When I first started being responsible for myself, I started to cook and to understand that cooking was really just a science experiment - with a whole lot of luck and disasters thrown in.
One of the first things that I tackled as a new wife, was quiche. In Australia, in the early 1980's, quiche (or egg and bacon pie) was only for 'poofta's*'. Real Men Did Not Eat Quiche. But they liked a good egg and bacon pie. Mr K was not a poofter, well if he was he would not have married me, so I knew he was man enough to eat, and ultimately enjoy, quiche.
My first attempt at the French Quiche Lorraine was a unmitigated disaster. Soggy yet at the same time crumbly pastry (took a lot of talent to manage that) egg mixture that had curdled and gone hard (again, how I got two opposing states in one glorious pie is any ones guess) and a watery ooze that really made the whole thing a dogs dinner (literally, the dog got to eat it and even she picked out the bits of bacon and turned her nose up at the rest)
Never one to admit defeat, I set about becoming the Queen of Quiche trying the Margaret Fulton recipe over and over again until I could proudly call myself Lorraine! I have tweaked it and adapted this recipe until it made its way into my recipe book written in Biro (no less)! It's been a staple meal over the years, always a good impromptu lunch, or dinner with a salad, or when I do mini quiches, catering for the masses.
I hadn't made one for ages, and had the urge a few weeks back to make one for lunch. Tried a few tweaks of the old recipe and I like this one even more. I have used my favorite Aussie cook, Maggie Beer's sour cream pastry recipe, which is very much like my own pastry I made up, except simpler. Then a very basic egg and cream mix, add bacon, cheese and any vegies and you are done. It turns out beautiful everytime, a great one to impress the girls at lunch.
Here is the original pastry recipe:
Maggie Beer - sour-cream-pastry-recipe
Pastry
125ml sour cream
250g plain flour
200g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
Process in a food processor, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30mins
I don't blind bake this, just roll it out, put into a pie tin (one with a removable base) then refrigerate until the filling is ready. When I do bake it, I put the pie dish onto another heavy tray to help cook the bottom.
Cut up 250g packet of rindless bacon into thin slices. Fry off until just cooked.
Mix in a bowl -
6 free range eggs -please be kind to hens and use free range.
300ml cream
salt & pepper
chives and/or parsley
Grate -
100g Gruyere cheese or similar
Now assemble the pie. Spread bacon on the uncooked pastry base. Then the cheese. Pour over egg/cream mix.
I sometimes add asparagus, or zucchini.
Bake for 10mins in 200 oven, then turn down to 180 and cook for further 30mins. It should look cooked but still have a slight wobble.
Cool and serve with a salad.
* No offence intended with this word, I am just using a colloquial term from the era when this was stated.
This is my recipe for Tante (french for Aunt) Celestine's Chicken. I have adapted it from Margaret Fulton's Superb Restaurant Dishes published in 1982, and she was given this recipe from M Jean Delaunay, the demonstration chef of Marnier-Lapostolle of Paris. Grand Marnier, an orange flavoured cognac, is the star ingredient here and the original liqueur was created in 1880 by Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle. A delicate blend of fine cognacs and distilled essence of tropical oranges with Marnier-Lapostolle's secret touch. Bitter orange flavours are enhanced by the cognac with nuances of orange marmalade and hazelnuts. The finish is long and harmonious... lovely tasting notes but I am not drinking it yet.. not until I have cooked with it.
This recipe was my tried and tested and well loved dinner party favorite. This was back in the 80's when dinner parties and perms were all the rage. I hadn't cooked it since then, and re-discovered the cookbook recently, nostalgia propelling me to make it again.
It's not a very PC recipe. The first ingredient calls for chicken pieces with skin on. Do you know how hard it is to find this? I tried about 5 different places that sell chicken - everyone of them said that they don't sell chicken with skin on. A few said, "oh yeah we get asked that all the time". But I guess the fat police are monitoring them. Maybe I need to find the black market of chicken that is not destined for the catwalk! So, without the first ingredient, I had to improvise and get naked breasts .. free range of course. I use breast meat as I like the whiteness of it and I can cook it very little and keep it moist.
I have to forewarn guests about this dish, just in case they have a heart condition. I start with the prelude that it is a real french dish. They nod knowingly that they understand and pop one of their angina pills in anticipation. It has a whole stick of butter, a few cups of cream and of course lots of alcohol. But I do cheer up their heart surgeon and say its got fruit (apple) and nuts (almonds). Apart from a little chicken stock, that's the total of the ingredients.
I don't think it was a French peasant dish, or at least not an everyday peasant dish. I am yet to find the origins of this, maybe it was indeed a recipe devised by the makers of Grand Marnier after all? A quick search of the net shows me that it is a known recipe, but not very well known. It has been said that its a perfect date night meal - there is no onion or garlic.
For my bachelor friend, who sampled this last night and said it would be a good dish to impress a girl, here is the recipe and my notes ..
6 chicken breasts (skin on if you have contacts with the black market)
Flour seasoned with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
100g of unsalted good butter
6 tablespoons of Grand Marnier
6 tablespoons of chicken stock
2 cups cream
Cut each breast into 3 even pieces. Put into a bag with the flour and salt and pepper and shake until well coated.
Melt the butter in a heavy based (french if you have it) pan
In batches, fry the chicken pieces until they are browned. Don't over crowd the pan as they will stew.
When all browned, put all pieces back into the pan and spoon over the Grand Marnier. It will sizzle in the remaining butter and smell delicious. I get a little carried away at this stage and often add a few more glugs. Then do the same with the chicken stock, but leave out the extras.
Turn down to very low, cover tightly and simmer for 25 minutes or until tender. Remove the chicken to a serving dish and keep warm.
Turn up the heat, add the cream and scrape up all the bits on the pan, stir and simmer until reduced. Taste for seasoning. Pour over chicken.
Garnish with apples and almonds .. see below..
Apple and Almond Garnish - prepare this before you start.
6 granny smith apples
2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier
50 g butter
60g flaked almonds
Peal and core apples. Cut into bite size pieces and put into a shallow baking dish in one layer. Melt butter and pour over the apples. Toss to coat evenly. Bake in a preheated oven 180c for 15 minutes. Keep warm.
Toast almonds in a hot dry pan. Set aside.
Must be eaten with real French wine, however bad. I serve this with boiled baby potatoes, green beans and steamed carrots. Its very rich, so serve the vegies very plain. Unless you want an 80's nostalgic moment - serve the carrots with honey, butter and sesame seeds, the beans fried with bacon and onions and potatoes dauphinoise.
Serves 6 .. or 3 greedy people with leftovers the next day. Also good the next day, heated, for a hangover lunch after all the bad French wine.
I want the serving dish in the picture, copper and very expensive. Maybe I will charge every person I serve this dish to $20 and I can put this towards buying a copper dish.
