Dining Quiche To Crepes: Easy as Pie

To my chagrin I am often told that while my cooking was appreciated, the benefactors would never attempt such complicated things at home. Nobody listens when I tell them that secrets or tricks are not necessary to re-create any but the most complex of dishes (most of which I avoid). Good cooking is just using the best available ingredients according to common sense and the mastery of some basics that take patience and dedication. In short, anyone who likes to cook and wants to cook well, can create delicious masterpieces in the average home kitchen.



Consequently, I offer you a few basic recipes from which it is possible to create hundreds of variations. I suggest some alternatives, but it is mandatory that you experiment on your own. Only then will you begin to see how ingredients work together so that you can create masterpieces.

Bonne chance et bon appe’tit.



HORS D’OEUVRES

As the first course of a meal, most hors d’oeuvres may be used as light entrees by simply increasing the serving.



QUICHES

Quiches are one of the most versatile hors d’oeuvres. The classic Quiche Lorraine is simple to prepare and always welcome. Just as easily prepared are Quiche with ham, cheese, and onions, shrimp and/or crabmeat, mushrooms, spinach or tomatoes. The pie crust is the same as the custard filling.



PASTRY FOR QUICHE

Using frozen pie crusts, you must pre-cook them for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees or until they turn a pale straw color, or use your favorite pie pastry with 1/2 of the sugar and an additional 1/2 tspn salt.



QUICHE CUSTARD

(For a 9-inch pie crust)

3 eggs beaten with 1/2 pint heavy cream, and seasoned with 1/4 Tbspn each salt, pepper, and nutmeg.



QUICHE FILLINGS

Ham, cheese, and onions: Saute 1/2 small onion in butter until clear. Add 4 oz. of ham and heat through. Sprinkle 1/2 cup grated cheddar or Swiss cheese on the crust, add the ham and onion mixture, and fill the crust with custard.



Lorraine: Brown 4 oz. bacon and put in a crust. Add the custard.

Seafood: Saute 1 Tbspn shallots, 1 Tbspn onion until clear. Add 4 oz. shrimp, crabmeat, or lobster (or a combination) and cook for 5 minutes. Add 2 Tbspns sherry, boil to release alcohol. Put in crust. Add custard.



Spinach: Add 1-1/2 cups spinach cooked in butter for 5 minutes. Put in shell and add custard.



BAKING A QUICHE

Place a quiche in the middle of a pre-heated, 400 degree oven and cook for about 45 minutes. The quiche is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.



LEEK AND POTATO SOUP

4 leeks (white part only)

1 onion

1/4 cup butter

5 medium potatoes

1 qt. chicken broth

4 cups whipping cream, or 1/2 whipping

cream & 1/2 milk

(not commercial half & half)

chives (for garnish)

pinch salt

Slice the onion and the leeks thinly and put in a kettle with butter. Cook five minutes over low heat. Add potatoes, thinly sliced, and the broth. Cook until the potatoes are quite soft. Puree the mixture in a blender or force it through a food mill. (The food mill will give the soup a better texture.)

This soup served hot is called Potage Parmentier. If you chill it and add another cup or so of heavy cream, it is Vichyssoise. You can add watercress during the last 10 minutes of cooking and have Potage Cressonaire. Add some cooked broccoli, carrots or asparagus immediately before puree-ing and call it anything you like.

SAUCES

Sauces, the highlight of fine cooking, should enhance flavor, not smother it. Therefore, one should remember to cook the sauce enough to blend the flavors, eliminate any starchy taste, and evaporate the alcohol from wine flavored sauces. Again, remember that I am giving only the basic sauces and a few suggestions for variation. Experiment!

The thickening agent for the first three sauces that I give is called a “roux.” It consists of butter and flour in approximately equal proportions. The roux is always cooked enough to eliminate the starchy taste of the flour. In the case of white sauces, the cooking stops before the mixture begins to color. For brown sauces, the roux is browned to give more color to the sauce.



BROWN SAUCE

4 Tbspns butter

4 T bspns flour

1/2 cup shallots (or the white part of scallions). minced

1-1/2 qt. boiling beef stock or bouillon

2-3 T bspns tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1/4 Tbspn each thyme and chopped parsley Melt the butter and add the shallots. Cook until the shallots are clear and add the flour. Cook the roux until it is brown, stirring constantly to keep the flour from burning. When the roux is brown, add the boiling bouillon all at once and mix with a sauce whip. Add the tomato paste, bay leaf and the thyme. Simmer, stirring occasionally for at least 30 minutes. Add the parsley and season lightly with salt and pepper.



VARIATIONS:

Sauce Robert – Add 1/2 cup white wine and 2 Tbspns Dijon mustard to a cup of brown sauce.

Mushroom sauce-Add 1 cup sauteed fresh mushrooms and 1/4 cup Madeira to 1 cup brown sauce.

Marchand de uins-Add 1/4 cup sauteed shal. lots or scallions and 1/2 cup red wine to 1 cup brown sauce.

WHITE SAUCES

The two white sauces are veloute, made from a white roux (cooked just enough to dispel the starchy taste) and white or chicken stock: and bechamel, made also from a white roux but with scalded milk instead of stock. The veloute is used for white meats, veal and poultry. The bechamel is used for shellfish and vegetables.

2 Tbspns butter

2Tbspns flour

1-1/2- cups boiling liquid (milk or stock). Melt the butter and blend in the flour and cook over moderate heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the liquid and stir until thick. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes, then add wine, spices or other ingredients suggested below.



VARIATIONS:

Sauce Mornay (cheese sauce)-Add 1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese to a cup of bechamel and season with salt, pepper, dash of nutmeg, thyme and cayenne. For vegetables or sea-food au gratin.

Cream sauce – Add 1/4 cup heavy cream and 1/4 cup sherry to 1 cup bechamel. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg.

Sauce Aurore – Add 2 Tbspns tomato paste to 1 cup veloute or bechamel and add 1 Tbspn tarragon and 1/2 Tbspn basil.

White wine sauce for chicken-Season 1 cup veloute with 1/4 cup white wine and 1 Tbspn each of tarragon and parsley. Add optionally 1/4 cup sauteed mushrooms and/or 1 Tbspn shallots.

DESSERTS

Desserts should be planned with the whole meal in mind. They should not be too filling but just enough to satiate that last bit of hunger.



CREPES

Crepes are not only a versatile dessert item, but may be stuffed with any leftovers you may have in the refrigerator and made into an elegant lunch. They are easy to make and they will keep in the fridge for a week or two and indefinitely in the freezer.

2/3 cup flour

1 Tbspn sugarPinch salt

Mix these ingredients in a mixing bowl and add:

2 eggs beaten with 2 yo/ksThen add:

1-3/4 cups milk

2 Tbspns melted butter

1 Tbspn brandy lor for dessert crepes, triple sec or rum)

Refrigerate the batter for 2 hours to blend flavors. Brush a crepe pan or small skillet with butter, and add 3-4 oz. batter quickly tilting and swirling the pan one time to make a perfectly rounded crepe, and cook over medium high flame for 1 minute or until brown. Turn and cook for 30 seconds on the other side. Repeat.



SUZETTE

The most famous crepe dessert: 4 tspns sugar

1/2 tspn grated orange 2est (peel)

3 Tbspns butter at room temperature

Cream the ingredients together thoroughly and set aside. Add to a skillet:

3 Tbspns butter

Juice of one orange

A few drops lemon juice

1/2 cup Grand Marnier, triple sec. or curacao Bring the ingredients in the skillet to a boil and add the creamed butter-sugar mixture. Fold the crepes in quarters and place in the pan. Add 1/2 cup brandy and ignite.



Crepes with apples: Saute a peeled, cored and diced apple in butter, roll in a crepe, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and ignite with Calvados, Applejack, Mariscino, or brandy.