Quiche Me Stupid
Oct. 9th, 2005 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowNote: The omission of a comma in the title is deliberate.
Before I begin, I should make a few stipulations. Although I'm willing to try out new recipes, I'm not adventurous; I follow the printed recipe, and don't get creative. I've done a fair amount of cooking in my day, but I don't cook much for myself any more; Thanksgiving is the main exception, though I'll occasionally get up the vim for it at other times. These two facts combine into a significant flaw: I often don't remember what went wrong, going by the book, and don't correct it the next time around.
Now, I've made quiche on many occasions; my favorite is a mushroom quiche, with either a good Swiss or a sharp cheddar cheese. I learned the recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook. (This is an excellent vegetarian cookbook, one of a series. During my days as a grad student, I went veggie for a while for financial reasons.) The quiches always came out rather well, but preparing them was a problem; the custard filled the pie plate to the brim (if not over), and getting it into the oven without spilling was difficult. Some years later, I bought the second book in the series, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. From it, I identified the problem; the recipe in MC was designed for a straight-sided quiche pan, rather than the slope-sided deep dish pans I'd been using. EBF corrected the amounts, and the spillage problem went away.
Unfortunately, a new problem arose; the recipe said, "Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until solid in the center when jiggled." This last never seemed to happen; even after 50 minutes, they were still somewhat runny.
A couple of weeks ago, the Department Chair threw a potluck party at his place. I decided to bring a quiche, forgetting, of course, the usual problem. It didn't work too well; although it tasted good enough, it was still semi-liquid, and a good third of it went uneaten. (I took it home and, some days later, ate it myself.) This time, though, I decided to look into the matter, and found that the EBF recipe neglected to mention adding flour to the custard. That explains a lot...
So, as I type, there is another quiche a-baking in the oven. This time there was no spillage, and, hopefully, solidity will be achieved. Fingers crossed.
Before I begin, I should make a few stipulations. Although I'm willing to try out new recipes, I'm not adventurous; I follow the printed recipe, and don't get creative. I've done a fair amount of cooking in my day, but I don't cook much for myself any more; Thanksgiving is the main exception, though I'll occasionally get up the vim for it at other times. These two facts combine into a significant flaw: I often don't remember what went wrong, going by the book, and don't correct it the next time around.
Now, I've made quiche on many occasions; my favorite is a mushroom quiche, with either a good Swiss or a sharp cheddar cheese. I learned the recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook. (This is an excellent vegetarian cookbook, one of a series. During my days as a grad student, I went veggie for a while for financial reasons.) The quiches always came out rather well, but preparing them was a problem; the custard filled the pie plate to the brim (if not over), and getting it into the oven without spilling was difficult. Some years later, I bought the second book in the series, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. From it, I identified the problem; the recipe in MC was designed for a straight-sided quiche pan, rather than the slope-sided deep dish pans I'd been using. EBF corrected the amounts, and the spillage problem went away.
Unfortunately, a new problem arose; the recipe said, "Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until solid in the center when jiggled." This last never seemed to happen; even after 50 minutes, they were still somewhat runny.
A couple of weeks ago, the Department Chair threw a potluck party at his place. I decided to bring a quiche, forgetting, of course, the usual problem. It didn't work too well; although it tasted good enough, it was still semi-liquid, and a good third of it went uneaten. (I took it home and, some days later, ate it myself.) This time, though, I decided to look into the matter, and found that the EBF recipe neglected to mention adding flour to the custard. That explains a lot...
So, as I type, there is another quiche a-baking in the oven. This time there was no spillage, and, hopefully, solidity will be achieved. Fingers crossed.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 12:48 am (UTC)http://www.livejournal.com/users/neonnurse/185326.html
no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 01:35 am (UTC)"I often don't remember what went wrong, going by the book, and don't correct it the next time around."
This sounded like my usual procedure for attempting home projects. Hope your quiche jelled this time.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 09:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 07:41 pm (UTC)I'm glad this one turned out better. I can also thoroughly recommend _A Quiche Before Dying_, along with the other mysteries [both the Jane Jeffry & the ones set in the 1930s with song titles] by Jill Churchill.