicious though so a little tinkering here and there and it’ll be great. I was somewhat impatient! When the fish was cooked we removed the skin and flaked it into the horseradish pate mixture and set to one side while the yorkies cooked. Once the water was boiling peas were added and the pate mixture was returned to a very gentle heat to warm it through. This is one of those dishes where it all comes together at the last minute. As soon as the yorkies were ready, they were on the plate along with the peas, stick the pate in a big bowl and dig in. For me having the pate warm and not cold just made it a more warming dish. It was lovely to get the smokey fish, lemon and horseradish flavours just zinging away. We had about four mini yorkies each which was plenty and it’s great to spoon the mixture into them and shove it in your gob, you’ve got to love any chance to eat with your hands. If you’ve got a bigger crowd to feed, I would probably serve up some buttery boiled new potatoes and a spinach salad.
The great thing about this is that there are all sort of versions you could try out and it’s great to see the yorkie being used in such a way. I mean, we all know that yorkies and sausages go together like.. well what better combination? But it’s nice to see the humble yorkie coming into its own with more unusual combinations. T and I were talking about different versions you could do, prawns are up there that would be delicious. Watch this space!

A healthy and frugal supper for January

So, it’s January and generally it’s a quieter, more sober, frugal and possibly even (dare I say it) healthier month than any other. Personally, I’m trying to be at least a little frugal (I like the word frugal, it pleases me) without compromising too much on enjoyable goodies, but food prices are rising where sadly the salary is not and who knows, hopefully a little frugality might also equate to being healthier anyway…hopefully.
At the moment, I’m all about the chickpea. They are healthy, cheap, tasty, filling and oh so versatile. You can use them in all sorts of contexts. The other night I had a lovely chickpea dish so I thought I’d share my version of a recipe for chickpea fritters!
You will need:
1 can of chickpeas, drained
2 spring onions
2 cloves of garlic
A bunch of fresh basil leaves
1 tsp hot chili powder (more if you’re feeling spicy – you could also use a fresh chili)
50g of grated cheese (use something that melts well, cheddar or parmesan both work, I also plan to try this using halloumi)
Salt and Pepper
1 egg (beaten)
1 tbsp plain flour
Olive Oil
Makes about 6 small fritters or 4 large ones.
For the fritters:
Tip the drained chickpeas into a large mixing bowl and coarsely crush them using a potato masher or a fork. You want them to be squished but not pureed. Finely chop the spring onions, the garlic and basil leaves and stir them into the chickpeas until well mixed. Season the mixture with salt, pepper and chili powder or fresh chili. Then stir in the grated cheese. Finally, pour over the beaten egg and combine well. Then stir in the flour so the mixture is not too wet. Put some flour over your hands and then take a bit of the mixture and make it into a patty or burger shape. Heat the olive oil until almost smoking on a high heat and fry the patties for about 3 or 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. The flour on the outside should make them nice and crispy but don’t put too much flour on or your will taste it. Place the cooked patties on a plate covered in kitchen roll to remove excess oil and serve while hot with a spicy tomato salsa or lovely salad. I had mine with garlic mayo and a cous cous salad with broccoli, mozzarella and cherry tomatoes. I reckon it’s a healthier alternative to burgers, and cheaper too. Also a great dinner if you’ve got a vegetarian guest or a nice starter with a spicy dip.
Enjoy!

Cheese Fondue, YES!

Now that the nights have drawn in and got colder, the time for decadent, warming foods has definitely arrived, as I have proved over the past week with some epic eating! Salads only next week. If last Friday was steak night, this Friday was fondue Friday.
Cheese fondue is back, if I say so it must be true. A pot of warm melted cheese and stuff to dip in, what's not to like? Having worked for a cheese company for the best part of three years, I can be a be a bit of a geek about the subject of cheese but what I'll share with you is the recipe that I recommend as well as a few hints on where you can buy the best cheeses in London for your perfect fondue.
Fondue recipes can differ depending on region but also personal taste, there's no hard and fast rule but the cheese should melt well and be tasty.
My favourite mix is by far the Swiss "moitié-moitié" which means half and half - half Gruyère, half Vacherin Fribourgeois.
Before you get started, get some dippers ready, you can dip whatever you like, but chunks of good crusty bread, new potatoes, brocoli and cauliflower all work well. Raw carrots are also good and I tend to do a salad of rocket with a hefty vinegar dressing to cut through all that dairy. Some people like to have charcuterie as well, just go with what you fancy. Keep it simple or mix it up. One of my favourite things is to fry some courgette and red onion until just cooked and spoon some cheese over the top. Also, pickles! You've got to have the pickles. Pickled cucumbers and onions are best.


For the fondue:
Allow up to 200g of cheese per person (for a main meal, if you're hungry). So, for a fondue for 4 people, you'd need about 800g of cheese, 400g Vacherin and 400g Gruyere. For the total weight of your cheese, you need about half the amount of a dry white wine - something cheap will do and that'll be about 400ml.
Get your fondue set and warm the pan, then add the wine. You can start things off on your hob if you're desperate to eat! Once the wine is just about to simmer, add your cheese which should be grated or coarsely chopped. The important thing is to keep things moving, so get a wooden spoon to help melt the cheese through. Once it's nice and smooth, add a dash of kirsch (a cherry brandy) but actually almost any liquer works well within reason. I should also say that before adding your cheese, you can rub your pot with a cut garlic clove, but I've never done it and I don't think I've missed out. Some recipes also suggest adding cornflour to help the mixture bind but it's not vital.
The thing that is vital, is not letting the cheese boil. You want to keep it at a constant temperature so keep an eye on that flame. At the end you'll end up with a little layer of 'toasted' cheese on the bottom, hopefully not burnt and you can eat it if you want to. At the end of the fondue, a Swiss tradition I'm told, is to add an egg to the pot and make a cheesey scrambled egg to scoop up with some bread. I've never done it but I'm sure it'd be great.
Another tip: if you have a fondue set and don't want to use methylated spirit in its liquid form, you can get these awesome firestar gel fuels online that do the job brilliantly. One gel is usually enough for a decent kilo fondue.
Don't have a fondue set? You can make up your fondue over a medium to low heat on the hob. Use a thick bottom pan and keep it hot at the table with a bain marie sort of thing.
Now, you're ready to dip! So, you can dip whatever you like, but chunks of good crusty bread, new potatoes, brocoli and cauliflower all work well. Raw carrots are also good and I tend to do a salad of rocket with a hefty vinegar dressing to cut through all that dairy. Some people like to have charcuterie as well, just go with what you fancy. Keep it simple or mix it up. One of my favourite things is to fry some courgette and red onion until just cooked and spoon some cheese over the top.
When you dip, be sure to get right to the bottom of the pot so you get the good cheese covering your dipper.
You get the idea, happy dipping!



Where to buy the cheese.

In the UK, Vacherin Fribourgeois is not easy to come by. One supplier is KaseSwiss who are based at Borough Market and Maltby Street. They also do wholesale to a range of shops around London so you can always contact them to enquire about the latest stocks. One thing you can guarantee is that any cheese from these guys, fondue or otherwise, will be amazing. They also promote the 'ECF movement' which is something I can always get on board with. It stands for eat cheese first, as in at the beginning of the meal.
If you can't get hold of Vacherin you can try a different regional recipe. Alternatively, you can use Emmental which is more readily available, just make sure it's a young one so it doesn't get too stringy when it melts.

ENJOY!!!