Thumbprint Cookies

Cookies like these feel like the kindness and indulgence of my grandmother. I can't remember if she ever made cookies like these, but the story is more powerful than the reality. Browning the bottom of the cookie is really important to the flavor, otherwise the cookie just tastes like dough - in writing this, I realize that this is perhaps attractive to some people, but I prefer that toasted, browned butter flavor that seems to accentuate the buttery-ness of the cookie.

Makes about 20 x 1oz balls

¾ cup (6oz/169gr) butter, softened

½ cup (4oz/115g)white sugar

2 egg yolks

1¾ cups (245g) all-purpose flour

approximately ½ cup fruit preserves, any flavor, and/or soft caramel

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and egg yolks. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. 
2. Wrap and put in the refrigerator and rest for one hour or up to 72 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
4. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets (do not use parchment paper which prevents, in my oven at least, for browning on the bottom). Use your thumb or an instrument of similar size to press down in the middle of the ball of dough to make a well in the center of each cookie. I use the teaspoon measuring spoon to make the indentations. Fill the hole with 1 teaspoon of preserves.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Pâtissons Gratinée (summer squash au gratin)

The best way to make this dish delicious is to treat it like art. No, really. Arranging the tomato and summer squash slices in a regular pattern actually influences not only the visual experience of the dish, but also how the flavors and textures mix. When I serve it, people assume that there are only 3 ingredients. Somehow, although the cheese and the onion and garlic are intrinsic to the flavour, it's the thyme, tomato and squash that always stand out. With some nice fresh bread, this makes for a filling late summer meal.

2 + 3 Tbsps olive oil

2 medium onions (14 oz total), thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

24oz ripe red tomatoes, cored and cut into ¼" slices

12oz (about 2 small) green patty pan squash or other green summer squash, cut into ¼" slices on the bias

12oz (about 2 small) yellow patty pan squash, yellow summer squash or golden zucchini, cut into ¼" slices on the bias

¼ cup fresh thyme leaves (loosely packed)

1 tsp coarse salt

1¼ cups (2.5oz/70g) freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Sauté the onions in the oil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until golden (about 20 minutes). Add the garlic and sauté 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Spread the onions and garlic evenly in the bottom of an oiled 2 qt shallow gratin dish.
3. Heat the oven to 375°F. 
4. Put the tomato slices on a shallow plate to drain for a few minutes and then discard any collected juices. 
5. In a bowl toss the zucchini and squash slices with the second batch of olive oil, the thyme and the salt. 
6. Reserve half of the cheese for the top of the gratin. 
7. Starting at one end of the baking dish, lay a row of slightly overlapping tomato slices across the width of the dish and sprinkle with a little of the cheese, then lay a row of zucchini overlapping the tomatoes, sprinkle with cheese. Repeat, until the dish is full.
8. Season lightly with pepper. Drizzle with some more olive oil and sprinkle over the reserved cheese. 
9. Cook until well-browned all over and the juices have bubbled for a while and reduced considerably, 65 to 70 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 min. before serving.

Tamale Pie

Cornbread and chilli go so well together. It just seems like a natural progression, especially when you have leftovers, to bake them together, in a single dish. This has only vague resemblances to tamales, but the cornbread topping was evocative enough of this Mexican delight that it seemed fitting to use it in naming this particular dish.

4 cups of prepared chilli, pre-heated, any regular or vegetarian chilli

1¼ cups (220g) cornmeal

6 Tbsps (84gr) butter, melted

1 cup buttermilk (plain milk also works but is less flavorful)

¾ cup (100g) flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp+ ½ tsp baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

A pinch of salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1½ cups (about 6 oz) grated sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

1. Make a recipe of chilli (or use leftovers and re-heat until piping hot).
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
3. For the bread topping, melt the butter and add the cornmeal and the milk. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a slow boil, then reduce to a slow simmer, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, then set aside for about 10 minutes. This will soften the texture of the meal.
4. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt.
5. Mix the dry into the wet, stirring thoroughly until the cornmeal crumbles into a fine crumb.
6. Crack in the eggs and beat to combine (if using, stir in the optional cheese). 
7. Dollop the cornbread mixture over the piping hot chilli and smooth it into an even layer with the back of a spoon. It can be quite thick, so I will often do this by hand, taking big pinches of the topping and shaping it a bit before putting it on the filling.
8. Bake until the topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Potato Quiche

It sounds boring. It sounds plain. It's nothing short of surprisingly delicious! So few ingredients, and so simple, yet it makes a lovely, surprisingly light quiche.

1 blind baked pie crust, completely cooled
2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter (or ham fat for a bit of a smoked flavor)
8 to 10 oz potatoes, skin-on, grated
1 bunch chives, chopped fine (about 1 oz or 40 to 50 grams)
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated (optional, substitute 1.5 oz of the cheddar for parmesan for an added kick)
3 large eggs

1 cup coffee cream OR ½ cup heavy cream + ½ cup milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard

1. Blind bake the pie crust if it isn't already.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
3. In a non-stick pan melt the butter and fry the grated potato over medium heat until just al dente. VARIATIONS - you can gently cook the potato and avoid browning it which will make for a very light quiche, OR cook the potato at a higher temperature to whichever degree of browning you want for a deeper flavour, a little like hash-browns.
4. Add the chives and turn off the heat, only slightly cooking the chives. Set aside.
5. In a bowl, whisk the eggs then add the cream, milk and mustards. Mix well.
6. Put the potato at the bottom of the crust. Make sure the potato is in small pieces so that the custard can seep into it; it may have glommed together into masses while pre-cooking. 
7. Following the potato is a layer of the grated cheese, and finally pour the egg mixture over all.
8. Bake in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the center is set, the custard is puffed up and browned.
9. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.

Peanut Butter Cookies - the United Nations of cookies

There is an amazing amount of agreement for peanut butter cookie recipes. This is not my recipe, but, apparently, a recipe from the global community. You might find variation on how the instructions are written, but the ingredients stay pretty much the same, in the vast majority of online and book sources.

1 cup (8oz/228gr) butter, room temperature
1 cup (9oz/255gr) creamy peanut butter
1 cup (7 ounces/200gr) packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar (7.5oz/215gr)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2½ cups (340g) flour

1. Cream butter, peanut butter and both sugars together.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.
3. Add baking soda, powder and vanilla.
4. Stir in flour.
5. Wrap and put in the refrigerator to rest for 1 hour and up to 72 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 375°F.
7. Roll into balls (1oz to 1.5oz), place on an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten, using a fork, to create a grid pattern.
8. Bake for 10 minutes (1oz balls) 15 minutes (1.5oz) depending on the size of your cookies (bottoms should just start to colour if you wanted to check).

Huge Apple Pie

This pie is best eaten when completely cooled to room temperature. It smells so good while baking, but when we've indulged in eating it warm from the oven, we notice that the fullness of flavour from the spices doesn't come through. I came up with the pie recipe because I found a beautiful used deep dish pie plate that I just had to have. This was about the same time that our Granny Smith apple tree started to drop its fruit in our first year on the farm. Being one of the classic apple pie fruits, it was a perfect fit.

Part 1 - the crust

1½ cups flour
2 Tbsps sugar
¼ tsp salt
¾ cups (6oz/172gr) very cold butter cut into 1⁄2 inch pieces
½ cup (2 oz) sharp cheddar, grated
1 egg yolk
4 Tbsps (more or less) ice water

NOTE: The pastry needs time to cool in the refrigerator not once but twice for 15 minutes each time, and then at least another 15 minutes before baking.
NOTE: The secret to a flaky crust is to keep everything cold. If you work the dough with your hands, be sure they are cool - my hands tend to be hot, so I dunk them in an ice bath before making pie dough.

1. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter pieces and pinch with your fingers to create a crumb texture (it's like playing with sand) with bits that are pea-sized and no smaller. The goal is not to completely combine the butter into the flour, but to break it up into the flour so that there are tiny globule of butter that, when the dough is baking, will create pockets as they melt, giving you that lovely pie flake.
2. Stir in the cheddar.
3. Make a well in the middle and pour in the egg yolk and 3 Tbsps of water (add the 4th and more until you get the classic pie dough texture). Quickly work in the liquids into the flour until you can form it into a ball; don't overmix or you'll have tough dough.
4. Pat into a thick disk, seal in plastic and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. Roll out the dough, line a deep dish pie plate with it (or divide into 2 pies) and chill at least for another 15 minutes.

Part 2 - the filling

The Cream:

2 cups heavy cream

1 whole star anise

1" piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely grated

4 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks (14 to 20 cm total)

pinch ground nutmeg

The Apples:

9 cups (2 to 3lbs when peeled and cored, or 10-11 fruits) of sliced apples

⅔ cup sugar

The Custard:

6 Tbsps (or ¼ cup+2Tbsps) flour

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Position the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven (to make sure the bottom of the crust bakes properly) and preheat to 400°F.
2. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan with the star anise, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg. 
3. Remove from the heat and let the spices steep for at least 20 minutes. 
4. After 20 minutes, strain the mixture into a bowl and allow it to cool while you complete the following steps.
5. Combine the apple and sugar in a large pan and cook until the apple starts to soften. The apples won't cook much in the oven, so get them to stay whole as much as possible but get them to soften.
6. Remove from the heat, add the flour, toss to coat evenly and set aside.
7. When the cream is cool enough, whisk in the eggs and the vanilla.
8. Fold the egg and cream mixture into the apples, being careful not to break up the apple pieces any further.
9. Take the crust out of the refrigerator and pour the apple mixture into it. Pop in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, combine all the streusel ingredients until well blended, in preparation for the final stage of baking.

For the streusel

1 cup flour

½ cup (4oz/114gr) melted butter

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamons 

1. Squeeze the streusel ingredients between your fingers and palms to make clumps ranging in size from small to large grapes. Once the first 15 minutes of pie baking has elapsed, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F, remove the pie from the oven and scatter the streusel all over the top of the pie. There is a lot of streusel; use it all, gently mounding it in the centre (if you are making two smaller pies instead of one giant pie, you may choose to make a double recipe of the streusel, or just divide this one. It's whatever ratio you prefer of filling-to-streusel).
2. Return the pie to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down again, this time to 350°F, and continue baking for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until the streusel is evenly browned and the pie feels firm when the top is gently prodded. If you can see any filling bubbling around the edges, that is a good sign of doneness, but also a sign that the streusel could have been spread more evenly in those areas.
3. Remove the pie from the oven and allow the filling to thicken and set. Feel the bottom of the pan to make sure there is no more warmth and that it is completely at room temperature before even thinking of serving it.
4. This pie is best when completely cooled.

Socca

These are very quick and delicious snacks. The part of the recipe that takes the longest is heating up the oven. I've only read about socca, and know that it's a food commonly eaten in the region of Nice in France.

1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup + of water
½ to ¾ tsp salt
2 Tbsps olive oil + more for baking
1 Tbsp of finely chopped fresh herbs (your choice, have fun!)
OR 1 tsp dry herb or spice

1. Place the grate in the oven to the second-to-closest level to the broiler element. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Put an empty metal cooking pan to heat up. It should be about 10 inches wide (I use a stainless steel sauté pan, but a fry pan or cake pan or even pizza dish would do just fine)
2. Using a whisk, combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix until well combined. The desired consistency is of whole milk, which means it should be runny but with a bit of body - add water if it's too thick, or add chickpea flour if it's too thin.
3. Into the hot pan, put in 1 or 2 Tbsps olive oil, swirl to cover the pan, then pour in 1 cup of the mixture. You can tell the oil is hot enough if the mix sizzles when it hits the oil.
4. Put the pan back in the oven and cook for 2 minutes, then turn on the broiler. When you see dark brown patches form on top, it's done. In my oven it takes about 4 minutes.
5. Lift it out of the pan with a spatula onto a wide plate and eat it right away while it's piping hot. Wow!!!

Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup

This is such a comforting soup. I like to finely dice the gingerroot so that I get small bursts of ginger while I'm eating my soup. It is definitely warming and good for cold and rainy or wintery weather. Can be made with Olive Oil instead of butter.

2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into 2" lengths
2 + 2 Tbsps. olive oil
1 onion, diced (6oz/170g)
2 large rib celery, diced (to yield about ½ cup) or a good pinch celery seeds
1" piece of fresh ginger, tiny dice (not grated)
8 cups chicken or veg broth
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
Chopped fresh chives or chervil for garnish (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Drizzle the carrots with the oil and place them on a baking dish in a single layer. Roast them in the oven until they start to blister and brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. Browning is essential for flavour.
3. Meantime, in a soup pot, start to cook the onion in butter until it's soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. 
4. Stir in the celery and ginger and and continue to cook until the onions start to brown, about 5 minutes. 
5. Add the roasted carrots, broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and let vigorously simmer until the carrots are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. 
6. Let the soup cool before putting in the blender - hot liquid makes the air expand in the blender urn and the liquid can explode out of the blender and burn.
7. Purée the soup in batches in the blender (also, don't overfill the blender).
8. To serve, return the soup to the pot and reheat it over a gentle flame. Garnish with the chives or chervil. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been looking for a good plain-old chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I think I've found it... well, it's chocolate chip oatmeal, but I like the folkloric texture oatmeal gives. And oatmeal is good for you... as is chocolate. Apparently.

MAKES : 32 x 1oz

⅔ cup (5.33 oz/151gr) butter, room temperature 
1 cup (164g) brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsps vanilla
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1½  cup (150g) rolled oats
1½ cup (260g) chocolate chips

1 cup flour (155g)
(optional) ½ cup (56g) walnut pieces
(optional) pinch of cinnamon

1. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. 
2. Whip in the egg and vanilla, then the baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
3. Add the rolled oats and chocolate chips and mix until well combined. 
4. If using the Optional walnuts and cinnamon, add them with the chocolate chips.
5. Finally, add the flour, mixing only until combined.
6. Wrap and put in the refrigerator to rest for 1 hour and up to 72 hours.
7. Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
8. Drop a Tablespoon of dough (1oz) per cookie on a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet. Flatten with your hand and bake 10 to 12 minutes.
9. Transfer to racks to cool.

Bacon and Onion Quiche

November 2010 - Bacon, my Jewish friends tell me bacon is the one pork product that has either caused or could cause them to break with kosher. Pork, for my part, is part of my nutritional heritage as a descendent to the Gauls (I base this on the historically accurate documents about a small village that resisted the Romans, chronicled in the works titled "Astérix le Gaulois"). In spite of this, it is also one of the meats that, in my current financially precarious state, I will only buy free range or organic, and have waited with bated breath for the time the happy porker farmers come to the local farmer's market so that I can purchase a few choice packets. As luck would have it, happy pigs are more readily available that I thought, for the local Capers-slash-Whole Foods market carries bacon from happy, outdoor pigs from a local producer. As happy as I am to have discovered this bacon, I nevertheless use it judiciously - its flavour is so strong that it tends to overpower anything else in the dish, which is why I use it primarily as 'lardons' when making hearty winter stews. But for some reason I wanted to make a quiche with bacon and gruyère. After looking around at other recipes, I decided to throw in some onion and dijon mustard as well. And I'm quite pleased with the result - a nice balance of flavours for a warming winter dish where the bacon plays a part in the society of flavours instead of being a corporate raider.

1 blind baked pie crust, completely cooled

3 slices bacon (thick slices, if thin adjust the quantity accordingly)

1 large onion, sliced into rounds

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

3 large eggs

1 cup coffee cream OR ½ cup heavy cream + ½ cup milk

2 tsps Dijon mustard

¾ cup Gruyère cheese, grated

1. Prepare the blind-baked pie crust. Allow to cool completely before using to allow the crust to set.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F.
3. Chop bacon into lardons (cut bacon into paper-clip sized pieces). Cook the lardons in a big skillet until semi crisp.
4. Remove all but 1 Tbsp. of the bacon fat (to save in use in other recipes) from the skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook until the onions are soft and start to brown. At this point, add the parsley and garlic, and cook 1 more minute.
5. Once the bacon has cooled a bit, chop into smaller pieces, and combine with the onion mixture.
6. In a bowl, whisk the eggs until light. Stir in dairy and mustard and whisk again to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
7. In the pre-baked pie shell, sprinkle the cheese on the bottom, then the onion and bacon mixture, and finally smother it all with the egg mixture.
8. Bake the quiche until it's all puffed and golden brown and joyful, about 35 minutes.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature.
10. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.

Turnip Torte - you gotta try it!

Whaaat? A delicious, comforting dish made from turnip? It's surprising but, yes, it's pretty darned good. Assembly is very easy, but it does require quite a bit of cooking time.

NOTE: next time I'll try adding a few sprinkles of either whole or cracked caraway seeds.
Response - it was good!

2 lbs turnip

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter

½ lb havarti, grated

salt & freshly ground black pepper
Caraway seeds

1. Boil the unpeeled turnip in salted water until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the turnip(s); drain, cool, peel and cut into 1/4" thick rounds.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
3. Spread the butter on the bottom of a shallow pie plate and sprinkle 1⁄4 of the cheese in the pan; top with 1⁄3 of the turnip slices, slightly overlapping them; season with salt, pepper and a light sprinkle of caraway, and repeat, salting, peppering and carraway-ing each layer of turnip until the last quarter measure of cheese is sprinkled on top.
4. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown; let it cool a bit before serving.
5. Goes very nicely as a main dish with some toasted, crusty rye bread.

Multigrain Bread

I think I may have found my ideal multigrain bread recipe. The combination of the reconstituted whole grain meal and flax seeds makes it moist and flavorful - I wonder if I could make a delicious, high fiber bread pudding with it? That is, if it lasts long enough to be old enough to use!

1 1⁄4 cups multi-grain hot cereal mix

2½ cups boiling water

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting work surface

1½ cups whole wheat flour

4 Tbsps maple syrup (or honey)

1⁄4 cup (2oz/58gr) butter, melted and cooled slightly

2½ tsps instant yeast

1 Tbsps salt

½ cup raw sunflower seeds

1⁄4 cup flax seeds

½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats

1. Combine cereal mix in bowl of standing mixer and boiling water in your main mixing bowl; let stand, stirring occasionally, until the mixture cools to about 100°F and resembles thick porridge, under 1 hour.
2. Whisk the flours together in a medium bowl.
3. Once the cereal has cooled, add the maple syrup, the melted butter, and the yeast and stir to combine until it forms a ragged ball covered in dry flour. Pour everything out onto a clean surface and knead - the dough will still be quite sticky, but keep kneading until all the flour has been taken up and dough is just clammy and firm. Return the ball to the mixing bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rest 20 minutes.
4. Combine the seeds and pour onto your work surface, as if you were spreading flour. Turn the dough onto the seeds, sprinkle it with the salt, and knead for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the seeds and salt are all taken up by the dough and well distributed throughout, the dough becomes a taut ball, and it springs back when you pinch it.
5. Grease a large bowl and place dough inside; cover ant let rise until doubled, from 45 to 60 minutes.
6. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat to 375°F. Grease two 9 by 5-inch loaf pans. Transfer the dough to a very lightly floured work surface and pat into a 12 by 9-inch rectangle; cut the dough in half, roll each piece to make a 9" long log and roll in the oats OR to make buns, divide the dough into either 9 or 16 equally-sized pieces and wedge together in a 9x9 inch pan. Cover again with well dampened cloth and let it rise until it doubles in size, about 30-40 minutes. Bake until the internal temperature registers 200°F on an instant-read thermometer, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the loaves from the pans and allow to cool on wire racks before slicing, about 3 hours.

Source recipe: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=7535

Apple Pie with Meringue Cream

I've converted this recipe from French metric, and it seems to work really well. It's not a single-bowl kind of recipe, but it's well worth it. The word"emmitouflée" is used to describe someone well dressed against the cold, but I'm guessing here it means 'slathered' or 'encased' or something of the sort - the apples are under a tasty blanket of sweet meringue.

Les pommes emmitouflées de Grand-Mère

Part 1 - the pie crust

1 cup flour

1⁄4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1⁄2 cup (4oz/114gr) butter, cut into pieces

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp + cold water

1. Follow the instructions for the Cookie Pie Crust, but substitute the vanilla for 1 egg yolk and be careful about the amount of water you add to avoid having a wet dough. Roll out, place in a pie plate and keep in the refrigerator until the filling is ready. Do not pre-bake.

Part 2 - the filling; apples

5 to 6 large apples, firm when cooked

1⁄4 cup (2oz/58gr) butter 

1⁄4 cup apricot jam

1. Peel and core the apples, then slice them into sections about 1⁄4" thick.
2. Melt the butter and get it to froth before adding the apples. Cook until the apples just start to brown. Finally, add the apricot jam and allow to melt completely before taking the pan off the heat.

Part 3 - the topping

1 Tbsp (1⁄2 oz/14gr) butter

1⁄4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks

3 egg whites
1⁄4 cup sugar

1. In a small bowl, cream the butter as best you can, getting it nice and soft, before adding half the sugar and the three egg yolk, one at a time. Beat vigorously until you get some volume out of the mix.
2. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites, adding the rest of the sugar. Beat until the whites become hard peaks - you should be able to rest a teaspoon on top of the whites without it sinking.
3. Add a bit of the whites into the butter-and-yolk cream, then pour this into the egg whites, gently folding so as to retain as much volume as possible.

Final Assembly

1. Pre-heat oven at 375°F.
2. In the chilled pie shell, pour in apple mixture, then top with the beaten egg mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top gets some nice colour.

Blue Cheese and Fennel Quiche

I have my standard quiche recipe which more or less (less or more) follows the instructions I've mentioned in my earlier post for quick and easy quiches. I use a mild blue cheese called Bleu Claire from a local cheese maker - my niece came for dinner and she thought she didn't like blue cheese, so I made half the quiche with Gruyere, but slipped in a sliver with blue, and she liked it. I agree that some blues have an overpowering flavour - unlike aficionados, I don't like the feeling of the cheese mould entering my sinuses from the blue. But the Bleu Clair has the flavour of blue cheese without the aggressiveness of the stronger types, perfect for blue-virgins and sensitives like myself.

1 pre-baked pie shell, completely cooled

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter

1 lb fennel, finely chopped

8 oz crumbled blue cheese or grated Gruyère

Optional: handful of toasted walnuts

5 eggs (3 eggs and 2 egg yolks)

1 cup cream or crème fraîche

salt and pepper to season

1. Melt the butter and sautée the fennel until it starts to brown and is soft. The fennel will not cook while the custard is baking, which means it has to be thoroughly cooked in the pan.
2. Meanwhile, mix the eggs and cream together and season the mixture with salt and pepper.
3. Layer the fennel at the bottom of the baked pie crust, then layer with the cheese of your choice (and toasted walnuts if using).
4. Pour egg mixture over the filling. Bake the pie at 375°F for 25-30 minutes, or until the filling is set.
5. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.