Sweetie Pie

Apple Custard Tart

Thanks for the new tart pans Mom.  These perfect pans were worth the wait.

Apple Custard Tart  recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1 partially baked pastry shell - I used a sweet crust as Julia recommended

1 pound crisp apples - I used 1 and 1/2 medium large apples

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

for the custard:

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup sifted flour

1/2 cup whipping cream - I used 1/4 cup half and half

3 tablespoons Calvados (apple brandy) or cognac - I used Grand Marnier because it was that or bourbon

powdered sugar in a shaker or sifter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Quarter, core and peel the apples.  I left the peel on and sliced them very thin and was pleased with the results.  Julia recommends 1/8" slices.  You should have around3 cups.  Toss these in a bowl with the 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon, then arrange them in the pastry shell.  Bake in the hot oven for 20 minutes or until the apples start to color and are almost tender.  Remove from the oven and let cool while you prepare the custard.

Beat the egg and sugar together with a mixer until the mixture is thick, pale yellow, and falls back on itself forming a slowly dissolving ribbon.  Beat in the flour and then the cream, finally the alcohol.  Pour the custard over the apples.  It should come almost to the top of the pastry shell.  I'm still struggling with my partially baked pastry crusts and mine was saggy around the edges, so it overflowed a little.  This is why I left the whole thing in the pan when I should have been able to bake it freestanding on a cookie sheet.  This probably would have prevented the soggy bottom crust too. 

Put the tart in the hot oven for 10 minutes, then Julia says to sprinkle it heavily with powdered sugar before returning it to the oven.  I skipped the powdered sugar but it might be a nice touch if you like your desserts extra sweet.  Continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top has browned and a knife in the center comes out clean. 

I followed Julia's tip for quiche and left this in the turned off oven with the door propped open and it stayed nice and puffed.  Not only did this tart surprise me by turning out to be beautiful, but it was probably the best apple dessert I've ever made.  Thank you Mrs. Child.  The custard made a nice crust on top, and the thinly sliced apples maintained a bit of texture, the edges were crunchy.  I could've eaten the whole thing.

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

Meyer lemons taste like sunshine on a bleak winter day.  I just want to bottle it up, put on a shelf and save it so that I can open and enjoy it any time.  But how?

Marmalade.   The word alone brings happy things to mind:  Paddington Bear, Seville oranges, sweet breakfast treats, and CITRUS. 

I MUST make Meyer Lemon Marmalade.  But do I dare?  I have limited jam making and canning experience and even less appropriate equipment.  It looks so simple, and it would be the perfect way to both use and save my beautiful lemons.

I have two living grandmothers in their eighties, maybe they would have some words of wisdom.  They used to come up to our house and help my mom with the summer vegetable canning.  No one seemed to enjoy this activity, especially on a sweltering summer morning before our family got air conditioning.  They were however very efficient, well equipped and knowledgeable and our pantry was stocked with tomatoes and green beans year round.  Surely I could make a simple marmalade under their supervision. 

My mom and grands were happy to help, but it turns out that none had made marmalade of any kind before.  They have made plenty of blueberry and blackberry jelly, but always used a product called surejell.  This makes the process go very quickly, and they sealed the jars with wax instead of canning them in a water bath.  So they were really just there to keep me company.  This was a good thing because after two hours over a stove with little progress, you need someone to talk to. Let me explain.  I'm not going to provide the recipe in detail because you can just follow this link to One Green Generation where I got it.  These instructions are simple, clear and easy to follow.  The only ingredients for this recipe are lemons, sugar and water.  It calls for 2 1/2 pounds meyer lemons, which I found to be somewhere between 10-13 lemons depending on their size. You will also need some jelly jars, lids, pots for boiling, and time.  What this recipe didn't tell me was that I would be stirring lemons for hours while waiting for them to 'jell'. 

Here's what I learned.  First of all, you need a HOT stovetop and gas is probably best.  We made the first batch at Grandmommy's house on her flat top stove and it took over two hours for the lemons to reduce and turn to jelly.  That's a long time, plus waiting for them to boil before even adding the sugar.  If I had known, I would have brought a book.  Secondly, it's not necessary to use a candy thermometer.  I used one for this first batch and nearly cooked the marmalade into pure candy because it never reached the proper temperature.  Just look for the signs, and maybe drip a drop onto the counter and see if it looks like jelly when it cools. 

The second batch was made at my mom's house on a gas range and it went much more smoothly and quickly.  If you have children I would recommend that you do this at your mother's house so she can entertain them, or just wait until they're in bed because it will take over an hour and you wouldn't want it to scorch while you're tending to the kids. 
When the lemons jell, they will turn into a thick frothy boil.  You can turn the heat off, take the sanitized jars out of their bath and fill them up.  Once the lids are on, put them back into the boiling water to seal.  When you pull them out, you'll hear them pop quietly as they form a vacuum seal. 

The first batch yield was 6 half pint jars and the second batch produced 7.  Both batches are very very thick, but the first is darker and more condensed in flavor and texture.  If you think this seems like a lot of work for a bakers dozen jelly jars, it's only because you haven't tasted it.  Pure lemon, a clean citrus taste and texture that leaves the mouth feeling happy.  It's pretty sweet, so I like to eat it on something plain like toast, but my favorite way to enjoy this marmalade is with a spoon, straight from the jar.  (Did I mention that I love lemons?)

 

Roasted Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes

I love it when I find a recipe that we all like which doesn't include any dairy (the kid will eat anything with cheese on it).  It's even better if it's easy, doesn't dirty too many dishes and includes some kind of vegetable.  This one does all of this and more. 
It works well with chicken thighs, which I like because they're cheaper and the dark meat is more flavorful.  It uses cherry tomatoes which are available, delicious and not too pricey year round.  This recipe is simple and puts you well on your way to a complete dinner.  Just add baked potatoes and a salad. 

For this recipe you will need:

1 pint cherry tomatoes

4-6 chicken thighs or whatever cut you like

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon oregano

vinegar

oil

salt and pepper

One large oven proof skillet or dutch oven

If you're using frozen chicken, make sure it's defrosted before you get started. One other thing to do before you get started is to peel the cherry tomatoes.  I know this seems a little ridiculous and you can certainly skip it if you want, but hear me out. 

 
Peeling the tomatoes allows them to release their juices to flavor the chicken.  Instead of washing the tomatoes, put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them.  Then pull them out and put them in another bowl and add cold water and ice cubes.  This will make the skins split.  You can then peel them with your fingers, use a fingernail to get it started if you need to.  Don't worry about it if you can't get it all off - it's not imperative to spend all afternoon painstakingly scraping tiny tomatoes.  Some will peel easily and some hardly peel at all, just do what you can quickly and move on.

Next, preheat the oven to 400.  I used a cast iron skillet for this recipe and it worked really well, but you could use any oven proof pan.  Put the skillet on a burner and turn it on medium high to heat it up.  Sprinkle your chicken with salt and pepper.   When the pan is screaming hot, add about a tablespoon of oil to the pan, swirl it around, throw in the chicken and stand back - it will sizzle and pop.  If you're using chicken with the skin on, there's no need to add the oil, just place the peices skin side down.  Leave the chicken alone for at least five minutes.  Don't stir it around or anything, just let it get golden brown all by itself. 
While it's browning, chop up the onion, mince or chop the garlic and oregano and add this to the tomatoes.  Mix the veggies with salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 tablespoon oil and stir it up.  Now, check the chicken to see if it's brown.  It should release from the pan if it is, and flip it over.  It should go more quickly on the second side. 
Add the tomato mixture right into the pan with the chicken and transfer it to the hot oven.  It will depend on the thickness of the chicken pieces you use, but this will need to cook for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is done.  Another thing I like about chicken thighs is that you can not overcook them - they never dry out.  So leave them in there until you're ready to eat and the potatoes are done. 

You'll be so pleased with the beautiful dinner you've made when you pull this out of the oven and serve it.  The onions melt into a lovely sauce, the tomatoes turn sweet from roasting and it looks nice too. 

 

 

 

Preserved Lemons

If I told you I just bought 45 lemons would you think I'd lost my mind? 

Well, I'm not crazy.  I just know a good deal when I see one.  It is completely irrelevant that I already had a bag of regular lemons in the refrigerator.  These lemons are special for two reasons.  They are Meyer lemons, and they are organic.  Meyer lemons are sweeter than the ordinary ones, and their skins are a little thinner.  They have a particular floral fragrance to their zest which is wonderful.  It's important that these are organic because I plan to eat them rind and all! 

I wish I could say I first learned about preserved lemons in Morrocco, but that would be stretching the truth since I have almost no idea what I ate there.  The truth is that I read a good book full of recipes and asked my husband to pick one to try.  Of course he picked the one with an impossible to find ingredient.   I couln't find them anywhere but was determined to do it correctly if I was going to make the dish.  So I looked everywhere from the grocery store to specialty stores and small markets.  Not only did no one have them but they all looked at me like I was insane, especially when I explained that it's sort of like a pickled lemon.  Most shopkeepers tried to sell me marmalade, which obviously I didn't want or else I would have asked for marmalade.

Finally, I stopped into a farm stand and discovered a small store as well.  The owner is from Egypt I believe, and he was delighted when I described what I was looking for.  He said he likes to eat these lemons plain on toast.  I was skeptical but bought his only jar and used them to make the recipe (Chicken Tagine with two kinds of Lemon).  It was outstandingly good.  I'll make it again and write about it another day.  However, that was probably a year ago at least, and the last time I checked those lemons smelled a little like Lysol so I'm not sure I want to cook with them any more. 

Skip to today and this blog and the lemon bonanza I'm enjoying, and here I am making my own preserved lemons.  If this turns out I'll always keep some on hand because it could hardly be easier.  This recipe works perfectly well with regular lemons, but I'm using Meyers because that's what I have.  All you need is a clean glass jar with a lid, kosher or sea salt, and lemons.  Don't use regular table salt because it will give a chemical taste to your lovely lemons.

Wash the lemons and cut off any woody stem that might be still attatched.  Sterilize the jar just to be safe - I boiled mine while I was working on the lemons.  Now cut the lemons on one end in an X shape, stopping about an inch from the other end.  So you're quartering the lemons but leaving them intact.  Pack each lemon with salt and don't be skimpy.  You'll need a tablespoon or more per lemon.  Put the lemons in your clean jar along with any spices you want.  Some common suggestions are coriander seeds, chili, cinamon, and bay.  I used some bay leaves because I want my preserved lemons to be versatile and bay leaves are pretty in the jar.

Press the lemons down into the jar and pack in as many as you want.  Cover and let these stand 24 hours.  I watched in fascination as the level of juice slowly rose even on the first day.    The next day, open the jar and press down on the lemons.  Do the same thing for 2 or 3 days until they are completely submerged in their own juices.  If you need to add fresh lemon juice to accomplish this that's okay.  You can see in the pictures how the lemons squish down more and more each day.  I squeezed an extra lemon over it on day 3 just to make sure they're covered.  Leave this sitting out for a month.  The lemons will turn soft and they are ready to use.  Store them in the refrigerator for six months to a year.  I wonder if all that space at the top of my jar is a problem.  I guess I'll find out.

I got these instructions here.  I'll post some recipes using preserved lemons once mine have cured.  In the meantime, for more information and recipes, look here.  You may be wondering what I'm going to do with the rest of the lemons.  I'm sure your really concerned that I don't let them go to waste!  Never fear for I have a plan, stay tuned.

 

 

 

Shaker Lemon Tart

The Shakers are a Protestant religious group which has almost completely died out.  This seems an obvious result of their celibacy.  You can read more about them here.  The Shaker Lemon Pie was invented by this thrifty group because being unable to grow it, they traded for this fruit and believed it a sin to waste any part of it. 

I looked at a number of recipes before choosing one I liked.  Most call for 2 lemons sliced thin and macerated in sugar for 6-8 hours and baked with 4 eggs in a 2 crust pie.  I found this nice tart recipe at The Kitchn.  It differs from most other recipes in several ways.  First, it uses 3 lemons, not two.  Second, it recommends macerating the lemons in the sugar for 24 hours if you're using Meyer lemons, and 36 or more hours for regular lemons.  This longer time seems important in making whole lemons palatable and not too bitter.  This recipe also uses a tart shell with no top crust and a little butter in the filling.  Looks perfect...

I washed and dried 3 lemons, then zested them according to directions.  I decided to cut the peel off one of the lemons and leave the other 2 whole.  Sliced thin and stirred up with the sugar and a pinch of salt, I left them for 24 hours.  It's a good idea to stir them once or twice during this time because the sugar will settle to the bottom. 

The next day, the lemons were softer and swimming in syrupy juice.  I got the tart dough ready in my pie plate since I don't have a tart pan.  Next I fished the lemons out of the juice and arranged them in the pie. 

The four eggs, melted butter and flour were mixed into the juices and poured over the lemons.  It's important to poke them down if you have any pieces sticking up so they won't burn.  This goes into a hot oven to bake.  I'm very sad to report that I, like, totally burned this crust.  It's embarrassing and I have no excuse, but the good news is that I just trimmed off the charred edges and the pie was saved.  The Shakers would be proud that I wasted not.

Shaker Lemon Tart

1 crust

3 lemons, preferably Meyer lemons

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

3 tablespoons flour

-Wash and dry the lemons.  If you can find organic lemons this is better since you'll basically be eating them whole.

-Grate the zest into a bowl.  I cut the pith off one lemon, next time I'll cut the pith off two and leave one whole.  Slice the lemons as thin as possible.  A mandolin slicer would be good here.  Remove the seeds.  Combine the slices, zest, sugar and salt, cover and set aside at room temperature for a minimum of 24 hours.  If you're using regular lemons, leave them alone for 36-48 hours.  This allows the zest and pith to soften.

-Prepare your pie or tart shell and chill it. 

-Preheat the oven to 425.  Pick the lemon slices out of the juice and arrange them in the tart shell.  Whisk the juice/sugar combination with the four eggs, melted butter and flour and pour over the lemons.  Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, then cover loosely with foil and turn the oven down to 350 for another 20 minutes.  My crust was burned when I checked on it after 22 minutes to turn the oven down.  So check on yours at about 15 minutes and go ahead and cover it.  I don't think this would be a problem with a proper tart pan because the edges wouldn't be sticking up asking to burn.  Another trick which I didn't take the time for is to move your oven rack down to the lowest level when you bake a pie with an uncooked shell.  This helps it to brown on the bottom rather than getting soggy, and prevents excessive browning on top. 

You must let this cool completely before slicing.  I love lemon, and I really like this pie.  It's custardy and chewy and every once in a while you bite into a lemon and get a burst of pure citrus.  Be aware that this is chock full of lemon slices and perhaps this may be too weird for you.  I prefer to eat it a half slice at a time to avoid overload. 

 

 

The Whole Bird

I got a free chicken at Earth Fare today, and this is what I did with it:

Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken

1 lemon

1 small onion

2 or 3 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

oil

This is all you need!  I also used celery and rosemary because I had some, but it's not necessary.  If you've never cooked a whole bird, don't be scared.

First, preheat the oven to 450.  Then get everything ready.  Get the chicken out of the refrigerator, cut the lemon into quarters or slices, cut the onion into chunks, and put plenty of salt and pepper in a bowl with some olive oil.  Get out your pan:  I'm using a cast iron skillet; you could also use a roasting pan or even a cookie sheet (you might want to line it with foil for easier cleanup).  Now you have everything all set before you get your hands into the raw chicken. 

Unwrap the bird and put it either in a bowl or straight on your pan.  The idea here is to season the chicken by rubbing it with the salt, pepper, oil, lemons etc...  If you're squeamish just rub salt, pepper, and oil all over the chicken, squeeze the lemon all over it, then stuff everything else inside and you're done.  If you don't mind getting up close and personal with your dinner, use your hand to separate the skin from the meat and slide some seasonings under the skin.  I put lemon slices, sprigs of rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic under the skin on the top and bottom.  The rest of the lemon was squeezed over the outside along with salt, pepper and oil and rubbed in.  I put the chopped up onion, squeezed lemon, celery, more rosemary and garlic inside the cavity of the bird.  Don't forget to pull the gizzards out of the cavity first ( although I know from experience that it won't really hurt anything if you do). 

Put the chicken in the oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn it down to 350 degrees until it's done.  Most birds are around 3 1/2 pounds and will need to roast for 1 hour and 20-30 minutes total.  If you have a bigger chicken add 20 minutes per pound to the time.  The method of starting the oven at a high heat and then turning it down to finish cooking ensures that the finished bird will be nice and juicy.  The high temperature makes the skin get crispy and seals in the juices.   If you check on it and see that the top is looking really brown, cover the bird loosely with a piece of foil while it finishes.  You can be sure the meat is done when you use a thermometer and it reaches an internal temperature of 165.  Otherwise you can look at the juices.  When the juices run clear or buttery yellow, it's done.  If you see rosy colored juice, it's not done.  Leave the chicken under it's foil for at least 10 minutes before you slice it.  This allows the juice to settle in so it won't all run out when you cut into it. 

We had this yummy roasted chicken with our free mashed potatoes and free carrots. 

   

 

 

Lemon Butter Cookies

 

Lemon cookies for a sweet holiday.  There's really no need to say more.  I modified this recipe from one in a magazine to cut down on the butter a little bit without losing the crunch.  You can make this cookie dough and roll it up in parchment paper, put it in a large zip top bag and leave it in the refrigerator or put it in the freezer and just slice off a few cookies at a time to bake and eat. 
Lemon, butter, strawberry...  it's good.

Lemon and Strawberry Cookies

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (that's 10T)  butter at room temperature

zest from one lemon                              

juice from one lemon - about 1/8 to 1/4 cup

3/4 cup powdered sugar  

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

strawberry jelly and powdered sugar for filling and icing

Use a mixer to cream the butter, lemon zest and about half of the lemon juice together.  Pleasepleaseplease use real butter and throw out that hydrogenated fake stuff!  Add the sugar and keep mixing.  Combine the flour, salt and cornstarch and add it to the mix.  This will be a very crumbly dough but it will stick together if you squeeze it with your hands.  Gather it up and shape it into a roll or disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. 

When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 325.  If you're going to use cookie cutters, roll the dough to 1/8" thick, cut and place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheet.  I do not have a heart shaped cookie cutter.  How is this possible?   You can spread jelly on these before you bake them or leave them plain.  They need to bake for 14-20 minutes, or until they are lightly browned around the edges.  If you cook them too long, the lemon zest will burn and the cookies will turn bitter.  If you shaped the dough into a roll, slice cookies off 1/8" thick.  You can also make thumbprint cookies. 
Roll small balls of dough and press them with your thumb to make little wells in them.  Fill these holes with strawberry jelly.  To make these cookies more Valentine -ish, I spread strawberry jelly on some of them before baking to give them color.  After they were baked and cooled, I used a parchment paper to block out a heart shape when they were dusted with powdered sugar.

 
Use the rest of your lemon juice to make a strawberry lemon glaze for the cookies.  Mix lemon juice, a tablespoon or two of strawberry jelly and 1 to 2 cups powdered sugar.  If you want a thicker frosting keep adding sugar, if you want a thin glaze to drizzle over the cookies, use less sugar. 

These cookies are crunchy, lemony and a little buttery.  When decorated for Valentine's Day, they are irresistable.

Deadly Good Vegan Chocolate Cake

Is this chocolate cake really 'deadly good'? 

When I made this cake if you had asked my husband, he would have said 'no, it's pretty good'.  If you had asked my three year old, well, he wouldn't have been able to answer because his mouth was stuffed full of cake and he was busy cramming more into his mouth with both hands.  So, the jury is still out on this one.  It's a very easy recipe so you can try it for yourself and let us know what you think. 
I made it in a bundt pan and it turned out really cute, but next time I use this recipe I'll make cupcakes or a layer cake so that there is a higher icing to cake ratio. 

The major advantage of this cake is that it doesn't take much planning or preparation.  No butter?  No problem.  Did you run out of eggs?  Don't need 'em.  Just stir it up and bake.  My favorite thing about vegan baking is that you can lick up the batter left on the spatula with no fear of raw eggs.  This cake batter is really delicious - maybe even better than the cake.

Deadly Good Vegan Chocolate Cake 

2 cups cold water

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons vinegar

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Mix the liquids first in a mixing bowl.  Stir the dry ingredients together and add to the liquids.  Stir it all up and pour into prepared cake pans or muffin tins.  You can add a handful of chocolate chips to the batter if you choose.  Lick the bowl and spoon.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes for cake, or about 20 minutes for cupcakes.  Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  

For the icing, I mixed 2 tablespoons almond milk with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla.  I was committed to the vegan theme and what I had on hand.  Otherwise, a basic vanilla or chocolate butter-cream would be very nice.

 

 

 

 

Swiss and Leek Quiche

Everything is better with a flaky crust, so instead of making a fritatta for dinner I decided to make quiche.  I just popped some pie crust I had made weeks ago out of the freezer to defrost and was feeling smug about how easy this would be thanks to my thinking ahead.  It was a dreary afternoon outside, so I set up my little helper with play dough, plastic knives and a rolling pin and we got to work.   
Everything went beautifully.  My pie dough rolled out without cracking and breaking and I made a really pretty wavy border around the edge.  I put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to let it chill and relax, and then slid it into a hot oven.  The recipe calls for a partially baked crust, so I checked on it about 5 minutes later. 

Disaster.  What happened to that beautiful crust?  It shrunk at least 25% and puffed up like a balloon in the middle, and the pretty border crumpled and fell in.  I was distraught.  I can't use this!  What am I going to do now?

This is what happens when you don't use your head, when you get cocky about your baking prowess, when you don't read ALL the directions carefully before you begin.

I decided to start over and do it right this time.  I laid out Mastering the Art of French Cooking where I could read it in detail as I worked.  I pulled out my last hunk of pie dough, and tried again.  I knew that I could count on Julia Child to guide me through if I worked carefully.  Looks like I did pretty much everything wrong the first time.  I should have used a springform pan so that the quiche can stand alone when done.  I should have set the oven at 400 degrees.  I should have filled it with weights (or beans) so that it wouldn't puff up in the middle and sink down around the edges.  I should have baked it for 8 to 9 minutes, removed the weights and baked it for another 2 minutes.

     

I think I broke a sweat working on it but I did just what the book said, slid it into the oven and turned my attention to the filling.  This is the easy part.  I love leeks; they are so pretty and have that particular mild flavor.  You have to wash them carefully because they tend to have grit in between the layers.   
The easiest way to do this is to chop them first, then dunk them in cold water, swish 'em and pull them out, leaving the dirt behind like this:

I cooked these until they were tender and assembled the eggs, seasonings and cheese.  Making sure to read each direction carefully, I mixed up the filling, poured it in and crossed my fingers.  Unbaked quiche isn't much to look at and makes you wonder if it's going to be any good.

It was left to bake at 375 for about 30 minutes while I cleaned up pie dough and play dough.  I left the whole thing in the pan with the sides still on just to make sure I didn't have another disaster.  It puffed and browned just like it should!
I held my breath and carefully took off the spring-form pan and slid it onto a plate......

Ta -Da!!  Notice how the sides are standing tall!  At this point I didn't even care how it tasted anymore.  This was me versus pie dough, and I WON.

Leek and Swiss Quiche     recipe by Julia Child

1 partially baked pie crust; I used One Pie Dough to Rule them All

1 or 2 sliced leeks

1/2 cup water

1 tsp salt

3 Tb butter and/or olive oil

Cook the leeks in water and fat with salt until they are tender.

3 eggs

1 cup cream - I used half and half

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of pepper

1/2 cup grated swiss cheese

Beat the eggs, cream, half the cheese and seasonings in a mixing bowl.  Gradually stir in the leeks.  Pour into pastry shell and sprinkle remaining cheese over it.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until puffed and brown.  Julia Child says it will stay puffed for about 10 minutes in the turned off hot oven with the door ajar.  As it cools, it sinks down.  Quiche is great left over, but it will not puff again.

The crust made this a really delicious dish.  You can see in the picture how flaky it is.  The filling is just right too.  The leeks and swiss harmonize without being overpowering.  It's creamy, mild and savory in the middle and rich and crusty on the outside.  I will make this again because I love eggs for dinner, and I'll be an old pro at partially baked crust.

 

 

Buttermilk Scones

scone:  [SKOHN; Br. SKON] This Scottish quick bread is said to have taken its name from the Stone of Destiny (or Scone), the place where Scottish kings were once crowned. The original triangular-shaped scone was made with oats and griddle-baked. Today's versions are more often flour-based and baked in the oven. They come in various shapes including triangles, rounds, squares and diamonds. Scones can be savory or sweet and are usually eaten for breakfast or tea. (Barron's Food Lover's Companion)

I'm reading a fantastic book about food.  Food Heroes by Georgia Pellegrini is about 16 culinary artisans who are preserving traditions.  After reading the chapter about fresh butter and cream in Cumbria, England I knew what I wanted to make first with my farm fresh butter.

 
Scones are so simple to make, but I guess biscuits are just more popular in the south.  They are basically the same except scones have a little sugar and often have dried fruit added to them.  I've tried several recipes and some are too rich and fatty and some are a little on the dry side.  This recipe is by far the best.  Plus, it seems authentic since it's from a book about England.

 Buttermilk Scones recipe from Annette Gibbons and adapted by Georgia Pellegrini

3 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup or 1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup prunes or other dried fruit

1 1/2 cup plain natural yogurt or buttermilk

egg white or cream to brush the tops

-Mix the dry ingredients first.  Then add the butter and use your hands to rub it into the flour until it resembles the texture of sand.  A good tip at this stage is to put the flour/butter mixture in the freezer for about 5 minutes before you finish the recipe.  This is useful when you have a small child vying for your attention.  When you're making any type of pastry it's important to keep the butter cold.  
-Add the dried fruit; I used cranberries and orange zest.  Then the buttermilk/yogurt.  Be gentle with the dough, adding more buttermilk only a little at a time if needed.   Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat it out to about 3/4 inch thick.  Don't squish and squash it more than necessary because that will make your scones tough.  Cut out circles using a tea glass or cookie cutter, or just cut into wedges with a knife and place on baking sheet.  I used parchment paper for easy cleanup.  Brush the tops with cream or an egg white for a nice golden finish.

Bake at 425 for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.  When your house begins to smell wonderful you'll know they're almost ready.  Serve warm with jam and .... more butter!  Or just jam if you're watching your girlish figure.   These also freeze well.