Spinach Quiche

I always did like quiche, and I did try to make one long, long time ago. Decided to go meatless this time round and make something a little healthier - quiche with spinach, tomatoes and brie cheese.

The problem with my baking is that I am using the convection function of the microwave oven. The heat source emanates from one side, which usually results in the center of my cake/pie taking longer to cook, and when it does the sides may be a little over-done. A conventional oven would probably fare better since its heat source is either from the top or bottom.

I think this turned out to be pretty alright; just that I did not put enough salt, so it was slightly bland. You can taste the spinach and on the whole, it was not over-baked. However, I think I can actually bake it on lesser time so that it comes out a little more moist and soft.

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Recipe
Printable Recipe

Pastry Base
Flour 250g
Unsalted Butter 150g
Salt 1tsp
Milk 1tbsp
Egg 1

1. In a bowl, mix the flour and salt together.
2. Cut the butter into cubes and rub the flour into the butter cubes until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together.
4. Pour the egg mixture into the flour/butter mixture, and mix well until you form a dough.
5. Roll the dough into a ball or disc shape and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.
6. Roll onto your pie tin. Using a fork, make a couple of holes at the base of the crust and bake at 180 degrees C for about 20 minutes.

Filling
Onion 1
Olive oil 1tsp
Spinach 280g
Tomato 1
Eggs 3
Heavy cream 1cup
Milk 1/2cup
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheese of your choice

1. Dice the onions and sauteed it.
2. In a bowl, mix the eggs, cream, milk, salt and pepper and whisk lightly.
3. Dice the tomato, then add it together with the spinach (squeezed dry of water) and sauteed onions into the egg mixture.

Assembly
1. After baking the pie crust, allow it to cool.
2. Place cheese of your choice at the base of the crust.
3. Pour your filling in, and bake at 180 degrees C for about 30-35 minutes.

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Chocolate Eclairs

Realised it's been a long time since I ate eclairs, so I decided to make some. It was also time for a change to some sweet baking as well.

Made all chocolate, then realised I should have made some as normal cream. Anyway, I think they were quite successful - pastry cream was full of chocolate flavour but not too sweet. I hate eclairs which are simply filled with whipped cream that are sometimes sold in our local bakeries, so this came up to my expectations.

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Recipe (makes about 20 7-cm long eclairs)

Choux Pastry
Whole milk 1/2cup
Water 1/2cup
Unsalted butter 100g
Sugar 1tsp
Salt 1/2tsp
Flour 1 1/4cup
Eggs 4

1. Mix the milk, water, sugar and butter in a pot. Heat until all the butter has melted.
2. Lower the heat and pour all the flour in.

You will get a paste-y looking dough at first. Continue stirring over low heat for another 2 mins or so until you get a smooth looking texture similar to the pic on the right.

3. Beat the eggs together in a separate bowl.
4. Remove the pot from heat. Using a hand-mixer, mix the dough for about 1 min.
5. Slowly add the egg in in batches while whisking at the same time.

The end result would be a glossy, thick, stretchy dough that stretches a little before breaking when you lift it. If it does not stretch, add a little more egg white bit by bit.

6. Pipe onto the tray of about 1 cm wide and 4-5 cm long.
(The pastry will expand a lot while baking, hence there is no need to pipe it too large if you want small to medium sized eclairs. 1 row of piped dough should be enough. More importantly, pipe it such that it fairly high in height, or it will come out pretty flat. Use the back of a teaspoon dipped in cold water to smooth the piped dough)

7. Bake at 200 degrees C for 20-25 mins or until brown and slightly hard on the top.


Chocolate Pastry Cream
Whole Milk 2cups
Egg yolks 4
Sugar 6tbsp
Cornstarch 3tbsp
Salt 1/4tsp
70% Dark Chocolate 190g

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave at high for about 1 minute.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the yolks, sugar and corn starch together.
3. In a pot, heat the milk and salt together until boiling.
4. Pour half of the milk into the yolk mixture in a small stream to temper the yolks, while whisking all the time.
5. Pour the yolk mixture back into the pot of remaining milk and return to the stove.
6. Heat while whisking until the mixture thickens a little and starts to bubble.
7. Pour into the melted chocolate and mix well.
8. Press cling wrap directly onto the surface to prevent skin from forming. Allow to cool or refrigerate if not using on same day.


Chocolate Glaze
Semi-sweet chocolate 150g
Unsalted Butter 30g

1. Place chocolate and butter in a bowl and microwave until melted. Mix well and allow to cool.


Assembly:
1. Slice off the top third of the choux pastry.
2. Dip the upper piece in the chocolate glaze and allow it set. Freeze it for faster setting.
3. Using a spoon, fill the bottom piece with desired amount of pastry cream.
4. Cover with the top piece and enjoy!

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Gunther's

 

That's my lunch partner trying to dodge my camera. For his sake, I have pixelated his face to protect his identity... =p

We were served this warm little baguette, which had a very crispy crust.

  

Also given olive oil and vinegar. Not my first time dipping bread in this, but I usually stuck with butter. The vinegar here, however, tasted somewhat sweet and I liked it. So, for the first time, I dipped most of my bread in this.

  

First up, I took the Foie Gras Ravioli Consomme. The ravioli texture was more like wanton skin and not as chewy as the kind cooked as pasta.

  

For mains, I had the day's special which was striploin. The meat had a nice grilled flavour to it, although meat was a little tough at some parts.

  

Dessert was was mango sorbet. I think this was quite nice given that it was not too sweet and had a slight sour taste to it.

  

Coffee was very intense and aromatic.

We were given a plate of this. Not too sure what to term it as. It consisted of canelle, madeleine (I think..) and semi-sweet chocolate. Ended the meal with a challenge from cknewsstand to make canelles...

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I did a French

Well, not quite in that sense. Had lunch with cknewsstand at Bistro du Vin. It was my first time having French food, or at least, a sort of proper one. I thought the service was fairly good, not to mention the cute waitress, although my dining partner would probably beg to differ since the pretty caucasian manager made no attempt to speak to him.

As there were certain dishes I wanted to try, I went for the ala carte option instead of the set lunch. Pardon the sub-par images from a crappy smartphone.

First up, French Onion Soup. The soup was sweet and rather savoury, topped with cheese and bread. It was quite salty, but as my dining partner explained, the saltiness of it was meant to bring out the sweetness of the onions, and indeed the soup did taste pretty sweet.

For mains, I had the Confit de Canard or Duck Confit. It was a duck leg, cooked in its own fats, then pan-fried and baked (once again explained by my dining partner). The meat was quite tender and moist (or maybe oily?). Anyway, it was pretty aromatic. While I usually eat my poultry without skin, this time, it was really tasty that I ate most of the skin that came with it. The skin was a little crispy on the outside and I couldn't taste too much of the fatty, oily texture so it was pretty palatable. The fries were good as well. I do not like fries which are over-fried to the extent that I cannot taste the potato texture within, but these were just right by my standards - crispy outside, and still able to taste the potato on the inside.

Since I was already there, I decided to indulge. For dessert, I had Profiteroles - Choux pastry with vanilla ice cream, generously drizzled with warm dark chocolate sauce and some almond slices. The ice-cream wasn't overly sweet, and the bittersweet of the dark chocolate sauce balanced it all, although I could not quite taste the vanilla, or maybe the chocolate overpowered it. The cold-warm sensation of the combination was comforting just like ice-cream on hot brownies.

Overall, it was a good meal and I enjoyed my first French meal, although this one meal alone probably seriously screwed my calories for the day. Have not tried more high-class French yet, so I have no basis for comparisons, but it's a place I would be happy to return to. Did I mention the waitress was cute?

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